Black Sunday appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a great-looking movie, the Blu-ray appeared to replicate the source.
Sharpness usually worked fine, as the movie showed reasonable delineation. While it rarely looked particularly distinctive, the image felt fairly well-defined.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural, and outside of issues inherent to the source – mainly via process shots – the movie lacked print flaws.
Colors went with the subdued side of natural, as a bright palette wouldn’t make sense for a grim drama such as Sunday. Though the hues lacked much vivacity, they came across appropriately for the movie’s intentions.
Blacks were sufficient – if a little too dense at times – while shadows offered fairly positive clarity. Again, nothing here looked especially great, but the end result suited the story at hand.
Taken from the monaural source – which also appears on the Blu-ray – the DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix worked pretty well. The soundfield mostly featured audio in the front channels, where the score fared particularly nicely, as the music showed solid stereo imaging and seemed cleanly delineated.
Effects also broadened well, as the mix created a good sense of general atmosphere. The track kicked into life decently when appropriate such as during the raid on the Black September base.
Surround usage mostly waited for bigger sequences to add much to the mix. For example, football games brought a fine feeling of environment. Some earlier scenes managed an effective sense of place via the back channels too, though.
Audio quality varied but was mostly good for the age of the source material. Speech occasionally demonstrated a little edginess and generally seemed a bit thin. Nonetheless, the lines always remained easily intelligible and appeared average for their era.
Effects displayed modest distortion during louder scenes, especially those with explosions or crowds. Otherwise the elements usually sounded fairly accurate.
The score worked especially nicely, as the score presented tight and full music. The track broadened the source’s horizons in a modest but appealing manner.
How did the 2023 Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 2003? Audio showed similar scope but brought moderate improvements to quality, as the lossless DTS-HD MA version felt a little richer.
Visuals offered superior delineation, colors, blacks and cleanliness. For a circa 2003 DVD, that release looked fine, but the 2023 Blu-ray easily topped it.
While the DVD included no extras, we get a few on the Blu-ray, and these start with an audio commentary from film scholar Josh Nelson. During his running piece, Nelson covers the source novel and its adaptation/path to the screen, cast and crew, genre domains, period political domains/controversies, and a mix of production notes.
Note that I didn’t call this a “screen-specific” commentary. While Nelson refers to the action occasionally, this happens too infrequently to meet the criteria for “screen-specific”.
As such, Nelson provides more of an audio essay, and he creates a terrific chat. He offers a dynamic, well-researched view of the movie that becomes a fascinating listen from start to finish.
It Could Be Tomorrow runs 29 minutes, 30 seconds and delivers notes from film critic Sergio Angelini. He looks at production basics as well as an appreciation/interpretation of some aspects of the film.
Because Nelson told us about so much about Sunday, inevitably parts of “Tomorrow” become redundant. Nonetheless, Angelini brings us enough new content to make the program worth a look.
Next comes The Directors, a 2003 documentary that spans 58 minutes, 35 seconds. It brings comments from director John Frankenheimer, producers Martin Manulis, Robert Cooper and Edward Lewis, wife/actor Evans Frankenheimer, and actors Kirk Douglas, Samuel L. Jackson, Roy Scheider, Rod Steiger, Angela Lansbury, Fredric Forrest, Frank Sinatra, Salome Jens, Clarence Williams III, and Ann-Margret.
“Directors” delivers an overview of Frankenheimer’s career. Despite the large batch of participants, Frankenheimer himself dominates.
And that seems fine with me, as Frankenheimer offers an engaging take on his work. This becomes a broad but useful synopsis.
We conclude with an Image Gallery. It provides 45 stills and publicity elements to become a mediocre compilation.
At its heart, Black Sunday features an intriguing plot, and given the state of world affairs, it should offer a chilling and exciting examination of its topic. Unfortunately, the movie presents a silly and disjointed affair that takes forever to progress and never becomes tense or compelling. The Blu-ray features generally positive picture and audio along with a small but worthwhile set of supplements. Fans of the flick should feel pleased with the positive treatment accorded the movie itself, but I can’t recommend this dull dud to anyone else.
To rate this film visit the DVD review of BLACK SUNDAY