Blu-Ray Review: ‘STRAW DOGS’

Sam Peckinpah‘s Straw Dogs is a film where its reputation always seems to come before the actual film. If you mention the film to someone who has scene it, you are bound to get a strong reaction – good or bad. Previously The Criterion Collection released Straw Dogs in a 2-Disc release. However, due to the remake that was recently released, it looks like MGM retained the rights for the film to release this very Blu-Ray. While the Criterion release was the only way to see the film unrated in the States, 20th Century Fox/MGM has brought the uncut version to high definition.

The Movie

Straw Dogs is one of my favorite Peckinpah films so this may be a bit biased of a movie description. David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) is an American mathematician who retreats with his wife Amy (Susan George) to go on a sabbatical to Amy’s village where she grew up. While David tries to adapt to the new country and its ways, he runs into a group of men who knew Amy well…maybe a bit too well.

The film deals with the insecurities that men often deal with when faced with attraction towards their companion. While a man’s instinct is to admire what he has accomplished and the woman that he loves either on an emotional or physical level. However, when outsiders begin to covet your wife (or girlfriend/boyfriend) for that matter, there is a side of you that feels like you should defend any inappropriate sayings towards her. The way that Peckinpah addresses the subject with a clever script and his actors shows the sign of a true classic director. While many critics at the time blamed Peckinpah for being exploitative with the scenes of violence in the film, it is all with reason. I will never forget the impact that Straw Dogs left on me when I saw it nor shall you.

Presentation

The video presentation is definitely an upgrade from the Criterion disc as far as the feature is concerned. There is no main menu so when you pop in the Blu-Ray it goes straight to the film. While grain is evident throughout the film, this is fine by me as I don’t like a lot of digital restoration unless it is done properly – which most of the time it is not. The grain is probably the heaviest during the foggy hunting scene which is probably due to the film stock.

The DTS-HD 5.1 Digital Audio thankfully doesn’t add in filler nor does it split up the original mono soundtrack across all speakers. The audio is prevalent in the front channels with some of the musical score and ambient sounds barely bleeding into the surround speakers. With the bagpipes blaring in the final scene, it will be hard for you NOT to root for David in his rampage against the invaders.

Unfortunately, the extras on this Blu-Ray release are going to be the deciding factor on whether fans of the film will want to make the upgrade. If you already have the Criterion version, I would hold on to it. Not only is Criterion’s release out of print, but it hosts a bevy of special features. This Blu-Ray release only features a Theatrical Trailer and three TV Spots hosted in Standard Definition 4:3 ratio.

Overall

For fans of Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, it is ultimately up to you if you would want to buy this release to watch the unrated cut in high definition. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to see this particular cut on my HDTV and it is an upgrade from the Criterion transfer – not just in definition/data, but the picture looks better. What is disheartening is that 20th Century Fox/MGM couldn’t team up with Criterion – or Criterion couldn’t put out a newly remastered Blu-Ray – to put their special features on this release.

[button color=”blue” link=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DMXV8S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=desthebra-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=B005DMXV8S”]Buy on Amazon[/button]