6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Korean War vet Jeff Warren returns to his job as a railroad engineer, and quickly succumbs to his boss's wife, Vicki Buckley. Thus begins a tangled web of suspicion, sex and murder involving Vicki and her brutish husband Carl.
Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan, Peggy MaleyFilm-Noir | 100% |
Romance | 2% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B, A (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fritz Lang's "Human Desire" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include a vintage trailer for the film and exclusive new program featuring critic Tony Rayns. The release also arrives with a 40-page collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by film historian Travis Crawford, critic and author Richard Combs, and writer Adam Batty, alongside rare archival imagery. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
On the train
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's Human Desire arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
The release is sourced from an older remaster that was prepared by Sony Pictures. (As far as I could tell, it is the same remaster that Sony Pictures utilized when it prepared the Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II DVD set). Despite some obvious limitations, I like it quite a lot. One area where it is pretty easy to see that there is room for improvement is the density, and the reason for this is that the grain does not have that solid and 'tight' appearance that new 2K/4K remaster deliver. Also, there are traces of some light digital work that was likely done to rebalance the visuals as best as possible, but even on a larger screen the film retains an overall very pleasing organic appearance. I also like the grading. While a superior remaster will undoubtedly expand some nuances, I am not seeing any serious crushing issues on the current remaster. In fact, it appears that it was very carefully graded and as a result the nighttime/dark footage from the railway yard looks very nice. Finally, the remaster is very healthy. There are no distracting cuts, scratches, debris, marks, or even tiny flecks. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The audio has been remastered and it is very easy to tell because clarity and depth are as good as they can be for a period film of this nature. Balance is also also very good. The most revealing sign that the audio was remastered are the very healthy high-frequencies. Indeed, on an older audio track there would have been various distortions, especially during the raw footage with the trains.
It is true that at least a casual comparison with Jean Renoir's La Bête Humaine is unavoidable, but if you convince yourself that Fritz Lang's Human Desire is some sort of an American remake of it you are making a huge mistake. Even though both films were inspired by Emile Zola's popular novel, they treat the original material very differently and produce contrasts that ultimately send them in opposite directions. (And for the record, I don't mean only in terms of style). I find the characterizations in Lang's film very convincing, and I would not hesitate to place Gloria Grahame's performance amongst her very best. With Rita Hayworth playing the same character, which apparently was the original plan, I don't think that the film would have turned out as nicely as it did. Eureka Entertainment's new release of Human Desire has a very good exclusive new program with critic Tony Rayns. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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1955
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Premium Collection
1950
Indicator Series
1949
Arrow Academy
1949
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1947
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1951
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1958
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1941
Arrow Academy
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Masters of Cinema
1948
Masters of Cinema
1949
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1949
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1955
Indicator Series
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1947
Indicator Series
1954
Premium Collection
1953