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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
Directed by Richard Franklin
Australia 1981
Stacy Keach is Pat Quid, a lone trucker who plays games to keep his sanity on
long hauls through the desolate Australian Outback. Jamie Lee Curtis is a
free-spirited hitchhiker looking for excitement with a game of her own. And
somewhere up ahead is a maniac in a van whose game may be butchering young women
along the highway. But when the killer decides to raise the stakes, Quid's game
becomes personal ... and the rules of this road are about to take some very
deadly turns. *** Hollywood's Stacy Keach stars in Australia's Road Games. Keach is a truck driver who takes the law in his own hands to capture a serial killer. When the police fail to nab the murderer of hitchhikers, Keach takes to the road, conducting his own search. En route, he picks up hitcher Jamie Lee Curtis--and it is her presence that brings the killer out of hiding and into the bloody finale. Director Richard Franklin's fondness for Hitchcock, which would come to full fruition in Psycho II (1982), is very much in evidence throughout Road Games. Excerpt from B+N located HERE |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: June 8th, 1981
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Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Shout! Factory (Collector's Edition) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
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or buy directly from Indicator: Standard Blu-ray edition coming in October 2021: or buy directly from Indicator: Bonus Captures: |
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Distribution | Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray | Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray | Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:40:38.073 | 1:40:13.382 | 1:40:16.593 |
Video |
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,173,287,719 bytes Feature: 28,738,738,176 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.03 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,512,610,777 bytesFeature: 20,718,440,448 bytesVideo Bitrate: 23.86 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,513,695,833 bytesFeature: 30,007,258,176 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.08 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate Shout! Factory Blu-ray: |
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Bitrate Umbrella Blu-ray: |
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Bitrate Indicator Blu-ray: |
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Audio |
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1654 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1654 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentaries |
Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB
Commentaries LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
LPCM
Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Dolby
Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB |
Subtitles | English, None | English, None | English (SDH), None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory
2.35 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 47,173,287,719 bytesFeature: 28,738,738,176 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.03 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: NEW Australian Long Haul An Interview With Actor Stacy Keach (13:25) NEW Audio Commentary With Cinematographer Vincent Monton, Production Coordinator Helen Watts, And Costume Designer Aphrodite Kondos, Moderated By Filmmaker Mark Hartley NEW 1980 Script Read With Producer/Director Richard Franklin And Actors Stacy Keach And Marion Edwards (1:56:30) NEW Composer Brian May Music Demos Accompanied By Stills And Poster Gallery (4:15) Audio Commentary With Producer/Director Richard Franklin Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making Of Road Games Featuring Interviews With Director Richard Franklin And Actor Stacey Keach (20:23) Extended Interviews From Mark Hartleys Documentary Not Quite Hollywood Featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Stacy Keach, Director Richard Franklin, Stunt Coordinator Grant Page, Screenwriter Everett De Roche, Cinematographer Vincent Monton, And Assistant Director Tom Burstall (1:03:19) Lecture On The Making Of Road Games With Richard Franklin, Co-producer Barbi Taylor, And Composer Brian May, Introduced By Critic Tom Ryan (2:10:22) Profile On Richard Franklin (1981 - 23:25) Audio Interview With Richard Franklin (2001 - 23:28) Audio Interview With Actor Stacy Keach (2016 - 9:10) Audio Interview With Stunt Coordinator And Actor Grant Page (2016 - 32:48) Gallery Of Stills, Production Shots, Storyboards, Newspaper Reviews, Promotional And Artwork Materials (32:11) Theatrical Trailer (2:11)
Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,512,610,777 bytesFeature: 20,718,440,448 bytesVideo Bitrate: 23.86 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Richard Franklin Kangaroo Hitchcock: The Making of "Road Games" - Featurette with Producer/Director Richard Franklin and Actor Stacy Keach (20:20) Uncut 'Not Quite Hollywood' Interviews with Jamie-Lee Curtis, Stacy Keach, Grant Page, Richard Franklin, Everett De Roche,Vincent Monton & Tom Burstall (1:03:15) Newly-Discovered Two Hour lecture on the Making of Road Games from Richard Franklin, Barbi Taylor & Brian May - 20/11/1980 (2:10:20) New Extensive Gallery accompanied by Essay written by Fangoria writer Lee Gambin: Gallery of stills, Production Shots, Storyboards, Newspaper Reviews, Promotional & Artwork Materials Featurette on 4k Telecine Transfer by Roar Digital featuring SD-to-HD Comparisons, Quality Approval & Interview with DoP Vincent Monton (10:49) 1981 Interview with Richard Franklin (24:32) 2001 Audio Interview with Richard Franklin (23:29) New Audio Interview with Road Games Lead Actor Stacy Keach (9:10) New Audio Interview with Road Games Stunt Co-ordinator & Actor Grant Page (32:53) HD Theatrical Trailer (2:08)
Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 13 |
Release Information: Studio: Shout! Factory
