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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1Binding: DVD DVD Layers: 2 DVD Sides: 1 EAN: 9780780021501 Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC ISBN: 0780021509 Label: Criterion Collection, The Languages: Manufacturer: Criterion Collection, The MPN: DHIG050D Number Of Items: 1 Picture Format: Letterbox Publisher: Criterion Collection, The Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 14, 1998 Running Time: 142 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection, The Theatrical Release Date: November 26, 1963 Editorial Review: Amazon.com essential video: Although best known for his samurai classics, Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa proved himself equally adept at contemporary dramas and thrillers, and 1962's High and Low offers a powerful showcase for Kurosawa's versatile skill. The great Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist who has just raised a large sum of money to execute his planned takeover of a successful shoe manufacturer. Fate intervenes when he receives a phone call informing him that his son has been kidnapped, and by unfortunate coincidence the ransom demand is nearly equivalent to the amount Mifune has raised for his corporate coup. A philosophical dilemma emerges when it is revealed that the executive's son is safe, and that it is actually his chauffeur's son who has been taken. What follows is both a tense detective thriller, as the police attempt to track down the kidnapper, and a compelling illustration of class division in Japan--the "high and low" of the title. Far be it from Kurosawa to make a mere thriller, however; this loose adaptation of the Ed McBain novel King's Ransom provides the director with ample opportunity to develop a visual strategy that perfectly enhances the story's sociological themes. The Criterion Collection DVD of this extraordinary film is presented in the original "Tohoscope" aspect ratio of 2.35:1. --Jeff Shannon Description: Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a ruthless kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa's exemplary film noir. Based on Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, High and Low is both a riveting thriller and a brilliant commentary on contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low in a luminous new Tohoscope transfer with new electronic subtitles. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - One of the greatest of all timesFor me this is one of the greatest works of cinema every created. I am not prone to hyperbole, but High and Low constantly remains at the top of my favorite movies list. Toshiro Mifune shines brightly. Rating: - MasterpieceHigh And Low (Tengoku To Jigoku; literally Heaven And Hell) is a film that is so perfect in every detail it shows how utterly silly similar Hollywood takes on the matter are, and were: think Ron Howard's and Mel Gibson's silly 1996 flick Ransom, or any of Alfred Hitchcock's crime dramas from the 1950s or 1960s. Yes, critics often resort to the copout that Hitchcock was not deep, but technically was great. True, to a degree, but one need only watch the rail car sequence in this film to see how staid, ... Read More Rating: - An eternal classicNowdays they don't do films like this.More than an inspiration for Mel Gibson's Ransom. The film is a masterpiece from beginning to end. Not a single moment wasted.Toshiro Mifune shows why is consider by many the most important japanese (or even asian) actor of all time. Kurosawa ranks for me at the top of the best directors just sharing his place with John Ford. The Criterion release is just great. Image and surround sound are clean and clear. I wish we have in Spain that marvelous ... Read More Rating: - High and LowWhile I generally view Kurosawa's original Stray Dog as another in long line of his genre setting triumphs, High And Low is his masterpiece of the crime genre. High and Low was made in the middle of his career before Kurosawa's decline when his failure with Dodeskaden and getting kicked off of Tora, Tora, Tora caused him to go on hiatus for nearly ten years and drove him to attempt suicide. Thankfully Russia came along with a chance to adapt Dersu Uzala a film I wish was given the respectable double ... Read More Rating: - the latest Criterion releaseThis is one of my top 5 best movies of all time. And I'm old enough to have seen it in several incarnations, starting with impossible to own, to a grainy VHS version with impossible-to-read subtitles, to the first Criterion release to this one. This latest version has all the bells and whistles a Kurosawa fan would want. Interviews with Mifune (and the actor who plays the kidnapper), a documentary on the making of the film and an interesting (if intrusive) commentary track from Stephen Prince. But did ... Read More |
