When we finally learned the identity of Deep Throat in the summer of 2005, interest in the Watergate scandal went through a quick resurgence. Given all the problems experienced by presidents since Nixon, it can be easy to forget what a big deal Watergate was and this means the 1976 film adaptation of All the President’s Men offers a primer in the subject.

On the evening of June 17 1972, burglars break into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel. The police apprehend them and the Washington Post sends reporter Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) to cover the story.

Fellow journalist Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) smells fresh ink as well, so he horns his way in to the situation. At the arraignment, Woodward learns that these are no ordinary crooks, as they have unusually sophisticated backgrounds. They also receive support from high places.

Woodward and Bernstein get stuck together to investigate, and what they find slowly unravels to become more and more intriguing. The film follows their path as they dig deeper into the events and find additional links within the White House.

That’s a simple plot synopsis for a complicated film. To its credit, Men takes a convoluted situation with scads of parties involved and makes it clear.

This story easily could turn confusing. However, the movie manages to ensure that we always clearly understand the narrative despite all the characters and situations.

It helps that Men features a cool, understated tone. Even with all the drama onscreen, it avoids the expected melodrama and theatrics.

We get a natural “fly on the wall” feeling here, as the film takes on a semi-documentary style. Crisp and subtle, the story unfolds in concise manner.

Although Men features a limited roster of settings, it never becomes weighed down in visual tedium. Face it – we get a movie packed with meetings and phone conversations.

Director Alan J. Pakula doesn’t attempt to make these wild or stimulating, and that’s a good thing. Showy stabs at visual flair would seem out of place, so his choice to let the material carry the day is a good one.

Much credit for the film’s success has to go to a terrific cast as well. Redford and Hoffman excel as the leads.

Their relationship grows gradually as they get used to each other and start to rub off on each other. They never gleefully bond and they don’t turn into best buddies by the end.

Instead, we see a believable sense of respect that emerges via the naturalistic, minimalistic performances. The actors lack excess emotion or theatrics and instead pull off their roles from the inside.

Tight and intelligent, All the President’s Men really is a film I find it hard to imagine could be made today – or at least made this well. It can be a product of its paranoid times, but that benefits the movie, as it fits the story. This is a concise, involving tale.

All the President’s Men appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. For the most part, the Dolby Vision image held up well.

Sharpness was pretty positive. Occasionally the movie looked a bit soft and tentative, but it usually depicted good definition. Though the source photography limited delineation, the majority of the flick came across as reasonably concise and accurate.

No issues with jagged edges and shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Grain felt natural and the movie lacked print flaws.

I didn’t expect a vivid palette from Men, but the colors seemed fine. They stayed somewhat cold and clinical, a tone that made sense for a serious, no-nonsense movie, and HDR added intensity to the hues.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while low-light shots offered appealing clarity. Whites and contrast enjoyed a boost from HDR. The nature of the source meant this would never become a demo presentation but the 4K UHD represented it well.

The film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack worked fine for the material. Dialogue was a bit thin but was clear and intelligible, and I didn’t notice any edginess.

Effects were a minor concern in this chatty film, as we got little more than general ambience. These elements were lackluster but perfectly acceptable given the track’s vintage.

Men also featured very little score. Those elements seemed fine when they appeared.

The music was never dynamic, but it appeared reasonably full and clear. Nothing here excelled, but the audio was more than adequate for a super-chatty movie.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2011? Both came with identical audio.

As for the UHD's Dolby Vision image, it boasted superior delineation, colors and blacks. Even with the restrictions of the source, the UHD offered an upgrade over its Blu-ray predecessor.

Note that a Special Edition Blu-ray of Men came out in 2013. It offered the same movie platter as the 2011 version but added a second disc with a documentary.

The 4K UHD mixes old and new extras, and Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of All the President’s Men goes for 28 minutes, 21 seconds. It involves producer/actor Robert Redford, screenwriter William Goldman, authors Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, former executive editor of the Washington Post Ben Bradlee, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and actors Dustin Hoffman and Jane Alexander.

The show looks at Redford’s initial interest in the project and its development, the interaction between Hollywood and the real participants, the adaptation of the story and attempts to retain truthfulness, casting and performances, finding a director and his work, cinematography and lighting, sets meant to recreate the Post, and the movie’s impact.

“Lies” offers a lot of quality information. I particularly like the notes about the interaction among the actors as well as Willis’s work. This isn’t an extraordinary documentary, but it becomes efficient and informative.

Woodward and Bernstein: Lighting the Fire runs 17 minutes, 53 seconds. It presents notes from authors Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, former executive editor of the Washington Post Ben Bradlee, actor/producer Robert Redford, reporter Greg Krikorian, journalist Linda Ellerbee, former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, Center for Media and Public Affairs media director Matthew Felling, author Peter Schweizer, director Oliver Stone, and Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter.

It covers the impact Woodward and Bernstein had on journalism as well as what’s happened in the field over the subsequent 30 years. The program gets a little smoochy at times as we hear praise for “Woodstein”, but since much of it’s deserved, I won’t complain. We find a decent examination of journalism and the challenges its faces in this intriguing piece.

Next we get Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat. This 16-minute, 21-second piece features Woodward, Goldman, Bernstein, Ellerbee, Stone, Bradlee, Schweizer, Alter, Krikorian, Felling, Cronkite, and former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste.

The program covers the fascination with the identity of Deep Throat and lets us know biographical info about Mark Felt, the guy who was DT. We also hear about Woodward’s relationship with him, Felt’s motives and thoughts about other options he might have had, and issues related to anonymous sources.

I’d have liked more direct info about Felt here, but I think “Shadows” remains intelligent and compelling. It offers enough biographical data to suffice and digs into rich issues like ethics and motives. This makes it worthwhile and interesting.

After this we get a snippet from a 5/27/1976 episode of Dinah! with Jason Robards. It runs seven minutes and 10 seconds as Dinah Shore chats with actor Robards about the film. While it’s nice to see Robards here, the clip is little more than fluff.

We get some minor insights into Robards’ interactions with Bradlee, but we don’t really learn much. However, I will admit I would love to know Dinah’s choice for the identity of Deep Throat, as she claims she’s sure she knows, but she never tells us her pick.

Two new circa 2026 featurettes appear: "The Film and Its Influence" (7:56) and "A Journalism Masterclass" (7:36). Both feature CNN anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.

These cover attempts to depict journalism of the 70s, cast, characters and performances, adapting the source, and thoughts about Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

The two segments offer appreciations for Men and its subjects mainly. While they come at the topic from a journalistic perspective, I can't claim they give us a lot of good insights.

Unfortunately, we lose some extras from the prior releases. The 4K UHD drops a Robert Redford commentary, a trailer and a circa 1976 featurette from both 2011 and 2013 sets, and it also cuts the nearly 90-minute "Revisited" documentary from 2013. All go missed.

Understated but still dynamic, All the President’s Men holds up well after three decades. The movie benefits from its subtle tone and focuses on the story instead of melodrama or silliness. The 4K UHD offers good picture, acceptable audio and some informative supplements. This is a solid presentation of the film but the absence of existing bonus materials disappoints.