Search - High and Low [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Not For Children Movie Release: 1962 DVD Release: 10/14/1998 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: Japanese Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 23 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 23 Genres: Drama, Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Urban Drama See Also: High and Low [Special Edition] [Criterion Collection]

Based on -King's Ransom, an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), High and Low stars Toshiro Mifune as Gondo, a wealthy industrialist. Gondo is contacted by a gang of kidnappers, who inform him that they've kidnapped his son. The crooks demand a huge ransom for the boy's return -- an amount so huge that it will utterly bankrupt Gondo. As the harried businessman prepares to pay the ransom, he discovers that his son is safe at home: the kidnappers have accidentally snatched the son of his chauffeur. Does Gondo drop his payoff plans, or does he do the honorable thing and rescue his employee's son? This dilemma is but one aspect of the multilayered character study from the unbeatable team of star Toshiro Mifune and filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who directs this superb film with his usual depth and impeccable eye for detail and character. As a man forced to make impossible decisions, Mifune gives a nuanced, perceptive and psychologically convincing performance. While not one of Kurosawa's master works, High and Low, with its grim reality and moral ambiguity stands as a superb example of film noir at its best. High and Low was originally released in Japan as Tengoku To-Jigoku. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Toshiro Mifune - Kingo Gondo
Kyoko Kagawa - Reiko, Gondo's Wife
Tatsuya Nakadai - Inspector Tokura

Akira Kurosawa's High and Low, and adaptation of Ed McBain's -King's Ransom, comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The Japanese soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, but the transfer on this Criterion title is good enough to recommend the disc to anyone interested in Japanese cinema. Those who have grown accustomed to Criterion's superb quality will not be disappointed with this release. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide