Search - Film Noir, Vol. 2 on DVD

A Budget-Value Box Set of Classic Film Noir

D. Schwenker | 10/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the second of two volumes Diamond Entertainment put out showcasing classic examples of the Film Noir. The films volume 2 contains are: [Disc One] Impact (1949 - 83 min) and Strange Illusion (1945 - 87 min), [Disc Two] Detour (1946 - 67 min) and Scarlet Street (1945 - 95 min)



Again, Diamond Entertainment has surprised with the quality of the prints they use to showacase these films. Impact is wonderfully clean and sharp, a very good print indeed. Strange Illusion, however, is a mixed bag. The print is decent, having some scratches, dust, and particles, but not horrible. Detour's print is good, but not great. The film doesn't really have any scratches or dust, but the film seems hazy a bit, but overall it's pretty good. And Scarlet Street is clean as well, not up to the caliber of Impact, but very nice indeed.



The "Special Features" are nothing special really. You get bios of two actors on each dvd, which basically is just scrolling text that gives you facts and triva about them. You also get film information (again, text only) as well as generall facts and trivia about film noir and these films in general. Lastly, there is a photo gallery, which is nothing more than stills taken from the film. The menues are surprisingly good, it doesn't look cheap like other budget dvd's, but the dvd box and cover art could have been better. Again, this is purely a cosmetic issue and is, therefore, irrelevent.



Overall this is a good buy. You get four classic film noirs presented in good quality and one low price. This is a must for any film noir collector. I would also recommend getting Volume 1 that Diamond Entertainment also puts out, which you can find here on Amazon as well..."