1985/2006

If anything, Terry Gilliam's surreal fantasia about an overwhelming, nightmarish bureaucracy has become more eerily prescient with each passing year "? "Brazil" is one of the great films from the Eighties and a work steeped in barely contained passion. It's a sprawling, dense and willfully odd film that builds breathlessly to a stark, chilling climax that lifts the satire into the realm of masterpiece.
 
Previously available in a thorough three-disc set, The Criterion Collection has returned to this cult classic and spruced up the transfer, rendering it anew with a crisper, high-definition anamorphic wide-screen image. For those gnashing their teeth about already owning the now out-of-print three-disc set, the folks at Criterion have rereleased both the boxed set and a stand-alone version of the remastered film for those interested in an upgrade; the supplements on the set are unchanged.
 
Whether you're a "Brazil" devotee or neophyte, Criterion's sharp rerelease merits a look for fans of boundary-pushing films. "?Preston Jones

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