Disc Size: 24,676,833,050 bytes

Video Bitrate: 19.99 Mbps

DVD Release Date: August 28th, 2006
Transparent Keep Case

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Blu-ray Release Date: June 18th, 2012
Standard Blu-ray Case

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

ADDITION: Criterion Region 'A' Blu-ray: March 2015: We've seen some huge changes in the appearance of Odd Man Out through the many digital releases. We can now see that the Network 1080P is cropped - quite a lot. Beside the Criterion it also looks brightened giving the perception of being sharper (I actually don't think it is.) The US Blu-ray is quite a bit darker and in-motion I think I prefer this 'look'. It has the same marks and light scratches - so we can assume it is from the same source. The Criterion is dual-layered with a high bitrate - about 10 Mbps more than the UK transfer.

Audio, Criterion go with their standard linear PCM monaural track and I didn't notice much of a difference. The Criterion might be a bit thinner in the high end but it wasn't something that I found distracting. There is an original score by William Alwyn (On Approval, A Night to Remember and The Fallen Idol) discussed in the Criterion extras and it is well supported by the lossless transfer. There are optional English subtitles on the Region 'A' Blu-ray disc.

Criterion add plenty of worthy extras - we get a new, 25-minute, interview with British cinema scholar John Hill, author of Cinema and Northern Ireland: Film, Culture and Politics. He delves into Odd Man Out and its depiction of Northern Ireland in the 2014 piece produced by Criterion. Postwar Poetry, a new 1/4 hour short documentary about the film made for Criterion by White Dolphin Films. It provides a look at Odd Man Out through archival material and interviews with filmmakers, director Carol Reed's collaborators, and critics. We also get a new, 20-minute, interview with music scholar Jeff Smith, author of The Sounds of Commerce, about composer William Alwyn and his unusual score for Odd Man Out. Home, James, is a 1972 documentary featuring actor James Mason revisiting his hometown of Huddersfield, England visiting key locations from his youth. It runs almost 54-minutes long. Included is a 1/2 hour, audio-only, radio adaptation of the film from 1952, starring Mason and Dan O’Herlihy. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith.

NOTE: Kevin reminds us of supplements we missed on the Network: "The Network BD actually has a few more extras, accessible as BD-ROM features for those who have a BD-ROM drive on their PC. The extras include a PDF copy of a 378-page post-production shooting script (black-and-white scan of typewritten pages), 8-page PDF of the original press book, and a 4-page PDF of a 1980 flyer advertisement. Also, the Network Region-2 DVD has these same PDFs as DVD-ROM features." (Thanks Kevin!)

Criterion is the one to own - a complete Blu-ray package worthy of a film I still consider a masterpiece. Our highest recommendation!

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