All the President's Men (1976) 4K Review

The more things change, the more they stay the same, especially in politics. It's been 49 years since the Watergate Scandal rocked the nation and forced the resignation of a sitting President of the United States. However, this was not an isolated incident, and since June of 1972, numerous charges have been thrown at various former and current members of the White House Staff. Back in 1972, the Washington Post's series of articles on the break-in caused an investigation that involved some Cuban burglars all the way up to the Oval Office. The reporters involved in the investigation were Bob Woodward (Robert Redford; The Natural) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman; Rain Man), who later wrote about it and called it "All the President's Men". In 1976, a movie adaptation of the book was released, and this week Warner Bros. has released the film for purchase on 4K UHD physical media.

Woodward was a "rookie" at the paper when he was told to write an article about the Watergate break-in. A simple open-and-shut case of a breaking and entering; only it wasn't. There was more to these burglars, so Bernstein was brought in to help "polish" Woodward's articles. The more the reporters researched, the more they got doors slammed in their faces, and they knew there was more to the story. Even Woodward's government informant, "Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook; Lincoln), didn't want to give any information about Watergate. Of course, the whole world eventually found out that the break-in was orchestrated by President Nixon's office, forcing him to resign.

There are so many reasons why All the President's Men is a great film, beginning with the cast. Redford and Hoffman are perfectly matched as the odd couple of The Washington Post. Jason Robards (Magnolia) portrays The Post's Ben Bradlee with a sense of skepticism one must possess as the managing editor of a major newspaper. Holbrook is also excellent, as is Jack Warden (While You Were Sleeping).

This 4K version is a scan of the original camera negative, and while it is cleaned up, it still has quite a bit of graininess throughout. This aspect does give it an authentic look and feel, but it can also be a little annoying. The blacks are cleaned up nicely, which helps especially with the Deep Throat scenes that are mostly filmed in a dark parking garage (for good reason).

Surprisingly, the audio is the same DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 that was offered on the Blu-ray release. I'm not sure why it wasn't also upgraded, and the quality between the video and audio is evident. The dialogue sounds a little tinny and "soft," and the score is flat in some scenes.

The combo pack comes with one 4K disc, the digital download, and a handful of extras. Surprisingly, there is no audio commentary, which is a shame, especially because of Robert Redford's passing. However, there is a new addition to the extras along with some previously released ones. The extras are: NEW! Retrospective Featurettes: All the President's Men: The Film and Its Influence and Woodward and Bernstein: A Journalism Masterclass. Legacy Featurettes: Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire, Telling the Truth About Lies, Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat, and Jason Robards on Dinah!

I have probably seen this movie over a dozen times throughout the years, and it never disappoints. It has intrigue and suspense, which is heightened even more because you know it is based on a true story. Well shot, beautifully written, and incredibly acted, All the President's Men offers the trifecta of excellence in filmmaking made even better by a 4K presentation.

For so many reasons, this is one home release I will be adding to my collection, and I encourage you to do the same.

Grade: A-