Dustin Hoffman plays Babe Levy, a history Ph.D. candidate and avid runner who becomes unwittingly involved in a conspiracy involving his brother, a shadowy American government agency, a Nazi war criminal and a mysterious but beautiful German woman. Babe’s brother, Henry (Roy Scheider), known as “Doc,” claims to be an oil company executive, but when he turns up on his doorstep with a fatal knife wound, Babe is forced to question everything. Further, when Doc’s death brings government agent Peter Janeway (William Devane) to his apartment to explain that in reality, Doc was a government operative named Scylla, Babe is utterly confused. His worst fears are confirmed when two brutes break into his apartment, kidnap him and take him to a warehouse where a German war criminal, Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) delights in torturing him with a dentist’s drill while repeating the question “Is it safe?” As events continue to happen, Babe realizes he must take control of things in order to survive.
Marathon Man was director John Schlesinger’s first thriller, and as he had with Midnight Cowboy and Sunday Bloody Sunday, he didn’t hesitate to push the boundaries of the genre. For 1976, the level of violence in the torture scene was shocking for the time, yet appropriate considering the kind of man Szell is; he isn’t the kind of guy who would simply question Babe under a hot light. The film also contains a very bloody hotel room fight between Scylla and a would-be assassin.
Written by William Goldman, from his novel—much to Goldman’s chagrin, Robert Towne was brought in to do some work on the script–he did a great job of creating plot strands for viewers to unravel without being convoluted. He deploys various subjects throughout that appear to be the real point of the story: communism, anti-Semitism, the hunt for Nazi war criminals, the relationship between brothers. In the end, the truth is a lot simpler, but Goldman forces us to consider a lot of possibilities along the way.
Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Warner’s transfer is a faithful reproduction of Oscar winning cinematographer Conrad Hall’s work. The source material is clearly in good shape and there’s no evidence of DNR. Detail is sharp and the film’s natural grain has been preserved without becoming obtrusive. Colors are a bit undersaturated and the color palette is a bit dull, as it’s meant to be. With no noticeable artifacts, this is a very solid transfer.
The audio is presented via a rather conservative lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. Action and dialogue is largely contained to the front, with the other channels basically coming into play for the score by Michael Small. Dynamic range is impressive and dialogue is clear throughout.
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles are included.
The special features have been ported over from Paramount’s 2001 DVD:
- The Magic of Hollywood . . . Is the Magic of People (SD, 21:14) Producer Robert Evans is his usual larger-than-life self, while John Schlesinger and Dustin Hoffman get a chance to chime in with their thoughts. A definite highlight is the celebration of Olivier’s final shooting day, complete with speeches and a toast.
- Remembering Marathon Man (SD, 29:07) This retrospective is a solid look at the making of the film. Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller and William Goldman share some very interesting memories.
- Rehearsal Footage (SD, 21:06) Rehearsals, especially for Hoffman and Scheider, involved extensive improvisation, some of which ended up in the script. Though improve was new to Keller, she joined in as well.
- Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:51)
