7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Harry Morgan, a World War II veteran and former PT boat captain, has fallen on hard times. Deeply in debt and with a family to support, he makes a desperate gamble: agreeing to ferry a gang of robbers safely out of the country. But when you gamble, sometimes you lose.
Starring: John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Wallace Ford, Edmon RyanDrama | 100% |
Film-Noir | 84% |
Crime | Insignificant |
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
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Michael Curtiz's "The Breaking Point" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with actress Julie Garfield; new video essay created by filmmakers Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos; new video interview with biographer and film historian Alan K. Rode; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Stephanie Zacharek's essay "All at Sea" and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
It's a good deal, you can trust me
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from a 35mm safety fine-grain positive made from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm original soundtrack positive.
Transfer facility: Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging, Burbank, CA.
Colorist: Russell Smith/Criterion Post, New York."
The transfer is completely free of age-related imperfections. If there ever were any areas of the film that were severely damaged it is impossible to tell now; only during reel transitions where there are momentary drops in density it is obvious that some aging has occurred. Depth and clarity are consistently very pleasing. The overall density levels could be just a tad better, but the current appearance of the film is still very convincing. The grading has produced nicely balanced blacks and whites, with a very good range of nuanced grays. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Lastly, there are no general stability issues to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Bu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The audio has been meticulously cleaned up and almost certainly restabilized because there are no awkward dynamic fluctuations. The mid/high registers also are not plagued with the type of 'thinning' that is frequently present on older films. The music is nicely rounded as well, though it does not have a very prominent role. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report.
It is impossible not to compare Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point and Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not because they were both inspired by Ernest Hemingway's popular novel, and even though they are quite different films, I think that there is plenty in the former that actually works much better because of John Garfield's powerful performance. It is very unfortunate that he passed away so young, because had he been around longer, he undoubtedly would have left a truly remarkable legacy of films. Criterion's Blu-ray release of The Breaking Point is sourced from a very nice new 2K master and has a good selection of exclusive supplemental features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
1950
4K Restoration
1948
1945
1950
4K Restoration
1973
Encore Edition | Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1953
1955
1947
Includes Elia Kazan: Outsider 1982 Documentary
1954
Limited Edition to 3000
1961
1948
1961
1927
Deux hommes dans Manhattan
1959
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1955
1955
1955
Warner Archive Collection
1947
1954
1967