Three Days Of The Condor - Blu Ray Review

"Three Days Of The Condor" always had the title of an action film but turns out to be the sly kind of espionage thriller that the late director Sydney Pollack was always adept at doing. Here he heightens it with frequent collaborator Robert Redford that brings a tinge of conspiracy much like "All The President's Men" but in a more stylistic developed way. The interesting aspect is the parallel with today's politics (at least of the Bush era). Redford plays a book analyst with the CIA who ends up discovering a fact that could unravel publicy for the adminstraction. He ends up being hunted by his own people in attempt to quelch any fallout. The interesting element is that it involves the Middle East and oil which is a subject we are still dealing with now. The transfer on BR looks good but the film is not timeless like some others of the period. It is a product of its time from the music by often Pollack collaborator Dave Grusin to some of the garish costumes. That said though the script by Lorenzo Semple, who has taught at NYU, has it flourishes when it sticks to its guns. It is when it focuses on higher ups at CIA and even in the racheted romance with hostage Faye Dunaway that the movie almost feels stale.However when Redford uses his ingenuity as a technology buff is when you see him accessing the spyware which he was never trained for. A good example is when he bugs the phone calls into doing a trace (and this is analog equipment). You do see the similarity here with some of the earlier choices in Brad Pitt's career although Redford's perceptions were obviously a little more controversial. The resolution is that of many screenplays of the 70s in its vagueness which gives the film a certain uneven energy. It is not so much about tying up all the loose ends as it is maintaining and showing a resolute theme: that fixing the problem isn't as easy as a sniper hit or hacking intelligence. It is about people who make bad decisions at times that can never be undone.The bare bones BR simply lets the movie along speak for itself which is a nice thing to do now and again. The only other extra is the trailer which in its cuts and almost kung fu slam frames is a product of its era but the intrinsicness of the matter remains. Remember, Jack Ryan was also a CIA Analyst once. Being in field is a whole different ballgame as "Red October" showed. Out of 5, I give "Three Days Of The Condor" on Blu Ray a 2 1/2.