Rope of Sand Blu-ray - Burt Lancaster

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

(aka "Off Limits")

Directed by William Dieterle
USA 1949

After a two-year hiatus, Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster) returns to the same African city where he was tortured and left for dead at the hands of a sadistic Police Commandant (Paul Henreid). Originally innocent of all charges, Mike is back to claim the diamonds he had supposedly stolen two years ago. He enlists the help of an alcoholic stranger (Peter Lorre) and the doctor (Sam Jaffe), who had helped him back to health. The diamond syndicate head (Claude Rains) recruits a nightclub temptress Suzanne Renaud (Corinne Calvet) to seduce and betray Mike as an alternate to brute force. This suspense-noir classic was directed by William Dieterle (Dark City).

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Theatrical Release: August 3rd, 1949

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Comparison:

Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Olive Film - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) Olive Film - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Cover		Coming out individually December 2014:
Distribution	Olive Films - Region 1 - NTSC	Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:44:04	1:44:10.953
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.75 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 17,261,902,473 bytes Feature: 17,151,762,432 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 840 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 840 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: April 3rd, 2011 Keep Case Chapters: 8	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 17,261,902,473 bytes Feature: 17,151,762,432 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.00 Mbps Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: November 13th, 2012 Thick Blu-ray Case inside cardboard case Chapters: 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - November 12': Olive Films have created a Film Noir Boxset offering Blu-ray versions of their previously released DVDs of Rope of Sand, Appointment With Danger, Union Station and Dark City. We will duplicate our comments as they are generally the same for all four 1080P releases.

The improvement in the HD video is evident in the screen captures - it is noticeable by the comparisons - if not always overwhelming in superiority. Technically these are on the modest side with a respectable 20 Mbps bitrate. There has been no further restoration or digital tinkering from the SD - but grain is more prevalent and contrast certainly improves showing more detail in the frame. Typical of a straight Blu-ray transfer - the damage marks - in this case only speckles - become slightly more visible in hi-def. These all look quite good in my opinion - better than I anticipated. Details tighten, visuals brighten, and artifacts morph into film-grain. It was a pleasure to revisit these films with the improved resolution. It felt much closer to seeing them as they were originally - in the theatre.

Audio is now lossless in mono, there are no subtitles and no extras. Noir Fans should be pleased to own this Blu-ray Boxset - especially if they don't own the previous DVDs.

***

ON THE DVD: Olive films (through access to Paramount) offer William Dieterle's 1949 Rope of Sand as they have done with the director's Dark City, and similar classic's like Lewis Allen's Appointment With Danger and Rudolph Mate's Union Station. This has an incredible male cast with Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre. The atmosphere is smoky, dark, nightclubs and vast desert dunes in South Africa - conflicts over diamond fortunes abound.

Like previous Olive Film DVDs this is dual-layered, progressive and bare-bones. It looks excellent in the original black and white - 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Contrast is highly impressive and the print is spotless. Some grain is visible and detail is at the very high end for the format. This transfer provides a very strong SD presentation.

The unremarkable audio is flat mono but everything is consistent and dialogue clear. As stated there are no subtitles, nor extras - not even a trailer or any subtitles.

Personally, I'd be all over this - if only for the stellar cast and milieu. It's not quite Noir but has the tension and shadowy scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am very surprised it has not been on DVD previously - although a poor quality European PAL version may have snuck under my radar. Fans of Lancaster, Lorre et all with be very pleased.