It’s not where you go. It’s what you leave behind . . . Chef, writer, adventurer, provocateur: Anthony Bourdain lived his life unabashedly. ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville this unflinching look at Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.
For in-depth thoughts on Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain comes to DVD with a strong 480p transfer that presents the movie really well. This film is a mixture of talking head interviews with healthy amounts of archival footage interspersed throughout, which provides different levels of visual quality. The recent interviews obviously look noticeably better than inconsistent archival footage, especially with some vintage news clips that are very chunky. Overall, the quality of each source seems to be derived from the best elements available. Skin tones look natural and details hold up fairly well. Colors are a bit flat and black levels are subject to some crush and compression artifacting. The image is a bit soft in certain situations with noticeable haziness under less favorable scenarios. This may not be a high definition presentation, but the image is very strong and quite pleasing given the format limitations.
Audio Quality
The DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that does everything it needs to do well. The film is presented with English and French subtitles for those who need them. Dialogue is pretty consistently clear throughout with only occasional moments where sounds from the clips muddle the clarity of the subject’s words. Surround speakers add a bit of texture to the proceedings, mostly in the form of musical cues and crowd chatter. This track appears to be free from any damage or other issues that would lessen your enjoyment. This presentation is about as good as the source material will allow.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on this disc.
Final Thoughts
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is a really enlightening film about one of the most unique figures to exist in popular culture in recent decades. The film employs some questionable ethical techniques in regards to how it utilizes Bourdain near the end of the film, but it is very successful in exploring some necessary topics in an impactful manner. If you have never really allowed yourself to get to know Bourdain through his work, this is an excellent way to understand why he was so beloved by so many. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has released a DVD sporting a decent A/V transfer, but a Blu-Ray would have been greatly preferred. On the strength of the film alone, this is worth checking out. Recommended
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is currently available to purchase on DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.
Disclaimer: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
