Eureka is a bit of a forgotten film from the 1980s, one that is doubtful to be mentioned amongst Gene Hackman’s greats with an uneven story that goes from an adventurous first half, the best part, to a Citizen Kane-like story for the second and a third act playing out like a bad episode of “Law & Order”.
Eureka
— The Limited Edition Series —
(1983)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama, Adventure
Twilight Time | R – 130 min. – $29.95 | May 10, 2016
Date Published: 05/19/2016 | Author: The Movieman
  |
|
PLOT SYNOPSIS |
| Directed by Nicolas Roeg (Don’t Look Now, Bad Timing), Eureka tells the tale of Klondike prospector Jack McCann (GENE HACKMAN) who becomes the richest man in the world following a major gold find, only to find himself beset, classically, with terrible problems. These include a soul-destroying daughter (THERESA RUSSELL) and a passel of schemers, one being his son-in-law (RUTGER HAUER) and another, low life gangsters (JOE PESCI, MICKEY ROURKE), bent on stripping him of his fortune. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
|
This release comes with the usual 6-page essay booklet. Q&A Commentary with Nicolas Roeg was recorded at the world premiere where he discusses his movie. We then get a trio of interviews with Writer Paul Mayersberg (53:18; HD), Producer Jeremy Thomas (13:35; HD) and Editor Tony Lawson (13:06; HD), each talking about their jobs and the history of the production. Original Theatrical Trailer (2:44; HD) |
VIDEO – 3.0/5 |
| Eureka strikes Blu-ray through Twilight Time, presented with a 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. Although it’s not a terrible looking picture with some decent detail, there is some heavy grain throughout and some of the early shots, in the snow, look off-white and really show off the grain. Beyond that, there are also many instances of dust marks and specs. On the plus side, colors don’t look half bad and I have to think the movie hasn’t looked better. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 track which, for the film’s age, isn’t bad. Dialogue levels sounded crisp and clear while the score, by Stanley Meyers, encompasses the entire center speaker with some clarity though it does top out at times. All in all, it’s a solid lossless track especially for being limited. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
|
Overall, Eureka is a bit of a forgotten film from the 1980s, one that is doubtful to be mentioned amongst Gene Hackman’s greats with an uneven story that goes from an adventurous first half, the best part, to a Citizen Kane-like story for the second and a third act playing out like a bad episode of “Law & Order”. Still, the performances from Hackman, Russell and Hauer are solid and its fun seeing the early years of a Joe Pesci and Mickey Rourke, so it is at least worth checking out if available on Netflix. The Blu-ray released through Twilight Time offers so-so video, decent audio and a fine selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.