Night Moves Blu-ray - Gene Hackman

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

directed by Arthur Penn
USA 1975

The Criterion Blu-ray / 4K UHD of Night Moves is reviewed / compared HERE

L.A. detective Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) has problems. Missing persons and bedroom stakeouts are no match for his glory days as a pro football player. His wife is having a not-so-secret affair. And while sorting things out, he takes on the case of a runaway teenager that may be a lot more than he can handle. Director Arthur Penn, who worked with Hackman on Bonnie and Clyde and Target, guides this spellbinding, first-rate thriller where solutions to murderous riddles don’t come easily. Joining Hackman and Penn are two actors just starting out on the road to stardom: James Woods and Melanie Griffith. The stars come out – and so does the excitement – when the Night Moves.

Poster

Theatrical Release: June 11th, 1975

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Comparison:

Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		Coming to 4K UHD by Criterion in the US and UK March 2025:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC	Warner Archive Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:39:30	1:39:42.935
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.73 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,332,576,932 bytes Feature: 29,160,486,912 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.98 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 Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 1.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1996 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1996 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • The Day of the Director (Featurette) - (8:32) • Trailer - anamorphic widescreen - (2:13) DVD Release Date: July 12th, 2005 Keep Case Chapters: 27	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.78:1 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,332,576,932 bytes Feature: 29,160,486,912 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.98 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • The Day of the Director (Featurette) - (8:35) • Trailer (2:21) Blu-ray Release Date: August 15th, 2017 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

The Criterion Blu-ray / 4K UHD of Night Moves is reviewed / compared HERE
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive - Region FREE Blu-ray - September 2017: Warner's new 1080P transfer has some significant differences from their 12-year old DVD. It has the usual improvement in detail, grain support, layered contrast but the colors occasionally take a more dramatic shift exhibiting normal, cooler, flesh tones (see Hackman's face in the fifth set of captures). It's dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate and the image quality is excellent. Their is some inherent softness but colors are tight with richness and there is impressive detail in close-ups. Still in 1.78:1. In-motion it looks wonderful. No damage and a fine presentation.

Warner use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel (24-bit) and it, likewise, seems a faithful representation of the original. There's a touch of aggression; boat, plane and car sounds - and they do export depth. The score is by Michael Small (Child's Play, Black Widow, Child's Play, Night Moves, The Driver, The Star Chamber) and has the same mysterious noir edge also found in Black Widow. Once again a Warner Archive Blu-ray with only optional English subtitles in a capitalized (YELLING) font. The Blu-ray disc is region FREE!

Same extra as the old DVD - and they aren't much considering the lauded film (on our TOP 100 Neo Noir listing HERE.) This Blu-ray is a good deal for around $15. Great film, strong performances - Jennifer Warren has a lot of presence, and young Melanie shows some skin - an insightful commentary would have made it essential. Instead, it's simply recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: This image looks reasonable. I don't see any manipulation, it is progressively transferred and is 16X9 enhanced. I suspect that this is pretty close to how the film looked theatrically. Although skin tones tend to look red, it is Florida (Sanibel island). Our protagonist in the film makes a rather disconcerting remark about one of my favorite directors (Eric Rohmer) but I'll let that pass :).

A real neo-noir representation that got some noted acclaim. Hackman is, as always, a great lead. I wasn't overly impressed with the short featurette included but I suppose it was available and nothing else could be dug up. Original audio is flat and unremarkable - subtitles are excellent. A reasonably priced DVD recommended for Hackman lovers and fans of the thriller/gumshoe genre. This one is worth it! out of