12 Angry Men (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Getting through the holidays, and finally having a chance to sit down and catch up on some Criterion movies has proved to be an absolute treat. On the top of my list was Sidney Lumet's, 12 Angry Men. This, ladies and gentlemen, is minimalism at its very best. I am not at all surprised that this 1957 film was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. I am also not surprised that this cinematic masterpiece inspired modern day court dramas such as Law and Order and The Practice. Because of the minimalist production, and despite the many accolades, I was doubtful as to whether this picture could hold my attention. I mean, no gunfights, no super heroes, or beautiful damsels in distress, no CGI, or Jack Nicholson telling us about not being able to handle the truth? How in the world would this film keep me interested for the full 96-minute duration? I will tell you how. Screenwriter Reginald Rose and director Sidney Lumet put on an absolute clinic. That's how. The writing is impeccable, and the acting is a timeless delight. There was never a dull moment, which is surprising since we never get to see a murder scenario played out, or the dramatics of a closing courtroom argument. What we did see were 12 angry men huddled around a table in the jurors room deciding the fate of a young man, on the hottest day in New York, with a fan on the fritz. The acting was so persuasive that I found myself inspired by those jurors who took their civil duties seriously, placing moral responsibilities above all other happenings in their life at the time. The character development was very thorough as I found myself liking Henry Fonda's character, and disliking a few of the others. Lumet challenges the viewer on morality and social justice, and does it quite well. This movie, while made many years ago, will still stir moral emotions in today's viewer. Overall, I consider this movie a cinematic masterpiece. For that reason, and combined with Criterion's work in the blu-ray transfer, 12 Angry Men receives Five Stars from me. This is a must see for those that appreciate great cinema with a quality blu-ray picture. Add it to your collection today!

Excellent movie. Should have been boring as it is just some guys in a room, but it surpasses itself. Some of the characters are a bit exaggerated but the movie shows truth of life in the jury room. I have been on 4 jury's (in New Zealnd) and it felt true even though it is set in New York. I would have found it very boring as a child I think.

This is my favorite film and I've seen it over fifty times. Today I watched the Blu-ray version for the first time and the detail is stunning. Yes, it's grainy; showing more detail of the original print means allowing the grain to come through in high definition, unless you run it through noise reduction, which does more harm than good. This grain is part of the atmosphere of the film, and I actually find it aesthetically pleasing. When I saw the detail in Jack Warden's hat, I nearly flipped out. All the times I've watched the movie on DVD and I never saw this intricate, flashy design in his hat. It fits his character perfectly, too: salesman, goofy, etc. And there are details to be found all over the film that enrich the themes like that. Also, if you're like me and had a full screen DVD (that was by far the easiest one to find, inexplicably), you can finally see the whole 1.66:1 aspect ratio, and this makes a big, big difference in the feel of the movie. The clarity and aspect ratio of this Blu-ray make this, already an intimate film, all the more intimate. If, like me, you've known and loved these characters for many viewings, you might be stunned at how much closer this version brings you to them. I own some really beautiful Blu-rays (The Searchers, Hellboy II, The Incredibles, and True Grit[Coen Bros] are some of the visual stand-outs), but none of those upgrades to Blu-ray have impacted the feeling of the film for me as much as this one. Oh, and the audio is nice. I heard a couple lines I never quite understood before.

I had seen this movie on a cable channel (TCM I think) with my husband some years ago. I bought a collector's edition of this film a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. When I saw the Criterion Collection one for sale I bought it. The film arrived promptly and the picture and sound were quite good. I was somewhat disappointed in the special features which did not have a audio commentary like the other copy of the film I own. I did enjoy the 1954 tv version, but it did not compare to the 1957 movie version directed by Sidney Lumet. The photography and the acting by the cast in the movie were far superior, even by 2 actors who were in both the tv and film versions. All the characters were better fleshed out in the movie and you could empathize with them much more than in the tv version. Each time I see this film I see something new about the characters /or the situation. A truly great film.

