Summer Lovers Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Michael and his childhood sweetheart, Cathy, go to Greece to spend the summer on the isle of Santorini. Despite his love for Cathy, Michael finds himself attracted to Lina, a vacationing French archaeologist.
For more about Summer Lovers and the Summer Lovers Blu-ray release, see Summer Lovers Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on September 24, 2015 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.
While it's easy to see a through line of sorts joining Randal Kleiser's 1980 ménage à deux (so to speak) The Blue Lagoon, with his ménage à trois from two years later,
Summer Lovers, there's perhaps a subliminal call back to the film that first put Kleiser on the cinematic map, 1978's Grease. The score to that musical included the ebullient tune
"Summer Nights" which detailed the hot and heavy romantic activities of young folks enjoying the freedom of life in the sun. That could certainly
be a précis of sorts for Summer Lovers, a film which offers astonishingly beautiful Grecian scenery, not to mention the
blandishments of stars Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valérie Quennessen. Ostensibly an exploration of sexual awakening, the film
probably works better as a libidinous travelogue than as any kind of meaningful drama.
Gallagher and Hannah portray Michael and Cathy, a couple who have been together for some time and are perhaps considering getting even
more serious, but who have embarked on a once in a lifetime vacation to the Greek island of Santorini. Some Fifty Shades of Grey-ish sexcapades early in the film show that the duo is
at least open to experimentation, and once gorgeous French archeologist named Lina (Quennessen) enters the fray, the couple becomes a
triple, with a number of soap operatic repercussions ensuing. Dramatically Summer Lovers often verges perilously close to camp, but
chances are many simply won't notice, as the scenery, both from Greece and the fabulously beautiful stars, is too sumptuous to ignore.
Summer Lovers is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While just slightly soft looking quite a bit of the
time, the transfer boasts really beautifully lush and appealing color, capturing that odd teal-blue color that seems to be part and parcel of the
waters surrounding the various Greek islands. Detail is excellent in the many brightly lit outdoor scenes, and overall the palette looks natural
and is extremely well saturated. Grain is natural looking and resolves without any issues.
Summer Lovers features a vivid sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which captures the ambient sounds of island life, as well as
supporting the film's occasionally risible dialogue with excellent clarity and prioritization. The score by Basil Poledouris sounds nicely energetic, as
do the many source cues.
There's not much (or at least not enough) "there" there in Summer Lovers, at least from a dramatic standpoint. That ultimately
may not matter one whit, for the film's sumptuous scenery and incredibly glamorous stars enchant the eyes even when the mind (and perhaps
more importantly, the heart) couldn't care less. Technical merits are generally very good to excellent, the supplemental package is appealing,
and Summer Lovers comes Recommended.
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Summer Lovers. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Summer Lovers in the search box below.
Kino Lorber have dated and detailed six upcoming Blu-ray releases: Summer Lovers (1982), The Real McCoy (1993), Youngblood (1986), Mad Dog and Glory (1993), Scream and Scream Again (1970), and The Group (1966).
Use the thumbs up and thumbs down icons to agree or disagree that the title is similar to Summer Lovers. You can also suggest completely new similar titles to Summer Lovers in the search box below.
