With over 150 awards to his name, the full scope of Arthur Dong’s storytelling mastery is brought to light in this Blu-ray collection of films that explore the LGBTQ experience. These critically acclaimed and award-winning films powerfully illustrate the many faces of the gay rights struggle in America, and dramatically reveal the social consequences of individual actions in America’s culture war over LGBTQ issues.

Coming Out Under Fire (1994) profiles gay and lesbian World War II servicemembers confronting the military’s first anti-gay policies. Family Fundamentals (2002) looks into the personal and political lives of conservative Christian families with gay and lesbian offspring. Licensed To Kill (1997) is an uncompromising portrait of convicted murderers of gay men. Out Rage ’69 (1995) chronicles firsthand accounts of the Stonewall Rebellion, a seminal chapter in the modern fight for LGBTQ equality.

For thoughts on Arthur Dong’s LGBTQ Stories, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

This Blu-Ray release contains the four films on one disc preserved and restored by the UCLA Legacy Project. The encoding is likely pushed to its limits, yet we did not spot any glaring digital artifacts given the length of the titles. Coming Out Under Fire is the most impressive visually thanks to the glorious 16mm black-and-white source thriving with lovely film grain. The transfer holds up well throughout with nothing looking compromised and no major instances of spiking. The 16mm source has been restored with care with only sporadic white specks, tiny cuts, and other small signs of wear.

Out Rage ‘69 comes from an upscaled video source, while Licensed to Kill and Family Fundamentals seem to be completed with a combination of film and digital capture, and these all look as good as their source allows. Colors are decently saturated with hues standing out in some of the clothing. The transfers show off some fine detail in Family Fundamentals in the backgrounds. The video capture of Out Rage ‘69 struggles to unlock the crisp detail you want. There do not appear to be any deal-breaking issues with compression artifacts or any other such nuisances. This set allows these works to be seen in their best state.

Audio Quality

The new Blu-Ray is presented with a newly restored DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track for all of the films except for Out Rage ‘69, which is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. All tracks suit the material as well as the source will allow. The interviews and narration are the primary focus, and they largely hold up quite well depending on when and where the subjects were recorded. Certain utterances are slightly muddled due to some of the limitations of the equipment but mostly things remain clear. There are intermittent fluctuations in the audio that seem to stem from the condition of the source material, but these are very brief and not a significant issue. Considering the material, the results are admirable. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc.

Final Thoughts

Arthur Dong’s LGBTQ Stories is a rewarding collection of films that each explore the queer experience through a historical and personal lens. It is important to keep these stories in perspective as we continue to attempt to push forward past these struggles for future generations. There is quite a bit of pain unburdened in these films, but they are worth grappling with. Kino Lorber has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty solid A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If you are a documentary fan or interested in learning more about LGBTQ issues, this one is an essential viewing. Highly Recommended

Arthur Dong’s LGBTQ Stories will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on June 25, 2024.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Lorber has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.