Great film, amazing content

12 Angry Men is a film that’s so good and so powerful that, as the credits roll, you actually feel like you’ve gained a deeper understanding of humanity, our justice system, and life in general. I mean it. It’s really that good. Twelve jurors of varying ages, personalities, cultural backgrounds and social standings enter a deliberation room to determine the guilt or innocence of a troubled teenage boy accused of murdering his father. It’s quite a simple premise – a jury’s deliberation – one that occurs daily all over the United States. But the film manages to wring every last drop of tension, drama, and social commentary from this commonplace scenario that it’s impossible not to viscerally experience the true weight and implications of such a task – to search for the truth in a case of life and death. First things first: let’s just appreciate how entertaining 12 Angry Men is. This is a film that takes place entirely in a single room, and tells its story completely through dialogue. And yet, it manages to be significantly more absorbing and enthralling than your average film with dozens of different locations and set pieces. The dialogue is so well-written and the characters so well-realized (and acted) that you become completely swept up in the proceedings. The pacing is also pitch perfect. The film rises naturally to a few emotional climaxes and confrontations, which are punctuated by quieter moments as the characters (and we as the audience) catch our breaths and process what has developed. And for a film that takes place entirely in such a confined space, there are a pretty incredible number of interestingly-composed sequences and long takes as the camera maneuvers from character to character and the drama unfolds. So yes, 12 Angry Men is a superbly entertaining film that absolutely flies by over the course of its brief hour-and-a-half running time. But it’s also so much more than that. It’s a film about “truth”: its elusiveness, malleability, and vulnerability to the subjectivity of the human mind. Yes, there is a single objective truth to this, and likewise any real-life case; but the jurors don’t know it, and neither do we. The objective truth isn’t the point. The point is the impressionability of the “truth” – how it morphs in the minds of the characters (and in ours) over the course of the film, and how significantly it can be informed by our emotions, past experiences, memory (and its limitations), prejudices, and a myriad of other factors. The film is able to crystallize both the beauty and the folly of our judicial system. The beauty, as Henry Fonda’s character points out, is that the scales are heavily tipped in favor of the innocent, that no man can be found guilty unless that guilt is beyond any reasonable doubt. The folly? The subjectivity of reasonable doubt, and the unavoidable reliance on a human jury who are influenced by all of the aforementioned factors. But ultimately, 12 Angry Man a film about us – people. Each juror in the film has a unique personality, temperament, and background which informs his opinion and motivates the role he plays in the story. Every juror gets his time to shine and the result is an ensemble that feels both diverse and extremely well-balanced. The strength of the characters in the film and the way they play off of one another is key to perhaps its most important theme: the danger of assumption, and the ease and quickness with which we judge one another. We watch as the jurors expose their biases and prejudices through their assumptions and judgments of the defendant, as well as one another. But even beyond that, the true brilliance of the film is that it subtly provokes the exact same snap-judgments from us as we watch. It’s extremely easy to start to view the more critical jurors as the “good guys” and the dissenting, guilty-proponent jurors as the “bad guys.” To invoke a psychiatric concept, we engage in splitting – seeing some of the jurors as “all good” and others as “all bad.” We automatically begin to judge the seemingly more prejudiced and willful jurors, confining them to a box of our construction without knowing barely anything about them. But in its revealing final moments, the film snaps us back and urges us to look beneath the surface of those who we judge and ask an important question: why? Why does one juror spew prejudice and anger while another sits silently? What drives them to act in the way that they do? No one is born prejudiced, bigoted or racist. These are things we learn and which become incorporated into our personalities often through no fault of our own. The angry, prejudiced juror isn’t inherently “all bad,” but simply reacts in a way that is informed by his accumulated life experience (much of which is subconscious). Of course, that doesn’t mean that people can’t and shouldn’t be held accountable for their negative attributes and beliefs – we can always introspect and take action to improve our worst qualities. But that isn’t the point. The film simply asserts that we should strive to understand before we judge, as understanding and empathy fosters connection where judgment simply divides. As Juror #3 – who we’ve likely judged and grown to despise throughout the film – weeps over the torn photograph of himself and his estranged son at the conclusion of the film, the message couldn’t be clearer. 12 Angry Men is a masterpiece. It is a film that marvelously succeeds on all the facets that every great film should. It’s fabulously entertaining and engrossing, fantastically shot and acted, perfectly paced, and extremely thought-provoking. An undeniable classic whose themes will never lose their relevance.

