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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding. Simply outstanding., 20 Mar 2002
Anyone who thinks that the DVD format is only any good for new releases with eye-popping effects should buy this - an excellent DVD treatment of one of the most entertaining movies of all time.It may be over forty years old, but it certainly doesn't look it - from the gorgeous opening titles through to the climax of the movie, this is a sumptuous transfer. The extras - including a whimsical Ernest Lehman commentary - are above average among classic Hollywood movies. All in all, I would challenge anyone to find a better value DVD anywhere. A must-have for anyone with the remotest interest in movies.
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"...We're In The Business Of Expedient Exaggeration...", 17 Nov 2009
As you watch the credits of Hitch's 1959 masterpiece "North By Northwest" roll up on the screen in all their resplendent VistaVision Technicolor glory - the shiny, cold and aloof glass panelling of a New York skyscraper acts as their backdrop.
It's a brilliant touch, because combined with Bernard Herrmann's staccato score; it ratchets up the tension and also subliminally suggests to the viewer that some poor John Doe is about to get rightly and royally screwed by big business and big Government - or both. And of course, mistaken for a UN diplomat called George Caplin - our hapless hero George Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) - does just that.
Then when the credits end and Cary exits the lift with his secretary (Doreen Lang), all suited-n-booted and looking dapper enough to lick - another element kicks in - the picture quality...
State-of-the art frame-by-frame restoration has taken place here, because the print is just BEAUTIFUL. I raved in a UK Listmania list some 3 years ago about how good the DVD looked - well this BLU RAY is better - and at times just jaw dropping to look at.
Icing on the cake is that this 50th Anniversary BLU RAY reissue (Nov 2009) also adds on some superlative new features which are just as good as the film itself.
Here's the full list:
1. Commentary by Ernest Lehman (Original Script-Writer)
2. New 2009 Documentary "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style" (over 50 minutes - featuring comments from directors Martin Scorsese, Curtis Hanson, Frances Lawrence, Guillermo del Toro and many more)
3. Previously seen but superlative feature-length profile "Cary Grant: A Class Apart" (over 1 1/2 hours)
4. New 2009 feature called "North By Northwest: One For The Ages" examining the movies innovations and influences
5. Feature called "The Making Of North By Northwest" from 2000 hosted by Eva Marie Saint
6. Music Only Audio Track
7. Stills Gallery
8. Theatrical Trailers & TV Spots
9. Internet link to Warner Brothers
A whole bunch of things combine to make NBN work - a great story by Ernest Lehman, superb night and day locations, immaculate period clothes, the bulbous gas-guzzling cars, the art-deco buildings, the interiors of wealthy homes and the deeply luxurious dining cars of long-distance 1950's trains. And to top all of that, you get genuine old-school Hollywood star power in the form of James Mason, Martin Landau, Leo Carroll and the luminous love interest Eva Marie Saint. And of course the effortlessly suave and charming Cary Grant - arguably the best leading man Tinseltown ever produced. Throw in the tension, wit and camera angles of Hitchcock at the helm - and you're on a winner.
But your eyes keep coming back to how this BLU RAY shines. There are so many little scenes that now look sumptuous - Alfred missing the bus just at the end of the opening credits in his famous cameo scene - the garish colours of Fifties New York taxis, the marble of the hotel lobby Cary is meeting clients in. Then there's the Townsend home and gardens as the villains motor up the gravel driveway to the front door, the three dapper suits of the boys as they parry in the library room inside (Mason, Landau and Grant) and the clarity of the night scene where they put a drunk Cary in a stolen car and try to drive him off a cliff. Further on there's the colour of the fields in the legendary crop-duster scene, hanging off the Mount Rushmore monument by your fingernails - even Eva Saint Marie's beautiful red dress in the hotel room as she stands by the door while Cary showers in the bathroom... I could go on!
If I was to point out one genuine downside, it's the focus. Some scenes quite deliberately have Grant and Saint with an almost halo-like shine around them (soft focus to make them look better) and can at times make the print look just a teeny bit soft, but other than that the whole shebang is a joy to behold... Also the US issue comes in a dapper book form - our one doesn't - just the plan blue box?
Up there with "The Italian Job", "Zulu", "Goldfinger", "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", "2001" A Space Odyssey" and "The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner" in terms of top quality restoration (see my reviews for each) - "North By Northwest" is a triumph on BLU RAY. And the superb additional extras only make you feel that Warners are to be praised for a job well done...
Roll on "To Catch A Thief" on BR - another beautiful Hitchcock/Grant restoration...
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
perfect blend of sheer entertainment with subtextual moral relativism, 17 Oct 2007
During a span of 51 years, Alfred Hitchcock made 57 feature films, from "The Pleasure Garden (1925)" to "Family Plot (1976)". I've watched nearly one-third of them and should say that "North by Northwest" is the fastest, funniest and most beautiful of his caper/thrillers.
Actually, the premise for "North by Northwest" is nothing new: a case of mistaken identity. An "ordinary man" accused of a murder he did not commit, and he must clear his name by assuming different identities. "The 39 Steps", "Young and Innocent", "The Wrong Man" and "Saboteur" were based on a similar theme. But what makes "North by Northwest" so special is its rarity in combining a twisted plot with a dazzling cast, great action, ingenious direction to create a yummy blend of suspense, adventure, deceit and Hitchcockian style of wry humor. If any movie shall be called "true cult classic", it is "North by Northwest".
Along with lots of deadly one-liners, the film hosts a bunch of the most memorable scenes in motion picture history: the murder in the lobby of the UN building, Thornhill's witty escape in the auction house, the attack of mysterious crop-duster in the middle of nowhere, all scenes on the train, and the climatic chase atop Mt. Rushmore. Hitchcock proves here again he was master of substitution of the language of the camera for words. Take the crop-duster scene. Without any music or special effects, no other director can afford to create such a claustrophobia on an open space in broad daylight just using natural sounds and complex suspense elements in the rhythm of events and cutting.
The film has a strong subtextual ideologic base too. Far ahead of its time in that it captures the political zeitgeist of late 1950s perfectly: moral relativism dominating the Cold War era. Very good epitome of how the State sacrifices the "ordinary man" for secretive causes involving the national interests.
Last word: pure, plain and vibrant. Despite 50 years have passed since its making, it is still fresh and highly watchable.
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