Search - Modesty Blaise on DVD

Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1966 DVD Release: 07/16/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 59 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 9 Genres: Spy Film, Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Spy Comedy

A popular British comic strip series served as inspiration for this light-hearted espionage adventure, which if nothing else certainly shows the marks of its origins in the mid-1960s. A large departure for director Joseph Losey, better known for brooding interpretations of Harold Pinter works (The Servant, Accident), the film is emphatically bright and colorful, taking on at times a nearly psychedelic feel. The strangeness is emphasized by the unusual casting, including Italian star Monica Vitti in her first English-speaking role as the title character and Dirk Bogarde, playing against type as her arch-nemesis. Essentially everything is played for its camp value, including the rather convoluted, James Bond-like plot, which concerns the hijacking of a shipment of diamonds heading for the Middle East. Like its mod-era sets and costumes, this unusual, inconsistent effort is certainly intriguing and attractive, but might seem rather dated to some. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Monica Vitti - Modesty Blaise
Terence Stamp - Willie Garvin
Dirk Bogarde - Gabriel
Harry Andrews - Sir Gerald Tarrant
Michael Craig - Paul Hagan

Joseph Losey's spy spoof Modesty Blaise comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital Stereo and Dolby Digital Mono, while Spanish and French soundtracks have also been recorded in Dolby Digital Mono. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials of any consequnce, but 20th Century Fox deserves credit for doing such a fine job with the image quality on the disc for this older film. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide