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| High And Low |
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Genre:Mystery Suspense
Reviewed In Issue 32 Of Widescreen Review®
Stars:
Toshiro Mifune, Kyyoko Kagawa |
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 DVD General Information |
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| (Studio/Distributor): |
Criterion Collection |
| (Catalog Number): |
CC1542L |
| (MPAA Rating): |
Not Rated |
| (Retail Price): |
$59.98 |
| (Running Time In Minutes): |
143 |
| (Color Type): |
Black & White |
| (Chaptered/Scene Access): |
Yes |
| (Closed Captioned): |
No |
| (Theatrical Release): |
1963 |
| (LD Release Date): |
9/98 |
| (THX® Digitally Mastered): |
No |
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| Credits Information |
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| (Director): |
Akira Kurosawa |
| (Screenplay/Written By): |
Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni & Akira Kurosawa |
| (Story): |
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| (Music): |
Masaru Sato |
| (Director Of Photography): |
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| (Production Designer): |
Yoshiro Muraki |
| (Visual Effects): |
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| (Costume Designer): |
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| (Editor): |
NA |
| (Supervising Sound Editors): |
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| (Re-Recording Mixers): |
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| (Executive Producers): |
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| (Co-Producers): |
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| (Producers): |
Tomoyuki Tanaka & Ryuzo Kikushima |
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| DVD Picture Information |
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| (Principal Photography): |
Tohoscope |
| (Theatrical Aspect Ratio): |
2.35:1 |
| (Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): |
2.35:1 |
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| DVD Sound Information |
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| (DVD Soundtrack): |
Mono Sound |
| (Theatrical Sound): |
Optical Mono |
| (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack): |
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| (Remastered Dolby Digital): |
No |
| (Remastered DTS Digital Surround): |
No |
| (Additional Languages): |
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| WSR Narrative Review |
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Story Synopsis:
Based on Ed McBain’s (alias for Evan Hunter) “87th Precinct” detective novel King’s Ransom, High And Low features Toshiro Mifune as Kingo Gondo, a man with old fashioned principles. A leading shoe manufacturer, he believes in a quality product and is frustrated that his partners are intent on stamping the company name on inferior goods. He becomes the target of Takeuchi, a misanthropic lowlife whose desire it is to make the upper class suffer for their success. He kidnaps Gondo’s son and demands a huge ransom, but it is soon discovered that it is the chauffeur’s son he has kidnapped in error. Another Kurosawa/Mifune masterpiece.
LaserDisc Picture:
The 2.35:1 picture is dramatically windowboxed during the Japanese opening credits. The black and white picture is grainy with a poorly contrasted grayscale that is overly dark, with no true whites. Images are wanting in sharpness and detail. Not only do the brighter images glow, but the darkest blacks—a head of hair for instance—also exhibit halos. This transfer is sourced from an anamorphic release print, and exhibits poor quality throughout.
LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is undistinguished monaural that sounds compressed and distorted throughout.
| (Surround Bass Below 50Hz): |
No |
| (Aggressive System Surround): |
No |
| (Intense 25Hz Bass): |
No |
| (Deep Bass Challenging): |
No |
| (Aggressive 0.1 LFE): |
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| (Holosonic Soundfield): |
No |
| (Aggressive Split Surround): |
No |
| (Center Back Surround Imaging): |
No |
| (Directionalized Dialogue): |
No |
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality: |
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Superb Music Score Recording Quality: |
No |
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality: |
No |
Superb Color Fidelity: |
No |
Superb Cinematography: |
- |
Reference LaserDisc: |
No |
Collector Edition: |
No |
DVD To LaserDisc Comparison:
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