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Criterion Preps Two New Blu-ray Titles for August
Mon May 18, 2009 at 11:00 AM ETTags: Disc Announcements, Criterion Collection (all tags)
The Criterion Collection has announced a late August Blu-ray release date for 'Playtime' and 'Kagemusha.'
Both classic films will be released on August 18th and each release will include the following details:
Playtime:
• All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer (uncompressed stereo soundtrack on Blu-ray edition)
• Video introduction by writer, director, and performer Terry Jones
• Selected scene commentary by film historian Philip Kemp
• Au-delà de “Playtime,” a short documentary featuring archival behind-the-scenes footage from the set
• Tati Story, a short biographical film about Tati
• “Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot’s Work,” a 1976 BBC Omnibus program featuring Tati
• Rare audio interview with Tati from the U.S. debut of Playtime at the 1972 San Francisco International Film Festival (Courtesy of Pacifica Radio Archives)
• Video interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot
• Cours du soir, a 1967 short film written by and starring Tati
• Alternate international soundtrack
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A new essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Kagemusha:
• New, restored high-definition digital transfer enhanced for widescreen televisions (DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince (The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa)
• Lucas, Coppola, and Kurosawa (19 minutes, 2005), directors George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola discuss Kurosawa and their roles as executive producers of Kagemusha
• A 41-minute documentary on the making of Kagemusha, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity, a new video piece that reconstructs Kagemusha through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches
• A series of Suntory Whiskey commercials made on the set of Kagemusha
• A gallery of storyboards painted by Kurosawa and images of their realization on-screen
• Theatrical trailers and teasers
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A 48-page booklet featuring a new essay by scholar Peter Grilli, a reprinted 1981 interview with Kurosawa by renowned critic Tony Rayns, and biographical sketches by Japanese film historian Donald Richie
Suggested list price for each Blu-ray has been set at $39.98.
You can find the latest specs for 'Playtime' and 'Kagemusha' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under August 18.
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- Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
- Playtime (Blu-ray)
- Kagemusha (Blu-ray)
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