Product Description

Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 19-MAY-2009
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4429 in DVD
• Brand: REDFORD,ROBERT
• Released on: 2009-05-19
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 117 minutes

Customer Reviews

Better view than the DVD. But only if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $10 or less
Film has very problematic picture and sound quality on Blu-Ray. It's a great 70s era "conspiracy" film, and very slow and talky in the Sydney Pollack way, that appears rather quaint and naive considering what we have learned about the way the world works since then.

The source transfer for "3 Days of the Condor" has obviously not been re-done for Blu-Ray, and appears to be the same source transfer used for the much older DVD edition of this film. Although the superior medium and capabilities of a 1080p Blu-Ray disc make this an upgraded way to view this material, the limitations of an aging source transfer abound and call attention to themselves. Detail is good in well lit scenes, much less so on indirectly lit surfaces and shadows. Blacks are unstable, noisy and milky. Skin tone and texture show the waxy effect of DNR (digital noise reduction). Much of the "grain" appears to be tele-cine noise, much more than the actual grain in the original material. The sound is mediocre. All in all a better view than the DVD version. But only worth renting, or if it can be purchased used or on mark down at $10 or less. A fine film. But this Blu-Ray edition is certainly not worth $20.

Blu-ray: A wonderful thriller that gets its HD transfer but I wished there was commentary and more special features
In Nov. 1975, "Three Days of the Condor", a suspenseful conspiracy thriller based on the novel by James Grady (titled "Six Days of the Condor) was adapted to film and directed by Sydney Pollack ("Sabrina" (1995), "The Firm", "The Way We Were") and a screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. ("King Kong", "Flash Gordon", "Sheena", etc.) and David Rayfiel was released in theaters.

The film which received positive reviews by critics was nominated for a 1976 Academy Award for "Film Editing" and also a winner of multiple awards.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR" is a 1975 film that is featured for the first time in 1080p High Definition on Blu-ray. Because the film was created in 1975, the film quality does show a bit of age but the transfer is actually better in picture quality that some 1990's and early-2000 films that I have seen on High Definition.

The film does showcase a few dust but there are a number of dark scenes and a few compression artifacts were detect but again, for a film over 34-years old, the colors were strong, blacks were good and overall, a very good transfer of the film to Blu-ray.

As for audio, the film is featured in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD (and also French Mono). Truth be told, this is a front channel, dialogue driven film. If there was use of any bass, it's that old 70's bass picking style that was popular at the time that utilizes the bass. As for the action sequences, the gunshots and everything else seems quite bland but I was not expecting thrilling audio directionals to come from all speaker channels with this film, so I found the audio satisfactory for a film this old.

Subtitles are featured in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR" has only one special feature and that is the original theatrical trailer with scratches and dust galore. The trailer is in HD but it would have been nice to have someone do a commentary or revisit this film especially how relevant it is in today's modern world.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR" is a very good conspiracy thriller. What is quite shocking about this film which was released in 1975 is how it actually predicts the government's involvement in future affairs. I don't want to go into too much into the film without spoiling it but I will say that what Turner is able to find out, it's what's happening in today's modern world, especially with the United States.

What is also a bit numbing to see is the few shots of the Twin Towers and the film featuring the two buildings not long after they were built.

Robert Redford's performance was fine but there were some lines that almost echoed a John Wayne style of acting which was acceptable around that time but for today's modern viewers, it may not hold up.

Stars that did shine in this film were Faye Dunaway, who did a great job playing the role of Kathy Hale. As a captive hostage turned woman who is willing to aid her abductor, this was a film that seems to utilize "Stockholm Syndrome" and not surprising considering that the Patty Hearst-SLA bank robberies in real life happened in 1974 or perhaps its a woman who agrees to help Joe Turner because both share a side of sadness and loneliness in their life.

Max von Sydow as the assassin Joubert is also quite effective in his role, especially during the big reveal near the end of the film.

In reviewing this Blu-ray release, although a few artifacts and dust are seen on the video quality, this is probably the best transfer we will get of the film. The audio quality is uninspiring but considering this is not a modern film which we come to expect full utilization of audio channels, "3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR" is quite clear in dialogue and for a 1975 film, taking all things into consideration, this is a pretty good transfer on Blu-ray ala HD.

My main peeve with this Blu-ray release is that a film with so much relevance for today's modern world, it would have been wonderful to have interviews with the stars or having some sort of special feature included other than the trailer.

The film is a well-written, well-edited and captivating thriller with a storyline that I don't know if Sydney Pollack or even novel writer James Grady knew how relevant it would be over 30 years later.

Overall, "3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR" is definitely an action-thriller classic definitely worth recommending!

Blu Ray version much improved
I compared the new blu-ray version to the anamorphic DVD previously released, and to summarize, it is considerably better. For example: sharpness of the credits, the cleanliness of the frames (the previous DVD had considerable smudges on many frames), the color-accuracy of the violet light Dr. Lapp has in his office for his plants, details in the printed letters on the pages shown on copiers, all significantly better. This is on a large screen, however (100 inch, 1080i front projector). Could be small screens won't see much difference. Highly recommended update to the previous DVD!