Hell and High Water Blu-ray

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

(aka "Inferno")

USA 1954

Known for his uninhibited camera movements, Fuller was the obvious person for Fox to ask to make a CinemaScope movie in an enclosed space in order to prove to doubting executives that the walls of the cinema would not appear to rotate during tracking shots or pans. The result was Hell and High Water, which is mostly set aboard a submarine, and tells the story of a group of patriots and mercenaries who stop the Chinese from dropping an atomic bomb from an 'American' plane at the time of the Korean war. A deeply pessimistic film, it questions the roots of loyalty and identity by examining the stated motives of its characters at every stage of the film. Widmark is at his ambiguous best.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 1st, 1954

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray MIDDLE

3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
			Presently only available in Masters of Cinema's *Fuller at Fox, Five Films 1951-1957* with Fixed Bayonets!, Pickup on South Street, Hell and High Water, House of Bamboo and Forty Guns Coming out individually on Blu-ray from Masters of Cinema in December 2020:
Distribution	20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Twilight Time Region FREE - Blu-ray	Masters of Cinema Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:43:00	1:43:09.224	1:43:09.183
Video	2.55:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.64 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,920,910,106 bytes Feature: 30,387,922,944 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,615,295,078 bytes Feature: 32,102,503,104 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.54 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Twilight Time: Blu-ray
Bitrate Masters of Cinema: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 4.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2629 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2629 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 2015 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2015 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2201 kbps 3.0 / 48 kHz / 2201 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 3.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)	LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	English (SDH), None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 2.55:1 Edition Details: • Featurette: Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters (44:18) • Interactive Pressbook Gallery • Stills Gallery • Trailer DVD Release Date: May 22nd, 2007 Keep Case Chapters: 20	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time 2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,920,910,106 bytes Feature: 30,387,922,944 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • AE Biography TV Show - Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters (44:23) • Isolated Music Track • Two Theatrical Trailers (2:03 + 2:27) • Liner notes by Julie Kirgo • Limited to 3,000 Copies! Blu-ray Release Date: May, 2016 Black-Standard Blu-ray case Chapters: 24	Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema 2.55:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 45,615,295,078 bytes Feature: 32,102,503,104 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.54 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Brand new audio commentary by author Scott Harrison • AE Biography TV Show - Richard Widmark: Strength of Characters (44:22) • Trailer (2:03) Package has a 100-PAGE PERFECT BOUND COLLECTOR'S BOOK featuring essays by Richard Combs, Murielle Joudet, Philip Kemp, Glenn Kenny, and Amy Simmons; excerpts from Fuller's autobiography A Third Face; and rare imagery Blu-ray Release Date: November 11th, 2019 Custom Blu-ray case (see below) Chapters: 10

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' Blu-ray November 2019: This comes in The Masters of Cinema's Fuller at Fox, Five Films 1951-1957 with Fixed Bayonets!, Pickup on South Street, Hell and High Water, House of Bamboo and Forty Guns. Short take - it's marginally better than the Twilight Time in terms of video (contrast - via higher bitrate), audio is even with the Alfred Newman (Call Northside 777, Cry of the City, The Diary of Anne Frank, Bus Stop, Blood and Sand, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Panic in the Streets, The Song of Bernadette etc. etc.) score and the supplements go the way of Masters of Cinema for the Scott Harrison commentary addition (enjoying his work!) and the package has a 100-PAGE PERFECT BOUND COLLECTOR'S BOOK featuring essays by Richard Combs, Murielle Joudet, Philip Kemp, Glenn Kenny, and Amy Simmons; excerpts from Fuller's autobiography A Third Face; and rare imagery. So the UK boxset is looking very strong and will make some noise in our year-end poll.

***

ADDITION: Twilight Time - Region FREE Blu-ray June 2017': Twilight Time's new 1080P is on a dual-layered disc with their usual high bitrate. It so refreshing compared to the adept 20th Century Fox DVD from a decade ago. The impressive Cinemascope 2.55:1 aspect ratio shows more information in the frame on all four sides. The visuals are brighter, and the contrast is significantly more layered. Depth is apparent. Colors shift a bit and the visuals have a heavy, film-like thickness, It looks dramatically improved - just the type of film that needed an HD transfer.

Twilight Time offer a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround bump or a 2.0 channel track (both 24-bit). It is an obvious improvement over the SD with more demonstrative, deeper, war/submarine effects and consistent, clear dialogue. The score gains significant benefit from the uncompressed transfer and the film music and effects are a notable part of the viewing experience. There are optional English subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is region FREE - limited to 3,000 copies.

The same AE Biography 3/4 piece on Widmark found on the 2007 DVD, two trailers and liner notes by Julie Kirgo. I thoroughly enjoyed this Fuller effort, with the dramatic scope and vastly improved a/v. It is quite an effective submarine film... certainly recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Fox does there usual competent work on a film that is much better than I anticipated. It is no masterpiece and utilizes Fuller's typical ham-fisted techniques (note the hydrogen bomb over the title sequence), but it has his signature and marks the film with the director's obvious intent - unique and refreshing. Anamorphic, progressive and a dual-layered transfer support the glorious 2.55 cinemascope ratio. The image is not pristine sharp, and there are some artifacts (sky and water) but it looked acceptably impressive on my system. Colors are a bit dull but appear true with no manipulations. The (original?) 4.0 track is included - with a French mono DUB - and it sounded a shade more intense than a 2.0 channel - appropriately clear and consistent. There are English and Spanish optional subtitles.

Supplements include a long (45 minutes worth) featurette on Widmark called Strength of Character - originally an AE Biography special - it includes clips and interview segments with Sidney Poitier, Widmark himself and others. A nice inclusion for his fans. There is also a Pressbook gallery (scanned as images and difficult to read), a Stills Gallery (images from the film and some posters) and a theatrical trailer.