‘The Playboys’ (1992) Blu-Ray Review – Intimate Irish Drama Conjures Small Town Intrigue

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

When Tara Maguire, the most irresistible — and scandalous — woman in a small Irish village finally finds love with a dashing, traveling actor, a rejected suitor threatens to expose a secret that could destroy the only happiness she’s ever known!

For thoughts on The Playboys, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/l1PXBES-HHw?t=2680]

Video Quality

The Playboys debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p transfer in its original 1.85:1 which looks to be from a solid older master from MGM. While we would not pass up a new scan in the future, what we are given avoids obvious signs of damage and digital manipulation. You might spot a few specks of damage throughout, but we have experienced far worse from some recent MGM catalog titles. The transfer is fairly well defined with nice clarity when it comes to unlocking detail. The picture retains its natural film grain with not much in the way of density fluctuations. 

Colors are favorably saturated with a welcome vibrancy to them in the expanses of nature and some of the production design. Black levels are good when it comes to depth, as only some of the nighttime scenes call out for more clarity. Highlights are controlled without any obvious blooming at play. Compression artifacts and other digital anomalies are nothing to worry about here. This is one of the stronger catalog titles put out directly from MGM recently.  

Audio Quality

MGM brings us this new Blu-Ray with a lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix that works well for what is asked of it. Dialogue is crisp and clear, coming through without succumbing to the presence of any competing element. The environmental effects allow the village to feel like a living community, but nothing too complicated is asked of the soundscape. The sounds of the energetic performances and active sequences with the truck add some weight to the mix. The lovely score establishes the atmosphere of the narrative, and it radiates out with a fortunate fidelity. MGM has done a fine job with this one. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided. 

Special Features

There are no special features provided on the disc. 

Final Thoughts

The Playboys is an entertaining, intimate drama which makes the most out of its small town intrigue and its confrontation of dated attitudes. The Irish setting adds a great deal of charm to the story which is put over the top by the performances from Albert Finney, Aidan Quinn and Robin Wright. There are some narrative threads that are not completely satisfying, but overall this proves to be an engaging story which deserves a bigger audience than it has gotten until this point. MGM has brought this film to Blu-Ray with a good A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If any individual elements intrigues you here, it is worth seeking out. Recommended     

The Playboys can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or through various other online retailers. 

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

Disclaimer: MGM 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.