This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time!

The synopsis is somewhat critical of Fritz Lang; and so are some of the comments.
I cannot second that. The underlying story may be poor, but that's all. I have seen the movie a number of times in the last months, and still discover items that fall perfectly well into place only when one knows the plot in and out.
And that is very much thanks to the director, and the script author.
My suggestion for a newcomer would be, to allow oneself to be taken in and carried through the plot until the end. Only for a second or third viewing should one try to understand the gory details.
I for one loved how the first unsympathetic person popping up in the movie (to me) turns out to be about the first one who doesn't want to get rid of the hero. Lang is very good here in keeping up the suspense, and presents us with plenty of highly lovable people (except the blind) surrounding Mr. Neale.
Yes, the comparison with North by Northwest is valid. Except that - as much as I also like Hitchcock - I prefer Lang any day for his confidence to go through without the sometimes overdone artistic trail for perfection (e.g. the scene in the railway in North by Northwest that is too unrealistic-theatrical to my taste).
Overall, this is a 'must-see', and one that needs to be seen a number of times to be appreciated. In this sense it is 'better' than North by Northwest, because the latter, once you saw it, the second viewing is still fantastic, though you know immediately who is one whose side, and why certain things are being done. in The Ministry of Fear, you probably need some more effort to understand everything, why the weight of the cake changes, and by whose arrival, why the blind man crumbles the cake instead of eating it, how the seance is set up, and many more.