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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Greed in the Sun aka Cent mille dollars au soleil [Blu-ray]

 

(Henri Verneuil, 1964)

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Gaumont Distribution

Video: Olive Films

 

Disc:

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

Runtime: 2:05:16.509

Disc Size: 23,334,906,505 bytes

Feature Size: 22,605,821,952 bytes

Video Bitrate: 22.00 Mbps

Chapters: 9

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: October 30th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio French 879 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 879 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

• English (burned-in)

 

Extras:

• Trailer

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Rocco (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his female accomplice, AngŠle (Anne-Maire Coffinet) hijack a truck from a trucking company in the Saharan desert. The head of the trucking company, Castigliano (Gert Frobe, Goldfinger) hires Rocco's friend, Herv‚ (Lino Ventura) and a newly employed German, Hans (Reginald Kernan) to go after him and bring the back the valuable goods. After the two run into some trouble Castigliano sends a second truck driven by Mitch (Bernard Blier) and Khenouche (Doudou Babet). The great Henri Verneuil (The Sicilian Clan) directed this action-packed adventure in the tradition of Wages of Fear - the uncut director's cut.

 

 

The Film:

Before Greed in the Sun was released to the States by way of MGM, this French/Italian co-production had made the European... rounds under the titles 100,000 Dollars au Soleil and Centomilia Dollare al Sol. As any good linguist can gather, the catalyst for this action melodrama is 100,000 dollars---actually 100,000 dollars worth of guns and ammunition, unknowingly transported to African insurrectionists by truck driver Reginald Kernan. Fellow trucker Jean-Paul Belmondo teams with his girlfriend Andrea Parisy to hijack the shipment. Gert Frobe, head of the trucking company, offers Kernan a large reward for the return of the truck and its contents.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

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

Greed in the Sun looks quite strong on Blu-ray from Olive Films. Again, only single-layered but contrast is at the higher-end - more the condition of the source, which has solid range. I don't know that dual-layering would benefit the visuals extensively. There is some minor gloss on the 2.35:1 aspect ratio frame but no moiring. The outdoor sequences dominate and, naturally, looked the best. There is some impressive desert scenery. The Blu-ray gave me a positive viewing presentation.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Another supportive score from Georges Delerue sounding fine in the DTS-HD mono track at 879 kbps. There is no depth or range to speak of but it seems a faithful transfer without flaws. There is some decent depth but nothing dynamic.  There are burned-in subtitles (French dialogue film) and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE.

 

Extras :

Only a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with their releases.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Greed in the Sun captures some of the essence of Wages of Fear. Certainly a different film but offers the same appeal - not as nail-biting but a good adventure nonetheless. The Olive Blu-ray (weak cover though) gives a very pleasing 1080P presentation. I liked the characters and this will be a film I will re-watch. We recommend - those keen should definitely consider indulging. 

Gary Tooze

October 24th, 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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