Product Details

• Actors: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson
• Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack, Irving Pichel
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Criterion
• DVD Release Date: April 3, 2001
• Run Time: 63 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0780022114
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,975 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Most Dangerous Game (The Criterion Collection)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Most Dangerous Game is a classic, one of the first talkies to get pictures moving after five very static years following the birth of sound. The plot finds resourceful hero Joel McCrea and heroine Fay Wray being hunted on the island of the insane Zaroff (Leslie Banks). One of the grandfathers of the summer blockbuster, the film's setup has been reworked many times since, notably in John Woo's Hard Target (1993). By modern standards it's technically primitive, though still gripping stuff, complete with the jungle set built as a test run for King Kong (1933) and graced by Max Steiner's prototype of all Hollywood action scores. --Gary S. Dalkin

Product Description

"One of the best and most literate movies from the great days of horror," The Most Dangerous Game stars Leslie Banks as a big game hunter with a taste for the world's most exotic prey-his houseguests, played by Fay Wray and Joel McCrea. Before making history with 1933's King Kong, filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack wowed audiences with their chilling adaptation of this Richard Connell short story. Criterion is proud to present the DVD premiere of The Most Dangerous Game in a new digital transfer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy Horror, July 8, 2001

By 

Mr Peter G George (Ellon, Aberdeenshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Most Dangerous Game (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

The Most Dangerous Game is a superb early horror film. It is a really creepy, chilling film with great atmosphere. I always prefer this sort of moody horror to more modern films in the genre that depend on shocks and gore. The Most Dangerous Game can really get under your skin with its central theme of a manhunt. I had always thought, until watching the movie, that the `Game' of the title was referring to a game like Poker or Baseball, but really it is game in the sense of big game, lions and tigers and such. It is man who is `the most dangerous game.' For humans with their intellect are more of a threat to the hunter. This idea of a hunter matching his wits against a fellow human being is a deeply disturbing idea.

The film has a really fine cast. Leslie Banks plays the villain Zaroff and is suitably sinister without using histrionics. Joel McCrea shows why he would remain a leading man for the next thirty years and more. He had real star quality and a quiet acting ability similar to that of Gary Cooper. Fay Wray is delightful in a role which gives her more to do than just scream.

The Criterion DVD is very good indeed. The print is superb. There is some occasional damage, but it is hardly noticeable. The images are nearly always clear and sharp and show off the black and white photography very well. Best of all however is the sound quality. Many early talkies have terrible sound with indistinct dialogue and lots of background noise. This DVD has great sound and Criterion should really be congratulated. The DVD also has an audio commentary track by film historian Bruce Eder. His commentary is worth listening to as he is obviously enthusiastic and well informed about The Most Dangerous Game.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Excellent DVD, July 28, 2000

By 

Jesmat (West Midlands, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Most Dangerous Game (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

There has been some debate by previous reviewers of 'The Most Dangerous Game' about the quality of the digital transfer on to DVD. My own view is that the picture quality is outstanding. You do occasionally catch sight of objects shimmering, but the effect is negliable. What really hits you is the incredible sharpness and clarity of the print. This isn't limited to the picture either - the sound quality is equally as impressive. For a movie 70 years old you simply could not hope for better. The only extra feature is a very good commentary by Bruce Eder, whose knowledge of 'The Most Dangerous Game' seems limitless. This guy really knows his stuff and what's more, he delivers it in a very relaxed and friendly manner. The film itself is an action packed 63 minutes that is enlivened by a luscious Fay Wray with great support from Leslie Banks and Joel McCrea. The relatively short running time actually helps maintain a high level of suspense and interest - it feels like an 80 minute movie but with all the boring stuff cut out! To label 'The Most Dangerous Game' as a classic is an exaggeration. It is still a well-made, exciting movie that has stood the test of time exceptionally well. The film itself deserves 4 stars, but the great picture quality, sound and commentary make this DVD worthy of a 5 star rating.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Survival of the Fittest, January 7, 2001

By 

Dave Clayton "Wereaardvark" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Most Dangerous Game (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

Richard Connell's famous short story that dates back to 1924 about a deranged Russian nobleman who shipwrecks vessels passing by his remote island and hunts down the survivors is still anthologized today. Like many works of naturalistic fiction, Connell's tale is a disquisition on the thin line separating civilization and the state of nature. When the sportsman Sanger Rainsford--the latest victim to arrive at Zaroff's front door--realizes what the madman is up to, he reacts in horror, rejecting the General's invitation to join the latter in his favorite pastime, and the hunter soons finds himself the hunted. At the conclusion, however, Rainsford not only defeats Zaroff but takes his place in the latter's bed. In effect, the two men have exchanged not just places but roles--the struggle for survival has transformed Rainsford himself into another Zaroff. The 1932 screen adaptation, directed by Ernest Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, eliminates the bitterly ironic reversal of the original story and turns the grim fable into a straightforward survivalist sermon. In addition, the movie dubiously improves on Connell's mano a mano conflict between Rainsford and Zaroff by introducing a love interest, another shipwrecked refugee played by the all-purpose virginal heroine Fay Wray, who becomes the principal stake in the contest between the two men. There seems to be some uncertainty about the circumstances of the film's production. Professor Bruce Kawin, who wrote the notes accompanying the DVD, says that The Most Dangerous Game was made to induce RKO into shooting King Kong, while Carlos Clarens in An Illustrated History of Horror and Science fiction Films states that the two films were made simultaneously. Whatever the truth might be, there are such striking similarities between them that The Most Dangerous Game almost resembles an extended trailer for King Kong, especially in its use of a jungle setting like that of Skull Island for much of the action. But if The Most Dangerous Game anticipates King Kong it also seems to be making a nod in the direction of a horror hit from the previous year, Tod Browning's Dracula. In the Schoedsack production, Zaroff, who is always called "General" in the story becomes a count, and the main hall of his residence has interesting similarities to that of Dracula's castle, although it is opulent rather than derelict. As the sadistic Zaroff, the gifted British actor Leslie Banks makes a stylish villain although his enunciation of Russian sounds as convincing as W.C. Fields doing Vogul. In the role of Rainsford, however, Joel McCrae, who played a similar part in King Vidor's Bird of Paradise--also produced at RKO for David Selznick in the same year--is a classically handsome leading man and gives a far better performance saving the hapless Fay than the rather inert Bruce Cabot gives executing the same office for her in King Kong.