Ex-convict Johnny Clay plans a robbery at the racetrack, hoping to make a $2 million fortune. To carry out his elaborate plan, he enlists four other men – a cashier, a corrupt cop, an ex-alcoholic, and a bartender. But things don’t go according to plan, because one of the accomplices decides to make his own changes.
4k movies reviews
A great Stanley Kubrick thriller. Some would say that Kubrick is not a master of making thrillers. I will allow myself to disagree with this, and give you an argument – the film “Murder” in 1956.
At the dawn of his career, not yet a cult and famous director, he makes a film – one of the best representatives of the thriller genre. If I hadn’t known before watching it that it was Kubrick, I could have argued for a long time that I was watching the old Hitchcock. And Kubrick does it according to all the laws of the genre and I must say very skillfully. And the comparison to Hitchcock is by no means a compliment to Kubrick, but quite a sensible comparison. In addition, still unpredictable plot, which is in the center of an audacious and all-around robbery Hippodrome, keeps the audience in suspense until the last frame of the movie.
This film is also notable for the fact that it was the first serious collaborative product between director Kubrick and producer Harris, a collaboration that allowed Kubrick to make movies in Hollywood, and thereby gained fame and recognition. The film had a pretty good box office and positive reviews from critics.
The film is also a brilliant representative of the noir genre. It is made in gloomy black and white colors, has a criminal story, the absence of positive characters, pretty realistic action and even a certain amount of misogyny inherent in the films of the genre, which originated in the 40’s in American cinema.
Some people like to attribute to Quentin Tarantino the invention of such an original move, as the showing of the same scene from the point of view of different characters. Well, these people would be very surprised to see a well staged hippodrome robbery scene in a film made 36 years before Tarantino’s first film and long before he was even born. And that’s with the technical capabilities of the time.
One of Kubrick’s first films is steadily keeping its place in the top 250, and at the moment it is the 11th in the rating of the noir films genre, according to the voting at one world-famous film website. And the film was made, by the way, 52 years ago.
The endings of Kubrick’s films have always been a special topic for discussion. And this time, the finale leaves no other choice but to once again marvel at the well chosen moment of the finale, which can leave no questions. Everything is clear and very strong.
Thus, Kubrick has managed to create a film that, although not as famous as, say, The Shining, Fullmetal Cladding or A Clockwork Orange, is no less important.
It can be safely recommended not only to Kubrick admirers, but also as an example of quality retro cinema in the genre of thriller and noir.
Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (79.3 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles
English SDH.
