All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown November 14, 2024

Robert Rossen's All the King's Men (1949) makes its domestic 4K debut courtesy of Sony's Volume 5 box set of the Columbia Classics Collection, a terrific release that also features 4K versions of Marlon Brando's unforgettable On the Waterfront (1954), Best Picture biopic A Man for All Seasons (1966), 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.

Jack Burden (John Ireland) is a beat reporter who's looking forward to some time off with this girlfriend when his assignment editor tells him he needs to forego any time off to look into a candidate who's raising quite a ruckus in a southern town called Konoma. It's notable that the assignment editor isn't even sure what office the politician is running for, feeling that the story is important because the subject is evidently that rarest of breeds: the honest politician. Once Jack arrives, he finds out that the politician, Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), may not exactly be chasing after the most prestigious job in the world, but he's highly motivated and has the kind of enthusiasm that rankles the town establishment. Jack himself is swept along by Willie's inexorable charisma, and becomes something of a cheerleader instead of a purely objective reporter. Willie seems to be a great if not exactly perfect Everyman, a blue collar stiff who's out to rid his neck of the woods of the corruption which runs completely rampant through most of the elected officials. All the King's Men charts Willie's rise through the ranks, with Jack acting as a kind of Greek Chorus, albeit a participatory one. Despite being a product of the 1940s, the film is almost shockingly prescient in its depiction of the accretion of power and its corrupting influence, as well as making some salient points about a representative of the press who checks his objectivity at the door, at least for a little while.

Click here to read the rest of Jeffrey Kauffman's review of All the King's Men, which he calls, "an actors' showcase." Adding, "from Broderick Crawford on down, the film offers a beautifully naturalistic performance milieu, one that brilliantly captures a grassroots political organization hitting the big time."

All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The first 4K remastered film in Volume 5 of the Columbia Classics Collection is also one of the set's best: All the King's Men, which features a flawless 4K/2160p upgrade sure to dazzle and delight cinephiles of all stripes. Detail is the most obvious improvement here, with crisper, cleaner textures and more finely resolved edge definition than ever before. A light veneer of pleasing grain also backs the image, lending it a sense of filmic dignity that's much appreciated. The film's black and white photography is as striking as ever too, with rich black levels (that rarely, if ever, hinder shadow delineation) and bright, satisfying highlights. Gradient grays are handsome too, without so much as a single band or bit of blockiness. Contrast is impeccable and it seems no expense has been spared. This is as good as All the King's Men has ever looked, or conceivably ever will.

All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All the King's Men doesn't earn a Dolby Atmos track like the other five films in Volume 5 of the Columbia Classics Collection, but its absence is hardly noticed. Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix would have presumably been my preferred selection anyway, and it has all the traits you'd hope for in a faithful mono mix. Dialogue is able-bodied and neatly centered, prioritization is more than capable, and the film's sound effects and score weave in nicely. There's really nothing to knock in the mix, other than the fact that it doesn't rise to the level of unforgettable (as far as original sound design and mono mixing are concerned).

All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - Film historians Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff

• Force of Will (HD, 26 minutes) - A making-of featurette

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 3 minutes)

All the King's Men 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All the King's Men is sometimes shockingly prescient, allowing it to lay hold to the ever-enviable "timeless classic" label. Sony respects its legacy and continued relevance too, thanks to a faultless 4K video remaster and a strong mono mix. Its supplemental package leaves much to be desired, but ah well. Recommended.