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 48,513,695,833 bytesFeature: 30,007,258,176 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.08 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: Audio commentary with director Richard Franklin (2003) Audio commentary with cinematographer Vincent Monton, costume designer Aphrodite Kondos, production secretary Helen Watts, and film historian Mark Hartley (2019) Audio commentary with writers and programmers Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe (2020) Kangaroo Hitchcock (2003): archival documentary on the making of Roadgames featuring interviews with Franklin and actor Stacy Keach (20:07) Australian Long Haul (2019): actor Stacy Keach discusses the role of Pat Quid and working in Australia (13:25) Audio interview with Stacy Keach (2016): further thoughts on the film by the actor (9:10) Audio interview with Richard Franklin (2001): the director recalls his early career as a filmmaker and the production of Roadgames (23:08) Archival Interview with Richard Franklin (1981): documentary profile of the director (25:32) Audio interview with Grant Page (2016): an in-depth discussion with the actor and stunt co-ordinator (32:48) 'Not Quite Hollywood' Interview Excerpts (2008): over an hour of outtakes from Hartley's acclaimed documentary on Australian cinema, featuring Franklin, Page, actors Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis, screenwriter Everett De Roche, and assistant director Tom Burstall (1:03:17) Roadgames: A Lecture (1980): archival recording of Franklin, co-producer Barbi Taylor and composer Brian May discussing the making of the film (2:10:28) Neil Sinyard on 'Roadgames' (2020): newly filmed appreciation by the British film historian (12:40) ...And His Ghost May Be Heard (1973): rare short film by Franklin, marking his first collaboration with Roadgames cinematographer Monton (15:31) Script Read (1980): audio recording of a pre-production read-through, featuring Franklin and actors Keach and Marion Edward (1:56:29) Music demos: excerpts from the Brian May score in demo form (4:12) Original theatrical trailer (2:11) Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Lee Gambin, extensive archival interviews with Richard Franklin, Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis, Franklin's 1980 Alfred Hitchcock obituary, an overview of contemporary critical responses, Mark Hartley on ...And His Ghost May Be Heard, and film credits Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster
Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
ADDITION: Indicator
Blu-ray
(December 2020): The new Indicator 1080P transfer is from a "New 2020
restoration from a 4K scan of the duplicate negative, produced exclusively
for this release" and, frankly, it blows the other
Blu-rays
out of the water in terms of image quality. Firstly, while it is also
4K-restored, it is from a superior source and it has a max'ed out bitrate.
The harsh contrast of the other two HD presentations made it look flawed or
at least from a compromised source (undoubtedly both Shout! and Umbrella
used the same elements.) The Indicator also shows more information in the
frame. It has authentic 1.0 channel mono audio (linear PCM), English (SDH)
subtitles but also more bountiful supplements including most of those on the
other releases ('Kangaroo Hitchcock', 2003 and 2019 commentaries, the
2+ hour lecture, Uncut 'Not Quite Hollywood' interviews, audio
interviews etc. ) but also a new (2020)
NOTE: We have added 24 more large
resolution Blu-ray captures
(in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE
This is easily the definitive digital edition of the
Ozploitation gem Road Games - leaving no stone unturned and
in a beautiful, complete,
Blu-ray
package. Indicator separate themselves from the crowd...
again.
Road Games
is an above-average murder-thriller with its own genre-appeal. It has plenty of undisclosed
details (Jamie Lee Curtis as an heiress hitchhiking in the middle of the
desert?) but Keach was a great, final, choice for the lead and it has
some engaging suspenseful sequences. Strongly recommended!
***
***
On their
Blu-ray,
Shout! Factory use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the
original English language. It is akin to the video with imperfect audio
but a decent tense score by
Brian May who composed for other
Ozploitation
films like
Snapshot,
The
Survivor, Turkey
Shoot, and
Nightmares sounding deeper with
suspenseful atmoshere. Shout! Factory offer optional English
subtitles on their Region 'A'
Blu-ray.
What a totally loaded disc of supplements.
Shout! Factory include 2 audio commentaries including a new one with
cinematographer Vincent Monton, Production Coordinator Helen Watts, And
costume designer Aphrodite Kondos, Moderated by Filmmaker Mark Hartley (Not
Quite Hollywood). They discuss Richard Franklin not having control
of casting, compromises etc. the toxic shooting environment, running
behind schedule, unrealistic budget, first time rear-projection had been
used in Australia, originally Sean Connery was an option over Stacey
Keach, Franklin wanted Cliff Robertson, turned down Mel Gibson when
suggested, poor costumes and other interesting back-details of the
production of Road Games. The commentary even has some conflict!
There is also an older commentary with producer / director Richard
Franklin as found on the past DVDs. There are plenty more new extras;
Australian Long Haul is a 14-minute interview with actor Stacy Keach
recalling the film, the 1980 script read with producer/director Richard
Franklin and actors Stacy Keach and Marion Edwards running almost
2-hours, a brief piece on Brian May music demos accompanied by Stills
and Poster Gallery. I liked Kangaroo Hitchcock: a 20-minute
Making Of Road Games featuring interviews with Franklin Keach and
others. There are over an hour's worth of extended interviews from Mark
Hartleys documentary Not Quite Hollywood featuring Jamie Lee
Curtis, Stacy Keach, Director Richard Franklin, stunt coordinator Grant
Page, screenwriter Everett De Roche, Cinematographer Vincent Monton, and
Assistant Director Tom Burstall. We get a two hour Lecture On The
Making Of Road Games with Richard Franklin, Co-producer Barbi
Taylor, and Composer Brian May, introduced by Critic Tom Ryan, a
20-minute Profile On Richard Franklin from 1981, and audio
interviews with Richard Franklin, Stacy Keach and Stunt Coordinator and
actor Grant Page running shy of an hour in total. There is a 1/2 hour
gallery of Stills, Production Shots, Storyboards, Newspaper
clippings with reviews, Promotional and Artwork Materials and
lastly, a theatrical trailer. Phew.
One of the more interesting of the
Ozploitation pics with Franklin's Hitchcock influences showing
through. |
Menus / Extras
Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
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Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE 3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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Box Cover |
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Also coming to the UK on Blu-ray from Indicator in December 2020: Standard Blu-ray edition coming in October 2021: or buy directly from Indicator: |
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Distribution | Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray | Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |