Meanwhile, Warner Home Video is releasing a Dog Day Afternoon: 40th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/21. The 2-disc set (a Blu-ray and a DVD) will include audio commentary by director Sidney Lumet, the 4-part vintage featurette The Making of Dog Day Afternoon (includes The Story, Casting the Controversy, Recreating the Facts, and After the Filming), the vintage featurette Lumet: Film Maker, and the film’s theatrical trailer on Blu-ray. All of those features are previously released. But you’ll also get a “new” 2009 documentary by Brett Ratner called I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale on the “bonus” DVD. Unfortunately that means it’s SD only. The DVD also includes more previously released features, including extended interviews with Al Pacino and Israel Horovitz, and the short films The American Way (1962) and The Box (1969).
Is it just me, or is Warner Home Video’s idea of a “special” or “deluxe” edition these days simply to get you to repay for everything you’ve already purchased, just in new packaging, with a little swag, and maybe with the most meager of cheaply-produced new documentary features added as a sort-of after dinner mint? This is true to the point that the studio actually turned down Douglas Trumbull’s proposed Beyond the Infinite documentary on the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. We find the mindset a little disheartening from the studio that produced one of the best special edition packages ever in the Blade Runner: The Final Cut briefcase. Talk about lowering the bar.
Warner has at least officially announced more TV releases, including...
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Eighth Season (Blu-ray and DVD) on 9/15 – includes 24 episodes, plus Shooting Stars: BBT on BBT, 2014 The Big Bang Theory Comic-Con Panel, Constellation Prize, Here’s To You, Carol Ann Susi, It’s a Quark… It’s an Atom… It’s the #BBTSuperfans!, and a Gag Reel.
Arrow: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray and DVD) on 9/22 – includes 23 episodes, plus Second Skins: Creating the Uniforms of Arrow, Nanda Parbat: Constructing the Villain’s Lair, two Arrow audio commentaries, Arrow at Comic-Con 2014, The Man Beneath the Suit: Atom’s First Flight, a Gag Reel, and Deleted Scenes.
The Flash: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray and DVD) on 9/22 – includes 23 episodes, plus The Fastest Man Alive!, Creating the Blur, The Chemistry of Emily and Grant: Screen Test, Behind the Story: The Trickster Returns!, DC Comics Night at Comic-Con 2014 Presenting Gotham, The Flash, Constantine and Arrow, audio commentary, Deleted Scenes, and a Gag Reel.
Also, Classic Media has set a Frosty the Snowman: 45th Anniversary Collector’s Edition for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/8. This is the Rankin/Bass special of course. No word yet on features.
Shout! Factory has officially announced their Hackers: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray for release on 8/18. Extras will include the 3-part The Keyboard Cowboys documentary (including brand-new interviews with director Iain Softley, cast members Fisher Stevens, Matthew Lillard and Penn Jillette, visual effects artist Peter Chiang, wardrobe designer Roger Burton, hacking consultants Nicholas Jarecki and Emmanuel Goldstein, and film critic Mark Kermode), and the theatrical trailer.
Lionsgate will release The Age of Adaline on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/8.
Twilight Time has set Carl Franklin’s The Devil in a Blue Dress for Blu-ray release on 10/13.
And Kino Lorber has set Lewis Allen’s A Bullet for Joey (1955) and Robert Florey’s The Crooked Way (1949) as “coming soon” to Blu-ray.
All right... here’s a whole mess of new Blu-ray cover artwork for some of the titles we’ve mentioned above (none of the Criterion titles save for Mister Johnson is available for pre-order on Amazon at the moment, but rest assured we’ll update the cover art links as soon as they are)...
That’s plenty for now, I’d say. Stay tuned!
- Bill Hunt