First off, is there any talk of this one being released again anytime soon? If not, let's continue...

Over at DDD there are two DVDs for this flick, and both are $5.99. Both are bare, so which one do you think looks the best?

Both those look to be cheap public domain versions. One is an Alpha dvd. If it's a favorite movie go for the OOP version from Image. It's also barebones and comes in a snapcase and good quality. Also the Image one seems to be done with the film's owners. A great movie by the way.

Haven't heard anything about a new version yet and the Image version is long OOP, not sure what the eBay prices are running these days...

I have the Alpha and it's tolerable, but it's an Alpha, which means it is shit. Great film in need of a major restoration.

The Alpha version isn't bad at all. It's not up to the standards you'll find on WB or Fox versions, but it's very watchable and is one of their better releases. I personally opted not to get the Image version as it didn't look much better than the Alpha, and I don't regret it at all. Go ahead and pick it up soon. It's not going to set you back much money, and it's a great film that you should own if you're a fan of film noir at all.

I own the Image and saw the Alpha - the Alpha is pretty acceptable. DVD Beaver has screenshots if you're interested. This is one of those films that you hear about and surpasses your expectations when you finally see it. It definately needs a restoration.

Thanks for the replies so far. I was doing a bit of research on the film noir visual style, and along the way I found this still from The Big Combo on the wikipedia page on film noir:



I saw that, and it made this one a must see for me.

Here's the link to DVD Beaver's comparision of the three releases:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...dvd_review.htm

Looks like the Geneon Entertainment edition is the worst in all respects except price.