EIGHT MEN OUT (1988) (MGM Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

EIGHT MEN OUT (1988) 

Label: MGM
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 119 Minutes 50 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: John Sayles
Cast: John Cusack, Clifton James, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, John Mahoney, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Don Harvey, Michael Rooker

John Sayles (Lone Star) directed this historical sports drama, based on the real life baseball scandal wherein members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, in order to win a hug payday, the film is based on Eliot Asinof's 1963 book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series. Having never watched this before I was sort of blown away by the amazing cast; the team consists of pitcher Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn, Dolores Claiborne), "Chick" Gandil (Michael Rooker, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), shortstop "Swede" Risberg (Don Harvey, The Beast), back-up pitchers "Lefty" Williams (James Read, The Initiation) and Dickie Kerr (Jace Alexander, City of Hope), outfielder "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (D. B. Sweeney, Fire in the Sky), shortstop "Buck" Weaver (John Cusack, One Crazy Summer), and center-fielder "Happy" Felsch (Charlie Sheen, The Wraith).  

Spearheading the fix are gamblers "Sleepy Bill" Burns (Christopher Lloyd, Back to the Future) and Billy Maharg (Richard Edson, Ferris Bueller's Day Off), and gangster Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner, No Escape) who detect a potential weakness in the Sox players. The players motivated to cheat for a hefty payday, far exceeding what their penny-pinching team owner Charles "Commy" Comiskey (Clifton James, The Man with the Golden Gun) is willing to pay his all-star team, showcased in one scene where after winning the pennant the payout for the players is a weak buffet dinner and some flat champagne. Other key figures include White Sox manager "Kid" Gleason (John Mahoney, TV's Frasier), and Chicago journalists "Ring" Lardner (director John Sayles) and Hugh Fullerton (Studs Terkel), who all suspect something fishy is afoot, suspicions which are later confirmed by the White Sox players obvious throwing of the game during the series. 

I would not say that I was a huge sports-film fan but I count this as one of my favorites, it's right up there with the Bad New Bears, Major League, Best of Times, North Dallas Forty for me. The period setting looks terrific, well lived-in and authentic, never for a moment did I doubt the era we were in, the actors are terrific, the comradery, the rivalarly, portraying the fallible and corruptible nature of the players who are looked up to as heroes. But alas, they are just men, with the same faults we all have, and the flick, though slightly bloated with an overabundance of characters, does good work showing how the whole thing probably never would have happened excerpt for the skinflint antics of the team's owner causing discontent among the players, and it does so in a way that truly captivated me.

Audio/Video: Eight Men Out (1988) arrives on Blu-ray from MGM in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1), the film was previously issued on Blu-ray from the now defunct Olive Films, which I do not have for the sake of comparison. The source look good, grain looks filmic and textures and fine detail in the period set design and costuming looks wonderful. Colors are well-saturated for the most part, a but of softness creeps in from time to time, but typically a sharp and well-rendered HD presentation with natural looking skin tones. 

Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. Dialogue, the sound of the game being played, cheers and jeers of the crowd, and the period appropriate jazz score from Mason Daring (City of Hope) shines.

Unfortunately MGM do not carry-over the extras that accompanied the 2015 Olive Films release, which included an Audio Commentary with Director John Sayles, an hour-long Retrospective Documentary, and the Theatrical Trailer, this MGM release is barebones, just a static menu with the option to play with or without subtitles, so if you currently own the Olive release you might want to hang onto that, and if you;re an extras junkie like myself you should seek it out, it's currently still available on Amazon (buy the Olive edition HERE) for $20. 

Special Features:

- None 

Screenshots from the MGM Blu-ray: 

Buy the MGM Blu-ray:
Amazon
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Buy the Olive Films Blu-ray: 

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