ADDITION: MGM (50th Anniversary Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - February 08': The short story is that this is now anamorphic, retains the same strong contrast and sharpness (perhaps a notch higher) and is a wonderful treatment. It has VOB files dated for Oct 07'. The mono audio is clean and clear and there are still optional yellow subtitles (see sample below). Bottom line is that it looks great in the 16X9 1.66 ratio, it is progressive, dual-layered, coded for region 1 in the NTSC standard. Greytones are excellent and the package is a ridiculously essential one at about $13.   

In the commentary historian Drew Casper hardly seems to take a breath, with a few short gaps, - he eloquently narrates at times but also inputs vast extraneous details about Lumet, Fonda and much of the cast (shot in 20 days for a mere $250,000). I suspect he is reading at times, from notes (so many specific dates mentioned), but it is still a very good commentary. There are two, relatively weak featurettes - Beyond a Reasonable Doubt - the Making of 12 Angry Men and Inside the Jury Room. They run respectively 23 and 15 minutes long and input comes from some left-field resources with even George Wendt ('Normie') giving some comments (he played a juror in the updated theatrical version). Also included are Klugman, Robert Osborne and Patricia King Hanson and many others. Anyway, I preferred Casper's commentary and his enthusiasm about blocking and staging of one early scene. This package has wonderful value for cost. The transfer looks great - there are some relevant supplements and the price sure is right. Thanks goodness MGM didn't mess this up. Strongly recommended!  

***

About the Old vs. the PAL: The MGM Region 1 NTSC is marginally superior with the image being sharper, greater detail, and better contrast. The Region 2 PAL version is slightly brighter (probably boosted) and marginally cropped on the left and top edges. The higher bitrate of the Region 2 is no doubt die to the extensive Audio dubs available (remember our bitrate reader reads audio as well as video). It also includes 12 subtitle options. There are no valuable extras on either edition. Unless you require the language or subtitle options of the Region 2 DVD, obviously the NTSC version is the top choice.

It would be reasonable to se this anamorphized one day in an SE version with possible commentary and some decent extra features, but I don't suspect it will happen soon. 

 - Gary W. Tooze