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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (March 2021): Imprint have transferred Robert Duvall's The Apostle to Blu-ray. It doesn't look great in 1080P. I question the source. Great film but the image is 'thin' with brooding digitization. I found it SD-upscale-ish in appearance. It is consistent and looked acceptable on my system - better than DVD - but remains one of the weaker from Imprint although any enhancements are fairly subtle, its impact would depend on how sensitive you are to the effect on the visuals. Texture is less prevalent and fairly blocky but the negatives are de-emphasized in-motion on the dual-layered disc with a high bitrate.   

NOTE: We have added 58 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM stereo track (24-bit) in the original English language. It is clean and consistent film's audio and score by David Mansfield (Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate - he also played the fiddler in that film, Broken Trail with Duvall - who does some Gospel singing in The Apostle; There Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down) plus others will note June Carter Cash playing Mrs. Dewey Sr. singing Waitin' on the Far Side Banks of Jordan, Chris Farren's You Didn't Have to Say It, Out Loud, we hear The Bible Rap Song and country-music pieces by Lyle Lovett and Dolly Parton. It all sounds impacting in the lossless. Imprint offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray offers the older commentary by director / writer / producer / star Robert Duvall and you can feel the passion he had for this project, the actors he worked with; Farrah Fawcett, Miranda Richardson, Billy Bob Thornton, John Beasley etc.. His commentary is very revealing and he divulges some keen information on certain scenes - removing language, adding or removing segments etc. There is also an all-new 12-minute interview with actor John Beasley entitled "What You See Is What You Get: Inside The Apostle". he discusses the production and his important role of Brother Blackwell. We get to spend a dozen minutes with composer David Mansfield in a new (2020) interview entitled "I'll Fly Away: Composing For The Apostle". Also new is Mystery of Faith: The Flawed Hero of The Apostle - a visual essay by Ian Mantgani who discusses the irony of the Sonny character showing himself as violent, a lothario but kind and giving. He mentions Bresson's Diary of a Country Priest. “The Journey of the Apostle” is a 1/2 hour vintage featurette and there is a 10-minute 'MCA Records Soundtrack Presentation' featurette and a theatrical trailer. The package has a limited edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies (see below.)

NOTE: The Imprint website currently advertises a second commentary - by Peter Tonguette - but it is not here.

It took almost ten years for Robert Duvall to make The Apostle until he, eventually, had to fund it himself. Revivalist worship is a unique and fascinating part of Americana and the film is much deserved of a Blu-ray release. Despite my reservations on the image quality, this package is endorsed for the actor/writer/director's masterful and very impacting film plus the extensive supplements including commentary, interviews and visual essay. 

Gary Tooze