Back in 1938, director William Keighley and actor Error Flynn worked together on the classic Adventures of Robin Hood. Keighley delayed his retirement to make one last swashbuckler with Flynn via 1953’s The Master of Ballantrae.

In Scotland circa 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie returns to take his place as rightful ruler and lead a rebellion against the English who occupy the nation. Nobleman Jamie Durie (Flynn) joins the fight.

Unfortunately, the English win these battles and Jamie must go into exile. Nonetheless, he strives to plot his return home.

At about 300 pages, the Robert Louis Stevenson novel on which the movie comes based didn’t offer a tremendously long source. Nonetheless, this brisk 89-minute film pares the story to the bone.

The amount of content dropped from the book doesn’t become a real issue here – well, at least not for those of us who never read it. I find it difficult to mourn the absence of material with which I enjoy no acquaintance.

However, the rapidity with which the cinematic Ballantrae rushes through the narrative becomes an issue. Everything zooms by so quickly that it becomes tough to care about the events.

Clearly Ballantrae could’ve used a longer running time to better explore its roles and situations. I don’t know why those involved decided to go with a brief 89-minute length when it seems likely an extra half-hour or so would give the whole enterprise more breathing room.

As it stands, Ballantrae feels like a collection of swashbuckling action scenes in pursuit of a plot. Oh, we get outlines and understand motivations, but the end product remains so thin that none of these stick.

Flynn also seems too old for the part. 44 at the time, years of hard living make him look awfully weathered and Flynn simply lacks his legendary panache.

Granted, even a worn-down Flynn still manages some spark and charm. Nonetheless, the actor can’t bring the needed life to the role.

That said, Flynn in his prime couldn’t save this flick’s spotty script and lack of excitement. While Ballantrae throws a lot of action at the screen, few thrills result.

The Master of Ballantrae appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a nice presentation, especially given the film’s age.

In terms of sharpness, the movie usually demonstrated appealing delineation. A few shots seemed somewhat soft, but those issues occurred infrequently, so the majority of the flick looked concise and accurate.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and no edge enhancement became apparent. Grain remained appropriate, and no specks, marks or other defects showed up at any time in this fresh presentation.

Colors were strong. A Technicolor production that embraced a variety of tones, the hues tended to be vivid and full.

Blacks seemed deep and dense without too much heaviness. Shadow detail worked similarly well, as dimly-lit shots were appropriately clear and thick. I found little about which to complain here and thought the Blu-ray brought the movie to life in a positive manner.

The DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Ivanhoe appeared acceptable for its era, and speech was adequate. The lines showed age-related thinness and came with more roughness than expected.

These components remained intelligible, however. Some looping made the dialogue feel unnatural at times, though.

Effects resembled the dialogue. Those elements lacked much depth and showed a bit of distortion but generally seemed fine.

Music was acceptable for its age, as the score tended to be a bit tinny. There wasn’t much range to the music, but again, that stemmed from the limitations of the very old source. This turned into a decent mix, though some roughness marred it at times.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get two animated shorts. The disc features Bully for Bugs (7:12) and Plop Goes the Weasel (6:44).

In the first, Bugs gets lost on the way to the carrot festival and winds up in the middle of a bullfight ring. The bull provokes him and the two do battle in this enjoyable but fairly average cartoon.

With Weasel, Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg can't stand each other, and they use the weasels in their fights. I don’t know if the weasel character ever reappeared, though he seems somewhat reminiscent of the Tasmanian Devil. Anyway, “Plop” gives us semi-clever antics as Foghorn toys with his canine keeper.

A late career swashbuckler from Errol Flynn, The Master of Ballantrae fails to turn into a satisfying adventure. Too rushed and perfunctory, the movie lacks much to make it soar. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture as well as mediocre audio and minor supplements. Though professional enough, Ballantrae simply never brings much entertainment value.