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As hard-hitting as its title,Brute Forcewas one of Jules Dassins first forays into the crime genre, a prison melodrama with a scathing critique of the punitive American incarceration system at its heart. Burt Lancaster is the timeworn Joe Collins, who, along with his fellow inmates, lives under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey(a riveting Hume Cronyn). Only Collinss dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munseys chains? Matter-of-fact and ferocious,Brute Forcebuilds to an explosive climax that shows the lengths men will go to when fighting for their freedom, and asks the question of who societys real brutes are.

SPECIAL FEATURES

On the Blu-ray: New 4K digital restoration by TLEFilms Film Restoration & Preservation Services, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
On the DVD: Restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film-noir specialists Alain Silver and James Ursini
Interview with Paul Mason, editor ofCaptured by the Media: Prison Discourse in Popular Culture
Program onBrute Forces array of acting styles featuring film scholar David Bordwell (Blu-ray only)
Stills gallery
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson, a 1947 profile of producer Mark Hellinger, and rare correspondence between Hellinger and Production Code administrator Joseph Breen over the films content