Strangers On A Train [Blu-ray] [1951] [UK Release] [Blu-ray] [1951]

Great classic film

Very different from the movie perhaps better.

Strangers On A Train, a masterpiece, presented here in a finely produced HD release.Great transfer, great black and white contrast. A film of noir moments galore.Robert Walker is fabulous as the twisted Bruno. Buy it!Strangers on a Train Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras:Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Benchley, Alfred Hitchcock and many more.Strangers on a Train Preview Version (SD; 1:42:57). This is the so-called "British" version of the film (which was included on the "flipper" DVD a few years ago) which runs about two minutes longer than the final cut and has some alternate takes. Interesting more as an "intellectual exercise" than anything else, but indispensable for those interested in seeing how Hitchcock continued to shape his films after an initial cut.Behind the Story contains these featurettes:Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic (SD; 36:44) is a nice overview with Peter Bogdanovich and several others discussing the importance of the film in the Hitchcock canon;Strangers on a Train: The Victim's P.O.V. (SD; 7:22) focuses on Kasey Rogers, who performed under the name Laura Elliot in the film;Strangers on a Train: An Appreciation by M. Night Shyamalan (SD; 12:46) has the director espousing his love for Hitch and the film;The Hitchcocks on Hitch (SD; 11:20) features Hitch's daughter and granddaughter talking about Hitch. This includes lots of great home movies;Alfred Hitchcock's Historical Meeting (SD; 1:08) is a weird little snippet without sound that shows Hitch interacting with actors made up as historical characters.Theatrical Trailer (SD; 2:34)

Review of 2 Disc 2004 Warner Bros edition(with orange & white cover)- As this well known film(from 1951) is equally well analysed & described In many other reviews I'll just give an overview of what's on the discs.Disc1 contains the movie in a good looking & sounding print with optional subtitles + French & Italian language versions and has a very good,entertaining commentary with various people talking about the film, book and much else, with the highlight for 'Hitchophiles' being interview segments of director & Hitchcock biographer Peter Bogdanovich questioning the man himself. + a trailer.Disc2 contains the (slightly longer) 'preview version' of the film,(not greatly different from the 'finished article' but still of interest). + a very good 36 min documentary on the film ,a 7 min feature with 'murder victim' Laura Elliot, an 11 min 'Hitchcock family' feature and a 12min appreciation by director/fan M.Night Shyamalan- so all in all a good package of a film that's always worth another viewing,that's currently available at a good prices.

A diabolique and dark noir all set between a train and some neighborhood, with a confrontation that often becomes morally ambiguous and a direction that shows all HItch's talent in building creating suspense and scary scenes with just the right photography or even the perfect cut and juxtaposition of shots (see how he builds the party scene with the progressive introduction of the bad guy in the initially stiff and upperclass situation).Man on a train is about evil and destiny hiding behind the corner, about life changing in a bit because threat is waiting for us, and it's a fantastic example of great storytelling developing a simple yet effective subject: two men meets on a train, and one word too many could change everything.Waiting for the blu ray to comes out, but this Dvd is truly excellent

A Classic Alfred Hitchcock Movie worth every pennyWell recommended. 10/10

This film could have been shot without a word of dialogue - it may have been better had it been. What's good about the film? There are some nice camera set-ups and locations or simulated locations, and some nice black and white photography. That's about it. The plot is completely artificial, with gaps as wide as a barn door.The scriptwriting is totally uninspired; an implausible story might have been raised to some interesting artistic or imaginative plain by strong dialogue and characterisation, but there is next to none. In the superfluous features accompanying this set it is interesting to note how much the commentators have to say about the character of Bruno the murderer's mother. Given that this character makes two fairly brief appearances, why so much interest? Because, I'd suggest, the excellent actor who plays her invests the small part with something human: she IS almost the only character in the film worth talking about. The rest are puppets.Hitchcock did a number of films that are extremely dehumanised, i.e. bereft of sympathy for or interest in human complexity (as opposed to human frailty and absurdity). In these films - and this is a prime example - people are manipulated by plot contrivances, camera angles and location/set dynamics and have little or no motive force. Some will say this is the Hitchcockian perspective. Harnessed to better stories and better actors (e.g. I Confess, The Wrong Man, Sabotage, Suspicion, Marnie), the perspective can deliver genuine suspense and human interest. Indulged for its own sake, with something approaching contempt for plot coherence and characterisation, it is dreary. I have seen this film several times, always looking for something I might have missed, but it delivers less, not more, with repeated viewings.

Suspenseful right from the start. A really good watch.