Three iconic classics, each among the very best of their genres, are celebrating anniversaries this year. And that statement is more than just subjective gushing from Free Kittens. All three of them were selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. So there.
And speaking of preservation, what better way to acknowledge their anniversaries than releasing them in 4K Ultra HD for the first time? Warner Bros has done right by these classics with excellent transfers.
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| When you miss your flight, but your flight doesn't plan to miss you. |
Now it is time for a little subjective gushing. Everyone has their favorite Alfred Hitchcock film, and while many will argue the likes of Vertigo, Psycho and Rear Window are his best, we’ll throw our hat in the ring for 1959’s North by Northwest. It’s even number 4 on our list of the greatest movies ever made.
Now 65 years old, the film is as exciting, suspenseful, intriguing and funny as ever. The film also features one of Cary Grant’s best performances as ad-man Roger Thornhill, whose life is thrown into turmoil due to mistaken identity. The stellar supporting cast includes James Mason at his most smoothly sinister, Eva Marie Saint at her most enticing and Martin Landau at his scariest. Everything else about the film - the story, dialogue, cinematography and Bernard Herrmann’s score - is note perfect.
On 4K, the film has never looked better, and in addition to a big batch of vintage bonus features, a couple of new ones are included. All these years later, North by Northwest remains essential viewing for anyone claiming to be a cinephile.
EXTRA KIBBLES
NEW FEATURES - Cinematography, Score and the Art of the Edit highlights many of the people Hitchcock worked with, on this and other films; A Guided Tour with Alfred Hitchcock isn’t technically new, but hasn’t been included in previous home video releases.
ARCHIVAL FEATURES - Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest is hosted by co-star Eva Marie Saint; The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style features many modern directors discussing Hitch’s techniques; North by Northwest: One for the Ages features even more directors analyzing the film.
AUDIO COMMENTARY - By screenwriter Ernest Lehman.
DIGITAL COPY
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| Bart spots a roly-poly. |
This Mel Brooks classic is one of those movies that people love to claim “couldn’t be made today.” Some of those same folks like to add that people these days are snowflakes and too easily offended. And in defending those films, they’ll inevitably argue that those movies need to be viewed in the context of when they were made, when cultural norms were different.
But I’ve personally never met anyone who was offended by Blazing Saddles, young or old. Maybe that’s because nobody with even a modicum of intelligence would ever take the film’s racially charged humor at face value. The movie isn’t racist…it’s about the stupidity of racism, played for laughs (which it still largely earns 50 years later). That’s arguably why the film hasn’t been quite as retro-condemned as, say, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
As for the notorious campfire scene…we’re living in an age when practically every kids’ movie features fart gags. What’s left in Blazing Saddles to offend? At any rate, this remains Brooks’ funniest film, and as parody, only Airplane! Has surpassed it.
EXTRA KIBBLES
FEATURES - Inappropriate Inspiration: The Blazing Saddles Effect is an appreciation of the film’s influence and legacy; Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks’ Wild, Wild West is an interview with Brooks from the 40th Anniversary version; Back in the Saddle is a retrospective doc featuring numerous cast & crew members.
AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director/co-writer Mel Brooks
ADDITIONAL SCENES
DIGITAL COPY
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| This hotel offers boom service. |
Geez, has it really been 40 years? It seems like just yesterday that I went to a theater expecting little more than a couple of hours of dumb thrills. But The Terminator surprised everyone, even its own director, James Cameron. Absolutely nobody was expecting such a “small” movie to be one of the best sci-fi/action films of the decade, or that it would make Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name.
We’ve been seeing its influence ever since, including five sequels of varying quality and ten-times the budget. However, it’s the awesome narrative simplicity of the original Terminator that makes it such a propulsive, gritty thrill ride…no timelines, no alternate realities, no convoluted storylines requiring a slide-rule to figure out. Just a relentless killing machine hunting its quarry. Cameron would never shoot a film this viscerally intense again.
Of these three films, The Terminator features the best transfer. The video and audio quality are substantially better than another other previous DVD or Blu-ray. However, this one falls pretty short on bonus material, just a few short pieces carried over from previous releases.
EXTRA KIBBLES
FEATURETTES - Unstoppable Force: The Legacy of The Terminator is a retrospective documentary; Creating the Terminator: Visual Effects and Music is self explanatory; The Terminator: Closer to the Real Thing features James Cameron and others talking science.
DELETED SCENES - With optional commentary by James Cameron.
DIGITAL COPY
Obviously, all of these movies are worth owning and revisiting again and again. Previous editions may have included more substantial bonus material, but they don’t compare to the video/audio presentation offered here in 4K (along with digital copies).
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