The Essential Steve McQueen Thread...

[anephric]

Tom Horn was shown in (just about, I think) its OAR (2.35:1) on the BBC recently... I watched it and, yes, McQueen does indeed look ill and haggard. It's not pleasant and seems more painful to watch, imho, than poignant (a la The Shootist).

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest McQueen fan.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by anephric

[i]Admittedly, I'm not the biggest McQueen fan.

Why so?

[Guest 29]

I find "Tom Horn" desperately moving - it's a small, somewhat fractured film but when I saw it in the cinema (London's Warner West End where it played for about a week) it really affected me. I think I'm temperamentally drawn to these 'end of the trail' Westerns.

McQueen's work with Peckinpah is very interesting because the two films are almost binary opposites in terms of Sam's work. He's certainly a great Peckinpah hero in the tradition of Joel and Randolph, Bill Holden, James Coburn, Jason Robards, Warren Oates and Kris Kristofferson.

[Guest 45586]

Anyone out there like The Sand Pebbles? A bit flabby, overlong, sure, but an amazing Vietnam allegory and McQ is terrific in it, maybe the only credible period role he ever played.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Mike

McQueen's work with Peckinpah is very interesting because the two films are almost binary opposites in terms of Sam's work. He's certainly a great Peckinpah hero in the tradition of Joel and Randolph, Bill Holden, James Coburn, Jason Robards, Warren Oates and Kris Kristofferson.

Indeed. The more I watch Junior Bonner the more I think it's not only one of McQueen's best performances, but also one of Peckinpahs finest films...

Originally Posted by Wendell Armbruster

Anyone out there like The Sand Pebbles? A bit flabby, overlong, sure, but an amazing Vietnam allegory and McQ is terrific in it, maybe the only credible period role he ever played.

You had me until the last bit (where we must disagree); apparently Fox has turned up an even longer version, so expect another release somewhere down the line.

[anephric]

Originally Posted by John Hodson

Why so?

Just personal preference. In terms of Tom Horn and The Hunter (we've had this conversation before, and I got drubbed then) I mainly see an inordinately large ego raging desperately against the dying of the light (which is either moving or difficult to watch, depending on where your heart points).

It should be remembered I like Charlton Heston and his desperate stabs at bewiggery, so... any and everything I say regarding ego and such can quite readily be discounted. In an attempt at illuminating a closed mind I am currently reading McQueen by Christopher Sandford.

[John Hodson]

Full review of Warners The Essential Steve McQueen Collection here. Sadly, though the set sounds like another very fine effort from Warners, it looks as if the planned Jerry Fielding extras on The Getaway didn't make it.

[John Hodson]

...and Herb Kane's review of the 2-disc SE of Bullitt is here - those screen shots look lovely don't they?

[John Hodson]

From DVD Times:

Citing “technical difficulties” Warner Home Video have today confirmed the UK Region 2 DVD version of The Essential Steve McQueen Collection box set will no longer be released.

Individual releases of Bullitt – Two-Disc Special Edition and The Getaway will still be available from 18th July 2005...but this announcement means that box set exclusives The Cincinnati Kid, Never So Few and Tom Horn will no longer be available.

The Region 1 DVD release is out now.

[John Hodson]

Some interesting comments by Robert Harris on the documentaries to be found on the SE of Bullitt here.

Anyone got their box set yet?

[Guest 30686]

Got mine from DvdSoon early last week. Its in my ever increasing "To Watch" pile.

[John Hodson]

Hmmm; mine must have been nabbed by customs (again).

More interesting comments on the set, and a bit of a drubbing for Warners, at The Laser Examiner.

[charlie angel]

I received my box yesterday - just flipped each disc on to test; I don't own a high end set up, but they all looked tasty to me

[John Hodson]

...and to me! Those critters at Customs had been playing footsie with my set, but it's now in my hands. Just slid Tom Horn - looks scrumptious, and I'd forgotten what a fantastic cast it boasts - Bullitt - one of my fave title sequences ever - and The Getaway into the player for a look see.

Spookily I tuned into the Peckinpah posse's patter on the latter just as they were comparing McQueen with John Wayne; both were often accused of having a limited range, but they crafted a finely honed screen persona over their years on screen, and what they did - and did supremely well IMHO - nobody could better.

Amen to that.

Terrible shame about the Jerry Fielding extras on The Getaway; last I heard Warners were letting it be known that the film would make it into their Peckinpah box. Would they - dare they - change the specs to include the Fielding extas for that?

[anephric]

Is the transfer on The Getaway any improvement on the extant one?

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by anephric

Is the transfer on The Getaway any improvement on the extant one?

There are screenshot comparisons at The Laser Examiner:

But back to THE GETAWAY. The DVD's capacity is merely used by 71%; for a picture that is 124 Minutes long you usually take every bit you can get. 30% off maybe a good idea for sales, it is not for 2-hour films on a dual layered disc. We have provided these screenshot comparisons of both films for you to illustrate. Remember that the previous edition of THE GETAWAY (the transfer for this version dates back to the early 90s and was much better than that of BULLITT) was cramped onto a single layer - those were the days - so the image you see is quite logically marred by compression artifacts, but the new edition should have looked excellent if it were not for the 30% wasted disc space. As you can see in the comparison (though a single frame does not tell the whole story with regard to compression artifacts) the new edition does not set itself apart from the old one. In AR the new edition is slightly wider and better framed. What is also evident is the tendency to orange in flesh tones; a color correction in HD (with DaVinci) would have done a much better job on this master. In this realm, you have a vast variety of possibilities literally at your fingertips. In this case, this option was clearly not used. The soundtracks of both films are clean and well preserved through extensive restoration to remove noise, pops, hiss or crackle - not always an easy job depending on the elements. The bandwidth is surely wider on the 24-bit digital master, and it is a shame that DVD does not offer the capacity of Laserdisc when it comes to sound. But with High Definition on disc this will hopefully no longer be an issue - all you need to do is copy the file to disc without any compression or conversion involved. Overall, both original English tracks (the old matrixed Stereo Surround mix on BULLITT, original Mono on THE GETAWAY) are in very good shape as to their respective clarity...

...With all the extras in this box (all titles are also available individually) the Steve McQueen Box is a very good treat if you want to enjoy the movies on you TV of up to 50". If you are into home theater with the right technology the experience may be a bit less thrilling, but it will still be pleasing.

Less than 50" screen? That'll be me then...

[anephric]

Despite their reservations, it still seems a much nicer transfer... warmer colours, far less grain...

Think I'll go for that.

[Guest 4140]

Seconded - the new Getaway is a reasonably good improvement, smoother and cleaner in a good way.

[Guest 29]

My DVD Times reviews of the films from this set begin tomorrow with "Bullitt". From what I've seen, "The Getaway" is considerably better than the mediocre 1998 release.

[Guest 29]

As promised, review of "Bullitt" here