NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (October 2022): Masters of Cinema have transferred Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack's long admired adaptation of "The Most Dangerous Game" to Blu-ray via a "2K restored scan". It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The Wicked Vision 1080P was extremely popular and has sold out (limited to 1000 copies.) I can't distinguish much difference between the two transfers excepting I might give a small edge to the UK rendering for more prominent and consistent grain textures. Otherwise they are quite similar. We can repeat that these are both huge upgrades over the previous digital editions. 

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use a linear PCM dual-mono audio transfers in the original English language. They offer both restored (24-bit) and an unrestored (at 16-bit) tracks. This would also be an upgrade over the Wicked Vision. There is the storm and boat crash settling more into the moody preparation for the 'human hunt' milieu. The unrestored track has some rough edges but I thought it was fine in my sampling. The score was by the iconic Max Steiner (Arsenic and Old Lace, Stingaree, Tomorrow is Forever, Sergeant York, Key Largo, Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, Bird of Paradise, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Beyond the Forest, Pursued, The Most Dangerous Game, The Garden of Allah, The Fountainhead etc. etc.) adding plenty to the mysterious characters and brisk level of excitement.  Masters of Cinema offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offers a new audio commentary with author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman. They discuss differences from the original Richard Connell 1924 short story, utilization of the strengths of the two directors, the brisk pace of "The Most Dangerous Game", Merian C. Cooper, the cast and much more. It ventures very deep and is much appreciated. There is also a brand new, 20-minute, interview with author / critic Kim Newman deviling into the “hunted human” sub-genre with examples. MoC also include a new, 20-minute, interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower who discusses whether The Most Dangerous Game is a horror film, or an action melodrama plus significant details on the production. Repeated is the 8-minute Merian C. Cooper Reminisces piece with excerpts from an audio interview conducted by Kevin Brownlow in July 1971. Masters of Cinema also include three radio adaptations; two from "Suspense" in 1943 and 1945 (each running 1/2 hour) and another from 1947 in "Escape" - also about 30-minutes. Lastly, is a German theatrical trailer and the package has a collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Craig Ian Mann, illustrated with archival imagery.

This is a wonderful Blu-ray upgrade from Masters of Cinema with superior a/v, a new, expert, commentary, an hour worth of video extras, 3 radio adaptations and fortified with a booklet! The plot concerns a big game hunter who deliberately strands a group of luxury yacht passengers on a remote island where he can hunt them for sport. The film is Pre-Code. Some of Joel McCrea's stunts from "The Most Dangerous Game" are uncredited to Buster Crabbe of Flash Gordon fame. The film was shot at night on the King Kong jungle sets with four of the same actors; Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, James Flavin and Noble Johnson. "The Most Dangerous Game" lapsed into the public domain in 1960 and we have had some very weak digital packages, but you can feel confident that this Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is the best of all previous editions. I expect it will get many votes in our year-end poll. Strongly recommended! 

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ADDITION: Wicked Vision - Region FREE - Blu-ray (September 2019): Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack's "The Most Dangerous Game" now appears thanks to Wicked-Vision Media. This new release is a Region 'Free' transfer, on a single-layer Blu-ray providing the film with a high bitrate - cited as a "new 2K Restoration from the original 35mm Elements". One only need to see the captures below to see how this release compares to the already impressive release from Flicker Alley. Gone are the rounded corners, resulting in a slightly more zoomed-in appearance to the image. What is new is a much clearer picture, showing a much crisper and articulated presentation. Blacks are darker here, giving the film the impression of greater depth. This is a fine transfer if I've ever seen - one, and given that this is a Region 'Free' Blu-ray, one would be wise to grab this disc if you are keen on this classic. The Box has both a German inlay and an English one.

The new Blu-ray of "The Most Dangerous Game" offers up 2 choices for audio, either an English or German DUB 16-bit DTS-HD Master audio track (or the option of two commentaries, discussed below). When comparing the audio to the previous Flicker Alley Blu-ray, this release gets the slight edge, though you would really have to strain to hear a significant difference. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'Free' Blu-ray from Wicked-Vision. There is a second disc DVD with the film.

Included here are two audio commentaries, one from 2019 with Dr. Rolf Giesen and Dr. Gerd Naumann and one from 2006 featuring Giesen. Both the 2019 and the 2006 audio commentaries are in German, yet there is the option to watch with English subtitles (which is very helpful). Dr. Giesen also appears in a bunch of introductions and brief talks on the film, all shot in Black & White with optional English subtitles. There is a 52-page booklet with an essay by Clemens G. Williges (German, English). Also here are trailers and a photo gallery lasting around 4-minutes.

I had no idea that this release of "The Most Dangerous Game" from Wicked-Vision Media would look this stunning. The captures speak for themselves. Sure, there could be more in the way of extras but I look forward to taking a deeper dive into the commentaries (via the included subtitles as they are in German, a very nice bonus given that this is a Region 'Free' Blu-ray). It is almost impossible not to be swept up in this classic film (notably even the Zodiac killer was inspired by this production). This is the best the film has looked, to my eyes. Don't wait to pick this Blu-ray up as it is limited to 1000 copies!

Colin Zavitz

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ADDITION: Flicker Alley - Region FREE - Blu-ray (July 2012): Flicker Alley have put the classic The Most Dangerous Game to Blu-ray. along with Gow (aka Cannibal Island) in a celebration of the filmmaking team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. It is significantly brighter with more layered contrast than the previous DVDs. There is also more information on all 4 sides of the frame. The 1080P image shows frequent rounded corners. It is very clean with a bit of depth and generally looks solid on the single-layered Blu-ray disc. There is contrast flickering notable in the opening but the image settles down and the disc offers a pleasing presentation.

Unfortunately, Flicker Alley didn't go lossless with the audio but I'll wager it may not have made much difference. The limitations of the production would still show through although in uncompressed it may have had more depth to the soundtrack. So the audio is acceptable, and probably authentic, but is still imperfect. There are no optional subtitles on the region FREE Blu-ray disc.