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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (January 2020): Kino have transferred 1966's The Oscar to Blu-ray. This is from a "Brand New 4K Restoration". Colors (Pathécolor) are the standout with some healthy depth. The HD presentation has no unforgivable flaws - it's bright, a few speckles and decent detail with depth and some texture. It's on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks impressive in 1080P.

NOTE: We have added 32 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in the original English language. It sounds good enough with a score by Percy Faith (Charlie Bubbles). Those with keen ears with note Thanks for the Memory when Bob Hope comes out to host The Oscars and Sammy Cahn's All the Way. Dialogue is clean and clear. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers two new audio commentaries. The first has actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, writer Josh Olson (?) (A History of Violence) and actor Erik Nelson who all seem to have a some form of relationship to colorful Harlan Ellison - who co-wrote the screen play and is also the novella for A Boy and His Dog among a few TV series. They have fun basting the turkey, getting some laughs and expounding on the production. They seem concerned giving a caveat to relatives of Stephen Boyd (famous with every film fan for Fantastic Voyage) in case there are some indults hurled his way. The second has the trifecta of my favorites Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson who can peel the onion layers away as good as anyone - and to no surprise it only smells more pungent. These are easily equivalent to watching the film without... actually the commentaries are superior to tackling the narrative alone. There are trailers for other films.

The Oscar is an amusing over-the-top clunker stacked with brief star appearance and more frequent wannabees. It doesn't intentionally go to the biting depths of David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars but the attempt can still be appreciated, if cringing while doing it. It's more a hideous, poorly scripted The Bad and the Beautiful. The Oscar's reputation far exceeds it and many of the cast went on to redeem themselves. As stated the commentaries hold as much, nay more, value than the film. It's a movie that has value, depending on the viewer and any nostalgia leanings. A strong looking Blu-ray with two amusing commentaries. Your call. 

Gary Tooze