Brute Force (Jules Dassin) Blu-ray from Arrow

[Oscar Rothman]

Street date - 18 August 2014

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/shop/ind...product_id=388

Before making the French crime classic Rififi, Jules Dassin was arguably the greatest of film noir directors, responsible for a string of gems including The Naked City, Thieves’ Highway and Night and the City. Brute Force kickstarted that run of pictures and never did a film live up to its name more. Burt Lancaster is Joe Collins, one of a number of convicts squeezed into cell R17 intent on staging a prison break. Not only does he need to return to the side of his cancer-ridden wife (Ann Blyth), he also wants to escape the clutches of sadistic warden Captain Munsey (an unforgettable performance from Hume Cronyn) who enjoys a reign of terror over the inmates. Beautifully shot by the great William H. Daniels, tautly written by Richard Brooks (Blackboard Jungle, In Cold Blood) and impeccably acted by its ensemble of noir familiars, Brute Force remains a prison movie classic.

[Douglas R]

Excellent! Fantastic film.

[Le Samourai]

Great news

[nitin]

yes those made my day, hopefully Naked City gets similar treatment.

[rapta]

Glad I pre-ordered this, looks great. I should probably pick up Rififi and maybe The Naked City too...if I enjoy this one anyway.

[joie]

That prison in "Brute Force" is

[Show spoiler]so white, so artificial. Hume Cronyn is good as a sadistic warden, though.

"The Naked City" has

[Show spoiler]that annoying guy that seems hopped-up all the time (Richard Widmark?). He was the same way in "Panic in the Streets."

Oops! Richard Widmark seemed hopped-up in "Night and the City," another Jules Dassin film. I'll rewatch "The Naked City."

Watched "Naked City" ... very good police procedural with interesting characters and a little comedy.

[MillyD]

Doesn't anyone have any idea how much of a improvement the more recent release is on this one?

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by MillyD

Doesn't anyone have any idea how much of a improvement the more recent release is on this one?

Both films in the Urban Jungle set are from new scans, though from what I've read Naked City is a bigger upgrade quality wise.

Not sure if the German blu is the same as the old Arrow release, but here's a comparison:

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...166260&i=0&l=0

[MillyD]

Thank you, I haven't got Naked City yet, so just needed a reasonable excuse to buy this.

[navydavey]

I have both the original Arrow releases of Brute Force and The Naked City, both are great films but I really loved The Naked City, so much so that I have just ordered the new boxset for the improved scan(s).
I’ll still keep my old releases for the alternate original artwork though.

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by navydavey

I have both the original Arrow releases of Brute Force and The Naked City, both are great films but I really loved The Naked City, so much so that I have just ordered the new boxset for the improved scan(s).
I’ll still keep my old releases for the alternate original artwork though.

Annoyingly, some of the extras from the old releases including the commentary on Brute Force have been dropped, so I might hold on to the discs at least.

[navydavey]

Personally I never listen to audio commentaries (except for The Simpsons seasons boxsets) but it is a shame there was no new extras produced/secured.
I assume the booklet contains new writings though?

[justwannaboogie]

Originally Posted by navydavey

Personally I never listen to audio commentaries (except for The Simpsons seasons boxsets) but it is a shame there was no new extras produced/secured.
I assume the booklet contains new writings though?

My bad, should have clarified - there are plenty of new extras on the set plus most of the original stuff is ported over, minus just a few bits that weren't carried over for some reason. So it's not a big deal really.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by justwannaboogie

Annoyingly, some of the extras from the old releases including the commentary on Brute Force have been dropped, so I might hold on to the discs at least.

"Brute Force" never had the Criterion commentary but I presume you meant "The Naked City". Other than that, all of the other prior Arrow extras are on the new set.

[SurlyGnome]

For those outside of Region B, I can confirm that the "Panasonic trick" works for this disc on my region-A Panasonic UB-420 player. Note: this refers only to the newer, remastered Arrow edition from the set Tales From the Urban Jungle: Brute Force & The Naked City.