Born to Win Blu-ray - George Segal

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Scraping Bottom" or "Addict")

Directed by Ivan Passer
USA 1971

J. (George Segal, Where’s Poppa?) was a hairdresser until his escalating heroin addiction broke up his family and overtook his life. In filmmaker Ivan Passer's Fun City-set Born to Win, J. and his friend and fellow junkie Billy Dynamite (Jay Fletcher, Foxy Brown), are reduced to running scams all over town together, desperately angling for their next fix. When a free-spirited young woman (Karen Black, Easy Rider) falls for J., it seems they might have a chance to escape this bleak world together, but J.'s addiction means they are never too far from the reach of a merciless drug dealer and pimp (Hector Elizondo, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3) and a relentless narcotics cop (Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver). In the supporting cast, are Paula Prentiss (The Stepford Wives) as J.'s estranged wife, who turns tricks to support her habit, and, in one of his first roles, Burt Young (Rocky) as a hoodlum.

After directing his acclaimed debut film Intimate Lighting in his native Czechoslovakia, Passer fled to America, following the Warsaw Pact invasion of his homeland. He teamed with playwright and novelist David Scott Milton and producer-star Segal to make Born to Win, his first English-language film. Over fifty years after its initial release, it stands as one of the quintessential and most influential cinematic portrayals of the down-and-out New York City of the early 1970s, and some of its less fortunate inhabitants.

***

A smart-mouthed junkie and loser known as J.J. (George Segal) spends his days looking for just "one more fix".

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 1st, 1971

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Review: Fun City Editions - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Fun City Editions - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:28:53.328
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,853,708,519 bytes Feature: 27,641,283,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Fun City Editions 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 28,853,708,519 bytes Feature: 27,641,283,456 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.92 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Newly recorded audio commentary by Jason Bailey and Michael Hull of the Fun City Cinema podcast • Theatrical trailer (2:37) • Image Gallery (1:30) Booklet with a new essay by film archivist and writer Justin LaLiberty Blu-ray Release Date: May 31st, 2022 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 5

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Fun City Editions Blu-ray (May 2022): Fun City Editions have transferred Ivan Passer's Born to Win to Blu-ray. It is described as "Born to Win has been restored in 2K from its 35mm interpositive, beautifully preserving the film's indelible images of a New York that otherwise exists only in our memories." It looks excellent on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The influential 35mm Mitchell BNCR camera was used and the image has beautifully rich grain. Colors have some appealing depth and black levels are deep. I can't imagine a more faithful digital representation of the film than this strong 1080P presentation.

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Fun City Editions use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Born to Win has a few aggressive moments, with guns, that come through with hollow depth. The score is by William S. Fischer (his first of four film composures.) There is also Ooh Poo Pah Doo performed by Ike Turner and Tina Turner and Ballad in C written and sung by Karen Black - all sounding authentic with consistent dialogue in the uncompressed transfer. Fun City Editions offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Fun City Editions Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Jason Bailey (author of Fun City Cinema: New York City and the Movies that Made It) and filmmaker Michael Hull of the Fun City Cinema podcast. They discuss specific locations in New York - Manhattan, specifically Times Square, street photography, the strong pedigree cast / crew and analysis of the characters. There is discussion of Panic in Needle Park released slightly before Born to Win. They quote NY Times, NY Post etc. articles and generally give a very interesting commentary on the production stating it is a great unsung NY films from the 70's, ripe for rediscovery. There is also a theatrical trailer, image gallery and the package has a liner notes booklet with a new essay by film archivist and writer Justin LaLiberty.

Ivan Passer's Born to Win follows purposeless drug addict J.'s (George Segal) desperate lifestyle and his interactions with his dealer (Hector Elizondo), Ex-wife (Paula Prentiss - onscreen for only 3-minutes) a relationship with carefree 'Parm' (Karen Black) and there are bit parts by a young Robert De Niro as a cop and 'heavy' Burt Young. Some of the characters in "Born to Win" were played by actual junkies who director Ivan Passer was exposed to while researching the film. I found the black humor aspects were overshadowed by the anguish we feel over the distraught characters. It has some excellent scenes showcasing the sad wandering desperation of J. and his friend and junkie Billy Dynamite (Jay Fletcher.) "Born to Win" (tattooed on J.'s needle-marked arm) does showcase grassroots NY street scenes and I am glad I was able to se the film in this fine 1080P transfer. The Fun City Editions Blu-ray has this unique, sobering, film looking and sounding authentic - plus the commentary and booklet essay. Its milieu will appeal to many and we can strongly endorse this Blu-ray package from Fun City.

Gary Tooze