Blu-ray Release Date: Dec. 4, 2012
Price: Blu-ray $49.95
Studio: Criterion
Something nasty and futuristic is afoot in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.
The Criterion Edition of Terry Gilliam’s landmark 1985 cult, sci-fi-flavored classic movie Brazil, filled with its countless supplements and the infamous “Love Saves the Day” edition of the film, finally makes its Blu-ray debut!
Universal issued a no-frills Blu-ray edition of Brazil in July, 2011 which we favorably reviewed at the time, but we can’t deny that we’re pretty excited to check out Criterion’s Blu-ray version.. This new edition ports over all the materials from the company’s masterful, extras-laden 1999 multi-disc DVD release which was generally considered to be the godfather of all Criterion and studio special editions to come.
Written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown (both of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love), Brazil remains Gilliam’s greatest directing/writing accomplishment, a perfect amalgam of his Monty Python roots, his political and social agenda and his unique and spectacular visual sense.
The fantasy film stars Jonathan Pryce (Bedtime Stories) as a government clerk who dreams of flying away from it all. Also featured in the landmark movie are Gilliam’s Monty Python pal Michael Palin (Time Bandits), Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa), Katherine Helmond (TV’s Soap) and Robert De Niro (Stone) as a rogue ventilation repair man named Harry Tuttle.
Here’s a complete list of the all the features found on the two-disc Criterion Blu-ray edition of Brazil:
· Restored high-definition digital transfer of Terry Gilliam’s 142-minute director’s cut, supervised by Gilliam, with DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 surround soundtrack
· Audio commentary by Terry Gilliam
· What Is “Brazil”?, a thirty-minute on-set documentary by Rob Hedden
· The Battle of “Brazil”: A Video History, a sixty-minute documentary by author and film writer Jack Mathews about the controversy surrounding the film’s release
· The “Love Conquers All” version of Brazil, a ninety-four-minute cut of the film produced by the studio in an attempt to make it more commercial, with commentary by Brazil expert David Morgan
· The Production Notebook, a collection of supplements featuring a trove of
Brazil-iana from Gilliam’s personal collection: a short documentary on the screenplay, featuring interviews with screenwriters Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard; Gilliam’s storyboards for unfilmed dream sequences, animated and narrated by Morgan; visual essays on the film’s production design and special effects; a visual essay on Brazil’s costumes, narrated by costume designer James Acheson; and interviews with Gilliam and composer Michael Kamen on the score
· Trailer
· A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt
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