Posted Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 10:00 AM PDT by Peter Bracke
The Criterion Collection has announced their first wave of next-gen releases, bringing the classics 'The Third Man' and 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' to Blu-ray in mid-November.
Much to the delight of cineastes everywhere, Criterion confirmed earlier this year that it was planning to jump into Blu-ray by the end of the year, and unveiling an impressive roster of planned titles (though they offered no hard release dates).
Now Criterion has finally confirmed their first pair of titles, setting a November 18 launch for the Orson Welles classic 'The Third Man' and Nicolas Roeg's cult gem 'The Man to Fell to Earth.'
Each will receive a BD-50 dual-layer presentation with 1080p video (codec TBA) in the film's original aspect ratio, with 'The Third Man' enjoying a Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track and 'Man Who Fell to Earth' an uncompressed PCM 2.0 stereo mix.
Extras on 'The Third Man' include a video introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, a pair of audio commentaries (with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, and film scholar Dana Polan), two documentaries, a 'Third Man' vintage radio broadcast, archival material, an illustrated production history, a still gallery, a collectible booklet and more.
'The Man Who Fell to Earth' features an audio commentary by Roeg and actors David Bowie and Buck Henry, new video and audio interviews with cast and crew, multiple still galleries, an additional poster gallery, and theatrical trailers.
Suggested retail price for each Blu-ray release has been set at $39.98.
You'll find complete specs for 'The Third Man (1949)' and 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under November 18.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.