Search - They Shoot Horses, Don't They? on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 1969 DVD Release: 10/12/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 0 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Drama, Period Film, Melodrama See Also: They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune during hard economic times that brings out the worst in several participants. Among them are Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda), a malcontent who's partnered with a drifter, Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin); a pregnant farm girl (Bonnie Bedelia) and her husband (Bruce Dern); a sailor (Red Buttons); and an aspiring actress (Susannah York). As the marathon winds into a staggering second month, suspicion, doubt and insecurity rages among the competitors and even the decaying and increasingly manipulative Rocky, leading to a shocking crime. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Jane Fonda - Gloria
Michael Sarrazin - Robert
Susannah York - Alice
Gig Young - Rocky
Red Buttons - Sailor

Anchor Bay has a solid reputation for releasing offbeat movies that seem to get lost in the video shuffle, an example being They Shoot Horses, Don't They, despite its multitude of Oscar nominations. While the source print seems to be in good shape, the transfer is not of the greatest quality. The audio is in stereo, surprisingly, and sounds excellent, with a few directional effects in the dialogue and a straightforward stereo mix for the music. The dialogue is fairly clear and understandable, though it does once in a while get mushed. Sound effects tend to be confined to the center, and are okay, though not outstanding. The film has been transferred in full-frame and widescreen (non-anamorphic letterboxed at 2.35:1) and the video portion could stand to be quite a bit better. The image is on the soft side, though not grainy for the most part. There are some compression artifacts, however, mostly visible in larger dark areas, though no edge enhancement is apparent. The image contrast is underwhelming, resulting in very flat video with no solid blacks (most areas of deep shadow or straight black are rendered as a deep grey with hints of green). Colors are extremely muted, even though flesh tones are rendered accurately. The transfer is not so poor as to make the movie unwatchable, but there are moments when the flaws are distracting.
Curiously, the trailer included on the disc (as one of two extras) seems to have received a better transfer than the movie itself, showing better colors and a sharper image overall. The second extra is a promotional featurette that has not worn the passage of time very well -- grainy, faded, and full of blemishes, its main value may be in seeing Sydney Pollack at work as he chases the cast around, yelling at them constantly to keep them moving and off-balance enough to produce convincing performances. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide