STACK #225 July 2023

MOVIE FEATURE

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It's a Blu-ray boxset bonanza, with collections featuring renowned directors Walter Hill and Sidney J. Furie, and a selection of 1970s Gene Hackman flicks. Words Scott Hocking

DIRECTED BY SIDNEY J. FURIE (1970–1978) This five-disc set includes a '70s selection from the distinguished filmmaker and jack of all genres. The Lawyer (1970) sees Barry

Newman take on a murder case in the American Southwest; Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970) chronicles the misadventures of a pair of dirt bike racers (Robert Redford and Michael J. Pollard); Hit! (1973) involves a federal agent (Billy Dee Williams) declaring war on drug traffickers; black comedy Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York (1975) finds a shy girl (Jeannie Berlin) seeking happiness in the Big Apple; and The Boys in Company C (1978) follows five young Marines through boot camp and the chaos of the Vietnam War.

The Driver (1978)

FILM FOCUS: GENE HACKMAN (1970-1977) This limited hardbox edition comprises four films from the award winning actor's 1970s period.

DIRECTED BY WALTER HILL (1975–2006) Best known for movies like The Warriors (1979) and 48 Hrs (1982), as well as producing the Alien franchise, director Walter Hill's distinctive style, gritty action films, and westerns have made him one of cinema's most popular auteurs. Imprint brings five features and a TV miniseries from his extensive filmography to Blu-ray in an eight-disc limited hardbox collection. Hill's directorial debut, Hard Times (1975), stars Charles Bronson as a bare-knuckle prizefighter who joins forces with a hustler (James Coburn) during the Depression Era. His next feature was the cracking crime-thriller The Driver (1978), with Ryan O'Neal behind the wheel as a getaway driver for hire, and Bruce Dern as the cop on his tail. Hill puts his stamp on the western with The Long Riders (1980), a stylish take on the legendary exploits of the James-Younger gang, with an award-winning score by Ry Cooder. Included from his late '80s period is the violent action flick Extreme Prejudice (1987), with Nick Nolte in the plum role of a tough Texas Ranger who takes on a ruthless drug lord, and the pulp-noir thriller Johnny Handsome (1989), in which a disfigured petty criminal (Mickey Rourke) gets a new face and seeks revenge on his double-crossing accomplices. Rounding out the collection is the multi Emmy-winning mini-series Broken Trail (2006), a western epic in which a cowboy (Robert Duvall) and his nephew (Thomas Haden Church) on a cross country trek fight to protect five Chinese girls from a posse of murderous outlaws. Featuring restored 4K transfers, The Driver on both Blu-ray and 4K UHD, and a wealth of bonus content including new audio commentaries, featurettes, cast and fillmmaker interviews, this bumper box set is a must-have for Hill fans and cinephiles.

I Never Sang for My Father (1970) features an Oscar-nominated performance by Gene as a college professor attempting to break free of his domineering dad. Gene embarks on a gruelling 700-mile horse race in the western Bite the Bullet (1975), and in the neo-noir thriller The Domino Principle (1977), he plays an assassin enlisted by a shadowy organisation. Rounding out the

collection is March or Die (1977), with Gene as a Foreign Legion major assigned to protect a Moroccan archaeological dig from Bedouin tribes.

• The new Imprint range is out on July 26 for a limited time only, while stocks last.

16 JULY 2023

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