Import Corner: Box of Burt: The Man, The Myth, The Moustache (Umbrella) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Umbrella unleashes the 'stach with five of Burt Reynolds most entertaining films and collects them in one awesome blu-ray set. This is a must-own for Reynolds fans.

Studio: Umbrella Entertainment
Release Date: June 19th, 1981 (The Cannonball Run) / June 29th, 1984 (Cannonball Run II) / July 23rd, 1982 (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / July 1st, 1983 (Stroker Ace) / December 16th, 1983 (The Man Who Loved Women) / April 14th, 2023 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 35 minutes 32 seconds (The Cannonball Run) / 1 hour 49 minutes 47 seconds (Cannonball Run II) / 1 hour 54 minutes 11 seconds (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / 1 hour 34 minutes 15 seconds (Stroker Ace) / 1 hour 50 minutes 29 seconds (The Man Who Loved Women)
Region Code: FREE
Picture: 1080p (1.78:1 aspect ratio) (The Cannonball Run I and II, The Man Who Loved Women) 1080p (2.35:1 aspect ratio) (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / 1080p (1.85:1 aspect ratio) (Stroker Ace)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (All films)
Subtitles: English SDH (all films)
Slipcover: No
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. (The Cannonball Run) / Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jamie Farr, Marilu Henner, Telly Savalas (Cannonball Run II) / Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Jim Nabors (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jim Nabors, Parker Stevenson, Loni Anderson (Stroker Ace) / Burt Reynolds, Julie Andrews, Kim Basinger (The Man Who Loved Women)
Written by Brock Yates (The Cannonball Run) / Hal Needham, Albert S. Ruddy, Harvey Miller (Cannonball Run II) / Larry L. King, Peter Masterson, Colin Higgins (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / Hugh Wilson, Hal Needham (Stroker Ace) / Blake Edwards, Milton Wexler, Geoffrey Edwards (The Man Who Loved Women)
Directed by Hal Needham (The Cannonball Run I and II, Stroker Ace) / Colin Higgins (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) / Blake Edwards (The Man Who Loved Women)
Rating: ACB: PG (The Cannonball Run I and II, Stroker Ace) / ACB: M (The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Man Who Loved Women)

NOTE: I usually include a ton of screenshots in my reviews as I want my readers to be able to look at all the different aspects of a release (picture quality, special features, packaging). This time I can not. There are five films in this collection and I don't want to crash someone's computer with all the screenshots that would normally be included in a review like this. I have decided to include a few screenshots per film without any screenshots of the menus or special features. Packaging shots are still here but I had to limit the others. I hope you understand.

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Poster(s)

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What's It About?

THE CANNONBALL RUN

Drivers compete in a no-holds-barred race across the United States. Featuring an all-star cast including Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Jackie Chan, Roger Moore, Peter Fonda, Adrienne Barbeau, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.

CANNONBALL RUN 2

When a wealthy Sheikh offers up a million-dollar prize, drivers from around the world gather once more to compete in the cross-country marathon car race: The Cannonball Run. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan, Dom DeLuise, Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, Richard Kiel, and Ricardo Montalban.

THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS

When the popular Chicken Ranch brothel in Texas is targeted by a moralistic TV media crusader (Dom DeLuise), the brothel’s buxom madam, Miss Mona (Dolly Parton), teams up with the local Sherriff (Burt Reynolds) to save the cathouse from closure in this song-and-dance comedy adapted from the smash-hit Broadway musical.

STROKER ACE

When NASCAR driver Stroker Ace (Burt Reynolds) signs a contract with a new sponsor (Ned Beatty) without reading it, he is forced into a series of hilarious stunts that could cost him his career, his dignity, and his sanity. Also stars Loni Anderson, Jim Nabors, Parker Stevenson, and Buba Smith with a surprise cameo by the Mistress Of The Dark herself, Cassandra ‘Elvira’ Peterson.

THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN

Blake Edwards' all-star romantic comedy features Burt Reynolds as David, a sculptor who is also an incurable womanizer but when things go south in both the studio and the bedroom, he seeks out the assistance of a beautiful psychiatrist (Julie Andrews). All is going well and David is able to make some real breakthroughs until the unthinkable happens and he falls in love with his therapist.

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Video/Audio

The big thing that I can say about the picture quality of the film in this set is: they look fine. None of these are new transfers and you can tell. I wouldn't be surprised if doing a comparison between the transfers found on these discs and their DVD counterparts, they would look very similar like both transfers come from the same source. This doesn't mean that they are bad either. They all have their positives: there's some surprising depth in CANNONBALL RUN II and the colors are strong in every film except for THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN. In fact, the only "bad" transfer is the one for THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN. Again, the film looks fine, but grain looks pretty bad with it being frozen all throughout.

My thoughts on the sound are the same as they were for the transfers: they sound fine. I had read that some found the sound on THE CANNONBALL RUN to be lackluster and flat but I didn't think it was. Sure, the sound isn't going to blow your socks off but it will get you through the film just fine.

