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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Man-Trap [Blu-ray]

 

(Edmond O'Brien, 1961)

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Paramount

Video: Olive Films

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:33:38.613

Disc Size: 16,938,689,582 bytes

Feature Size: 16,882,366,464 bytes

Video Bitrate: 22.00 Mbps

Chapters: 9

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: September 18th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 845 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 845 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

• None

 

Extras:

• None

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Hollywood star Edmond O'Brien (D.O.A.) directs his second and final film - a widescreen heist thriller shot in glorious black-and-white by legendary cinematographer, Loyal Griggs (Shane). During the Korean War, Matt (Jeffrey Hunter) saves Vince's life and in return, Vince (David Janssen) promises to one day pay him back with half his earnings. Years later, Vince suddenly appears for a reunion and talks Matt into a questionable venture involving a plot to hijack nearly $4 million from the mob, which they would split fifty-fifty. Stella Stevens (Too Late Blues) co-stars as Matt's alcoholic and promiscuous wife.

 

 

The Film:

Although injured in combat, Matt Jameson returns home from Korea safely and works in California as an engineer. He is unhappily married to Nina, an alcoholic, and is attracted to his boss's secretary, Liz.

Vince Biskay, a friend from the Marines whose life Matt saved, turns up with a risky but tempting offer. He knows of a Central America dictator whose shipment of $3.5 million for illegal weapons is being transported to the U.S. If they can intercept it, Matt and Vince could turn it in to law authorities and split the reward.

A gun battle erupts at the San Francisco airport, with the dictator's thugs trying to protect the loot. Vince is shot. Matt takes him and their stolen money home, where Vince recovers while a drunken Nina makes a pass at him.

Matt orders him to leave once he realizes VInce intends to keep the money, not return it. Nina then has a fatal accident that a desperate Matt tries to cover up. He is found and beaten by the Central American thugs, looking for their money. Vince has it, but comes to an unhappy end of the road. Matt ends up with Liz, feeling lucky to get out of this dangerous situation alive.

Excerpt from Wikipedia.com located HERE

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

Man-Trap is offered on Blu-ray Olive Films in another single-layered transfer and looks quite good. Contrast is pretty tight and probably reflects the density of the source. I don't know that dual-layering would benefit the visuals extensively. The black levels support the film well and establish pleasing detail. There is some depth but not heavy grain texture. There are some scattered speckles. The Blu-ray improved the presentation over an SD rendering and any minor flaws had no detrimental effect on my viewing. I thought it looked quite good.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Audio remains faithful with a DTS-HD Master mono track at 845 kbps. The original music was by Leith Stevens (The Five Pennies and I Married a Monster). Nothing remarkable to report. It's authentically flat and there are no subtitles offered. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

No supplements - not even a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with their releases.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Man-Trap is interesting because of the story and cast. And I can't really fault the storytelling - but there is something that doesn't click well. If less had been focused on the relationships and more on the heist - I suspect it would have made this a better film. I watched it to completion keenly - and enjoyed it. The Olive Blu-ray has done a good job with a 1080P presentation and will likely be the best the film ever looks digitally-speaking. It's really not bad - just a lot of unsavory characters which, actually, makes in very Noir. 

Gary Tooze

September 6th, 2012

About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.

Gary's Home Theatre:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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