7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.9 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
One evening, private detective Mike Hammer picks up a strange woman, Christina, who's standing on the highway wearing only a trench coat. They're stopped farther on by strangers who knock out Mike and murder Christina. Although warned not to investigate by the police, Mike and his girlfriend and assistant, Velda, become ensnared in a dark plot involving scientist Dr. Soberin and Christina's terrified roommate, Lily.
Starring: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart (I), Juano Hernandez, Wesley AddyDrama | 100% |
Film-Noir | 39% |
Mystery | 10% |
Crime | 9% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.67:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Robert Aldrich's "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; new audio commentary featuring film noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini; altered ending; short documentary about Bunker Hill; making of featurette with screenwriter A. I. Bezzerides, Mickey Spillane, and writers Barry Gifford and George Pelecanos; documentary film about the life and work of Mickey Spillane; and more. The disc also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
Mike Hammer
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS system and Pixel Farm's PFClean system, while Digital Vision's DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.
Telecine supervisor: Lee Kline.
Telecine colorist: Lee Kline, Gregg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, Los Angeles."
Throughout the years, Kiss Me Deadly was released on LD, VHS, and DVD by various distributors. With Criterion's Blu-ray release, in my opinion, the quest for perfection ends. I believe that this would be the definitive release of this landmark American film for years to come.
Fine object detail and clarity are dramatically improved. In fact, so much so that there are portions of the film that I could not recognize. The soft, often blurry scenes from the old non-anamorphic MGM R1 DVD release of the film now look crisp and vibrant. The many contrast fluctuations have also been addressed, while various color enhancements have been performed to give the film a fresher look. Furthermore, I did not see any signs of excessive sharpening. Aliasing and banding do no plague the high-definition transfer either. Some minor noise corrections have been applied, but they actually strengthen the overall very pleasing organic look. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues (not even random frame transition issues). All in all, this a solid release of a film that has never looked this good before. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.
The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:
"The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation."
The English LPCM 1.0 track opens up the film quite well, though additional work on some of the mild background hiss could have been done. Still, the dialog is crisp, clean and easy to follow. I noticed that overall stability has been improved as well.
Ignored when first released on this side of the Atlantic but praised by the critics (and future nouvelle vague directors) at the legendary Cahiers du cinema, Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly is an American masterpiece, a film that has stood the test of time. Criterion's Blu-ray release of Kiss Me Deadly is of exceptionally high-quality, and it will most likely be the definitive release of the film for years to come. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Encore Edition | Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
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1955
2014
1950
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1954
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1963
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