Ministry of Fear (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

product as described, thank you

Great classic movie. Complying story. Good twist and turns.

Based upon a Graham Greene novel, MINISTRY OF FEAR has Ray Milland starring as a released inmate from a remote state asylum for supposedly murdering his wife, Milland totally walks into a local fair, buys a cake meant for Dan Duryea (which contains some piece of microfilm useful to Nazi infiltrators in London,) attends a seance run by Hilary Brooke (who looks fantastically beautiful), bolts from the seance when Duryea is killed and is chased throughout the film by Nazi sympathizers. He manages to find love with Marjorie Reynolds, a blonde beauty with a terrible Austrian accent but I won't reveal the ending. Clocks, circles, doors play a central role in the mise-en-scene. There is some clever camera work throughout this b&w film beautifully mounted by Paramount Pictures in 1943. The conclusion is a stunner. But the truly great Lang films, M and DR. MABUSE show off Lang's pictorial style better than some of his later sound work. I would recommend also seeing SCARLET STREET, WOMAN IN THE WINDOW and YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE as 5 star American films made by Lang and all available at amazon.

The Criterion Collection has licensed Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR from Universal, and while they haven't given this picture first-cabin treatment -- there's no wall-to-wall commentary, and the only video supplements are a talk by a Lang biographer and the movie trailer -- it is well put together, and the picture looks and sounds great; I saw this in a theater just a couple of years ago, and the DVD compares well to the 35mm print shown at New York's Film Forum. The menu is easy to use, and the discussion about Lang and the movie is informative, especially in resolving differences between the movie and Graham Greene's original novel (Greene didn't like the movie adaptation). As for the film, it's a keeper -- perhaps not the best of Lang's wartime output (Scarlet Street, Man Hunt), but just below those in quality, and certainly superior to some of his other thrillers of his era (Cloak And Dagger).

This is the second time I've seen this movie, but it's the first time I saw the Criterion Collection version. The film looked beautiful; good levels of black and white, barely any speckles (if any - the picture quality was so good I was more interested in the story than any imperfections), and the sound is solid. Criterion always puts out the best quality they can. Recommended.

In my opinion this is a lesser Fritz Lang film but the Criterion BD gives a beautiful picture and good sound.Reading the Amazon reviews of this film is very enjoyable, one saying that Ray Milland puts him to sleep and another saying the only good thing about the film is Ray Milland's acting.The plot is convoluted, a bomb exploding in an apartment is one of the worst effects ever done in Hollywood and the contrived romance between the two leads is far fetched even by Hollywood standards. The only suspense is the lead character trying to convince the police that what he says is true.So what is good about this film? The acting is good (unless you hate Ray Milland) even though the plot can confuse the hell out of you with all the loose ends, but if you just let the film unwind and you go with the flow, it becomes an enjoyable spy picture.It seems that this picture was NOT a "Fritz Lang picture" in that he did not have complete control, others controlled the script, but even with that he did a good job of setting up the scenes and the lighting and photography are really good. If you are looking for a really great spy thriller, this ain't it. It is an enjoyable spy picture as long as you don't analyze it too much.

Good ole B&W Mystery turn off the phone turn off the lights and get into the story. This movie has a STORY. not a script or a screen writers adaptation, nor an Actor or Director's view. Well actually it is all of them but it is seemless. Why can't they make movies today like they did back then? Three men that could lower the temperature in a movie, as clod blooded murders, Richard Widmark giggle pushing an old lady in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs, Jack Plance's stare in anything! and Dan Duryea's smile. Dan Duryea is a pussy cat in this one, and the other two aren't in this one.

"Ministry of Fear" is a mystery-thriller based on a classic Graham Greene novel. Very enjoyable.

Muy buena

Enjoyed movie!

I did’t know this film. This is a Great one and a great blu ray edition at special price. Thank you Criterion!

The DVD delivered was a REGION 4 DVD. This was not mentioned in the product description. DVD will be returned

Sin estar entre lo mejor de Fritz Lang, la película es una obra de orfebrería y Ray Milland está excelente.