Subtitles:

English (SDH), none

Extras:

• New video appreciation of the late Ismail Merchant by director Ivory (available only on the Blu-ray edition) - 12:11 in HD!
• Building “Howards End,” a documentary featuring interviews with Ivory, Merchant, Helena Bonham Carter, costume designer Jenny Beavan, and Academy Award–winning production designer Luciana Arrighi (42:36 in HD!)
• The Design of “Howards End,” a detailed look at the costume and production designs for the film, including original sketches (8:57 in HD!)
• The Wandering Company, a 50-minute documentary about the history of Merchant Ivory Productions (49:37 in HD!)
• Original 1992 behind-the-scenes featurette (4:31)
• Original theatrical trailer
• 16-page liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Kenneth Turan (available only with the Blu-ray edition)

"Howards End" is one of the best novels of the 20th century. Read it. This film adaptation, by the team of director James Ivory, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and producer Ismail Merchant, is one of the best movies of the year - one of the best collaborations ever by these three, who specialize in literate adaptations of novels of manners ("A Room with a View," "The Bostonians," "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge").

"Howards End" is such a good story, partly because Forster himself was a master storyteller who was particularly gifted at strong endings, partly because the splendid cast embodies the characters so fully that the events actually seem to be happening to them, instead of unfolding from a screenplay.

Emma Thompson is superb in the central role: quiet, ironic, observant, with steel inside. Helena Bonham Carter has never been better than she is here, as the hothead who commits her mind and body to the radical new social ideas of the times. Anthony Hopkins gives a heartbreaking performance as a man who wants to change and wants to love, but finally cannot quite bring himself to break through the hidebound reactionary impulses which protect him from his better nature. And Vanessa Redgrave, as the dying Mrs. Wilcox, casts a spell over the whole movie; if we do not believe in her values, and understand what she sees in Margaret and why she wants her to have the house, we miss the whole point.

Extras :

"Building Howards End" is a 42-minute kind of behind-the-scenes piece with input from many of the cast and some some performers. All extras on the disc are in HD. "The Design of Howards End" runs 9-minutes with production designer Luciana Arrighi and costume designer Jenny Beavan. "The Wandering Company" is from 1984 focusing on the collaboration of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It's a good documentary running almost 50-minutes. Exclusive the this Blu-ray is a 13-minute featurette with James Ivory paying homage to his partner Merchant. We get a 1992 “Behind the Scenes” featurette for less than 5-minutes, the theatrical trailer and, again exclusive to the BR - a 16 page liner notes booklet with photos and an essay by critic Kenneth Turan.

BOTTOM LINE:
After my first, unpleasant, digital viewing of this film in 2005 I was suspicious and a bit disappointed that Criterion chose Howards End for a coveted spine number. But this high-definition transfer made the Ivory film grow on me and I began to appreciate what a beautiful piece of work it truly is. In a work it is 'magnificent'. Outside of a theatrical viewing this Blu-ray is the only way to watch this sumptuous adaptation of the literary classic. Another Criterion strongly recommended! 

Also coming to Blu-ray in the UK by Artificial Eye in October 2020: