4^th Man-

One of our favorite films from director Paul Verhoeven is "THE 4TH MAN".  In this erotic thriller, Verhoeven pays homage to Hitchcock, but manages to stamp the film with his own penchant for extreme sexuality and violence.  The main character of the film tries to convince a seductive woman with a dark past that he's in love with her.  In reality, he's only using her to in his goal to seduce her male lover, whom he's become attracted to in a photograph.  Unfortunately, everyone the femme fatale comes into contact with, seems to meet a horrible death!  Actress Renee Soutendijk demonstrates that Sharon Stone couldn't act in her similar role in "BASIC INSTINCT."  Soutendijk is outstanding!  Her character has an icy  charm to her that offers more layers than a typical villain, and while she's never sympathetic, she's always believable. 

Verhoeven is always pushing the envelope, and "4TH MAN" is no exception!  There's plenty of graphic sexuality and the violence, while not as rampant, is still extremely shocking! 

Still, with American Audiences the homosexuality will probably shock the viewer more than the gruesome end a character receives without notice.

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT has presented the film with its proper 1.66:1 aspect ratio and with 16:9 enhancement.  The color values are solid, and they appear much brighter than is typical in his earlier films.  Cinematographer-turned-director Jan De Bont, has created many fine compositions throughout the film.  Thankfully, all of them are complimented in this slick transfer.  There's great detail in every scene.  The contrast is excellent, with distinguished blacks and grays in even the darkest scenes. 

The film's original monaural soundtrack is offered in a Dolby 1.0 mix. While fidelity is limited, the dialogue appears intelligible throughout.  Unfortunately, when in the 16:9 mode, subtitles sometimes block more of the image than we'd have liked them too. 

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT has provided an audio commentary withVerhoeven.   Verhoeven's been doing commentaries on almost every dvd presentation of his films so it's a welcome surprise to hear how impassioned he still is even now!  While much of the commentary is descriptive rather than reflective, there are plenty of insightful stories about the film's production to make this worthwhile as well as entertaining. 

The film's theatrical trailer and a bevy of storyboards is also included!