Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Brute Force Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 26, 2014

Jules Dassin's "Brute Force" (1947) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; stills gallery; and filmed video discussion with author Kate Buford. The release also arrives with a 32-page illustrated booklet featuring: "Brute Force" (2014) by Frank Krutnik; "Swell Guy" (1948) by Richard Brooks; and technical notes. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"We're burred, ain't we? Only thing is, we ain't dead."

There are two things that immediately stand out about Jules Dassin’s Brute Force. First, it is uncharacteristically violent. The film does not glamorize the violence, the camera simply keeps rolling a bit longer and one gets to see what most early '40s films weren’t too comfortable showing. Second, it is unusually pessimistic.

Virtually the entire film takes place inside an overcrowded prison where an ambitious captain named Munsey (Hume Cronyn, Cleopatra, The Arrangement) enjoys humiliating and torturing the inmates. Munsey’s ultimate goal is to replace the prison’s weak warden, Barnes (Roman Bohnen, The Best Years of Our Lives), whose boss, McCollum (Richard Gaines, Ace in the Hole), has warned him that unless the number of reported incidents is dramatically decreased he is going to lose his job.

Joe Collins (Burt Lancaster, The Killers, Conversation Piece) is a respected inmate with a different goal in mind -- he wants to escape so that he can reunite with his wife who is dying of cancer. He already has a plan, but needs the help of a few more desperate men willing to follow orders.

Joe approaches Gallagher (Charles Bickford, A Star is Born), an old-timer with a cozy job who has been promised by the warden that very soon he is going to be paroled. Initially Gallagher rejects Joe’s invitation to join him, but when the warden informs him that the Department of Corrections has cancelled all parole hearings indefinitely he concludes that it is better to risk his life than spend whatever is left of it behind bars.

Based on a story by Robert Patterson and screenplay by Richard Brooks, Brute Force was the second film Lancaster did with producer Mark Hellinger (the first was the cult classic The Killers). The film, which was completed in 1947, effectively established Lancaster as a star with enormous potential.

The core of Brute Force has a noir identity -- the blending of explicit violence and pessimism infuses it with a type of atmosphere that is very common for classic noir films from the early '40s. However, there are numerous political overtones in the film that actually bring it closer to being a crime melodrama which pushes various social and political agendas. (A quick comparison between the fascist warden who enjoys Wagner’s music and Joe and his boys who have all been imprisoned for the wrong reasons makes this painfully obvious).

Despite the oversimplified characterizations the film is enormously entertaining. Lancaster exudes tremendous confidence and a type of energy that give the film its character. Though not likeable, Cronyn is also astonishing. There are also memorable cameos by Art Smith, who plays an aging doctor, and a very young Yvonne De Carlo.

Brute Force was beautifully lensed by William H. Daniels, who won an Oscar award for his contribution to Dassin’s next film, The Naked City. The intense soundtrack was created by the legendary Hungarian-born composer Miklós Rózsa (Ben-Hur, Double Indemnity).

Brute Force Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jules Dassin's Brute Force arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Arrow Video.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:

"The HD master of Brute Force was created by the Criterion Collection. The film was transferred in High Definition on a Spirit Datacine from a Finegrain Positive, and the audio was transferred from a 35mm combined optical print. Mastering was supervised by Maria Palazzola. Additional picture restoration was carried out using a combination of software tools and techniques at Deluxe Digital-EMEA London.

Film restoration supervisor: James White.
Film restoration by Deluxe Production: Mark Bonnici, Graham Jones, Clayton Baker, Anthony Cleasby, Tom Wiltshire."

I like the technical presentation a lot. Excluding a few minor specks popping up here and there, the image is wonderfully balanced and always pleasingly vibrant. During close-ups and wider panoramic shots detail and clarity are very good (this includes the darker footage from the underground area where Joe and the rest of the prisoners are working). Contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. Color stability is excellent -- the blacks are lush and solid while the whites and grays are beautifully balanced. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Quite predictably, from start to finish the film has a very pleasing stable organic appearance. Overall image stability is very good. Lastly, there are no encoding or compression anomalies to report in this review. All in all, this is a wonderful upgrade that is guaranteed to impress fans of Brute Force as well as those who are going to experience the film for the first time on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content). Contrast levels

Brute Force Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Arrow Video have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Depth and clarity are very pleasing. Miklós Rózsa's dramatic score also sounds quite wonderful -- the music is stable, well rounded and there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity. Some extremely light background hiss occasionally makes its presence felt, but it never becomes distracting. The dialog is stable and very easy to follow. Finally, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Brute Force Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Brute Force. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Gallery - a collection of stills from the film, production stills, and lobby cards.

• Burt Lancaster: The Film Noir Years - in this new video piece, author Kate Buford (Burt Lancaster: An American Life) discusses Burt Lancaster's life and career after WW2, the socio-political climate in America during the early '40s and '50s and the actor's attitude toward the studio system, his political activism (with some excellent observations about the McCarthy era), his success as a producer, etc. In English, not subtitled. (39 min).

• Booklet - 32-page illustrated booklet featuring: "Brute Force" (2014) by Frank Krutnik; "Swell Guy" (1948) by Richard Brooks; and technical notes.

• Cover - reversible sleeve featuring a replica of the original poster for Brute Force and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist.

Brute Force Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Burt Lancaster fans are getting some real treats this year: Brute Force, The Killers, The Scalphunters, The Swimmer, Elmer Gantry, Run Silent, Run Deep, Separate Tables... The list just goes on and on. Lancaster's second feature film does not need my recommendation. If it happens to be one of your favorite and you reside in a Region-B territory, do not hesitate to add Arrow Video's release to your collection. Brute Force looks lovely on Blu-ray. RECOMMENDED.