7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
En route to London after being released from a mental institution, Stephen Neale stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister underworld with possible Nazi connections.
Starring: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Hillary Brooke, Percy WaramDrama | 100% |
Film-Noir | 39% |
Mystery | 10% |
War | 10% |
Crime | 4% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fritz Lang's "Ministry of Fear" (1944) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer and new interview with author and Fritz Lang scholar Joe McElhaney. The release also arrives with a leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Glenn Kenny. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
This is the place...
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's Ministry of Fear arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics scanner from a 35mm safety fine-grain master. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, and jitter were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image Systems' Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise reduction, and flicker.
Transfer supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorists: Jason Crump/Metropolis Post, New York; Lee Kline."
Criterion's new 2K digital restoration of this nearly 69-year-old film does not disappoint. Detail and clarity are consistently pleasing, while contrast levels are stable. Even where long dark shadows fill up the screen image depth is also very good. The blacks and whites are stable, and there is a wide range of nuanced grays. There are absolutely no traces of problematic degraining corrections. In fact, rather surprisingly most close-ups have plenty of very evenly distributed light grain (see screencapture #2). There are no traces of excessive sharpening corrections. Large damage marks, cuts, debris, and stains are also not present. I only noticed a few small vertical lines as well as some very light wear around the edges during a couple of scenes, but overall the film looks very healthy. (I tried to get a screencapture so that you could see how difficult it is to even notice a few of these vertical lines that pop up. Please see the right side of screencapture #15). Finally, there are no serious transition issues to report in this review. To sum it all up, this is a very strong organic presentation of Ministry of Fear that is guaranteed to please its fans. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There is only one standard 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 audio is crisp and stable. Also, there are no problematic dropouts or high-frequency distortions. Obviously, the range of nuanced dynamic is quite limited, but this should not be surprising considering the film's age and native sound design. Aside from some extremely light background hiss that is occasionally felt, in my opinion this is indeed the best the audio presentation can be.
Ministry of Fear is a minor film in Fritz Lang's oeuvre, but still one that is a lot better than the majority of similarly themed films that were produced immediately after the war. Noir fans should have a great time with it as it is quite dark and stylishly lensed. The film's new 2K digital restoration is excellent, but a few more supplemental features on this release would have been great to have. Still, Ministry of Fear is very easy to recommend. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1944
1940
1946
1955
Tengoku to jigoku / 天国と地獄
1963
4K Restoration
1973
1984
1998
Includes They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! and The Organization on standard BD
1967
2015
Limited Edition to 3000
1950
1997
1927
1992
1995
Encore Edition | Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1953
2006
1981
1964
2015