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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.

Director Richard Franklin (Psycho II) packs plenty of Hitchcock-like twists and suspense into this sly shocker that was nominated for four Australian Film Institute Awards and remains one of the most surprising thrillers of the '80s.

***

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

Theatrical Release: June 8th, 1981

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

 

 

   

 

or buy directly from Indicator:

Standard Blu-ray edition coming in October 2021:

or buy directly from Indicator:

Bonus Captures:

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 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 41,512,610,777 bytes

Feature: 20,718,440,448 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.86 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,513,695,833 bytes

Feature: 30,007,258,176 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.08 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Shout! Factory Blu-ray:

Bitrate Umbrella Blu-ray:

Bitrate Indicator Blu-ray:

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 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps / DN -4dB

Commentaries
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps

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
Commentaries:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -27dB
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -27dB

Subtitles English, None English, None English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Shout! Factory

 

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 Mbps

Codec: 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 Hartley’s 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)


Blu-ray Release Date:
November 12th, 2019
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 bytes

Feature: 20,718,440,448 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.86 Mbps

Codec: 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)


Blu-ray Release Date:
August 5th, 2016
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 bytes

Feature: 30,007,258,176 bytes

Video Bitrate: 35.08 Mbps

Codec: 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


Blu-ray Release Date:
December 14th
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) audio commentary with writers and programmers Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe, Neil Sinyard on 'Roadgames',  a rare 1973, 1/4 hour, short film by Franklin "...And His Ghost May Be Heard" marking his first collaboration with Roadgames cinematographer Monton plus a 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 and a limited edition exclusive double-sided poster.

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! 

***

ADDITION: Umbrella Blu-ray (October 2020): Just a short note here, we added the 2016 Umbrella Blu-ray - which is remarkably similar (stated as a 4K -restored video) to the newer Shout! Factory CE, but we will revisit when we add the Indicator Blu-ray later this year. Stay tuned!

***

ADDITION: Shout! Factory Blu-ray (November 2019): Shout! Factory have transferred the 80's Ozploitation flic Road Games to Blu-ray in a stacked 'Collector's Edition'. It looks fairly weak digitally, but this would be a reflection of the source utilized - which may be compromised. This is in 1080P on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It is a dark film, the visuals are gritty - not much depth, in fact, can look flat but I do see some texture. I think we just have to put this down to the fact that not all films look tight and glossy on Blu-ray. I didn't see strong damage (a bit in the last frame of some scenes) - and it looks consistent in-motion. Gotta hope there is a better source out there.

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 Hartley’s 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. 

Gary Tooze

 


Menus / Extras

 

Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 

Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray


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

 

1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray TOP

2) Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Indicator Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE
 

 


  

 

Box Cover

 

  

   

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:

Distribution Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Umbrella - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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