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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Last Romantic Lover" or "Playmate")

 

Directed by Just Jaeckin
Spain / France 1978

 

The editor-in-chief (Dayle Haddon) of a New York women's magazine is organizing the "Last Romantic Lover" contest to find out if men still have a sense of romance. One of the winners is a circus lion-tamer (Gérard Ismaël), whose's prize is to spend 10 days with her. Cult Epics presents Just Jaeckin's The Last Romantic Lover in a brand new 4K transfer, supervised by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Robert Fraisse, fully loaded with a plethora of new bonus features.

***

Rocky romance of a magazine editor (Dayle Haddon) and a lion tamer (Gerard Ismael) who enters a male beauty contest.

Posters

Theatrical Release: April 16th, 1978

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Review: Cult Epics - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Cult Epics - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:43:09.683        
Video

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 41,912,393,319 bytes

Feature: 28,807,593,984 bytes

Video Bitrate: 30.00 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 French 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio French 2903 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2903 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -27dB
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Cult Epics

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 41,912,393,319 bytes

Feature: 28,807,593,984 bytes

Video Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio Commentary by Jeremy Richey
• Interview with Just Jaeckin (18:01)
• Interview with Dayle Haddon (23:24)
• Presentation at Cinematheque Francais (15:04)
• Promotional Gallery (1:26)
• Cult Epics Trailers


Blu-ray Release Date:
October 25th, 2022
Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 13

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Cult Epics Blu-ray (October 2022): Cult Epics have transferred Just Jaeckin's The Last Romantic Lover to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "New HD Transfer (from original 35mm negative) supervised by cinematographer Robert Fraisse". The 1080P looks pretty good. Visible texture, richness in many of the primary colors (reds) and occasional depth. The image is clean and looks quite film-like. No issues.

NOTE: We have added 44 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Cult Epics offer a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) or a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround 24-bit) or a superfluous lossy Dolby surround track - all in the original French language. The Last Romantic Lover has few aggressive moments, and minimal separation, but a delightfully pastoral score by Pierre Bachelet (Gwendoline, Private Collections, The Story of O, Emmanuelle), sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Cult Epics offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Cult Epics Blu-ray offers a new commentary by by Jeremy Richey, author of "Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol". He discusses how this film was a distinct departure attempting to separate the director from his "erotic-filmmaker" label. Jeremy tells us that The Last Romantic Lover was Just Jaeckin's favorite of all his film, he observes the 'traveling sideshow' theme prevalent in the filmmaker's work, details on the cast; Dayle Haddon, Fernando Rey etc. and much more. It's quite factual and informative. There is also an 18-minute interview with Just Jaeckin and we spend 24-minutes in an interview with Dayle Haddon (both in English.) She reflects on her modeling career and how the French discovered her, natural and comfortable nudity in film, her fading memories of the production and much more. She is still very attractive. Included is a 1/4 hour presentation at Cinematheque Francais with the film receiving an award. Lastly, is a promotional gallery of images and the usual Cult Epics trailer reel but none for The Last Romantic Lover.   

Just Jaeckin's The Last Romantic Lover does not approach the more softcore sex-centric of the director's more famous, earlier, erotic hits; Emmanuelle and Story of O. It has the smok'in hot Dayle Haddon (Jaeckin's Madame Claude) and some may recognize Catriona MacColl (City of the Living Dead, The House by the Cemetery, The Beyond) and other minor players in the cast. The film quaintly evolves from the superficialities of relationships to true, sensitive, love. It's underrated as a well-made, enjoyable observation on male-female bonding. I liked it. The Cult Epics Blu-ray provides a remarkable a/v presentation, excellent commentary and interviews. It's a very pleasant surprise from Just Jaeckin. I can see why it was his favorite. Certainly it warrants a recommendation.

Gary Tooze

 


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Distribution Cult Epics - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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