This month Mill Creek has released another one of its themed double-feature Blu-rays. This Director Spotlight: Sydney Pollack collection features two films directed by Sydney Pollack, 1969’s Castle Keep, and 1977’s Bobby Deerfield. While Bobby Deerfield had received a limited edition Blu-ray release in 2016 from Twilight Time (which has yet to sell out), this is the first time Castle Keep makes its way onto Blu-ray (at least in the U.S.).

The films are as follows:

Castle Keep (1969)
It’s December 1944, and World War II is underway. American Army Maj. Abraham Falconer (Burt Lancaster) is leading his 8-man platoon of walking wounded misfits through the Ardennes forest looking for a place to get some rest, when they cross paths with Henri Tixier, the Count of Maldorais (Jean-Pierre Aumont). He offers the men a place to stay in exchange for protecting his medieval castle and the priceless artwork within from the advancing German soldiers. While art expert Capt. Lionel Beckman (Patrick O’Neal) looks over the contents of the castle, Maj. Falconer stays busy in the bedroom, striking up a romance with the Countess Therese de Maldorais (Astrid Heeren), believing her to be the Count’s niece. However, he quickly discovers that she is actually the Count’s wife—though the Count is okay with the affair, as he is eager for his wife to bear a son to continue to his lineage. The other men also seek out comfort at the nearby brothel, The Red Queen. Pre-war baker Sgt. Rossi (Peter Falk) rekindles his passion as he falls in love with a baker’s widow at a nearby boulangerie and takes over the shop, while Cpl. Clearboy (Scott Wilson) develops an unhealthy affection for a Volkswagen Beetle.

The men’s respite soon comes to an end as the German Army approaches, and Maj. Falconer must decide whether his platoon should defend the castle or burn it to the ground so that it doesn’t fall into the hands of the Germans. Providing occasional narration for the film, under the pretext of this being a story he is telling for his novel of the same name, is intelligent aspiring writer Pvt. Allistair Piersall Benjamin (Al Freeman Jr.). The ragtag crew also includes Lt. Amberjack (Tony Bill), Lt. Billy Byron Bix (Bruce Dern), Sgt. DeVaca (Sgt. DeVaca), and Pvt. Elk (James Patterson).

Castle Keep is primarily a tongue-in cheek satire, mixing war movie clichés with arthouse dream/fantasy sequences, and a bit of fairy tale.

 

Bobby Deerfield (1977)

Bobby Deerfield (Al Pacino) is a famous American Formula One driver racing on the European circuit. A fiery crash leaves one of his teammates dead and another driver badly injured. Bobby has never been in an accident himself, but this has spooked him—he refuses to step back into his vehicle until the cause of the accident is identified. His next race isn’t for a few weeks, so he decides to visit the surviving driver at the hospital, where he crosses paths with the enigmatic, quirky and impulsive Lillian Morelli (Marthe Keller). She seems to have a bit of a morbid obsession with death, but Bobby finds her fascinating and beautiful, and the two strike up a romance. Bobby is usually more of a loner, and overly-calculating everything, but with Lillian he is able to be free, and let loose. He can really see a future with this woman—however, Bobby is unaware that she is terminally ill.

I had never heard of either of these films before receiving this disc for review. The two films are quite different, and while they sort of share a theme of love, and come from the same director, they make an odd pairing for a double-feature.

I wasn’t really a fan of Castle Keep. While it had a great cast—especially Peter Falk, who receives an “introducing” credit and was easily the highlight of the movie—I found the first half of the film generally pretty slow and boring. There are some fun, humorous moments with the soldiers, but it is a bit too artsy and pretentious at times, breaking into these these needless, odd fantasy/dream sequences. I would often lost interest when the film would delve into the romance between the Major and the Countess. This is a war movie, but we don’t really even get any action/battle scenes until the final act of the film. Things finally pick up at this point, but it feels a bit too little, too late. The rest of the movie is overly dramatic and sappy at times.

The visual presentation on Castle Keep is a bit of mixed bag. While some scenes look clean and clear, with a strong level of detail in faces, other scenes don’t fare as well, with constant white flecks permeating the picture. The audio track provides clear dialogue, but lacks any kind of immersive surround sound.

Bobby Deerfield was easily the more entertaining film of the two for me. The movie opens with an exciting fast-paced racing sequence, so I was expecting it to be more about the racing. However, the majority of the film centers around this blossoming romance and love story. But this time around I actually found myself invested in the characters and relationship. Al Pacino is an excellent and captivating actor, and he has great chemistry with Marthe Keller. I found it interesting to see how this free-spirited Lillian gets the more serious and buttoned-up Bobby to stop trying to be in control all the time and just let loose. About midway through the film we do get some more racing action—this time putting the viewer in the POV of the driver for a really exciting sequence. If I had one complaint about this film, it’s that it clocks in at over 2 hours—I think it could have been edited down a bit.

The audio and video presentation of Bobby Deerfield fares a bit better than the first film. This time we also get a surround sound track, which helps add some excitement to the racing sequences and give a more immersive feel. The picture was also a bit cleaner, with just a pleasant amount of film grain.

Mill Creek’s Blu-ray is barebones, with no bonus material. The single disc is placed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover. While Twilight Time’s 2016 limited edition Blu-ray release of Bobby Deerfield included an Isolated Score Track, a commentary by director Sydney Pollack and the film’s trailer, unfortunately none of that has been carried over to this release. The menu just offers the film selection and a subtitle on/off option for each.

What’s Included:

Films:

• Castle Keep (1969) (1:47:15)
  • 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
  • Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Subtitles: English SDH
• Bobby Deerfield (1977) (2:04:28)
  • 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
  • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

No bonus material included.

Final Thoughts:

Mill Creek’s Director Spotlight: Sydney Pollack collection is an odd pairing of films that don’t really work together as a double-feature. One is an artistic war movie/satire while the other is a romantic drama. While Bobby Deerfield was easily the more enjoyable film of the two for me, it seemed like an odd film to re-release given that Twilight Time’s 3000-unit limited edition release from 2016 (which did include some bonus material) still has not even sold out. The disc’s presentation is pretty much on par with other double-feature releases from Mill Creek. The disc is barebones, without any bonus material. I think Bobby Deerfield is worth a look for those who haven’t seen it, and Mill Creek’s double feature may be worth picking up for fans of Castle Keep, or who don’t already own either movie.

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Director Spotlight: Sydney Pollack [Blu-Ray]

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Director Spotlight: Sydney Pollack [Blu-Ray]