H D - S E N S E I

A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Extremities [Blu-ray]

(Robert M. Young, 1986)

Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Theatrical: Atlantic Entertainment Group

Video: Olive Films

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:29:26.402

Disc Size: 23,167,340,650 bytes

Feature Size: 22,585,995,264 bytes

Video Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: May 19th, 2015

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1951 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1951 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Subtitles:

• None

Extras:

• Trailer (2:10)

Bitrate:

Description: Farrah Fawcett stars as Marjorie, the victim of a robbery and near rape by an attacker (Joe played by James Russo, Beverly Hills Cop) who she has successfully fought off. But her feeling of safety is short-lived when she realizes that Joe has her address from the stolen items. An emboldened Marjorie puts a plan into action; she’ll turn the tables on her attacker, making the aggressor the victim. After entering her home, Joe finds himself overpowered, outmaneuvered and held captive by the newly empowered Marjorie. Now the real battle begins. Extremities is a tense, edge of your seat drama based on the smash off-Broadway play that garnered Farrah Fawcett a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a dramatic role.

The Film:

Attacked by a masked assailant, Marjorie (Farrah Fawcett) lives in mortal fear that the unidentified man will strike again -- especially since he knows her address. Sure enough, Joe the attacker (James Russo) breaks into Marjorie's home and subjects her to a night of terror and sexual humiliation. But Marjorie manages to turns the tables on her attacker, knocking him unconscious and rendering him helpless. The remainder of the story charts Marjorie's battle with herself: should she turn Joe over to the authorities, who may very well set him free, or should she mete out her own punishment.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

Attacked by a masked would-be rapist (Russo), Fawcett manages to escape but leaves her ID behind. The police ('Ever been picked up for prostitution before?') are less than sympathetic, and her two flatmates are kind enough to take her car with them when they leave her alone to face, as she and we know, her assailant's inevitable return. What follows is an hour of violent and voyeuristically relished confrontation as Fawcett, initially stripped, humiliated and terrorised, manages to turn the tables to blind and cage her 'animal' aggressor. This offensive adaptation of William Mastrosimone's controversial play suggests that there was never much question of making any serious attempt to deal with the important subjects raised. The use of subjective camera and meaningless circling shots cannot disguise either the essential abuse of cinematic technique or the crippling lack of psychological insight and detail. Under the restrictive hand of Young's direction, Russo's moronic 'Method' maniac and Fawcett's grimy avenger are equated as mere beasts in this one-room zoo.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

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

Extremities arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Films. Predictably single-layered but a high bitrate for the 1 1/2 hour film. The source here seems in excellent shape and the 1080P image is surprisingly strong. There is no noise in the plentiful dark scenes and the detail is impressive in the many close-ups. Contrast is well-layered and colors are true and tight. The Blu-ray has no flaws and provides a very good video presentation.

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

Audio :

Olive transfer the audio via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1951 kbps. It has some depth with the fight sequences but not much is needed beyond that. The score is by J.A.C. Redford who, aside from this, has done almost exclusively TV work. It's fairly subtle and less remarkable but the quality is solid. There are no subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras :

No supplements - aside from a trailer. It would have been nice to see some form of vintage interview with Farrah. She passed away in 2009.

BOTTOM LINE:
Extremities was shown theatrically although I always remember it as a exceptional TV movie. The film is all Farrah and she is excellent... and her disheveled appearance still can't hide her natural appeal. The adaptation of the play by William Mastriosimone (who also worked on it for the screen) seems competent and the subtle details follow the plot. You need some suspension of disbelief but the performances augment the realism and it's a riveting, revenge-based, drama. Olive's Blu-ray gives a good presentation. It's a film I am glad to have seen again after so many years. It's no masterpiece, but it is suspenseful. Recommended!

Gary Tooze

May 4th, 2015

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