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

Kino bring the Italian production The Rover (L'avventuriero) directed by Terence Young to their expanding line of Blu-rays. The Kino video transfer is 1080P on a single-layered disc with a supportive bitrate but it looks decidedly soft. It's very thick looking as if the surviving source is compromised. The heaviness is consistent and it looks far better in-motion than the static screen captures below. But it is certainly not the height of the format with a very underwhelming image quality. However the film has are some nice beach and coastal scenes at Capodarco, Fermo, Marche, Italy. 

The audio is transferred via DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel (16-bit) track in the original English (some minor Italian). There are some early sea-faring battle effects but little else in the way of aggression. The score is one of the highlight composed by the iconic Ennio Morricone (Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, The Fifth Cord, Luna, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.)  and it has some fitting mood shifts with a historical edge in the lossless. There are no subtitles offered on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Kino include a new audio commentary by Film Historians Lee Gambin and Dr. Eloise Ross who work well together and Lee's enthusiasm is infectious - he is a true film fan with a lot to share and I thought he worked well with Dr. Ross. Being such an less-seen film there is a lot to learn about The Rover and the discussion leads in many areas about the cast, crew, locations and more. There are also a handful of Kino trailers but none for this film.

The Rover is an odd film but holds together with the fine performances from Anthony Quinn, Rita Hayworth, Rosanna Schiaffino and Richard Johnson. It seems to be a mix of genres - pirate, thriller, drama, war, romance, adventure... and it doesn't seem cohesive at times, It is a lesser-seen effort with only a limited initial distribution and I'm glad I was able to see it. Thanks to Kino for releasing it on Blu-ray with the valued commentary that explains some of its plot content and origins. Unfortunately, Rita Hayworth has only a minor role but her fans may wish to pick this up for the rest of the cast - and it being such an interesting oddity.

Gary Tooze