The Boys in the Band Blu-ray - Laurence Luckinbill

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by William Friedkin
USA 1970

In 1968, an Off-Broadway play about a birthday party attended by a group of homosexual men made theatrical history by becoming the first play to deal honestly with gay urban life. The party brings together a group of misfits that have become clichés -- the self-loathing alcoholic, the bitchy queen, the flamboyant sissy, the stud-for-hire - for an evening of truth-telling. The film version of The Boys in the Band (1970), starring the play's original cast, has also become a landmark in the history of gays in film. Like many historical artifacts, it now seems dated in its attitudes. But the film's significance is undoubted, and its wicked wit is still intact.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: March 17th, 1970

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray vs. Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

1) Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Paramount Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray	Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:59:44	2:00:00.193	2:00:01.277
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.42 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,827,532,409 bytes Feature: 18,857,859,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 17.94 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,474,682,617 bytes Feature: 32,550,260,736 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Kino Blu-ray
Bitrate: Second Sight Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1586 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1586 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps	LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	None	None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Paramount Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Audio commentary by director William Friedkin • The Boys in the Band: The Play (13:58) • The Boys in the Band: The Movie (24:46) • The Boys in the Band: Today (5:29) • Trailer for Queer as Folk - Complete Series DVD Release Date: November 11th, 2008 Keep Case inside a cardboard box Chapters: 12	Release Information: Studio: Kino Lorber Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 24,827,532,409 bytes Feature: 18,857,859,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 17.94 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by director William Friedkin • The Boys in the Band: The Play (14:00) • The Boys in the Band: The Movie (24:48) • The Boys in the Band: Today (5:39) Blu-ray Release Date: June 16th, 2015 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters 11	Release Information: Studio: Second Sight Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,474,682,617 bytes Feature: 32,550,260,736 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.97 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary by director William Friedkin • Mark Gattis and Ian Hallard on The Boys in the Band (23:21) • The Boys in the Band: The Play (14:00) • The Boys in the Band: The Movie (24:48) • The Boys in the Band: Today (5:39) Blu-ray Release Date: February 11th, 2019 Black Blu-ray case Chapters 18

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Second Sight - Region 'B' - Blu-ray February 2019': The new Second Sight Blu-ray of The Boys in the Band is the best presentation. It is on a dual-layered disc with over 50% more than the Kino bitrate. This shows in no noise, and richer, deeper colors. It is also in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio and looks like the same source - just with a more technically robust transfer.

Linear PCM for the audio - also 16-bit and I couldn't distinguish much difference. Second Sight do add optional English subtitles - no present on the other digital releases. It is Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray.

Same commentary and the three 'act' featurettes. Second Sight add a 23-minute conversation with Mark Gattis and Ian Hallard on The Boys in the Band - reflecting on its initial response of the film etc.

The Second Sight is the best Blu-ray package advancing in every area over the 2015 Kino - better transfer, subtitles and an additional supplement. It's the one to get for this seminal film.

***

ADDITION: Kino Lorber - Region 'A' - Blu-ray May 15': This Kino Lorber 1080P predictably advances upon the older SD in the usual areas. Colors are richer and the green cast on the DVD image is gone, the Blu-ray is brighter has depth and provides a more film-like sense being crisper with some minor texture. Like the Paramount DVD it is transferred at 1.78:1. The HD looks good in-motion with some noise.

The audio is transferred via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1586 kbps. Dialogue driven there is some excellent music including Cole Porter's Anything Goes and Burt Bacharach The Look of Love closing the film out - and sounding beautiful via the lossless. There is more; Martha & The Vandellas' Love Is Like a Heat Wave and other hits sprinkled in the film. Like the DVD there are no subtitles. The Blu-ray disc is coded for region 'A'.

Extras duplicate the Paramount DVD with the audio commentary by director William Friedkin and the three part 'making of' (comments below).

Solid release - the film continues to grow on me - love the dialogue and performances. Absolutely recommended to those who have not seen it. Double-dipping will depend on your love for Boys in the Band.

***

ON THE DVD: Image quality on this dual-layered, progressive DVD is quite strong especially for a film approaching it's 39th birthday. It's framed at 1.78 and is anamorphically enhanced - colors looks brighter than I would have expected while contrast and black levels are top-shelf as rendered for the SD-DVD format. I see no untoward manipulation or boosting.

Audio is a 2.0 channel offering - fairly unremarkable but competent and close, I'll wager, to the way it was produced. Surprisingly there are no subtitle options nor any chapter stops.

Extras include a commentary from Friedkin whom I always love to listen to. He focuses on the production - even of the DVD (colors) - and various minutia only privy to a director of a project including intent and lighting. His memory seems pretty good considering the age of the film. There are about 45 minutes worth of featurettes - divided into three separate pieces which overlap a bit of the information in the commentary. Still, we get input from the original playwright Mart Crowley and some of The Boy's in the Band's producers.

This remains quite a dynamic film expression with excellent dialogue that I'm sure history will continue to favor. Paramount have supplied us with a healthy DVD transfer and some relevant extras. Recommended for those keen on this strong character set-piece and sampling Friedkin's early work.