Crimes and Misdemeanors Blu-ray

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

directed by Woody Allen
USA 1989

Ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) has had an long-standing affair with Dolores (Anjelica Huston), and now her patience has waned and she threatens to expose it and some of his financial indiscretions if he doesn't get a divorce. His brother suggests resolving the problem by having Dolores murdered. Judah morally digests before agreeing and following through with a paid assassin. With Judah, Woody Allen probes the depths of human existence and how the greatest punishments can be self-inflicted (guilt). In an eventually convergent story, documentary filmmaker Clifford Stern (Allen) is trying to make a film on a philosophy professor who he strongly believes in. However, to pay the bills he gets commissioned to make a portrait of successful TV producer, and pompous brother-in-law, Lester (Alan Alda). Lester represents everything that Clifford despises in the world - false bravado of perceived talent and success through self-marketing savvy as opposed to genuine skill.

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Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) is a rare combination of film noir and black comedy, about an esteemed New York ophthalmologist (Martin Landau) whose affair with a flight attendant (Anjelica Huston) puts the careful construct of his life in jeopardy. As he contemplates a permanent solution to his problems, we are also treated to an interwoven story about another kind of moral crisis: a struggling documentary filmmaker (Allen) considers selling out by making a doc about a Hollywood jackass (Alan Alda), with the situation further complicated by the appearance of an entrancing TV producer (Mia Farrow). Highlighted by cinematography from the incomparable Sven Nykvist, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 13, 1989

Arrow Academy's Woody Allen: Seven Films - 1986-1991 Blu-rays

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Comparison:

Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

1) Image- Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) MGM - Region 1- NTSC - SECOND

3) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray THIRD

4) Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers				Also part of Arrow's Woody Allen Seven Films - 1986-1991 Blu-ray Boxset:
Distribution	Image Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray	Arrow Academy - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:43:56	1:43:42	1:44:16.291	1:44:07.449
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.53 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.30 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,640,908,212 bytes Feature: 30,697,463,808 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,384,635,666 bytes Feature: 32,208,819,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.05 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Image
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: Twilight Time Blu-ray
Bitrate Arrow: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), DUBs: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1069 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1069 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1053 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1053 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French and none	Spanish, French and none	English (SDH), None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • None DVD Release Date: July 21, 1998 Snap Case Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen • Theatrical trailer • Two page liner notes DVD Release Date: June 5, 2001 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 31,640,908,212 bytes Feature: 30,697,463,808 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Isolated Score Track • Original Theatrical trailer (2:06) • MGM trailer (1:39) Limited Edition of 3,000 Units Blu-ray Release Date: February, 2014 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Arrow 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 35,384,635,666 bytes Feature: 32,208,819,072 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.05 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: Trailer (1:32) Blu-ray Release Date: April 3rd, 2017 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters:9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Arrow - Region 'B' - Blu-ray January 2017: The Arrow is almost exactly the same, visually, it has a few pixel shifts but the image quality is identical, for the most part.

Audio, linear PCM, is a shade more robust but few could identify differences between it and the Twilight Time - Woody's usual selection of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin some Bach and Franz Schubert (and yes, that was a snippet from the soundtrack of 'This Gun for Hire') sound great via the uncompressed. It, likewise, offers optional English (SDH) subtitles, however the Arrow Blu-ray is region 'B'-locked.

Only a trailer and the Twilight Time offer that and an isolated score option. I believe that the Arrow Woody Allen Seven Films - 1986-1991 boxset will include a booklet. This is another excellent reasons to indulge in the Seven Films package!

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ADDITION: Twilight Time - Region FREE Blu-ray - January 2013: The Twilight Time 1080P is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate and the image and sound quality blow away the old DVDs. Flesh tones looks more authentic and lose their orange hue. There is depth although we lose a sliver of information in the frame on the edges. There may be some teal leaning and I did see an unusual patch where alignment may have been off for a second or two. But actually I am still impressed with the image quality - it's a significant jump over the SD. It is transferred in the original 1.85:1. I see no noise or artifacts.

Audio is lossless with a DTS-HD Master in the original mono. There are optional subtitles (sample below) and the only real supplement (besides trailers) is the isolated score.

I adore this brilliant film - easily in my top of Woody's films - and probably in my top 50 of all time. Cheers to Twilight Time - a great, very worthy, title to release on Blu-ray. Thank you!

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ON THE DVD: The image quality difference is not extraordinary. The MGM is sharper and anamorphic, it also shows the Image Entertainment disc has had some very minor cropping. This was a very early DVD for Image and I think, for the time, the quality is excellent. The MGM is brighter with more red in the image, but its pluses slightly outweigh its minuses. I really hate this misleading comment about the MGM " Collectible Booklet". This is a two page liner notes leaflet, hardly a booklet and hardly a collector's item. Liars. Still, especially for projection users the MGM is the way to go, but to simply see the film, if it is cheaper and available there is nothing wrong with Image DVD.