Blast of Silence [Criterion Collection]

"The first and best feature film from director Allen Baron, Blast of Silence is a lean and hard-boiled slice of film noir from the early Sixties, a time when the genre was imagined to be all but dead. While the film received little notice on its original release, it has earned a potent cult following since it was rediscovered in the Eighties, and now Blast of Silence makes its DVD debut in a handsome edition from the Criterion Collection. Blast of Silence has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the digital rendition of the picture is superb, capturing the sharp edges of Merrill Brody's camerawork and reveling in the shabby beauty of the New York City locations. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono and while it sometimes reveals the limitations of the film's low budget, the sound is as present and full-bodied as the circumstances permit. The dialogue is in English, with optional subtitles in English but no multiple language options. Bonus materials with this edition include Requiem For A Killer: The Making of Blast of Silence, a fascinating documentary in which Baron revisits the locations where the movie was shot and talks about how the project came to be. Also included is a gallery of Polaroid snapshots taken during the shoot to keep track of continuity, another gallery of stills featuring ""then and now"" pictures of the filming locations, and the original Blast of Silence trailer. As usual, Criterion has also included a well-designed booklet with the package, featuring a fine essay by Terrence Rafferty and a graphic interpretation of the movie from comic artist Sean Phillips. Blast of Silence deserved a decent home video presentation decades ago, but for fans of idiosyncratic crime films, this DVD was well worth the wait and comes highly recommended."