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Extras/Packaging

The Cannonball Run

Audio Commentary with director Hal Needham and producer Albert S. Ruddy (found in Set-Up Menu)

From Sea to Shining Sea - A Look at the Cross Country Car Race in Film by historian Andrew Nette (21m 39s, HD, 1.78:1) A little bit on the nose. He runs down a list of films like Cannonball Run but doesn't really offer too much outside of just stating facts. It's fine but nothing great.

Gator McKlusky Presents The Burt Reynolds Story: The Cannonball Run (13m 21s, HD, 1.78:1) This is a series of YouTube videos from a channel dedicated to Burt Reynolds. I could have done without the comedy pieces but the other info is pretty decent. I don't know why YouTubers can't just give information without having to resort to crappy comedic sketches. The guy states that The Cannonball Run was the first film Jackie Chan made in the US but that is wrong. Chan had starred in The Big Brawl (Battlecreek Brawl everywhere outside of the US) the year prior.

Theatrical Trailer (3m 45s, HD, 1.85:1) This trailer, which is in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, looks a lot better than the main film. It's very weird.

Cannonball Run II

Audio Commentary with film historian Nathaniel Thompson (found in Set-Up Menu)

Gator McKlusky Presents The Burt Reynolds Story: The Cannonball Run II (9m 54s, HD, 1.78:1) See what I said about this YouTube video in the special features section of The Cannonball Run review.

Theatrical Trailer (1m 48s, HD, 1.78:1)

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Audio Commentary by music historian Adan Devlin (found in Set-Up Menu

Nothing Dirty Going On: Sex Work in Musicals Video Essay by film historian Lee Gambin (21m 18s, HD, 2.35:1) I learned a lot from this essay, but nothing more than there are a lot of musicals that feature sex workers. I have seen a bunch of these but never realized how many there are.

The Making of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (7m 19s, SD, 1.33:1) This is a featurette made during the filming of The Best Little Whorehoouse in Texas and contains tons of behind-the-scenes footage along with interviews from the time.

Gator McKlusky Presents The Burt Reynolds Story: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (18m 19s, HD, 1.78:1) See my thoughts on this YouTube video above in The Cannonball Run section.

Outtakes (4m 7s, SD, 2.35:1) I love watching outtakes for movies as they always look like they are having a ton of fun.

Theatrical Trailer (1m 10s, SD, 1.66:1)

Stroker Ace

Audio Commentary with film historian Nathaniel Thompson (found in Set-Up Menu)

Hollywood Couples: Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson (50m 14s, SD, 1.33:1) This is from a tv series from the early 2000's with this being one of the first episodes. If you ever watched those produced for tv docs about movie stars, then you know exactly what this is.

Gator McKlusky Presents The Burt Reynolds Story: Stroker Ace (13m 42s, HD, 1.78:1) See what I said about this YouTube video in the special features section of The Cannonball Run review. This one is the most obnoxious so far with way too much in the way of the not every once funny skits. They break up the flow of the videos and are really cringe-worthy.

Nascar Movie Trailer Reel (25m 52s, HD) Fireball 500, The Last American Hero, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Greased Lightning, Days of Thunder, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby, Red Dirt Rising, Fast Track, Logan Lucky, and Blink of an Eye. The trailer reel starts out really nicely before falling off the deep end by the end.

Theatrical Trailer (1m 47s, SD, 1.33:1)

The Man Who Loved Women

Audio Commentary by film critic Adrain Martin (found in Set-Up Menu)

Hollywood Remember Burt Reynolds (25m 43s, SD, 1.33:1) This is an episode of a tv series that aired in the early 2000s where each episode would focus on a different star. It is a bargain basement affair with the information being the type that is readily available anywhere on the internet. It's interesting as a piece of history but nothing more.

Blake Edwards Trailer Reel (46m 22s, SD, Various) Trailers for High Times, Breakfast at Tiffany's (I love how the announcer says Truman Capote's name wrong), Experiment in Terror, A Shot in the Dark, The Great Race, The Party, Wild Rovers, The Carey Treatment, The Tamarind Seed, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther, 10, S.O.B., Trail of the Pink Panther, Victor/Victoria, Micki + Maude, Blind Date, Skin Deep, and Switch

Theatrical Trailer (2m 10s, SD, 1.85:1)

BOX OF BURT comes in a nice slipbox that holds the four blu-ray cases along with a 32-page booklet called THE BOOK OF BURT. This features some essays about different aspects of Reynolds' life and career including a death mystery I had never heard about until I read it in this booklet. Each of the four, clear blu-ray cases features artwork from each film's original release, which is ALWAYS welcome. Each disc features flat, brown artwork featuring the film's title and not much else.

Each disc is REGION FREE

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Overall

BOX OF BURT is a really fun boxset. I really enjoyed my time with four of the film (CANNONBALL RUN 1 and 2, STROKER ACE, and THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS) with the only one not being all that good was THE MAN WHO LOVED WOMEN. That film just wasn't all that fun. The picture and audio quality on each film varies but they are all older transfers and audio mixes. The special features vary too with each film getting a commentary track along with trailers and a YouTube video for each film that goes into some of the background of the film. Would I recommend this set? Yes I would. I am very happy I bought this and would tell anyone who has any interest in this set to pick it up. It is worth it.

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Film

The Cannonball Run