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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
Directed by Walter Hill
USA 1981
Set during the height of the Vietnam War and deep in the swamps of Louisiana, a
group of National Guardsmen have been ordered to partake in a simulated jungle
exploration in an isolated part of Cajun country. After getting lost during the
training mission, the soldiers commandeer canoes belonging to the locals in
order to take a shortcut. When the rightful owners discover the soldiers with
their property, the situation spirals out of control leaving one man dead and
the soldiers caught in a deadly game of retribution. What follows is a bloody
fight for survival as, with only their wits and blanks for ammunition, the
soldiers will have to journey deeper and deeper into the bayou as they’re forced
to face the brutal reality of Cajun justice… *** A squad of National Guards on an isolated weekend exercise in the Louisiana swamp must fight for their lives when they anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes. Without live ammunition and in a strange country, their experience begins to mirror the Vietnam experience. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: September 21st, 1981 (San Sebastián Film Festival)
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Review: Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD | |
Runtime | 1:46:00.854 | |
Video |
1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,399,535,606 bytesFeature: 31,228,142,400 bytesVideo Bitrate: 34. 94 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 63,907,279,494 bytesFeature: 63,622,824,192 bytes Video Bitrate: 73.98 MbpsCodec: HEVC 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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Bitrate 4K Ultra HD: |
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Audio |
DTS-HD Master
Audio English 2126 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2126 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps |
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Subtitles | English (SDH), None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Vinegar Syndrome
1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 63,907,279,494 bytesFeature: 63,622,824,192 bytes Video Bitrate: 73.98 MbpsCodec: HEVC Video
Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc • Commentary track with Walter Chaw, author of A Walter Hill Film: Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill
Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - Blu-ray
• Commentary track with Walter Chaw, author of A Walter Hill Film:
Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill
•"Into the Unknown" (15:00) - brand new interview with film historian
Wayne Byrne on Southern Comfort and the legacy of Walter Hill
20-page booklet with an essay by author Brian Brems
Black 4K Ultra HD Case Chapters 6 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
and
4K UHD
captures were taken directly from the respective
discs.
It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation. NOTE: 46 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE
We have reviewed the following 4K
UHD packages
recently:
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Wages of Fear
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Roaring Twenties
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Universal Classic Monsters Limited Edition Collection
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Scarlet Street
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
eXistenZ
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Conan the Barbarian
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Django
(no HDR),
Lone Star
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Suspect Zero
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Count Dracula
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Full Circle - The Haunting of Julia
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Warriors
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Blackhat
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Mark of the Devil
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Barbarella
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Last Picture Show
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Man Who Knew Too Much
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Rope
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Frenzy
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
American Graffiti
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
East End Hustle (software uniformly simulated HDR),
Three Days of the Condor
(software uniformly simulated HDR), Witness
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Fascination
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
Lips of Blood
(software uniformly simulated HDR),
The Others
(no HDR),
It Came From Outer Space
(software uniformly simulated HDR).
On their
4K UHD,
Vinegar Syndrome use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the
original English language (with some French.)
"Southern Comfort" is filled with various types of violence
from rapid gunfire to snapping traps to attacking dogs. The bass depth
can surprise at times. The
score is by Hill collaborator
Ry Cooder (The
Border,
The
End of Violence,
Paris
Texas,
Streets of Fire,
The Long Riders) with "Parlez-nous
à Boire" by Dewey Balfa performed in the Cajun village near the
conclusion. The score is effectively dark and brooding sounding crisp
and clean in the lossless. All great in enhancing the film's moods.
Both Vinegar Syndrome
discs offers optional English (SDH) subtitles - and both are region FREE,
playable worldwide.
The
4K UHD has
a commentary track with Walter Chaw, author of
A Walter Hill Film: Tragedy and Masculinity in the Films of Walter Hill.
He discusses the Hill theme of 'squad construction' of men with a variety of
rated masculinity (The Warriors)
banding together with comparisons to Howard Hawks (Rio
Bravo,
The Thing From Another World), racial and power dynamics between
men, Andrew Laszlo's cinematography, the cast; Peter Coyote, Keith
Carradine, Powers Booth, Fred Ward, Southern Comfort as an allegory
for US involvement in Vietnam etc. But mostly it references Walter Hill
because Mr. Chaw is an observant expert with plenty to share with us. I
enjoyed his commentary very much and felt that I learned a ton.
The
Blu-ray
disc has the commentary and video extras;
"Battle in the Bayou" is a new 18-minute interview with co-writer /
director Walter Hill discussing his filmmaking philosophy. "Behind Enemy
Lines" is a new 25-minute featurette with editor Freeman A. Davies and
assistant editor Lisa Zeno Churgin talking about the director and making
Southern Comfort. "Soldiers, Not Mailmen" is a new 17-minute
interview with costumer Dan Moore (Another
48 Hrs.,
Johnny Handsome.) "Into the Unknown" is a new 1/4 hour
interview with film historian Wayne Byrne on Southern Comfort and the
legacy of Walter Hill. Vinegar Syndrome include a 1/2 hour's worth of
archival featurette featuring interviews with: co-writer / director Walter
Hill and co-writer / producer David Giler, along with actors Powers Boothe,
Keith Carradine, Peter Coyote and Lewis Smith (that were also on the Shout!
Factory
Blu-ray.)
Lastly are a stills gallery and a video trailer. The package comes with a
20-page booklet with an essay by author Brian Brems (The
Films of Walter Hill: Another Time, Another Place) and has
reversible sleeve artwork.
Walter Hill's Southern Comfort was the second film of The Cinema
Group and was shot in Louisiana in 55 days - in the Caddo Lake area outside
Shreveport. The typically machismo Hill effort is set in 1973, featuring a
Louisiana Army National Guard squad of nine different-tempered men (one
pragmatic, one hard-working, another idealistic etc.) on weekend maneuvers.
They antagonize some local Cajun hunter-trappers in the rural bayou country
and become the hunted themselves - picked off methodically while struggling
to defend / survive. Intentional or not, Southern Comfort is
frequently read as a metaphor for U.S. involvement in the Vietnamese war and
there are certainly similarities to John Boorman's
Deliverance (there's a film I'd love to see in
4K UHD
as well!) Hill is an important and influential film artist and Southern
Comfort deserves re-examination. The
Vinegar Syndrome's
4K UHD
release is amazing. The
Shout! Factory
Blu-ray
from a decade ago looks like a disgrace beside this new transfer. The
4K UHD
package has an expert commentary and over an hour's worth of brand new
supplement extras. A magnificent choice of film to upgrade to this new
format and we give it our highest recommendation. |
Menus / Extras
4K UHD
Blu-ray
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY and 4K UHD CAPTURE TO SEE IN FULL RESOLUTION
1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - Blu-ray - MIDDLE3) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD- BOTTOM
|
More full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K Ultra HD Captures for Patreon Supporters HERE
Box Cover |
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CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD |
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