The 4K UHD of Norman Jewison's In The Heat of the Night with a Blu-ray of They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and The Organization is compared HERE

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: The Mirisch Corporation

Video: Kino Lorber

 

Disc:

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

Runtime: 1:47:56.887

Disc Size: 23,345,434,812 bytes

Feature Size: 21,852,721,152 bytes

Video Bitrate: 24.00 Mbps

Chapters: 8

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: May 12th, 2015

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1570 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1570 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

 

Subtitles:

None

 

Extras:

• Trailers For: In the Heat of the Night (2:25), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (2:04), The Organization (2:55)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Screen icon Sidney Poitier (Paris Blues) reprises his role as Lt. Virgil Tibbs for a third and final time, following the masterpiece In the Heat of the Night and the thrilling sequel They Call Me Mister Tibbs! Under the cover of darkness, six masked figures raid a seemingly respectable furniture factory and steal a multimillion-dollar cache of heroin! But these are no ordinary crooks. They're a passionate band of former users-turned-vigilantes whose frustration with the law's inability to combat the city's drug problem spurs them to take on a powerful narcotics ring. After contacting Tibbs, they confess to the break-in, beg him to keep silent and ask for his help. But once he reluctantly agrees to operate outside the law, Tibbs soon finds himself at odds with the police and a ruthless drug syndicate that will stop at nothing to silence him! Don Medford (The Hunting Party) directs this taut thriller that exposes the ruthless, high-stakes world of international drug trafficking. Barbara McNair (Venus in Furs), Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Sheree North, Allen Garfield, Raul Julia, Ron O'Neal, Daniel J. Travanti and Billy Green Bush co-star in this action-packed crime thriller that is edge-of-the-seat entertainment.

 

 

The Film:

Poitier's third (and final) appearance as Lt Virgil Tibbs, now risen beyond the good black cop idea to regular good cop, with all the hagiography this implies (good looks, boyish charm, nice wife, happy kids; against him the villains are unpleasant, faceless, childless, ruthless). The organization is a world-wide heroin combine operating behind the façade of big business. None too convincing (since the film is torn between the need to make them ridiculous and the need to have us rooting for them) is the group of good-hearted liberals who, distressed by the fuzz's lack of action, decide to take on the organization themselves. Tibbs, needless to say, does an exemplary job. In spite of everything, the climactic action sequences are genuinely intriguing and totally involving.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

 

Don Medford, a video veteran, naturally has directed with an eye on speed and gunplay, and his color cameras have recorded it all with eye-catching effects. James R. Webb's script, which economically and colloquially matches the pace of the action, does not, however, do much beyond indicating the nature of the characters involved.

The opening sequence, in which a highly efficient gang using sophisticated equipment stealthily snatches a $4-million heroin cache from a furniture factory, is tension-packed stuff full of promise. More fireworks do go off, but these are far less imaginative and convincing as we proceed to an explosive climax in the unfinished San Francisco subway.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

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

The Organization - another crime drama with Lt Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) has come to Blu-ray from Kino Lorber on a single-layered disc with a reasonable bitrate for the 1 3/4 hour feature. It is quite thick with plenty of texture and nothing remarkable in terms of HD tightness. It is in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The outdoor, naturally lit, scenes looks superior with some color vibrancy and depth. It certainly doesn't reach the heights of the format but as an accurate representation - it is probably not far off.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Kino Lorber offer the audio via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel in original English at 1570 kbps. Effects have some depth but nothing seems remarkable. The score is by Gil Melle (The Andromeda Strain, The Deliberate Stranger, 7 episodes of Kolchak the Night Stalker and Frankenstein: The True Story) and seems to support the film's moods. There are no subtitles offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Included are trailers of the three Virgil Tibbs films; In the Heat of the Night (2:25), They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (2:04), and The Organization (2:55)

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I think The Organization is a decent crime drama. Not exceptional but still a good story and Poitier is his usual excellent self. Nice to see the perennial hottie Sheree North (The Outfit, The Shootist, Manic Cop) here as well.  I have no complaints with the Kino Lorber Blu-ray excepting that they could have put this and, the simultaneously released, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! on one dual-layered BD disc - certainly adding to the value. 

Gary Tooze

April 20th, 2015

 

The Organization is coming to Blu-ray in July 2022 by Kino in a Double Feature with They Call Me Mister Tibbs! :

 

The 4K UHD of Norman Jewison's In The Heat of the Night with a Blu-ray of They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and The Organization is compared HERE