Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

The Night of the Grizzly [Blu-ray]

 

(Joseph Pevney , 1966)

 

 

Olive's first 'Signature' Blu-ray releases:

 Macbeth

(1948)

 High Noon (1952)

 Johnny Guitar (1954)

The Night of the Grizzly

(1966)

 The Quiet Man (1952)

 Hannie Caulder

(1971)

 Father Goose (1964)

Operation Petticoat

(1959)

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Paramount Pictures

Video: Olive Films / Olive Signature

 

Disc:

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

Runtime: 1:42:13.127 / 1:41:49.812

Disc Size: 23,994,789,969 bytes / 48,474,678,847 bytes

Feature Size: 18,535,151,616 bytes / 31,232,489,664 bytes

Video Bitrate: 22.00 Mbps / 34.99 Mbps

Chapters: 9 / 24

Case: Standard Blu-ray case / Transparent case inside cardboard slipcase

Release date: June 26th, 2012 / October 25th, 2016

 

Video (both):

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 911 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 911 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2003 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2003 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1591 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1591 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

 

Subtitles:

None  

 

English (SDH), none

 

Extras:

• Interview with Clint Walker (26:17)  

 

Audio Commentary by film historian Toby Roan
• Blood on the Claw - Essay by C. Courtney Joyner (14-page click-thru navigation)
The Legend of Big Jim Cole interview with Clint Walker (26:17)
The Night of the Grizzly World Premiere archival footage (6:12)
At Home with Clint Walker and His Home Gymnasium archival interview (12:03)

Liner notes

 

Bitrate:

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

Description: A great western adventure! Big Jim Cole (Clint Walker) inherits land in Wyoming and trades his dangerous lawman's life for the comparatively cushy existence of a rancher. But he barely gets his family settled when new dangers plague them. There's a treacherous grizzly bear on a murderous rampage, angry neighbors who covet his property and an outlaw he once sent to prison is back for revenge. The stellar cast includes western legends, Jack Elam, Keenan Wynn, Leo Gordon and TV's Tarzan, Ron Ely.

 

 

The Film:

This is really a killer animal flick disguised as a western. Clint Walker, famous for the 1950s series Cheyenne, shines in this film he made in the latter years of his career. Here, Walker shines as former marshal turned rancher Jim Cole. Cole quits the lawman business in order to move his family to Wyoming and go into cattle ranching. Along the way, they make friends with an ornery tramp Hank (Jack Elam) and feisty old maid shop keeper Willhemeina (The Beverly Hillbillies' Nancy Kulp). Unfortunately, Cole ends up with his enemies as well, being evil banker Jed Curry (Keenan Wynn) and ex-friend/bounty hunter Cass Dowdy (played by long-time western badguy Leo Gordon).

Excerpt from LT Quinn's review located HERE

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

The Night of the Grizzly arrives on Blu-ray from Olive films in a predictable single-layered transfer. The image quality generally looks good with some reasonably unnoticeable flaws here and there.  Skin tones seem quite warm - but colors are rich and contrast exhibits decent-to-strong black levels. This is another straight from source to 1080P without digital restoration. I think it looks pretty good but there is an issue with small fluctuating marks along the left edge of the film. I expect overscan will eliminated this for most consumers and many may not even notice it at all. It does surface through various parts of the film presentation (see sample in last capture) and speckles are there as well.  This Blu-ray still looks better than I was anticipating and gave me a decent, but not 'Wow' presentation.

 

Well, Olive may have heard my complaint about the fluctuating marks at the left edge of the frame on their original release (see last capture). The Signature edition isn't 4K but cited as a "New High-Definition digital restoration". It appears as though the image, from the first release, is cropped, but still in 2.35:1. You can see how much in the captures below. The new transfer also has much richer colors on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It definitely looks better than the, more faint, older Blu-ray image, but there is less information in the frame. Considering the distracting left edge marks - I consider it a great trade-off - this isn't Kurosawa or Citizen Kane. I enjoyed my viewing.     

 

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

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

Fluctuating marks on the left edge throughout the film

 

1) Olive - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

Audio :

The lossless mono track exported some depth in the man vs. animal scenes. It wasn't overwhelming but had some punch via the DTS-HD Master at 911 kbps (16-bit). The rest was clear and clean with no subtitles offered. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked as all Olive Film Blu-rays to date.

 

For their Signature release - Olive use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 2003 kbps but in 24-bit. Not only is the bass response deeper - the higher-end is crisper - it just sounds better - Bear growls, the few rifle shots and especially the score by Leith Stevens (I Married a Monster From Outer Space, 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Garment Jungle). The new Signature release offers optional English (SDH) subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Where Olive Film releases are usually bare-bones this has an interview with Clint Walker reminiscing about 'his favorite film The Night of the Grizzly. He remains an interesting character amusing to listen to with some of his larger-than-life persona waning. But I liked it and hope this a sign Olive will develop more supplements for their future releases.

 

Olive provide an audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan that I have not indulged in yet. Blood on the Claw is a text essay by C. Courtney Joyner (14-page click-thru navigation), repeated is The Legend of Big Jim Cole interview with Clint Walker running 26-minutes and we get some The Night of the Grizzly World Premiere archival footage (just over 6-minutes.) lastly there is an archival video of At Home with Clint Walker and His Home Gymnasium - he looks pretty buff and discuss his hobbies. It runs a dozen minutes. There is an eight-page liner notes leaflet with some pictures and an essay on the film.

 

 

Olive (Signature) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I liked both the western and creature-feature aspects of The Night of the Grizzly. While neither seemed developed to their full potential it was still a good, old-fashioned, story. Hey, big Clint Walker vs. a mean 'ol Bear - what a great premise. The Blu-ray was a claw-swipe better than SD and I did enjoy this and will watch again when in the mood. Cheese-y good - but still good.

 

Obviously Olive corrected the error on the first release (although it may have been incorrectly framed, for all I know) and the new image and audio is certainly superior. Plus they have added some new extras - with the commentary having further value than the original edition. The film's greatness often eludes me - but I did liked it a lot better in the new a/v. Solid adventure! Go for it!   

Gary Tooze

June 5th, 2012

October 26th, 2016

 


 

Olive's first 'Signature' Blu-ray releases:

 Macbeth

(1948)

 High Noon (1952)

 Johnny Guitar (1954)

The Night of the Grizzly

(1966)

 The Quiet Man (1952)

 Hannie Caulder

(1971)

 Father Goose (1964)

Operation Petticoat

(1959)

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

 

       HIGH DEFINITION DVD STORE     ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS

 




 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

 CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!