All the President's Men: The Investigative Journalism Classic Celebrates 50 Years with an Upgrade (4K)

The Film:

There have been many films about investigative journalism over the course of cinematic history, including "The Post," "The Insider," "She Said," and, of course, "Spotlight," which garnered the Oscar for Best Picture a decade ago. However, none of these have been quite as revered as Alan J. Pakula's 1976 classic "All the President's Men," which tells the timeless story of the two reporters who put their lives on the line to investigate the infamous break-in at the Watergate in 1972, a story that would eventually bring about the downfall of several political figures, including President Richard M. Nixon.

The film is considered the "gold standard" of its genre, one that was nominated for an impressive eight Oscars, winning four that included Best Adapted Screenplay (William Goldman) and Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards). To celebrate the film's remarkable 50th Anniversary, Warner Bros. is giving the film a marvelous 4K upgrade and including a few extras both new & old, so now it's time to go back once again and see how well this classic has held up over the last several decades.

The film begins on June 17, 1972, the night five people broke into the Democratic National Headquarters with the intention of bugging it. However, they are discovered and arrested, with reporter Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) of The Washington Post getting assigned the story. He soon discovers that this seemingly-minor story actually has connections to the CIA and The White House, eventually leading fellow reporter Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) to be assigned to it as well. As the two continue their investigation, they find further connections that include the Committee to Re-elect the President, where they discover that a large slush fund may have been used to pay the would-be buggers. On the advice of Woodward's trusted source known only as "Deep Throat" (Hal Holbrook), they continue to follow the money, which leads to incriminations of certain powerful individuals, turning their story into a conspiracy bigger than they ever imagined.

"All the President's Men" is one of those political thrillers that's not really going to hold any surprises as to the direction of the story. After all, it's all true, and we certainly know how the whole thing turned out, but what a lot of people don't know is how Woodward & Bernstein got there. It was never a simple matter of asking one or two sources, it was an ordeal that had them making countless phone calls, knocking on a hell of a lot of doors, and digging deep into the corners of the mystery that no one else was looking into, all of which were activities that brought them into the spotlight and put their very lives in danger.

Screenwriter William Goldman, basing his screenplay on the 1974 book of the same name by Woodward & Bernstein, structures the film in a very direct way that has the two reporters following lead after lead, tracing the money as "Deep Throat" suggested, and trying to get confirmed sources for the facts that they end up discovering. Because of this, the film does end up being a rather procedural outing, one that, again, doesn't really surprise the audience in any way, but it's also one that still ends up being a fascinating experience that gives us a small taste of all the hard work & dedication that these two brave men demonstrated while trying to get to the bottom of one of the biggest news stories of all time.

Could Goldman & director Alan J. Pakula have presented it in a more exciting manner? Perhaps, but really only if they had added superfluous embellishment to their endeavor, which would've been missing the whole point of making the film in the first place. "All the President's Men" may indeed be a very procedural film, but this is exactly how Woodward & Bernstein had to go about it, where the excitement is found in getting that next lead, which leads to another and another until the whole conspiracy came tumbling down like a house of cards. To that end, Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay is its greatest strength, and while the film as a whole may not be the most riveting example of investigative journalism, it still stands as one of the finest films of its kind for its remarkable dedication to the truth and its depiction of these reporters sharing the very same honorable value.

Video/Audio:

"All the President's Men" comes to 4K in a 1.85:1, 2160p transfer of outstanding quality. The picture has a little noticeable grain to it, which is to be expected, but overall it looks absolutely fantastic, perfectly capturing the period look. Likewise, the 2.0 mono DTS-HD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue & music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a wonderful job in both departments for the film's new upgrade.

Special Features:

All the President's Men: The Film and Its Influence (8 Minutes)

Woodward and Berstein: A Journalism Masterclass (8 Minutes)

Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire (18 Minutes)

Telling the Truth About Lies (28 Minutes)

Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat (16 Minutes)

Jason Robards on Dinah! (7 Minutes)

The new 4K release comes with an incredible selection of featurettes, totaling about 85 minutes, that include appreciations of the film & the real-life people involved, featuring interviews with journalists & those involved in making the film. Definitely plenty of great material here for anyone wanting to delve deeper into this classic.

Conclusion:

Alan J. Pakula's "All the President's Men" may be a rather procedural approach to the incredible true story of how Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein investigated the conspiracy surrounding the break-in at Watergate, but thanks to William Goldman's well-structured, Oscar-winning screenplay, the film remains a fine example of how to take the somewhat mundane, straightforward process of investigative journalism and turn it into something surprisingly compelling.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on 4K starting today.

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