The Italian Job may have an iconic chase sequence and a strong performance by the wonderful Michael Caine, but having now seen this twice, I didn’t think it was anything especially entertaining yet still watchable.
The Italian Job
(1969)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Crime, Comedy
Kino Lorber | G – 99 min. – $39.95 | January 31, 2022
Date Published: 01/16/2023 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Note: The screen captures were taken from the included Blu-ray disc.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Forget about the straight and narrow. Clever con Charlie Croker (MICHAEL CAINE) intends to go straight to the bank. Fresh from the slammer, he begins work on a heist that will either set him up for life—or send him up forever. Croker and his unruly lot of thieves take on the mob, the police and the gridlocked traffic of Turin to rob a heavily armed shipment of gold bullion. Quick Hit Review: The Italian Job is a comedy-heist film taken straight out of the late 1960s with the counter-cultural elements, this is one I’ve seen before probably a decade ago and wasn’t terribly enthralled then and honestly wasn’t very entertained this go around either. That said, the post-heist chase scene was pretty fun and for his part, Michael Caine was great as usual. However, otherwise I didn’t think it was great as at times it felt dated and some of the British humor went over my head. That said, I kind of appreciated the literal cliffhanger ending than I did in my first viewing… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5 |
|
This release comes with a matted slip cover and the inside cover is reversible with the film’s original poster artwork. Audio Commentaries:
These tracks, both featuring somebody involved with the production along with authors serving as moderators to keep the conversation flowing, offer up insights into the movie and bits of trivia. The commentaries are available on both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs. Featurettes:
Deleted Scene (2:08) includes an optional commentary by Matthew Field. And last are the Theatrical and Re-Release Trailers. |
4K VIDEO – 5/5, BLU-RAY VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
|
Kino Lorber releases The Italian Job onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray that’s presented in the film’s original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers, respectively. This transfer was taken from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative and supplied by Paramount Pictures. The picture here, on both formats, looks great with sharp detail and vivid colors along with stark black levels. There were no apparent signs of artifacting, aliasing or other flaws making this a clean transfer. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
|
The disc comes with the choice of a 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track with the former the default option, and it is the track I watched the movie with. In any case, it’s a solid lossless track offering up strong dialogue levels and some good depth during the heist and chase sequences, alongside the quintessential 1960s soundtrack and score composed by the legendary Quincy Jones. |
OVERALL — 4/5 |
|
The Italian Job may have an iconic chase sequence and a strong performance by the wonderful Michael Caine, but having now seen this twice, I didn’t think it was anything especially entertaining yet still watchable. |