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EUREKA (1983)
Label: MGM
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 129 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer, Joe Pesci, Jane Lapotaire, Mickey Rourke, Ed Lauter, Helena Kallianiotes, Joe Spinell
The Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout) directed Eureka (1983) opens in 1923 with a grizzled Yukon gold prospector named Jack McCann (Gene Hackman, Night Moves) looking to strike it rich. He ends up spending the night at a brothel, where the house's clairvoyant madame, Frieda (Helena Kalianiotes, Five Easy Pieces), predicts he will strike it rich but at a great personal cost. The prophecy is fulfilled the next day when he falls through the ice of a glacier into a cavern where he discovers a literal river of gold. McCann later returns to the brothel only to find it quite a bit different, now dilapidated and barren, however, Frieda remains, near death in the couch, dying in his arms.
The story moves ahead twenty years, Jack is now one of the richest men in the world, living on Caribbean island in a sprawling mansion estate he has dubbed "Eureka". He lives there with his bored lush of a wife Helen (Jane Lapotaire, The Asphyx), and their headstrong, free-spirited daughter, Tracy (Theresa Russell, Whore). Despite his wealth he is deeply unhappy, obsessed with the idea that the motives of those around him are corrupt, suspecting that even his own family could be plotting against him to steal his wealth.
This is embodied by his distrust of his daughter's fiancé Claude (Rutger Hauer, Hobo with a Shotgun), a social-climbing playboy, who Jack starts to believe is not only after his wealth, but out to steal his very soul. Other forces working against McCann include gangster Mayakofsky (Joe Pesci, Goodfellas) and the mobsters lawyer, D'Amato (Mickey Rourke, Body Heat), who want Jack's island so they can build a casino/resort, but Jack's refusal to sell leads to them attempting to strongarm him, resulting in some strong violence, tragedy and a murder trial.
The gruesome murder involves none other than Joe Spinell (Maniac) as one of Mayakofsky henchmen, it's a surprisingly visceral murder that involves bludgeoning, burning with a blowtorch, feathers and a decapitation. This results in a murder trial, which was my least favorite aspect of the film, though we do get a wonderful turn from Russell during her courtroom testimony.
Roeg's film is an epic slice of filmmaking, he was still in his wild earlier phase here with an unusual cinematic eye that is both beautiful and unpredictable, making for quite a surreal experience. The movie washes over you, carrying you with it, at times it doesn't all quite seem to make sense because it's a film that likes to keep it's mystery, but is engrossing from start to finish. The fevered drama-thriller is gorgeously lensed and chock full of weirdness such as the surreal river of gold, a voodoo orgy full of writhing bodies and snakes, and a bloody suicide by gunshot to the head, that make this one of the oddest Hollywood studio productions ever made. It bombed big-time at the box office but that's no mark against it, this is a must-see example of Roeg's artistry and auteurist vision. I'd say they just don't make 'em like this anymore but the recent studio epic Babylon (2023) definitely felt like it was channeling the surreal opulence of this flick, and it too bombed, but is also pretty terrific in my opinion.
Audio/Video: Eureka arrives on Blu-ray from MGM on a barebones Blu-ray, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1). Both Twilight Time and Eureka have released the film on Blu-ray previously, both are currently OOP and pricey, so this is a favorable alternative to shelling out for those. The image is fine, while it doesn't look like a new master grain management looks pleasing, depth and clarity are strong, colors look accurate and there are not egregious compression issues. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English subtitles. The track reproduces dialogue and the score from Stanley Meyers (The Zero Boys) without issue, it's well-balanced and free of hiss or distortion.
This is a barebones disc, none of the extras from the Twilight Time or Eureka Blu-ray releases are ported over here, just the option to play with or without subtitles. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the same hideous artwork as the MGM DVD.
Special Features:
- None
Available from www.MovieZyng.com