This is the fifth release by Criterion of middle to late Fifties Black & White films released under the United Artists film company in the last few years, along with "Kiss Me Deadly" & "Night of the Hunter"(both from 1955), "Paths of Glory" and "Sweet Smell of Success"(both from 1957). Like the latter two, "12 Angry Men" was released to excellent reviews in 1957 but disappointing box office and was eventually withdrawn from release by United Artists after only two weeks. It was the first film directed by Sidney Lumet, one of the greatest directors in American cinema. Lumet(who died this past April) was an "actor's director" and in his long career actors who appeared in his films received 17 Oscar nominations with four of them actually winning. Lumet's record in this regard is only matched by William Wyler who directed actors appearing in his films to an astonishing 36 Oscar nominations with 14 wins. Although none of the actors in "12 Angry Men" received a nomination for their fine work, the film showcases some of the best acting you are likely to ever see in a film from this time period. Films today seem to have lost that. It's all about special effects, vampires, and big budgets. These recent Criterion releases show how you can do more with less as many of these films were made on small budgets. "12 Angry Men" was made for under $400,000. The film holds up extremely well considering it's over fifty years old. However, if it were made today there would be more diversity in the jury room. It also holds up well because Americans still love sensational courtroom trials. And when the juries come back with verdicts that they don't agree with, such as the recent "Not Guilty" verdicts in the Casey Anthony, actor Robert Blake, O.J. Simpson and Rodney King trials, all you hear for days is "What were they thinking?". Well, Lumet takes us into those jury deliberations with "12 Angry Men" and it's an eye-opener from the very beginning. Almost everyone knows the plot of the film so I won't go into that. Let's just say that I'm sure they still show this film in law schools around the country. Criterion has done it's usual outstanding production. The film is transfered from a 35 mm fine-grain master positive which is completely free of lines, dirt, scratches, etc. The film looks gritty due it's choice of film stock by the cameraman Boris Kaufman, but you can still see the small details. The inside of the Jury Room is hot and you can see and feel the beads of sweat on each of the actor's faces. Except for Henry Fonda, most of the actors were just starting out in film and several(Martin Balsam and Ed Begley) went on to win Oscars. Lumet always rehearsed his actors for two weeks before he started shooting and he had the great gift of listening to them about any concerns they had about their characters or the direction they should go in understanding that character. He made his best(and more commercial) films in the Seventies with: "Serpico"(1973), "Murder on the Orient Express"(1974), "Dog Day Afternoon"(1975) and "Network"(1976) but he returned to the courtroom often as with "The Verdict"(1982). Criterion's Blu-ray of Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men" should be essential to any film collector's library.

This excellent and timeless lesson in facing our own personal prejudices and how such prejudices can have terrible consequences on the innocent set in a courtroom detective drama remains relevant today and perhaps for all time and has been given the usual high-calibre Criterion Blu Ray treatment. The picture quality is grainy which is fine with me but may be an issue for some while the mono sound quality is good enough. Also included is a 24-page booklet containing an essay on the film. In addition to the great screenplay, what makes this film great is the wonderful cast of star-studded actors who all put in excellently convincing performances of their respective roles. Each of the 12 jurors are angry at something - their lives, a bad break, perceived slights etc but can they come to terms with what is really responsible for their anger in time to prevent them from venting it on the innocent whose life is in their hands? This Criterion release is probably the best version of this film out there and if you are looking to upgrade to blu ray this is a great opportunity to do so. Recommended!