ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray - February 17':  It looks like Twilight Time (now Out-of-Print on their website) have supplied Masters of Cinema with the transfer and extras. The image quality is the exact same - although the MoC may look a bit better in-motion (slightly higher bitrate) - depending on your system.  Although colors, grain distribution, detail - are the same for both Blu-rays.

Masters of Cinema also have a rich DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround bump at 2549 kbps. There are some notable separations although not as crisp as modern renderings. Aggressive sounds have depth. McC, however, include the option of a, more authentic, linear PCM mono track.  Composer on many Truffaut film's, Georges Delerue (Jules et Jim, The Woman Next Door, The Last Metro, Day For Night) did the score and it also benefits from the uncompressed rendering. It all sounds quite impressive and is, also, offered in an isolated score option. There are English (SDH) subtitles, slightlt differently position - see sample, as a choice and the Blu-ray disc is region 'B'-locked.

Just like Twilight Time, Masters of Cinema have the same audio commentary with film historians Nick Redman, Lem Dobbs + Julie Kirgo, the 20-minute Life of St. Thomas More piece that is also found on the Sony Special Edition DVDplus a trailer and the aforementioned Isolated Score Track. But Masters of Cinema go the extra mile adding a wonderful 1/2 piece with Neil Sinyard, plus their own version of the liner notes booklet and being dual-format include a second disc DVD.

So Masters of Cinema have advanced on Twilight Time's strong Blu-ray package nudging ahead in every category; a more robustly transferred video, authentic uncompressed mono audio option, all the extras (including same commentary) plus a new piece with Niel Sinyard and their usual extensive booklet. Brilliant historical dram and the commentary adds appreciation. Strongly recommended!

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ADDITION: Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray March 15': The Twilight Time 1080P transfer looks darker but I can't help but think that this is the most accurate of the three compared, although, frankly, it does not look very 'good' in the Blu-ray-sense. I am guessing here, but I'd say this flat, heavy appearance, that looks digitized, is more a function of the original production than the transfer (dual-layered with a high bitrate). We occasionally use the statement that not all films look good when put to digital. Manipulation? I would tend to doubt it - both DVD have a similar less-appealing presentation. It does look better in-motion than the still below. Twilight Time are at the mercy of the elements supplied to them. Even while being tighter than the SDs, there is still an unhealthy softness that is hard for me to definitively identify. Ex. the close-up of Robert Shaw (extra capture #4) looks like a cardboard cutout but zooming-in extensively I can find no evidence of edge-enhancement although I do see flecks of color in the grain. Sometimes we see this. I would say 'unfortunate' but maybe this is the way the film looked theatrically. I don't know. It is transferred in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio.

Twilight Time use a rich DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at 2551 kbps. There are English subtitles as a choice and the Blu-ray disc is region FREE.

Twilight Time augment the film experience with some extras - an audio commentary with film historians Nick Redman, Lem Dobbs + Julie Kirgo discussing finer points of from an educational historical standpoint as well as production details. The Life of St. Thomas More is 20-minutes and also found on the Sony Special Edition DVD. There is also a trailer and the aforementioned Isolated Score Track as well as an 8-page liner notes leaflet with text by Julie Kirgo. This Blu-ray is limited to 3,000 units.

I LOVED revisiting this film and the improved a/v did enhance my viewing pleasure. I consider this Blu-ray a 'keeper'.

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ON THE DVD: This is a bit odd. In the earlier days of DVD Columbia Tri-Star produced some of the best image and audio transfers - especially of classic films. As, I assume, the practice became less cost efficient and Sony 'took over' Columbia - we began to see less-than-stellar classic DVDs produced, not at the same quality of, say, Gilda or Fail-Safe. The original 'A Man For All Seasons' DVD was single-layered, anamorphic in a 1.85:1 ratio with a full frame version on the opposite side. It had a slight black border circumventing the frame - marginally limiting the horizontal resolution. There were no extras except a trailer and a couple of liner notes pages.

Sony has come out with a single disc 'Special Edition' DVD of 'A Man For All Seasons' and it doesn't look especially good. It is in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio. More information is shown in the frame of the new releases - most notably at the bottom. Like the original it is anamorphic and progressive but this is on a dual-layered DVD (sharing it with two unrelated trailers and an extra featurette that lasts about 18 minutes - plus some bumped audio tracks). My issues with the new DVD are the black levels which have been boosted with a very heavy hand (see reddish skin tones). It is incredibly darker, although I suspect colors may be more accurate than in the original DVD which looks to have had some brightness boosting. Artifacts are generally still visible in the new edition. It is sharper... or at least give us that appearance. On top of the mono track, a superfluous 5.1 bump, and French mono DUB are included. There is a decent featurette included called “The Life of Sir Thomas More” it touches upon a few facets of the historical significance of the story and production of the film but I felt a commentary or a longer documentary were certainly justified. Bottom line is that I don't think Sony have done this film justice and the 'Special Edition' label is rather bogus.

The DVD inferiorities don't take away from the magnificence of the film at all though. It is powerful stuff if leaning more towards the history buffs than the popcorn crowd. Fabulous performances and a very worthwhile film experience. 

Gary W. Tooze