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

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (June 2021): Imprint have transferred John Farrow's Plunder of the Sun to 1080P as spine number #47 as part of their Essential Film Noir: Collection 2 on Blu-ray with Hollywood Story (1951), The City That Never Sleeps (1953), Plunder of the Sun (1953) and Private Hell 36 (1954). It appears to be from the same master as the DVD (same marks) but is transferred in 1080P. We get over 5X the SD bitrate and the image improves in all the expected areas. Contrast is more layered, details slightly rises, it is brighter and there is some appealing depth now. Texture is fairly subtle. Overall a very nice bump over the DVD. It looked wonderful on my system. 

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. It highlights the score by Antonio Díaz Conde (277 film credits) and, uncredited, Hugo Friedhofer (One-Eyed Jacks Two Flags West, Man in the Attic, Ace in the Hole, Body and Soul, Gilda, The Bishop's Wife) that adds tension and carries subtle depth. Imprint, also, offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray has a new interview with film critic Barry Forshaw on “Plunder In The Sun” for a dozen minutes talking about the Film Noir idiom - Plunder of the Sun being a hybrid of the cycle. It also has the same commentary by Peter Ford (Glen Ford’s son) and writer / historian Frank Thompson from the 2006 DVD as well as those other supplements; "On Location with Glenn Ford” – a brief series of photos accompanied by Peter Ford’s reading of a letter his father wrote to his grandmother while on location. A "Plundering History” featurette, "The John Wayne Stock Company: Sean McClory” video piece and there is a theatrical trailer.

I was far more 'into' Plunder of the Sun after recently revisiting the Eddie Mueller commentary on Alias Nick Beal and his comments on director John Farrow. Glenn Ford? - at his most charismatic, suave and tough. Diana Lynn's voice really does remind me of Gloria Grahame. It has many characteristics of Noir; lighting, misanthropic, financially desperate, protagonist, with a historical adventure-treasure-hunt focus in the vein of The Maltese Falcon. Seedy characters, suspicious femme fatales, greed... and murder. I really enjoyed this Imprint Blu-ray viewing, also appreciating the excellent Barry Forshaw supplement. Vintage film and dark cinema advocates invited to indulge. 

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD (June 2006): Everything is kind of 'status-quo' with this Paramount Collector's Edition DVD - an acceptable but unremarkable image - solid, consistent audio and it is stacked with relevant extras (and a commentary which I will report on soon). There is no extensive damage and faux-grain is not a big issue - in fact, detail is quite tight if contrast is comparatively weak. I think The Batjac Suspense Collection is a no-brainer buy with great value for what we are getting. I'll report on the other two soon (See Track of the Cat HERE)