In October of 1956 as part of Playhouse 90s TV show a tv film entitled Requiem for a Heavyweight was produced. It was a huge success it even won the writer of the teleplay Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone), a Peabody award.
Six years after this tv episode aired, Columbia Pictures brought a full length feature version of the film would make it to the big screen. Now 60 years after it hit theaters Requiem for a Heavyweight is getting a Blu-ray release thanks to the great folks at Mill Creek Entertainment.
Requiem for a Heavyweight follows the life and end of the in ring career of aging heavyweight boxer Louis "Mountain" Rivera (Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia). After he is smashed in the ring by a young up and coming boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) He manager Maish (Jackie Gleason, The Honeymooners, Smokey and the Bandit) is told his career is over, cause the next time he gets he could be fatal.
Now Army (Mickey Rooney, National Velvet, Boys Town) Mountain's trainer wants to help him become a normal citizen. Mountain meets and falls for social worker Grace Miller (Julie Harris, East of Eden, The Haunting). Now Maish owes money on bets placed against Rivera, and tries to convince him to become a wrestler. Mountain must choose between his chance for happiness and his loyalty to Maish.
I have watched so many sports movies in my life it is hard to narrow it down to the best one. But if I had to say right now I think Requiem for a Heavyweight is my favorite. I have watched it so many time and it still is good every time I watch it.
The script by Rod Serling flows perfectly. The acting of Gleason, Rooney, Harris and Quinn are simply remarkable. The film is a perfect mix of drama and romance. The film runs at 85 minutes. It is the perfect time frame as the story moves along at a fast pace so there is no lull in the story.
Mill Creek Entertainment released this film on DVD a few years ago as part of the TKO: Boxing Triple Feature. Now as great of a release as that was, I was so happy when I saw that requiem was getting a stand alone Blu-ray release.
Mill Creek Entertainment has transferred this film to Blu-ray in 1080p in it's original widescreen format in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The audio is a DTS-HD 2.0 audio track. Finally there is English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The picture looks and sounds great on Blu-ray. The picture is crisp and clean and the audio is clear with no hiss or pops. Sadly there is no bonus feature. It would have been nice to see the trailer, audio commentary or the original tv episode as bonus feature. But what there is, is a very nice slipcover (see it at the top of this review page). It features different artwork than that found on the Blu-ray insert. This is a tremendous upgrade from the previous DVD release!
So if you love sports dramas as much as I do, I highly recommend this Blu-ray of Requiem for a heavyweight. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Mill Creek Entertainment Blu-ray of Requiem For A Heavyweight receives...
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