Just saw the movie. I rented the dvd off Netflix; the quality was absolutely atrocious, both image and sound, one of the worst you'll ever see.
Beaver lists 5 dvd's of this movie (3 in NTSC)
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/doa.htmthe one that Netflix sent me isn't any of these: all the screen caps Beaver shows are
FAR better than the image was on mine.With all those nice screencaps that Beaver shows, it appears that there are some good versions of the movie out there. So WTF does Netflix have to have such a crappy version of it
I don't know what company made this dvd that I got, cuz there is no logo that appears before the opening credits; on the physical disc is printed "Copyright 2007 Westlake Entertainment." But on the Netflx dvd sleeve, it says it's "Killer Classics, Disc 1," so I searched on Amazon and I guess this may be it
http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Classics-D-O-A-Stranger-Scarlet/dp/B0001MMGRW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340194420&sr=8-1&keywords=killer+classics+d.o.a.
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As for the movie itself: another noir about murder, sex, theft, etc. with a million and one characters and names thrown around as the mystery is being pieced together, that are impossible to follow. Screenwriters must think they are real smart with these PI plots that have a million people and the story and double crosses etc. change a million times till you finally find out the truth. and they really expect you to be able to follow it, when the PI is rapidly uncovering the truth and spitting out the names of various characters and double crosses, and they really expect yo to be able to know who what where when how and why? Puhleez (Maybe they do it deliberately cuz they figure that if the story is too "intricate" for you to follow, then you'll walk away being impressed by the screenwriter's brilliance. Like when a rocket scientist explains a complex equation which is impossible for you to follow, you walk away more impressed, right?)
At least this movie gave a little variation to it: While Edmund O'Brien is basically like a PI, it's actually not a real PI, just a normal guy who is thrust into the role rather unwittingly. And the main story, of why he is thrust into the role, well, that part is certainly a wonderful piece of plot. Also, the movie uses real California locations
It's hard for me to fairly rate this movie cuz, as mentioned above, the picture and audio quality on the dvd Netflix sent me was awful. But I think it's approximately in the 6/10 range. In other words, I wouldn't rush to see the movie even if I had a beautiful version of it....
O'Brien was good for this role. (I've always thought he looks a little like Bogie). And Neville Brand -- in his first film role -- is actually skinny! But still the bad guy, of course
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