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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2024): Kino have transferred Sidney J. Furie's The Lawyer to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "2021 HD Master by Paramount Pictures – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative". The 1080P presentation is quite strong on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. There is plenty of depth and strong detail in close-ups. Colors are balance and contrast adept.

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

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Lawyer has few aggressive moments that come through with depth. The score was by Malcolm Dodds (his first of only two career musical score composures), sounding supportive in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a commentary by Daniel Kremer (author of Sidney J. Furie: Life and Films) and film director, and personal friend of Sidney J. Furie, Paul Lynch, with archival excerpts from director Furie. This commentary was also included in Imprint's Directed by Sidney J. Furie (1970-1978) Blu-ray Boxset of 2023. There is a lot on Furie (The Entity), his uniqueness as a filmmaker (visual style, experimentation etc.) with examples and further discussion of the cast / crew (comparisons of Barry Newman to Michael Caine) with audio excerpts from Furie, who grew up in Canada (a few generalizations about us Canucks, Mr. Lynch), and more. It's exceptionally informative. Newman’s Law - a 22-minute interview with star Barry Newman was also on the Imprint Blu-ray disc - as was Lawyers’ Wives and Lost Loves spending 11-minutes (2 separate interviews) with actress Diana Muldaur. The first of the two interviews with Muldaur was conducted over the phone in 2013, as research for Daniel Kremer's book Sidney J. Furie: Life and Films. The second was shot on the set of Furie's Finding Hannah, an independent drama written by the director, which reunited Diana Muldaur with Lawyer co-star Barry Newman. There is also a theatrical teaser and it has a slipcase with newly commissioned Key Art by Vince Evans.  

Sidney J. Furie's The Lawyer spawned the television series Petrocelli, also with Barry Newman. It was loosely based on the Dr. Sam Sheppard case in Ohio where the American Osteopath was convicted of the 1954 murder of his pregnant wife. His case was appealed by F. Lee Bailey. The Lawyer centers on the investigatory errors of that case, re-trying it and has Rashomon-like retellings. Barry Newman's Tony Petrocelli is a brilliant Harvard-educated lawyer who works at a hectic pace, fearlessly stepping on toes, and who zealously defends his clients always finding 'the ends justifying the means' if it constitutes a bottom line of justice. The Lawyer is a well-made courtroom drama, perfectly realized by Furie... I only wish there was more of Diana Muldaur. There are obvious parallels to my favorite TV series The Fugitive (a Doctor falsely accused of murdering his wife) but more closely the 1993 film with Harrison Ford. The Kino Blu-ray has the film looking top-shelf, an excellent commentary and interviews. This is solid entertainment and a very good digital package.

Gary Tooze