A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown November 14, 2024

Best Picture biopic A Man for All Seasons (1966) makes its domestic 4K debut courtesy of the Volume 5 box set of the Columbia Classics Collection, a terrific release that also features 4K versions of Robert Rossen's All the King's Men (1949), an unforgettable Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954), the still-hilarious Tootsie (1982), the sumptuous Daniel Day Lewis-led The Age of Innocence (1993), and Greta Gerwig's masterful adaptation of Little Women (2019). Each volume in Sony's ongoing collection not only highlights a spread of the best of the best of the decades, it gives each film a high quality video presentation, (when necessary) a striking remaster or restoration, cutting edge audio (typically an Atmos upgrade), and often new extras.

As A Man for All Seasons opens, Anne Boleyn (Vanessa Redgrave, briefly) and King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) are already an "item," so much so that Henry has decided he must divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne, sure that his new lover will provide him with the male heir he so deeply desires. Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles), the Lord Chancellor of England, summons Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) to a hush hush meeting where Wolsey upbraids More for not "going with the flow" and adding his name to the government officials already "approving" of the King's desire to obtain a divorce, something that needs the Pope's dispensation. More is not only certain the Pope won't grant such dispensation, he's also worried about the King's end run around Papal authority. More is absolutely sure that spiritual authority rests with the Pope, and so matters of marriage are inarguably within the pontiff's purview. Other more craven politicians are more concerned with earthly, temporal power and therefore simply become willing "yes men" to the monarch to further their own ambitions. Chief among these are the scheming Thomas Cromwell (Leo McKern) and his acolyte Richard Rich (John Hurt), a pair which ultimately succeed in branding More a traitor.

Click here to read the rest of Jeffrey Kauffman's review of the six-time Oscar winner, which he calls, "a film that is blessed not just with an incredibly cultivated and even scholarly screenplay, but with a bevy of actors able to bring these characters fully to life in an unforgettable way." Adding Scofield's "calm, deliberate but steely spined demeanor is the anchor of this film, and he provides an almost immutable moral center around which various competing elements dash and thrash in a more florid fashion."

A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Of the six 4K video presentations featured in the Columbia Classics Collection: Volume 5, I had the most difficulty with this one. A Man for All Seasons has the distinct qualities of a film of its era, although if you can already sense me tiptoeing near waters I've not fully explored or, honestly, completely understand, you wouldn't be far off. From the opening shot, even after the title cards and credits have long disappeared, exterior wide and midrange shots are undermined by unmissable edge halos. From all reports, these are optical rather than anything more nefarious -- we're not talking about the razor-thin edge halos of the days of glaring artificial sharpening -- but I found them more distracting and unsightly. Paired with the film's color grading, which features ruddy, muddy, bronzed, peckish and oftentimes unnatural skintones and saturation, makes for the difficult viewing experience I mentioned at the outset. However, to resolve any of these "issues," the film would need to undergo a complete overhaul; one which would undoubtedly alter its filmmakers' intentions and its original theatrical appearance. Grain can sometimes grow chunky and inconsistent too, though that has more to do with post-production push-ins/non-optical zooms than anything more concerning. Fortunately, detail is something of a miracle, delivering a level of refinement and precision uncharacteristic of several brief shots that struggle with dips in clarity. Textures are exacting, delineation is quite notable, edges are generally crisp and clean (when unencumbered by the aforementioned halos), and interior sequences offer a welcome improvement in quality. Shadows can grow too heavy -- scenes in which power players go about plotting More's downfall are especially sinister and seedy -- and some detail drowns in the dark. But again, this, and most everything "negative" about the presentation seems to trace back to the elements. As far as the encode goes, I didn't catch sight of any blocking, banding or digital beasties that might suggest subpar encoding. The 4K presentation of A Man for All Seasons represents, I suspect, the best the film will ever look.

A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's Atmos upgrade doesn't do much to expand or revolutionize the film's original sound design, but it handles everything that comes its way with notable ease. Dialogue is intelligible and nicely centered at all times, even if several sequences grow noticeably front-heavy. Directional effects are present and occasionally plentiful, but often do little more than bolster the acoustic properties of large rooms, council chambers or court proceedings. Likewise, LFE output is restrained and largely reserved for early scenes involving Henry VIII and, more so, for Georges Delerue's score, which boasts power and prestige. In fact, Delerue's score is the highlight of the mix, which otherwise tends to date itself. Still, the third act features trial scenes that make it clearer why an Atmos track was chosen here, and how effortlessly a proper Atmos experience can enhance a sense of place and acoustics in films that predate such realizations or advancements in sound design.

A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Film historians Julie Kirgo, Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman.

• Moral Clarity with Bishop Robert Barron (HD, 15 minutes) - A recently produced featurette in which Bishop Robert Barron expounds upon the faith, dogma and methodology of the historical Catholic Church.

• The Life of St. Thomas More (SD, 18 minutes) - A vintage historical featurette.

• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 3 minutes)

A Man for All Seasons 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This stirring Best Picture winner demands a bit of patience and expectation realignment when it comes its 4K restoration. While its lesser qualities are a product of the original film elements, it can be difficult for modern eyes and ears to adjust to its shortcomings. Still, with a solid AV presentation and a decent selection of extras, A Man for All Seasons withstands (most of) the tests of time. Recommended, with some technical hesitation.