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

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (November 2025): Warner Archive have transferred Stuart Heisler's I Died a Thousand Times to Blu-ray. The HD is derived from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, preserving the film's 2.55:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio. Gregory reviewed the Warner Archive DVD from 2009 HERE. There are notable "CinemaScope Mumps"* (2.55:1) now visible in the 1080P - as well as much warmer skin tones, a more consistent image and richer, deeper colors. The film is defined by its pioneering use of early CinemaScope and WarnerColor, transforming the black-and-white grit of the 1941 "High Sierra" into a vibrant, expansive visual spectacle that amplifies themes of isolation and doomed freedom amid the Sierra Nevada landscapes. Where the focus was often indoors, the snowy drapes of Mount Whitney become a character in themselves, rendered in vibrant color that heightens the protagonist's sense of fleeting liberation post-prison. The WarnerColor process adds a unique vision with its bright, saturated hues, making camp exteriors "more convincing" and mountain peaks "lonelier than ever," while the enhanced widescreen compositions -such as dynamic pans across treacherous curves during the high-speed chase - improve upon the original's under-cranked footage by showing actual speeding cars and realistic stunts, like a motorcycle spill repeated for emphasis. The true benefit over SD is the resolution and crisper detail and occasional depth. It's really no contest on that front. 

*"The CinemaScope lenses were optically flawed, however, by the fixed anamorphic element, which caused the anamorphic effect to gradually drop off as objects approached closer to the lens. The effect was that close-ups would slightly overstretch an actor's face, a problem that was soon referred to as "the mumps".

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

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. The score by David Buttolph (The Enforcer, Rope, Secret of the Incas, Street of Chance, The Horse Soldiers, Wake Island, This Gun For Hire, Western Union, Pete Kelly's Blues, Three Secrets, Kiss of Death, Blood and Sand) adds melancholic undertones, enhancing emotional depth, while production design captures mid-century opulence in the resort scenes against Earle's shabby motels, highlighting class divides. It underscores the melancholic noir undertones with dramatic swells during tense confrontations and the manhunt climax, complementing the era's shift to stereophonic sound for a more immersive auditory experience that contrasts Earle's outdated persona. The sound design, while not revolutionary, effectively incorporates radio announcements blaring the pursuit of "Mad Dog" Earle, adding psychological torment for characters like Marie as she listens to his downfall, free of major distortions and enhancing the film's brutal finality through echoing gunshots and ambient mountain winds. Sourced from high-quality elements, the soundtrack exhibits no hiss, crackle, pops, or flutter, ensuring a clean and engaging listening experience that captures the era's stereophonic advancements without any distortion or anomalies. Warner Archive offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The extras on the Warner Archive Blu-ray are modest but thematically fitting, consisting primarily of two classic Looney Tunes cartoons from 1955 presented in high definition: "Sahara Hare", where Bugs Bunny outwits Yosemite Sam in a desert fortress mishap, and "Hare Brush", featuring Bugs switching places with a millionaire Elmer Fudd in a psychiatric mix-up, both adding a lighthearted contrast to the film's noir tone. Rounding out the supplements is the original theatrical trailer in HD.

Stuart Heisler's I Died a Thousand Times is a reimagining the classic High Sierra story of an aging gangster's final heist in a post-war era of shifting moral landscapes and cinematic styles. Palance's (Ten Second to Hell, Attack, Shane, Dan Curtis' Dracula, Craze, The Big Knife, Panic in the Streets) performance is central, portraying Earle as a brooding, volatile figure haunted by incarceration—his gaunt face and piercing eyes convey a man eroded by time, contrasting Bogart's suave fatalism in the original with a more primal, animalistic desperation that aligns with 1950s Method acting influences. Shelley Winters (The Great Gatsby, Winchester '73, The Tenant, Force of Evil, The Night of the Hunter, A Place in the Sun) as Marie Garson, Earle's clingy moll, brings a raw vulnerability but is often criticized for lacking the street-smart edge of Ida Lupino's original, making her character feel more pitiable than partnership-worthy. Lori Nelson's (The Day the World Ended, Revenge of the Creature) Velma represents Earle's idealistic side, her clubfoot symbolizing his futile attempts at benevolence, as he funds her surgery only to face rejection, underscoring themes of unrequited goodness in a corrupt world. Thematically, the film delves into the disillusionment of the American Dream for outlaws, with Earle's longing for a peaceful retirement in the Sierra Nevada mountains serving as a metaphor for elusive freedom -  the vast, colorful landscapes shot in CinemaScope by Ted McCord (The Proud Rebel, The Sound of Music, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, East of Eden) amplify this, turning nature into a character that promises purification but delivers doom, a stark evolution from the original's monochrome grit. This remake's strengths is in its ensemble dynamics - particularly the volatile gang interactions that foreshadow Lee Marvin's (The Big Heat, The Iceman Cometh, The Big Red One, Shack Out on 101, Emperor of the North, Point Blank, Donovan's Reef, Prime Cut) future tough-guy roles - and its commentary on aging in crime, where Earle's "thousand deaths" refer not just to his prison ordeals but the incremental erosions of hope, culminating in a tragic mountaintop siege that blends Western showdown aesthetics with noir fatalism. The Warner Archive's Blu-ray edition of "I Died a Thousand Times" delivers a commendable package for fans of 1950s crime dramas, boasting top-tier video and audio restorations that offer a notable upgrade for this color remake of "High Sierra," highlighted by Jack Palance's intense performance and the stunning location photography.

Gary Tooze