Robert Redford passed away last year just before the 50th anniversary of this film. I actually just got to see it in a theater doing a Redford tribute and it was great to experience All the President’s Men as people did in 1976, but there is something special about this 4K edition too.
It’s grainy as hell like newspaper photos and real films were in the ‘70s. The bustling newsroom is overlit like any office full of cubicles, but 4K renders the shadowy scenes deeply to evoke the Watergate conspiracy.
The parking garage in which Woodward (Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) meet Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook) is shrouded in shadow like he insists. The break in itself is shadowy in the covert way. D.C. streets at night are beautiful and even Bernstein’s apartment is full of the shadows of a workaholic bachelor residence.
Two new bonus features lean on CNN talent Jake Tapper and Dana Bash discussing the film and real subjects. That’s some synergy with Warner Bros. Discovery but they’re not wrong about the facts or impact. Legacy features from the 30th anniversary include a broader spectrum, including many actual subjects involved with the story who were still alive in 2006.