ANALYSIS: THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is a character piece that hasn't been shown in a while. Attention is given to 28 characters
(the crew of teh aircraft and the passengers). The film introduces you to each person and reveals a piece of that person during
the course of teh flight (even after one of the engines fail after the point where they have to continue to their destination).
VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic)
The restoration and remastering job is excellent on THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY. Only one second of film damage is visible
in one scene. Some grain is visible in the ariel footage. However the colors and blacks are vibrant. Image detail is nice.
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English
The 5.1 DD track is very effective when it comes to the sounds of the passegner aircraft. Dialogue is easy to hear and
Dimitri Tiomkin's score is beautifully showed off.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Leonard Maltin does intros for both discs including introducing the featurettes on disc two. The audio
commentary for the film features Leonard Maltin, William Wellman (Jr.), Karen Sharpe, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, and Vincent
Longo.
THE BATJAC STORY covers the origins of Batjac from the movies they did from 1954 to 1963 (Fun Trivia bit- John Wayne turned
down the part of Matt Dillion on GUNSMOKE and suggested James Arness). STORIES FROM THE SET has the cast talk about how they
were cast (and stories during filming). Included is 1994 interview footage with Robert Stack. ON DIRECTOR WILLIAM A. WELLMAN
focuses on how he went by the script how it was written, added a little boy character, and interesting facts like what big
actresses turned him down for roles in THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (and Spencer Tracy originally cast as Dan Roman before he decided
not to do it paving the way for John Wayne to be in the film). THE MUSIC AND THE WORLD OF DIMITRI TIOMKIN features film composer
Christopher Young, Dimitri's second wife, and others talking about the career and music of Dimitri Tiomkin (and how Warners
inserted the title song back into the movie for a week's play in L.A. to have it nominated for Best Song.
ERNEST K. GANN- ADVENTURER, AUTHOR, & ARTIST is the same featurette that is on the ISLAND IN THE SKY DVD.
RESTORING A CLASSIC looks at the work CineTech had to go through over a 12 month period to put together the complete film
from sveral different pieces and restore the audio track. Leonard Maltin talks about the film in A PLACE IN FILM HISTORY.
FLYING IN THE FIFTIES has interviews with people involved (pilots, dispatchers, and a stewardesss) in the passenger plane
industry during the 1950s. They chat about the passengers, flying in heavy weather, engine failure, and the Point Of No Return.
Archival film and pictures are included.
Finishing off disc two are a photo gallery, Footage from the Premiere of THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, The Batjac Montage of
sveral Batjac productions, and trailers for the THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (theatrical and TV).
FINAL ANALYSIS: THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is a fantastic two disc special collector's edition from Paramount. If you want
to see it agin or see it for the first time, watch it.
this DVD Review is (c)7-29-2005 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional content at http://www.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia
