The Young Savages Blu-ray - Burt Lancaster (original) (raw)
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Directed by John Frankenheimer USA 19 61
Based on the novel A Matter of Conviction by Evan Hunter, The Young Savages (1961) was the first collaboration between director John Frankenheimer and actor Burt Lancaster (they would go on to make four more films together including Birdman of Alcatraz, 1962). Like other powerful social dramas of the late fifties/early sixties (12 Angry Men (1957), the TV series, _East Side, West Sid_e), The Young Savages addressed issues which undoubtedly appealed to the liberal Democrat in Frankenheimer and Lancaster yet the film was not a labor of love. "What had happened," according to the director (in Frankenheimer: A Conversation), "was that the production company of Hecht-Hill-Lancaster had got itself deeply into debt they'd had to agree to do four very inexpensive pictures, with Burt Lancaster getting 150,000insteadofhisusualpriceof150,000 instead of his usual price of 150,000insteadofhisusualpriceof750,000. He'd just come off Elmer Gantry [1960], and the last thing on earth he wanted to do was this movie."
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Seen today, The Young Savages is still relevant though Pauline Kael's assessment of it in _5001 Nights at the Movies_nails the film's main weakness: "You're awfully conscious that the picture means to be hard-hitting; it sometimes succeeds, but a lot of it is just worthy." Still, many things from the movie continue to linger after it's over - the startling opening sequence, the gritty urban setting, the music score by David Amram and John Davis Chandler's chilling screen presence (he plays gang leader Arthur Reardon). He may have been a victim of typecasting but his gallery of psychotic villains have enlivened many films from his scene-chewing role as Mad Dog Coll (1961) to Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962) to his homicidal drug dealer in The Hooked Generation (1968).
Excerpt from Turner Classic Movies located HERE
Three teenage Italian gang members murder a blind Puerto Rican boy on the tense streets of East Harlem - and the district attorney who must prosecute them (Lancaster) is from the same tough background. Frankenheimer's ghetto drama is a little too keen to use gang violence to set pulses racing in the audience to remain as decent and earnest as it wants to be. But Frankenheimer is good at brutality, especially in black and white - and as this kind of material had already been turned into a smash-hit Broadway musical, he wasn't going to offend anybody if he slyly encouraged punters to enjoy the violence.
Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE
Poster
Theatrical Release: May 24th, 1961
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Comparison:
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kino Lorber - Region 'A'-Blu-ray
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray RIGHT
| Box Cover |     |
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| At present The Young Savages is only available in The John Frankenheimer Collection along with The Manchurian Candidate / The Train / and Ronin. | ||
| Distribution | MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | Kino Lorber Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
| Runtime | 1:42:32 | 1:42:44.158 |
| Video | 1.85:1 Aspect RatioAverage Bitrate: 5.75 mb/sNTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s | 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,739,318,121 bytes Feature: 21,704,361,984 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.95 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
| NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. | ||
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| Bitrate: Blu-ray |  |
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0) , DUBs: French and Spanish | DTS-HD Master Audio English 1673 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1673 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) |
| Subtitles | English, Spanish, None | None |
| Features | Release Information: Studio: MGM Home Video Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1  Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: January 22nd, 2008Slim Keep Case Chapters: 20 |
Release Information: Studio: Kino Lorber Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 21,739,318,121 bytes Feature: 21,704,361,984 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.95 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • None Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2014 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 8 |
| Comments: | NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray - December 2014 : A notable improvement over the single-layered DVD - I won't go so far as the to say video over film, but the contrast layering on the 1080P really makes the DVD look boosted and less natural. I wouldn't say the Blu-ray is flawless but it does advance over the SD. The audio is lossess via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1673 kbps, mostly notable in the score by David Amram (The Manchurian Candidate, The Arrangement). No subs, no extras - a bona-fide bare-bones disc but a solid film and worthy enough to own, IMO. *** ON THE DVD: Single-layered but competent transfer from MGM. The aggravating part is that at present The Young Savages is only available in The John Frankenheimer Collection along with The Manchurian Candidate / The Train / and Ronin. Fans of Frankenhemier will probably have 2 or 3 of those titles already. MGM is terrible for this type of customer manipulation. It probably won't become available individually anytime soon.The anamorphic and progressive DVD image looks fairly strong - acceptable detail and contrast with no untoward manipulations. The print used was clean and only some minor speckles infest the healthy image. Audio is clean and clear with two DUBs option and subtitles if desired. There are no extras at all and the film is only good... but not great. Interesting to see Lancaster and Winters with Frankenheimer showing some unique camera angles and artsy touches. Worth a spin but only if you want the other titles in the package too (all very good films, by the way). Gary W. Tooze |
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MGM - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray RIGHT
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Subtitle Sample (only subs on the DVD)
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
MGM - Region 1 - NTSC TOP
Kino Lorber - Region 'A' Blu-ray BOTTOM
More Blu-ray Captures
| Box Cover | |
|
|---|---|---|
| At present The Young Savages is only available in The John Frankenheimer Collection along with The Manchurian Candidate / The Train / and Ronin. | ||
| Distribution | MGM Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC | Kino Lorber Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
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