Summer Lovers excels thanks to its exotic Greek locations and scenery more so than the story or characters. That said, Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah both turn in good performances and all in all it’s at least a semi-entertaining flick though not sure how much of I’ll remember about it down the line.
Summer Lovers
(1982)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Romance
Twilight Time | R – 98 min. – $29.95 | August 11, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Randal Kleiser Writer(s): Randal Kleiser (written by) Cast: Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, Valerie Quennessen, Barbara Rush, Carole Cook DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 2.0) |
** Click Here to Purchase Summer Lovers on Blu-ray from Screen Archives **
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Summer Lovers is writer-director Randal Kleiser’s follow-up to 1980’s The Blue Lagoon, another meditation on sun, sea, youth, and sex. The setting is the idyllic, if tourist-ridden, Greek island of Santorini, where a young American couple, Michael (PETER GALLAGHER) and Cathy (DARYL HANNAH), encounter an attractive French archeologist (VALERIE QUENNESSEN). Sparks and curiosity fly and before long, the duo has become a ménage a trios.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5
This release comes with a 6-page essay booklet.
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Randal Kleiser as he recounts making the movie and provides some tid-bits on specific scenes and the overall story as well as locales.
The Making of Summer Lovers (12:14; SD) is an older behind-the-scenes featurette with on-location interviews with the cast and crew.
Basil Poledouris: His Life and Music (48:13; SD) is an extensive profile on the composer and his career.
Also included are some Screen Tests (15:10; SD) and the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:28; HD) as well as the Red Band Trailer (2:06; HD).
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Twilight Time distributes Summer Lovers onto Blu-ray presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer (AVC codec). Not surprisingly, it’s not what I’d call a reference quality transfer considering the film is going on 30+ years old yet details, especially close-ups, are decent enough and colors appear to be bright and showcase the exotic locales. There were a few minor instances of dust marks or anomalies but nothing heavy or distracting making for a relatively clean looking picture.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The movie has been given a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track which I’d call serviceable. There’s a fair balance of music and dialogue so plenty to judge and while dialogue levels did tend to be on the lower range, the cheesy 1980s music soundtrack came through each channel relatively well and with clarity. It’s not an entirely dynamic track but all things considered, not too bad, just nothing noteworthy.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, Summer Lovers excels thanks to its exotic Greek locations and scenery more so than the story or characters. That said, Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah both turn in good performances and all in all it’s at least a semi-entertaining flick though not sure how much of I’ll remember about it down the line. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time includes some OK bonus material while the video and audio transfers are both well done.
Published: 08/13/2015
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.