Twelve jurors are faced with the task of delivering a verdict in a case involving a boy charged with the murder of his son. A lone man, Juror No.8 (Henry Fonda), is the only one to raise his voice in dissent of a guilty verdict, insisting that the group take the time to deliberate before deciding the fate of the young man accused of the heinous crime.

CRITIQUE

What’s there to say? Based on the teleplay by Reginald Rose, Sidney Lumet’s landmark 1957 marvel 12 Angry Men is easily one of the most iconic and influential motion pictures of all time. How many have paid it homage? How many other films and television programs have openly ‘borrowed’ (a polite way of accusing them of stealing) from the film? The list is gigantic, there’s just about no way to mention them all, and it’s hard to believe modern American filmmaking would be what it is had Lumet not delivered this timeless piece of cinematic brilliance.

We all know the story at this point even if we’ve never seen the film. Fonda’s juror attempts to convince his fellow jury mates to take a moment to consider the evidence and spend some time deliberating before determining the fate of young man accused by the prosecution of murdering his father with a switchblade. One by one they begin to come around to the idea this minority, working class lad might be innocent, retrying the case in many ways as the analyze the evidence from every angle.

Fonda is magnificent, there’s no denying that fact. His powerful performance goes to all corners, always poking, always prodding, always forcing his 11 mates onward whether they want to keep pondering the evidence or not. As good as the two-time Academy Award-winner had been before this and would be subsequently, as indelible as performances in Once Upon a Time in the West, On Golden Pond, Fail Safe and 3:10 to Yuma are (just to name four, the list of great performances is arguably as long as my arm), this is the one everyone always remembers him for the most, and from the first moment he steps onscreen there is something going on behind his calmly endearing façade that speaks volumes almost immediately.

But the rest of the cast, almost all of whom were relatively unknown at the time of the film’s release but would pretty much all become stars of one sort of another later on, is also up to the challenge. Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Lee J. Cobb (whose transformation at the end is beyond stunning), E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Ed Begley, even John Fielder, Edward Binns, Robert Webber and especially George Voskovec, all of them combine together like a clock ticking towards an explosive outcome they’re not entirely sure of.

For a one-room drama Lumet has delivered a picture that’s beautifully photographed by the great Boris Kaufman. The layers in his dexterous black and white cinematography is continually stunning and imaginative, Kaufman always making sure there is something of interest going on within the frame propelling things forward in a way that’s delectably kinetic. You feel the tension, you feel the angst, all of the emotions traveling between these 12 men is passed on to the audience with outright perfection.

There’s a reason Lumet became a Hollywood wunderkind known for dramas filled with labyrinthine emotions most other filmmakers were afraid to touch. From Dog Day Afternoon to Network, The Verdict to Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, from The Hill to Q&A, the director understood the complexities of the human condition in ways few others had an even minute grasp of. 12 Angry Men showcases that skill arguably better than almost any of his subsequent efforts, and as such it is a timeless, important and enduring cinematic marvel that will continue to fascinate audiences for many generations to come.

THE VIDEO

12 Angry Men is presented on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 1080p 1.66:1 transfer. As stated in the included booklet: “This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit 2K from a 35mm fine-grain master positive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image Systems' DVNR was used for small dirt, grain,m and noise correction.”

THE AUDIO

12 Angry Men comes to Blu-ray in English LPCM 1.0 Mono and includes optional English SDH subtitles. Again, from the included booklet: “The monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a restored 35mm magnetic print. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation.”

THE EXTRAS

Extras here include:

·         12 Angry Men: From the TV to the Big Screen

·         Sidney Lumet

                     i.        Sidney Lumet Interview Collection

                    ii.        Reflections on Sidney – Interview with Walter Bernstein

·         On Reginald Rose

                     i.        Tragedy in a Temporary Town

·         On Boris Kaufman

·         12 Angry Men (1954) – “Westinghouse Presents Studio One” version by Reginald Rose and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

                     i.        Introduction by Ron Simon

·         Original Theatrical Trailer

Man this set of extras is impressive. Not only do you get the original television version of 12 Angry Men from 1954, there’s also the Lumet scripted and directed television drama Tragedy in a Temporary Town based on another story by Reginald Rose. Then there is the Lumet interview section filled with fascinating anecdotes from the iconic filmmaker but also includes a ten minutes section with close friend and collaborator Walter Bernstein.

Then there is the splendid featurette 12 Angry Men: From TV to the Big Screen. A video interview piece with film scholar Vance Kepley, this fascinating short (running roughly 26 or so minutes) is filled with information and insights even diehard fans of the movie and/or the material probably don’t even know. It’s great, and I have a feeling of all the extras it’s the one I’ll probably be watching again.

The Blu-ray also comes with a 20-page Illustrated Booklet featuring Thane Rosenbaum's essay “Lumet's Faces.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

Criterion’s Blu-ray presentation of Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men is beyond sensational, and consumers should just do themselves a favor and add it to their personal collections immediately.