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| Robert
Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Jack Warden, Martin
Balsam, Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Ben Bradlee
(Jason Robards): Now
hold it, hold it. We're about to accuse Haldeman, who only happens
to be the second most important man in this country, of conducting
a criminal conspiracy from inside the White House. It would be
nice if we were right.
Reporters Woodward and Bernstein
uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President
Nixon's resignation.
 Along
with his other masterpiece The Parallax View, director
Alan J. Pakula's take on the Woodward/Bernstein-penned exposé of
Watergate stands as the pinnacle of the intelligent paranoia thrillers
of the 1970s. An uncanny mix of realism and Hollywood star power,
the film thrills with its fact-based account of a conspiracy that
still boggles the mind, while making us root for two superstars
in powerhouse performances taking on the underdog role.
With its doom-laden lighting by 'Prince of Darkness' Gordon Willis
and an impeccable score by David Shire, the film leaves little
to ask for, unless one is bothered by the lack of stuff like character
development, taking sufficient pride in the flawless retelling
of a fascinatingly complex tale that is as topical today as it
was thirty years ago. |
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Previously issued as a single-disc
bare-bones DVD, identical two-disc Special Editions for both
Region 1 and Region 2 are now available.
The anamorphic widescreen
image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 1.85:1. A
vast improvement over the grainy and artifact-plagued single-disc
release, which was part of Warner's very first roster of
DVD releases, this new transfer has a sharp, pleasingly film-like
quality.
The original mono sound mix has also been cleaned up nicely,
with excellent reproduction of the dialogues, sound effects,
and subtle score.
 If
the remastered audio and video aren't enough reason to invest
in this notable re-release, the outstanding selection of
extras on this generously produced double-disc package certainly
is. Star and producer Robert Redford contributes a fascinating
audio commentary on the first disc. Although he runs out
of steam after the first hour, his comments are eloquent
and highly informative about the production process.
The entire story of the production is also narrated in the
extensive making-of documentary on the second disc, which
includes new interview footage with all the surviving principal
members of cast and crew, as well as the actual Bernstein,
Woodward and Bradlee. There's also featurette on 'Deep Throat',
on journalism in general, and some vintage featurettes with
contributions from Pakula and Robards.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
July 21, 2006
Click
here for IMDB info on All
the President's Men .
Click here
to return to the front page.
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