There are, it is true, some actors who you cant stop watching on the silver screen. Often it is something primal about them. Something magnetic. Something you cant avoid nor can you truly appreciate until it is ended and your dusting yourself off and brushing yourself down. Gene Hackman is one of them. His screen presence is that of the magician. He can be the wanderer. Equally he is the warrior, the saint and the fighter, the vulnerable man and the rugged adventurer. There is often something about him on the screen that just cant be unfastened from for me and it seems many. Imprint have decided to honour this great man with a polished set which has four films from his 1970-1977 period. His second Academy award nominated role, as best supporting actor in I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (1970) – worldwide first on Blu-ray, BITE THE BULLET (1975), THE DOMINO PRINCIPLE (1977) and MARCH OR DIE (1977). Lets take each disk and rate them shall we?

I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (1970) 

Gene Garrison is a successful man. He is forty-year-old, a New York college professor, a skilled writer and lives in the shadow of his father. When he is forced to put his plans to marry a woman in California on hold, their relationship comes under deeper view. Then he must move back to look after his father after his mother dies and revelations change him forever. So this is a world wide first. Very well done Imprint. Its a better film than some have said. Theatrical and stagey in equal measure, it actually suffering very little from this or the stage mentality from the films director. Hackman is extremely good, human and honest in his acting. Douglas is his equal. Providing a charged centre to the whole. There are no extras. The print is 1080p and in truth it is very flawed, suffering from light, colour and print issues.

Flawed by fantastic film 7/10

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K scan
• Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles

BITE THE BULLET (1975)

When Gene Hackman plays a former rough-rider, on his way to challenge for a $2000 prize, his wits and wiles will be tested. The competition is a grueling 700 mile race across the frozen mountain paths and sun parched deserts of the Wild West. Standing up to him in the contest are a beautiful but hard woman, a drifting ex-mercenary, a young cowboy, a British earl and a bold Pony Express rider. Richard Brooks great ‘Western’ has some censorship issues in the UK thanks to some very intentional, yet illustrative animal cruelty. Hackman gets his chops fully tested thanks to star turns from the masterful James Coburn and the legend Ben Johnson. Looking rather dark in its 1080p rip of a 4K scan, I feel it might have washed a little better with a bit of care. Though the film is very good indeed, I was saddened

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K scan
• Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
• Audio English DTS HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Optional English HOH subtitles

THE DOMINO PRINCIPLE (1977)

Gene Hackman is a con who is freed from prison on one simple condition. That condition is he must become an assassin, to do the bidding of a syndicate of unknown evils. They want to use him in a poisoned opportunity. The target: the most powerful man in the Western World. Taking its pitch from a world of conspiracy and paranoia from a America reeling from Watergate and Cambodia. It feels lean and plays really well even today. This neo-noir thriller was a messy production, with a lot that Stanley Kramer and Hackman fought over. Though the best film in the set, it is equalled by a great set of extras. There is the commentary, which is clinical and insightful (shame about the zoom sounds in the background) with full rich content that explains all of the to and fro.  The Video essay on Kramer, which is excellent and the vintage feature gives us why Richard Widmark always is a great villain.

A thrilling disc 9/10

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K scan of the original negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by film historian Howard S. Berger
• NEW Stanley Kramer: Man Out Of Time – video essay by Howard S. Berger
• NEW The Devil’s Advocate – actress Karen Sharpe on Stanley Kramer
• The Manipulators: Behind the Scenes on The Domino Principle – vintage featurette
• Theatrical Trailer
• Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles

MARCH OR DIE (1977)

Hackman is an ex-West Point cadet leading a group of thugs, thieves, murderers and aristocrats into the Moroccan desert. Their prize? an archaeological dig in the Moroccan wilderness that is a treasure for the museums of France. The desert, local tribes in revolt and little ammunition might be the catalyst to stop them in their tracks. Well this is the film on the set that is a mess and no mistake. I found it tonally off, unbalanced and frankly dragging, like the trek through the desert. With the final battle scene, a poor riff off of ZULU. The extras try hard to make it stand up but it falls often in to the dunes that you might give up watching. Though I will add that Berger feature lights more than the desert sun, all of the directors productions weakness…

A sandy and salty 4/10

Special Features & Technical Specs:

• 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K scan of the original negative
• NEW Audio Commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell
• NEW Of Blood & Time: The Weary Worlds of Dick Richards – video essay by Howard S. Berger
• NEW Marched and Died – interview with actor Paul Sherman
• Theatrical Trailer
• Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
• Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
• Optional English HOH subtitles