| | |
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, English, French, Spanish, Subtitled
Academy Award-winner Errol Morris broke new ground with the "riveting" (LA Weekly) film that dramatically reenacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas. So powerful and convincing that it helped free an innocent man from prison, The Thin Blue Line is "one of the finest documentary features ever made" (Boxoffice).On November 28, 1976, when drifter Randall Dale Adams was picked up by teenage runaway David Harris, his fate was sealed. That night, a police officer was shot in cold blood. And though all the facts pointed to Harris, a sociopath with a lengthy rap sheet, Adams was convicted of capital murder. Was Adams guilty? And if not, can Morris unlock the secrets of this baffling case?
"...a full-fledged work of cinema art." David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
"Morris has fashioned a brilliant work of pulp fiction around this crime." Janet Maslin, New York Times
"The most provocative miscarried-justice movie ever." Mike Clark, USA Today
Editor's Note
Through the use of reenactments of the crime, photo montages, film clips and interviews, this is a reconstruction and investigation of the 1976 murder of a Dallas policeman and the subsequent arrest and sentencing to death of a man who claims to be innocent.
Plot Summary
Errol Morris' documentary investigates the murder of a Dallas cop and the many missteps made by a faulty and lazy legal system -- errors that nearly led to the death of a possibly innocent man.
| Features | "First Person" Episode: "Mr. Personality" | | Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: MGM |
| Release Date: 7/26/2005 |
| Running Time: 102 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1988 | | Catalog ID: 1006004 | | UPC: 00027616902320 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Independent Spirit (1988) | | | Errol Morris, Nominee, Best Director | | | Mark Lipson, Nominee, Best Feature |
|
| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...A brilliant work of pulp fiction....[Morris creates] a vision that is both poetic and perverse..." 08/26/1988 p.C6Variety
"...THE THIN BLUE LINE constitutes a mesmerizing reconstruction and investigation of a senseless murder....[The] visual design, lighting and editing are impeccable..." 03/23/1988 Film Comment
"...The combination of objective truth and experience adds up in THE THIN BLUE LINE to a philosophical horror..." 06/01/1988 p.2-6 Los Angeles Times
"...Fascinating....Morris pulls off a genuine shocker to cap his film..." 09/02/1988 p.C4 Sight and Sound
"...[A] groundbreaking documentary....[The] relentless Philip Glass music adds to the sense of forboding..." 03/01/2001 p.66 USA Today
"The most provocative movie ever about miscarried justice -- and a heavy influence on the following decade's non-fiction TV crime shows." 07/29/2005 p.4E Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "As gripping as any thriller, this is a rare film that actually saved someone's life." 02/01/2008 p.143 Washington Post 10 of 10
Errol Morris's "The Thin Blue Line" is more like a waking nightmare than a docudrama. A true story of murder and justice evidently miscarried, wrapped in the fictional haze of a surrealistic whodunit, it will leave you in a trance for days. - Desson Howe
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Although he makes documentaries, Morris is much more interested in the spaces between the facts than with the facts themselves. He is fascinated by strange people, by odd word choices and manners of speech, by the way that certain symbols or beliefs can become fetishes with the power to rule human lives. - Roger Ebert
|
| |
|
|
|
