BLU-RAY
REVIEW: TOUCH OF EVIL
04/13/2014
OVERVIEW: A pair of groundbreaking movies directed by two of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Billy Wilder and Orson Welles, come to Blu-ray™ for the first time ever when Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil premiere in Limited Edition with Exclusive Collectibles including lobby cards, poster reproductions and a rare still of a never-before-seen alternate ending for Double Indemnity on April 15, 2014, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. These digitally re-mastered versions of the film noir classics have been fully restored from 35mm original film elements and will have their world premiere at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Los Angeles, April 11th at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX prior to their Blu-ray™ debut.
Orson Welles' (Citizen Kane) moody masterpiece Touch of Evil finds Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments), Janet Leigh (Psycho) and Welles himself tangled in a web of murder, kidnapping and police corruption along the Mexican border. The Limited Edition Blu-ray™ contains three versions of the film, including the original 1958 theatrical release, a rarely-seen preview version that was rediscovered in 1976 and the definitive 1998 cut, reconstructed according to Welles' original vision using his detailed 58-page memo to the studio. Also included is a reproduction of the legendary memo, as well as
exclusive bonus features.
SYNOPSIS: Directed by Orson Welles, Touch of Evil is a film noir masterpiece with a Hollywood backstory as unforgettable as the movie itself. Starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Orson Welles, this dark portrait of corruption and morally compromised obsessions tells the story of a crooked police chief who frames a Mexican youth as part of an intricate criminal plot. All three versions of the film included in the Limited Edition—the Preview version, the Theatrical version and the Reconstructed version based on Orson Welles' original vision—prove that Touch of Evil is "a stylistic masterpiece!" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide) that stands the test of time.
BLU-RAY:
The film is
presented in widescreen in a 1.85:1 aspect ration preserving its
theatrical format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the
picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good,
a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement
to the picture. It also includes English,
French
and Spanish subtitles.
VIDEO:
Widescreen (1.85:1) 16x9
AUDIO:
DTS-HD Master Audio
2.0
Subtitles -
English SDH, French,
Spanish
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
Blu-ray™ unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home; featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.
DIGITAL HD with Ultraviolet™ lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download movies to watch on iPad®, iPhone®, Android™, smart TVs, connected Blu-ray players, game consoles, and more.
Bringing Evil to Life—A retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, crew members and film historians
Evil Lost and Found—A behind-the-scenes look at the reconstruction of Touch of Evil and the three versions of the film
Four Feature Commentaries including one from Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh