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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (September 2021): Criterion have transferred Raoul Walsh's Bogie-Lupino Noir gem High Sierra to Blu-ray. It is said to come from a "New, restored 4K digital transfer." This is a ginormous upgrade from the Spanish Blu-ray from 5 years ago (which seems more like it may be an SD bump.) Most notably we can see how the Horizons 1080P is vertically stretched (abnormally thinner faces) where Criterion's 1.37:1 is far more natural. The Criterion is brighter, has better grain support, richer black levels etc. etc.. It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a max'ed out bitrate and looks gorgeous, film-like and consistent. Wow.  

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Criterion include, on the second Blu-ray, Raoul Walsh's 1-hour, 34-minute Colorado Territory (Bonus captures below) with this caveat:

"This unrestored scan of Raoul Walsh's long unavailable Colorado Territory (1949) was made from the 35 mm original camera negative, which is housed at the Library of Congress. Visible damage, jump cuts, black frames, and dirt remain."

There are only a few instances of heavily scratched damaged frames in Colorado Territory. It is in 1080P.

Criterion, predictably, go, authentic, linear PCM mono for the audio. Gunfire, the car chase etc. are flat but export a modicum of bass. The dramatic score is by Adolph Deutsch (Ramrod, The Apartment, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra, Across the Pacific) and supports the film well via the uncompressed transfer. It is clean and clear. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion stack the package with extras. First up is the 1/4 hour Curtains for Roy Earle, a 2003 featurette on the making of High Sierra that explores gangster films made at Warner Bros., actor Humphrey Bogart's career, and the making of High Sierra. It features interviews with Bogart biographer Eric Lax (co-author of "Bogart"), film critic Leonard Maltin, Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, and actor Joan Leslie. Also on the first Blu-ray is Bogart: Here’s Looking at You, Kid, a 51-minute 1997 documentary produced as part of the television series The South Bank Show, covering actor Humphrey Bogart's life and career. It features archival footage and interviews with actor Lauren Bacall; Bacall and Bogart's son, Stephen Bogart; critic Ty Burr; screenwriter Julius Epstein; and author Joe Hyams. There is a new 1/4 hour video essay featuring excerpts from a 1976 American Film Institute interview with High Sierra novelist and co-screenwriter W. R. Burnett, created by the Criterion Collection in 2021, and is part of an oral history of author Burnett by writer Dennis L. White for the American Film Institute. It was recorded in Marina Del Rey, California, in March 1976. We also get a 1/2 hour radio adaptation of High Sierra. This condensed radio adaptation of High Sierra, was originally broadcast on The Screen Guild Theater on April 17th, 1944, and stars Humphrey Bogart as Roy Earle and Ida Lupino as Marie Garson. There is a new 14-minute interview with film and media historian Miriam J. Petty about actor Willie Best recorded by the Criterion in May 2021. Lastly on the first Blu-ray is a trailer.

On the second Blu-ray disc is Colorado Territory, director Raoul Walsh’s 1949 western remake of High Sierra that has many similar scenes and plot points (bonus captures below.) There is a wonderful new 20-minute conversation on Walsh between film programmer Dave Kehr and critic Farran Smith Nehme. I always wish we had more of Dave as a part of disc supplements - hopefully in the future. This was recorded in May 2021 in New York. Also notable on the second Blu-ray is The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh, a 1 1/2 hour 2019 documentary by Marilyn Ann Moss. It is based on her book Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director, and provides an overview of Walsh's career, from his work as an actor in silent cinema to the over two hundred films he directed, into the 1960s. It includes excerpts from Walsh's memoir and interviews with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich; actors Illeana Douglas, Jane Russell, and Jack Larson; media historian Norman Klein; and film critic Leonard Maltin. As a part of the Criterion package is a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith.

Well, this is one of the best Blu-ray packages of the year - an essential Noir, Bogie, Lupino, Walsh - stacked supplements including a second disc with the director's Colorado Territory in HD! and a feature-length documentary. There are interviews, a video essay, booklet, radio adaptation etc. and, especially High Sierra looking (4K-restored) and sounding pristine. It doesn't get much better for cinephiles and dark cinema enthusiasts. This has our strongest recommendation. Don't hesitate!

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1) Warner Home Video Region 1,4 - NTSC  - TOP