The Sting
April 2007 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: HD DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Heralded by many critics as the perfectly constructed film, this classic stars Robert Redford as Johnny Hooker and Paul Newman as Henry Gandorff, two Chicago hustlers and con men who team together to take down a big New York City thug and high roller, Doyle Lonnegan, played by Robert Shaw. Redford and Newman had worked with director George Roy Hill on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) so the two actors and director were comfortable with each other. With Sundance and The Sting, Redford, Newman, and Hill defined the buddy movie for decades to come.

The movie is a comedy drama. That means it is funny most of the time, but that serious events do take place, including at least one shocking killing. But overall the characters are played as bigger than life, yet still believable and exceptionally likable, perhaps as Chicago counterparts of Damon Runyan’s lovable New York mobsters. The use of Scott Joplin rags, though historically inaccurate, helps keep the movie upbeat and in the humor zone. Incidentally, this movie sparked a new interest in the music of Joplin that swept the nation, leading to numerous performances of his music by everyone from solo piano players to bands to a company that remounted his opera Treemonisha.

Though Redford, Newman, and Shaw are in the spotlight most of the time, they are supported by an impeccable cast of character actors. Ray Walston is memorable as one of Gandorff and Hooker’s crew. When the boys set up fake horse races in order to separate Lonnegan from his money, it is Walston that goes "on air" as the race announcer. Charles Durning has a good time as a crooked cop. In fact, the whole cast seems to have enjoyed itself tremendously during this shoot.

When The Sting was first put out on DVD, it was produced in a fullscreen 1.33: 1 aspect ratio. As best I can find out, the movie was shot 1.37:1, but it is unlikely that any theater played it that way. On this HD DVD, it is shown at 1:78:1, which is closer to what one would expect at the average movie theater, where top and bottom are trimmed off a bit so that the full width of the screen can be used. The print is a very good one and the colors are rich and at times eye popping. Detail is crisp. All those period clothes with their tweeds and checks and stripes are clean as a whistle. Close-ups of actors reveal skin blemishes and pores, as well as the subtlest expression. The sound has been remixed to 5.1, but it is basically an up-front deal with a little bit of stereo separation here and there. Still, there is a solid bass line, and the Joplin tunes come through sounding crisp and clean.

There is only one major extra, a retrospective called "The Art of the Sting," which includes lots of scenes from the movie as well as more recent interviews with the stars. It’s done in SD and will make even the average viewer well aware of the quality of the HD transfer of the feature. I am all for the release of classics in the new HD formats. Rather than do a pitiful remake of a classic, it makes better sense to dust it off, restore its luster, and commit it to high definition so generations not around when it was released can experience it like new.

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