DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 106 minutes, two audio commentaries, original trailer, photo gallery, and biographies

STUDIO: Sommerville House/ Ventura

RELEASE DATE: 11-8-2005

Michael York has been in different types of movies in various roles. His first starring role was in CONDUCT UNBECOMING which I have never seen until now. No matter what role Michael plays or whether the movie is great (or not), he is a thrill to watch. Some people might best know him for his sci-fi movies like LOGAN'S RUN. But CONCUDT UNBECOMING is a gem with an excellent cast (Stacy Keach, Trevor Howard, Richard Attenborough, Christopher Plummer, and Susannah York). It is a historical drama set at a British military outpost in 19th century Colonial India. Michael York is Drake, an idealistic officer, who joins a British military regiment. He questions his own honor when the honor of the reigment is at stake after a beautiful widow is assaulted. Drake is assigned as defense counsel for Millington, another officer, who may just be guilty in a secret court martial trial to protect the honor of the reigment. As the trial goes on, Drake realizes that Millington (James Purcell) might be innocent and something more terrible is going on.  Millington thinks this is his way to wash out of military service, but Drake knows too well that the regiment wants to clean up this mess and forget about it whether Millington is guilty or not. 

I enjoyed CONDUCT UNBECOMING. It is movie from another time of filmmaking and it is a character drama. The characters drive the action and the twists are more effective for it even when you reach the suprising climax.

VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

Except for some dirt at the beginning and grain (or video noise) in the blue skies, the transfer is quiet nice. The colors and shadow values nicely match the way they looked to movies that came out in the mid 1970s.

AUDIO: English 2.0

Subtitles: None, not even close captioning

Dialogue is easy to hear and the sound is OK. However, this is a track with no noticeable surround action. Shame that they couldn't include close captioning or English subtitles.

SPECIAL FATURES: Thew two audio commentaries for the film are quite interesting to listen to. The first one is with director Michael Anderson as he reveals an added twist to the ending he didn't think of until filming was long over. The second commentary is with Michael York as he reflects on the movie while trying to remember it (since it ahs been 20 years). Both commentaries have pauses in them, but they are full of life. Also included among the extras is teh original theatrical trailer, a photo gallery of stills from the movie, and biographies on the cast.

FINAL ANLAYSI: CONDUCT UNBECOMING is a suspeneful drama with good twists and a great cast. Watch it if you haven't seen it. If you had an seen it long time ago or like some of the actors in the movies, go rent or buy the DVD.

this DVD Review is (c)10-31-2005 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link to the review). Look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com