His films have been called raw, outrageous, sensational, and daring. In four decades of directing, Samuel Fuller created a legendarily idiosyncratic oeuvre, examining U.S. history and mythmaking in westerns, film noirs, and war epics. And, characteristically, it all began with a bang: after “printing the legend” with the elegant B pictures I Shot Jesse James and The Baron of Arizona, he got himself into hot water with the FBI with The Steel Helmet, the first American movie to portray the Korean War. These three independent films—showing off Fuller’s genre diversity, gutter wit, and subversive force—set the stage for his controversial career in moviemaking.

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Video Quality

The First Films of Samuel Fuller come to Blu-Ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection in very comparable quality. This set is a part of their Eclipse Series line, and it is not always easy to get exact restoration details as compared to the mainline releases, but that does not mean the quality is any less. I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, and The Steel Helmet debut on Blu-Ray with truly wonderful presentations all around. The Baron of Arizona occupies its own disc as the longest of the three films, while the other two share a disc with room to spare given the breezy runtimes. While it would be easy to break down these three titles individually, the quality is uniformly excellent across the board, and there would be a lot of repeating thoughts.

The preservation efforts that The Criterion Collection undertakes with their films are practically unparalleled and allow these classics to be appreciated to their fullest extent. The contrast is precisely defined, and there is virtually no print damage to be found during any of these features. The sumptuous black-and-white photography shines in high definition with natural grain intact. There is a significant amount of detail present with welcome texture on the costumes and in the production design. Black levels are deep with no semblance of black crush or compression artifacts. The quality of these transfers is simply marvelous to behold. With such an evocative filmmaker, you want a presentation that captures the right mood, and Warner Archive has nailed it across the board. This new collection is of the highest quality from beginning to end and should please any fan of the filmmaker.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray set comes with a remastered LPCM 1.0 mono track for each of these films in the original English with optional English SDH subtitles. There is very little discernible age-related wear and tear to the tracks, such as hissing or popping. Dialogue and background noises are represented very well, along with evocative scores from the likes of Albert Glasser and Paul Dunlap. There are fleeting instances when these works register as a bit weak, but this is not a consistent issue. No elements ever overpower the dialogue that is of the utmost importance to the films. While mostly dialogue-driven throughout, the more active moments are handled with ease and give the tracks a bit of excitement. The Criterion Collection has provided the most consistent audio tracks possible given the age and source elements. Optional English SDH subtitles are included for the feature films.

Special Features

The Criterion Blu-Ray of The First Films of Samuel Fuller includes a foldout booklet featuring the essay “Baptism by Fire” by critic and author Nick Pinkerton in which he delves into the career of Samuel Fuller, individual thematic breakdowns of each of the films, and much more that is very illuminating. There are no on-disc special features.

Final Thoughts

The First Films of Samuel Fuller is a terrific collection that welcomes a legendary filmmaker to the silver screen with a clear sense of purpose and talent. While these films may be dismissed as a simple “western” or “war” picture, they are all tremendously entertaining and show his skills from the beginning. These are no minor works, and they are well worth the attention of any self-respecting cinephile. The Criterion Collection has released a Blu-Ray set that features the films with a sterling A/V presentation. Recommended

The First Films of Samuel Fuller is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

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

Disclaimer: The Criterion Collection 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.

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