Get Carter appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While not exactly a visual showcase, the movie came with a mostly fine transfer.
Sharpness appeared clear and concise. On occasion some shots looked slightly soft or hazy, but these instances did not occur frequently, and I suspect they reflected the source photography. In general, the majority of the film felt pretty crisp and detailed.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain appeared natural – albeit heavy – and no print flaws marred the proceedings.
Carter came with a chilly palette that leaned toward blues on the verge of teal. The disc replicated the hues as intended.
Black levels appeared deep and dense, and shadow detail also was clear and without excessive darkness. Across the board, this became a solid presentation.
The DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Carter held up fairly well over the last 54 years. Speech came across as reasonably concise despite some instances of roughness.
Effects appeared a bit thin but they didn’t suffer from any notable distortion or other problems. Music also was reasonably bright and rich, with adequate range. For a monaural soundtrack from 1971, Carter seemed satisfactory.
Note that although the case for Get Carter claims it comes with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the aforementioned DTS-HD MA mono mix turns into the only one on the disc. And that worked for me, as I thought an Atmos remix of a 54-year-old movie seemed like overkill.
Also note that Get Carter debuted on Blu-ray back in 2014 and this 2025 release offered a remastered presentation with some new extras as well. Unfortunately, I never saw the prior BD so I couldn’t compare the two.
When we shift to those extras, we open with two separate audio commentaries. Taped in 2000, the first features writer/director Mike Hodges, cinematographer Wolfgang Suschinsky and actor Michael Caine.
Across his running, screen-specific discussion, Hodges dominates. He goes over the source and its adaptation, cast and performances, story/characters, sets and locations, music, editing and other production domains.
The track edits in remarks from Caine and Suschinsky. Unsurprisingly, Caine mainly gets into acting and his role while Suschinsky looks at camerawork and photography.
The various elements combine well. We get a well-rounded view of the movie in this engaging piece.
For the second commentary, we hear a circa 2022 session from film historians Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific talk about the novel and its adaptation, production domains, genre connections and their view of the film.
The track leans a bit more heavily on that last topic than I might prefer, as I wanted to know more about the movie’s actual creation. Still, we get a reasonable number of facts along the way and this becomes a largely worthwhile listen.
We can view the movie with or without a circa 2022 Introduction from Actor Michael Caine that runs two minutes, 30 seconds. He offers a few retrospective notes in this enjoyable lead-in chat.
Four video programs follow, and Mike Hodges in Conversation lasts one hour, 12 seconds. This live chat occurs between Hodges and host Samira Ahmed.
The documentary covers aspects of Hodges’ life and career, with about six minutes devoted to Get Carter during the meat of the program and a little more via the audience questions toward the end. Hodges continues to offer a charming presence and he makes this an engaging look at his work.
The Sound of Roy Budd spans 17 minutes, seven seconds. We hear from film music expert Jonny Trunk.
As implied by the title, Trunk tells us about composer Roy Budd, with some emphasis on the Get Carter score. Trunk turns this into a pretty succinct summary.
Next comes Don’t Trust Boys. It goes for 21 minutes, 53 seconds and involves actor Petra Markham.
She tells us about how she got into acting, working on Get Carter and a few other aspects of her career. Markham offers a frank and enjoyable view of these domains.
Klinger on Klinger occupies 24 minutes, nine seconds. This one features Tony Klinger, the son of producer Michael Klinger.
Tony delivers an overview of his dad’s work as well as his own participation in Get Carter. While not the most concise summary, Tony nonetheless provides a mix of generally good notes.
A 1971 Newcastle Premiere Intro goes for a whopping 46 seconds and shows Caine as he offers a lead-in to a showing he couldn’t attend. It becomes an insubstantial but still slightly interesting archival clip.
Three trailers conclude the disc. We get ads for both the movie’s 1971 release and its 2022 re-issue as well as a 1971 “music trailer with Roy Budd”.
A dark thriller, I don’t think Get Carter lives up to its status as a genre classic. Still, it brings a reasonably taut affair and benefits from Michael Caine’s take on the title character. The Blu-ray brings generally solid picture and audio as well as an array of bonus materials. This turns into a good release for a mostly compelling tale.
Note that Get Carter debuted on Blu-ray in 2014. This 2025 release remasters the film.
