Search - Eureka on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1981 DVD Release: 09/16/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 10 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 2 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Courtroom Drama, Crime Drama

A reclusive, unhappy gold magnate finds his isolated tropical paradise threatened by the intrusion of organized criminals in director Nicolas Roeg's convoluted, arty drama. Gene Hackman stars as Jack McCann, a one-time gold prospector who his parlayed the discovery of a rich deposit in the Canadian wilderness into an immense fortune. Instead of satisfaction, McCann's wealth leads to depression and paranoia, and he moves to a remote island and withdraws from the world. The bulk of the film centers on what has become of McCann some thirty years later, as he attempts to deal with a troubled daughter (Theresa Russell) and the attentions of the Mafia, who want to build a new casino on his tropical home. As the pressures increase, his efforts to protect his property and maintain his family become increasingly desperate, culminating in an extended public trial. Even stranger and more stylized than most of Roeg's work, the disjointed Eureka will seem incomprehensible and painfully pretentious to those with little patience for his indirect narratives and purposefully exaggerated approach. Devoted fans, however, will find further proof of the director's impressive visual sense, especially during the film's earlier sequences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Gene Hackman - Jack McCann
Theresa Russell - Tracy
Rutger Hauer - Claude Maillot von Horn
Jane Lapotaire - Helen McCann
Ed Lauter - Perkins

Nicolas Roeg's typically idiosyncratic (but atypically lavish) adaptation of Marshall Houts' book gets a good if not overwhelming release on DVD. Eureka has been transferred to disc in letterboxed format at the film's original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1; the image has also been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. Overall, the image looks fine, though the colors look a bit washed out in spots (though this may well be the fault of the source materials, given the sometimes dodgy quality of color processing in the 1980s). The English-language audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, with an alternate Spanish-dubbed track presented in the same format; the audio sounds crisp, and the optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish are readable and accurate. The film's original theatrical trailer is the only bonus (which amusingly tries to pitch this hard-to-pigeonhole drama as some sort of thriller), though the simple fact that this long-elusive film has made it to DVD at all compensates for the simplicity of the presentation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide