Who Do You Trust?
Director Sydney Pollack’s 3 Days of the Condor was new to me when the blu-ray review copy arrived. I had never heard of the movie, but a quick read of the plot on the back of the packaging hooked my interest. I’ve always liked Robert Redford and more generally I find that I tend to like ‘older’ films better than most modern day releases.
After taking a peek on IMDB, it’s evident that this is widely considered to be an excellent film. Excited, I watched the movie this weekend and was delighted. Robert Redford plays a CIA agent, but not the James Bond type you might be expecting. Instead, he portrays agent Joe Turner, codenamed Condor. Agent Turner works in a small, discreet office in New York and helps his fellow seven agents process codes and store various books and articles for the CIA. Turner has recently submitted a report to his superiors in Washington regarding the possible existence of another secretive spy or intelligence network. One an average day at the office, Turner goes to lunch but comes back to discover all of his colleagues have been murdered.
Turner arms himself with a Colt .45 automatic from the receptionists desk and seeks help from his superiors by calling Washington. Plenty of intrigue and double-cross occurs after this, leaving Turner paranoid and on the run, not knowing who to trust and who is behind the massacre, nor why they did it. On his first day of running and hiding from those hunting him down, he runs into Faye Dunaway’s character, Kathy Hale, and gently forces her to drive them to her home where he seeks refugee to figure out what is happening. At first she is understandably scared and doesn’t believe the (true) story that Turner tells her, but as their lives become more endangered, she comes to not only believe him and help him, but also falls in love with them.
A significant love story develops, but it isn’t overbearing nor does it slow the film down; especially at the end of the film, much is left up to the viewer to decide, with the story focusing on the political thriller at hand. As far as action in 3 Days, it comes in just the right amounts and is well choreographed. The film is largely dialogue driven however as opposed to action or romance, and therefore its a very good thing that the dialogue is both well written and very well executed.
For its two hour duration, 3 Days of the Condor is a very enjoyable movie. I definitely plan on pulling this one off the shelf a few times a year; additionally, its a perfect film for a quiet evening or weekend.
Condor Takes Flight On Blu-ray
As is the case with most older releases, the Blu-ray release of 3 Days of the Condor gets a bit of a cold shoulder when it comes to extra features. Only the original trailer in HD is offered, and while I appreciate having that, that is all there is to be had. I don’t know if any other additional material was available or if Paramount decided that this film wouldn’t sell well enough to include anything additional. Regardess, it’s a shame there isn’t more content because this really is quite an impressive film.
Fortunately, nearly the entire film looks and sounds very good. Image quality is often very sharp although the contrast is especially vibrant. The movie doesn’t pop off the screen, but it’s pleasantly crisp and sharp throughout nearly every scene, countered only by some dark scenes that have some grain.
For audio, a Dolby TrueHD track is provided and sounds great. Being primarily dialogue driven, this isn’t something that will test your setup, but that’s irrelevant.
Nice boxart in standard keep case packaging rounds out the release. Let’s get to the summary…