Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
Warner Home Video
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Leweis, Beverly D’Angelo, Ruth Gordon
Extras: Production Notes, Trailers
Rating:

In their Clint Eastwood Collection, Warner Home Video has now prepared the comedy ’Every Which Way But Loose’ for release on DVD. In what is a change of pace, Clint Eastwood plays a trucker. He is a good fist-fighter and his friend Orville regularly arranges price fights for him. It’s an easy life of freedom for them, until Phil meets a country singer who actually outbeats him – physically and in affairs of the heart.

The DVD features an anamorphic transfer of the 1978 movie in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is generally clean and shows only minor scratches and dust marks. However, the presentation on this DVD is very grainy at times, especially in outdoor scenes, which can become a bit distracting. Colors are naturally rendered, restoring the film’s slight pastel palette while always remaining warm and natural-looking. Skin tones are nicely rendered without discoloration. The blacks in the transfer are deep and without dot crawl they give the image good depth. No distracting edge-enhancement is evident and the compression also leaves the presentation free of artifacts.

’Every Which Way But Loose’ contains a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio mix that has been created anew for this release. The track has a good frequency response with good bass extension and clear high ends. Dialogues are free of distortion but do have a nasal quality as a result of the limitations of the original recordings. All in all this remix may be unremarkable but it most certainly serves the movie and maintains its atmosphere throughout. A monaural French audio track is also supplied on the disc. As extras ’Every Which Way But Loose’ contains only some production notes and trailers.

’Every Which Way But Loose’ is a fun little romp that is easy to digest. It features some great situations, lines and of course, Clyde, the orang-utan who steals the show! Overall, this is a nice outing by Warner that is certainly a lot of fun.