The Outfit appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though inconsistent, this was a more than watchable image.
For the most part, sharpness appeared fine. While the movie lacked terrific delineation, it usually seemed pretty accurate despite occasional soft moments.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no intrusive edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent, and grain felt natural, albeit on the heavy side.
The film’s palette leaned toward blues and yellows/ambers. Within those choices, the hues looked appropriate, though not especially dynamic.
Blacks were fairly deep and dense, while low-light shots boasted reasonable clarity. Nothing here dazzled, but the result appeared acceptable for the movie’s age and stylistic choices.
The flick’s LPCM monaural soundtrack also showed the restrictions related to the movie’s vintage, but it still worked fine. Speech usually seemed fairly natural, though the lines occasionally became a bit reedy.
Effects failed to present much life, but they lacked problematic distortion. While the music didn’t boast great vivacity, the score and songs still showed decent pep. This was a more than adequate soundtrack for an older movie.
When we go to extras, we start with an audio commentary from film historians Jedidiah Ayres and Mike White. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, other movies based on the same characters from the novels, cast and crew, and some production notes.
The best aspects of the track come from comparisons between Outfit and its original text, as we find a nice examination of the books and their push to the screen. Otherwise the discussion tends to feel a bit spotty.
We can view The Outfit either in its theatrical cut (1:43:02) or with an alternate ending (1:41:11). It doesn’t appear the shorter version actually received exhibition, so this seems to become its debut.
No spoilers, but the alternate ending simply finishes earlier than the theatrical does and it concludes on a more ambiguous note. It seems neither better nor worse than the existing finale.
Four featurettes follow, and The Man With the Getaway Face goes for 26 minutes, 20 seconds. It involves film historian Levi Stahl.
Author Donald Westlake becomes the subject here, as we learn about him and his career as well as film adaptations of these novels. Stahl provides a good summary.
Paths Not Taken lasts nine minutes, 29 seconds. This one features film critic/author Walter Chaw.
Billed as an “appreciation” of The Outfit, Chaw gets into the novel, its adaptation and aspects of the movie production. A lot of "Paths" leans toward praise but Chaw adds some decent details along the way.
Next comes Tapping into the Outsider. A reel, it brings info from film historians Alissa Marmol-Cernat and Shay Dennis.
Another “appreciation”, this one covers the work of novelist Richard Stark, with some emphasis on The Outfit. It turns into a reasonable analysis, if a little redundant after the other discussions.
From 2013, Walter Hill on John Flynn occupies 13 minutes, 11 seconds and delivers director Hill’s notes about his filmmaking pal Flynn.
In addition to the movie’s trailer, we locate three Image Galleries that break into “Posters” (11), “Color Promotional Stills” (86) and “Black & White Promotional Stills” (53). We get a moderately interesting compilation.
With Robert Duvall cast against type as a criminal bent on revenge, The Outfit benefits from a very good cast. As a whole package, the film doesn’t ever quite excel, but it still becomes a fairly involving thriller. The Blu-ray brings generally positive picture and audio as well as a mix of supplements. The Outfit may not turn into a classic but it offers a fairly good take on its genre.
