Edward Dmytryk’s 1965 Mirage, from Universal, has at it’s base, a mystery that involves a lack of memory – think 36 Hours.
It’s written by Peter Stone, who was responsible for the wonderful Charade a couple of years earlier, as well as Father Goose, 1776, and a film under current discussion here on HTF, Sweet Charity.
It was photographed by Joseph MacDonald in black and white, and the imagery, short of obvious studio shots, was quite lovely in original 35mm prints.
Mirage is a good film, a fun film, but never a great one.
Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray has a lovely black & white palette, and a superb gray scale, but something occurred, probably toward the creation of this master for DVD.
And there’s the rub.
Most DVD quality masters, cannot be properly repurposed for Blu-ray, and Mirage is a perfect example. It was apparently sharpened to make the DVDs appear more pleasant, but in HD resolution, what we get are slight electronic edges.
Image – 3
Audio – 4.5
Upgrade from DVD – only if you don’t mind that electronic look
Pass / Fail – Fail
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
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