BLU-RAY REVIEW

Getaway, The

Featured In Issue 120, May 2007

Picture4
SoundNR
WSR Score
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
Warner Home Video
(Catalog Number):
113690
(MPAA Rating):
PG
(Rating Reason):
(Retail Price):
$28.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
123
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
1972
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
02/27/07
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Sam Peckinpah
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

The legendary Steve McQueen stars as Doc McCoy, a master thief, in this intense cinematic excursion based on the novel by Jim Thompson. In order to be released from prison after serving four years, McCoy offers his unique services to the local political boss. McCoy is then hired to execute a bank robbery, but when the heist goes sour, it sends Doc and his wife (MacGraw) on the run through Texas in an attempt to reach Mexico.

Special features include commentary with Nick Redman and Authors Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, and David Weddle; a 30-minute Main Title 1M1 Jerry Fielding, Sam Peckinpah And The Getaway featurette; a 1972 Reel 1'Virtual' audio commentary with stills featuring Ali MacGraw, Steve McQueen, and Sam Peckinpah; The Bank Robbery Sequence with the alternate Jerry Fielding soundtrack; trailers; and the audio-only isolated score.

While the color scheme heavily favors earthy browns and golds, the 2.35:1 Blu-ray Disc and VC-1-encoded HD DVD look very good considering the age of the original film. The source material is cleaned up well, and contrast is well rendered. Color fidelity shows some signs of aging, but is surprisingly well saturated. Details are captured well, but are not quite as well resolved as newer high-definition releases. There are times when the image can be rather soft, but, for the most part, this is an impressive release on both formats. (Danny Richelieu)

The HD DVD's Dolby® Digital Plus 1.0-channel mono encoding and the Blu-ray Disc's Dolby Digital encoding sound rather similar, with slightly dated fidelity and dimensionless presence. The noise floor is surprisingly low. While music and effects can sound distorted, this is still an adequate soundtrack. (Danny Richelieu)