Of Mice and Men Blu-ray - John Malkovich

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Gary Sinise
U.S. 1992

John Steinbeck's classic novel "Of Mice and Men" gets its third movie treatment, having been filmed previously for the big screen in 1939 (starring Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.) and for television in 1981 (with Robert Blake and Randy Quaid). (Only the latter version is on video.)

This time out, however, director/producer/star Gary Sinise gives us a more clear-eyed vision of the story of downtrodden George and feeble-minded Lennie, who "travel together." The story is set in California during the Depression, where George (Sinise) and Lennie (John Mal-kovich) take work as farmhands, hoping to be able to stay in one place long enough to raise the money to buy a little place of their own. But Lennie's brute strength, coupled with his childlike curiosity, invariably leads to trouble and, ultimately, tragedy.

Sinise the director manages to keep the various elements under control as if he already has a dozen films under his belt. In fact, this is only his second (after "Miles From Home"). The screenplay, by Horton Foote, is masterful and the technical elements are all excellent, from the period sets and costumes to the sharp cinematography.

"Of Mice and Men" is a fine, literate film of the kind we get all too infrequently these days. It is rated PG-13 for a fair amount of profanity, some vulgarity and some violence.

Excerpt from Chris Hicks' review at DesertNews.com located HERE

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Theatrical Release Date: October 2, 1992

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Comparison:

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. SE MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT

2) MGM (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Olive Film - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:50:36	1:50:36	1:50:46.097
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.36 mb/s NTSC 960X540 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.37 NTSC 960X540 29.97 f/s	1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,343,151,428 bytes Feature: 32,907,472,896 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 33.23 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: MGM SE
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2075 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2075 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2087 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2087 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French and none	English, Spanish, French and none	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Theatrical trailer - widescreen anamorphic 2:25 • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Commentary by Gary Sinise • Theatrical trailer - widescreen anamorphic 2:25 • 2 brand-new featurettes The Making of... (5:00) • Deleted scenes with director (Gary Sinise) commentary • Screen and makeup tests (7:00) • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: March 4, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,343,151,428 bytes Feature: 32,907,472,896 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 33.23 Mbps Edition Details: • Commentary by Gary Sinise • In Conversation with Director Gary Sinese and Screenwriter Horton Foote (20:16) • The Making of... (6:01) • Deleted scenes with optional director (Gary Sinise) commentary (18:45) • Makeup tests (11:49) • Screen test for Sherilyn Fenn (7:46) • Theatrical trailer (2:16) Blu-ray Release Date: January 19th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - January 16': The new Olive is quite fetching - notable for a tighter image, consistent grain, warmer skin-tones - via an extremely high bitrate on a dual-layered disc. There is also a frequent sense of depth. The visuals are a solid improvement over the strong DVDs (of their time).

The audio gets a desirable, lossless, bump in 2.0 channel stereo. Olive use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 2075 kbps. Effects and aggression export depth and the score by Mark Isham (Little Man Tate, Crossing Over, In the Valley of Elah, A River Runs Through It) adroitly supports Sinise's film and sounds excellent in the uncompressed. There are no subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

There are extras! and they duplicate the 2003 SE DVD with the Sinise commentary, the Making of..., deleted scenes with optional director (Gary Sinise) commentary, makeup tests, screen test for Sherilyn Fenn and theatrical trailer. I also enjoyed the 20-minute In Conversation piece with Sinise and screenwriter Horton Foote.

It had been over a decade since I had seen the film and it is still impressive. This is definitely worth revisiting - more so in 1080P and Olive's Blu-ray package stacks the supplements for further value. Strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: Well, I can't t help but feel a little ripped-off... The transfer is EXACTLY the same (see bitrates) - still a wonderful transfer, but I was expecting a slight upgrade. Chapter stops - exactly the same... subs-languages- exactly the same. The Commentary is great, BUT in my disc I can't even access the flip side for these other supposed extras. ??!! It is gold instead of silver ...What's up with that ?