ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray - July 18':  The image quality here is just about identical to the Olive release, save for a pixel here or there. This is a good sign as Olive had a transfer rich with deep blacks and an abundance of detail. The bitrate is also higher, maxed out.

Masters of Cinema here have the uncompressed linear PCM mono soundtrack. To my ears, I cannot detect any difference from the previous Blu-rays. There are optional English SDH subtitles on this region-B-locked.

Masters of Cinema give us the option of watching the film with a commentary, originally found on the Twilight Time Blu-ray, from film historian and editor Paul Seydor, moderated by Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman. "Illusion of Freedom: Richard H. Kline on John Frankenheimer’s 'Birdman of Alcatraz' is the same one as found on the Wild Side BD - it is a 29-minute new video from fiction factory with Kline, the film's camera operator, recalling his work on the film. Next up is "Interview with Sheldon Hall" which is a 35-minute interview with the film historian. The film's original theatrical trailer is also included here. There is also a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Travis Crawford, as well as a selection of archival imagery from the film’s production.

Masters of Cinema have a great package here, what with the Olive-like Blu-ray transfer and all those new extras. Certainly the best of the bunch!

NOTE: We have looked at the Region FREE Twilight Time Blu-ray, available HERE, and matched a couple of captures below (feature size: 41,384,656,896 bytes).

Colin Zavitz

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ADDITION: Wild Side Blu-ray - July 18': The Wild Side transfer has about the same technical transfer although their black levels are richer and deeper. Despite the handsome package box stating the film is in 1.85:1, it is the same as the Olive in the, correct, 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Framing is the same with nothing cropped but I saw some very minor edge-enhancement although the visuals in-motion look very pleasing with the richer blacks promoting a crisper image presentation. Most of the matched captures below are exact frames and you can toggle between the large versions to further see the differences.

Audio 24-bit DTS-HD Master tracks for both the original English and a French DUB (only accessible as options via the menu - not 'on the fly' - ditto for subtitle removal). The effects and Bernstein score in lossless sound equally as effective as the Olive Blu-ray. The huge negative for most is that the French subtitles are mandatory when the English audio is chosen. We, of course, heavily frown on this as you cannot see the film as it was originally shown in its theatrical premiere forced to either hear a French DUB or see intrusive French subtitles. A much-frowned upon disc authoring practice that will discourage many consumers. because of this the disc is Region FREE Blu-ray - playable world-wide.

Extras include one of Robert Fischer's always excellent Fiction Factory video pieces. The Illusion of Liberty runs close to 1/2 hour and has veteran cinematographer Richard H. Kline who worked as a camera operator for director of photography Burnett Guffey, ASC on Birdman of Alcatraz with a lot about as real-life killer Robert Stroud. There is also a trailer, a second disc DVD and an amazing 214-page bound book filled with beautiful photos and French text (only).

This is such a overwhelmingly impressive Blu-ray package with the book but the non-removable subtitles are a black-mark (and distraction.) Those requiring a French-friendly Blu-ray edition don't need to look any further than this brilliant Wild Side package and we will compare to the upcoming Master of Cinema Blu-ray out of the UK in August. Stay tuned.   

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ADDITION: Olive Blu-ray - March 18': Olive's transfer is quite strong in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio (NOTE: the film's credits are in the, odd, 1.45:1 AR). This is on a dual-layered disc for the, almost, 2.5 hour feature and it has a high bitrate. There are a few speckles but contrast layering (decent black levels) is very pleasing and the image has both depth, detail and a smattering of grain. I was impressed with the 1080P presentation.

Aside from the film's trailer - looking rough - we get an excellent commentary from Kate Buford, author of Burt Lancaster: An American Life. It's filled with fascinating details of Lancaster, his obsessive work ethic, the film, Frankenheimer and the real Robert Stroud. I thought it was one of the better commentaries I've heard so far this year. Strangely, her voice gets a bit echo-ey for a while but returns to be very clean and audible. I was enthralled and she fills the long film with plenty - there are only a few, reasonable, gaps.