Narrow Margin (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Sam Cohen
Review Date: Aug 26, 2024
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

Peter Hyams

Release Date(s)

1990 (July 2, 2024)

Studio(s)

Carolco Pictures (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

Film/Program Grade: B
Video Grade: B
Audio Grade: A-
Extras Grade: C

Review

Filmmaker Peter Hyams turned in some sturdy star-studded thrillers and action films for MGM from the mid-80s to early ‘90s, including the oft-derided sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey titled 2010: The Year We Make Contact and the 1986 buddy cop film Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. Needless to say, Hyams was a studio stalwart the likes of which we don’t see nowadays, although that’s not to say that most of his films were actually good. For every slick and easy thriller like the Sean Connery-starring The Presidio, there was unconscionable (but not unenjoyable) dreck like End of Days. That said, when the filmmaker turned his eye towards remaking Richard Fleischer’s The Narrow Margin—a 1952 neo-noir thriller about a cop protecting a gangster’s moll on a moving train from hit men—Hyams wanted to rewrite the source material entirely because he didn’t find much interest in it. For those who’ve seen the original film, we all know that was probably a mistake, yet he still turned in an effective film that’s short on creativity but plentiful in rollicking, propulsive thrills in the B-movie tenor.

Narrow Margin drops the determiner and adds a heaping helping of neo-noir shadow play in this train thriller from 1990. The film concerns a divorced Los Angeles editor Carol Hunnicut (Anne Archer) as she accidentally bears witness to a mob hit carried about by gangster Leo Watts (Harris Yulin) and gunman Jack Wootton (Nigel Bennett). Carol immediately flees to the Canadian Rockies to lay low, but soon her location is discovered by Det. Sgt. Dominick Benti (M. Emmet Walsh). The detective dispatches Deputy District Attorney Robert Caulfield (Gene Hackman) to protect Carol and the duo hop on a Vancouver-bound train to make sure Carol stays alive to testify against Watts. Naturally, Watts has the police in his pocket and dispatched his own assassins to hop on the train and kill Carol. But there’s one problem: They have no idea what Carol looks like, only that she’s being escorted by Caulfield.

Where The Narrow Margin provides hardboiled thrills, the propulsive filmmaking talents of Richard Fleischer and a litany of B-movie pleasures, Narrow Margin shifts gears a bit, for better or worse. In the remake, Hyams had to change the setting and incidents of the original to match what was going on in the late 1980s. And while some of the B-movie charm have certainly been lost along the way, Hyams sturdily makes fun work of all the overwrought and busy plotting. Hyams himself wrote, shot and directed this one, but his greatest achievement with Narrow Margin was making something unfussy and neatly bottled, just like the original film. Different strokes for different folks (filmmakers), I guess.

Gene Hackman brings his A-game as an unassuming and crotchety district attorney, having to think on his feet and only show to others exactly what he needs them to see. All of the running up and down the train to evade and usurp assassins is much more enjoyable when you have someone so specifically wry and slightly dour in your lead. It certainly gives the film its much-needed star power since the audience is essentially dropped into the story in media res. Archer doesn’t give much to the gangster’s moll archetype, nor is she really given much of a chance to, but she matches Hackman to support the tension gracefully. The original film runs just over an hour and is the perfect example of a B-movie that starts at point-A and ends at point-B. The remake is certainly more convoluted and sillier, though I give the talent behind and in front of the camera for treating everything with dead seriousness to really enliven the thrills when they come.

All in all, Narrow Margin is an underrated winner from a talented filmmaker who doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the slick thrills and chills he was responsible for turning out in the studio system. While it may be a bit too long for its own good and dares to become much sillier than what’s being acted out, it never hops off the rails and finds its destination with gusto in tow.

Narrow Margin was shot by Peter Hyams on 35mm film in Panavision using the Arriflex 35-III and Panavision Panaflex Gold II cameras with Panavision E-Series lenses and finished photochemically. The film was presented in 2.39:1 and even had some 70mm blow-up prints circulating upon release. This new 4K Ultra HD presentation from is sourced from a 4K SDR master provided by StudioCanal, encoded on a 100 GB disc with data rates vacillating between 80-100Mbps.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has upgraded their standard Blu-ray release of Narrow Margin, which was released in 2020 with a 1080p presentation sourced from the same master as this new 4K release. That previous disc looked good all-around but clearly was always going to look better in 2160p and supported by an HEVC encode. And I’m happy to report that it indeed does look much better in this new UHD release. Enhanced by inky black levels, finer facial and clothing textures, plus a more-refined presentation of all the gorgeous Canadian vistas that the film frequently cuts to, I’d say this about as good as a 4K SDR presentation can look in 2160p. The master itself does tend to be a touch soft and clearly could have a lot of its highlights better handled by HDR and the wider color gamut that it offers, though what we get here is a faithful rendering of Hyams’ work behind the camera. Hyams himself has always talked about why he loves shooting things a bit dark, choosing to play with shadows and the way darkness fills or doesn’t fill spaces rather than emphasizing primaries. You can see this throughout his career and this Ultra HD presentation does a sturdy job of presenting a sturdy craftsman. A standard Blu-ray is included that offers a 1080p presentation of the film sourced from the same master as well.

As for the audio tracks, we get 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo options, both encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio. It’s a bit of a dealer’s choice situation when it comes to these audio presentations, as the 5.1 track does open up the surrounds for the couple of big action sequences in the film, while the 2.0 stereo track is tighter when it comes to dialogue. The smattering of shootouts that occur gain enhanced LFE in the 5.1 track, and the helicopter shootout specifically was more boisterous than I was expecting, even in the bass levels. Source seems to be in good condition with no damage to note. You’ll hear the film nice and clear no matter which track you choose. Both the Blu-ray and the UHD include optional English SDH subtitles.

Kino’s 4K Ultra HD release of Narrow Margin is a 2-Disc set that includes the following supplements:

DISC ONE: UHD

Audio Commentary by Cinematographer/Screenwriter/Director Peter Hyams
Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Critic Peter Tonguette

DISC TWO: BD

Audio Commentary by Cinematographer/Screenwriter/Director Peter Hyams
Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Critic Peter Tonguette
Making-Of Featurette (SD – 5:09)
Selected Sound Bites (SD – 9:45)
B-Rolls (SD – 9:35)
Theatrical Trailer (SD – 1:59)

In terms of extras, Kino Lorber has ported over all of the features available on their 2020 Blu-ray release and added nothing new. This isn’t surprising given their many UHD upgrades in the past, but I digress. The audio commentary with Peter Hyams is very enlightening, as the filmmaker is clearly a big tech geek and revels in explaining how he pulled off the action sequences in the film despite Gene Hackman having a bad knee. The Panavision Panaflex Gold II camera was used for many of the sweeping exteriors, with the Arriflex 35-III used primarily for the interior sequences in the train. It’s always a pleasure hearing a filmmaker talk about thinking on their feet when it comes to shooting action, especially on a train. Sometimes you don’t know how much coverage you’ll be able to capture until you’re on the set. The EPK b-roll and sound bites are decent enough, but you’ll find much more to chew on by listening to both commentaries.

The Kino Lorber Studio Classics 4K UHD upgrade of Narrow Margin is a worthy one despite the lack of HDR and the wider color gamut available in rec.2020 presentations. If you’re a fan of 90s thrillers, especially those that take place on trains (there’s nothing better), then grab a ticket and take the ride with Gene Hackman. I promise you won’t regret it.

- Sam Cohen

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