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Top Line – Cauldron Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1988
Director: Nello Rossati
Writers: Roberto Gianviti, Nello Rossati, Massimo Giuliani
Cast: Franco Nero, Deborah Moore, Mary Stavin, William Berger, Shirley Hernandez, Larry Dolgin, Robert Redcross, Rodrigo Obregón, Steven Luotto, George Kennedy

Release Date: August 13th, 2024
Approximate running time: 91 Minutes 54 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"Down and out author Ted Angelo (Franco Nero - Django) finds a U.F.O. while searching a cave for treasure. When he tries to warn the media, he soon becomes hunted by various clandestine organizations, but with the help of his new friend, June (Deborah Moore - Warriors of the Apocalypse), they search for the truth while evading certain death. Have the Aliens taken over the world? I want to believe!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "2K restoration from the negative."

Top Line comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.5 GB

Feature: 27.5 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian), 3.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Though both tracks sound clean, the Italian language track sounds fuller than the English language track. That said, dialog comes through clearly enough to follow on both audio tracks. Included are English subtitles for the Italian language track and English SDH subtitles for the English language track. It should be noted that subtitles can only be chosen via the audio setup menu, and they cannot be turned off while watching the main feature. Also, you cannot toggle between the two audio options while watching the main feature.

Extras:

Extras for this release include reversible cover art, an interview with parapolitics researcher Robert Skvarla titled Alien Terminated: The Alien theories of Top Line (12 minutes 37 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Eugenio Ercolani titled The Strange Case of Ted Archer (33 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Franco Nero titled Black Top! (22 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary by film historian Eric Zaldivar including audio interviews from cast members, Deborah Moore and Robert Redcross, with additional insight on Italian cult films with actors Brett Halsey and Richard Harrison.

Extras not carried over from the limited edition release for this standard edition release include a double sided poster, a booklet and a slipcase.

Summary:

Directed by Nello Rossati, whose other notable films are The Nurse and Django Strikes Again.

An author who accidentally discovers a UFO while living in Columbia finds himself in danger when he tries to expose the truth.

What is Top Line? Is it a spy film, an adventure film, or a sci-fi? It's all of the above. Though Top Line is a film that jumps from one genre to the next, it does it in such a way that you never notice these shifts. That said, Top Line is arguably one of the more unusual melting pots of genre mixing that you will ever see.

The opening 20 minutes lay the foundation for what follows by establishing all the key characters. Despite things starting off mundane enough, once the protagonist comes across the UFO, things veer into the unconventional. And when it comes to pacing, though things move along briskly, key moments are given an ample amount of time to resonate.

Franco Nero (Django), who was in his third decade as a leading man, looks amazing for someone in their late 40s. He delivers a solid performance in the role of the protagonist, who constantly finds himself in danger. Other notable cast members are William Berger (Keoma) and George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke), who make brief but memorable appearances.

From a production standpoint, despite there being a few areas where things do not come together as well as they should have, the result is a film that is always entertaining. Though there are ample moments for Franco Nero to show off his action movie skills, most of these are moments where his character is in peril. Ultimately, Top Line is a flawed film that works as well as it does because of Franco Nero’s performance and its out-of-this-world finale.

Top Line gets a solid release from Cauldron Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of extras, recommended.