Midnight Cowboy (Two Disc Collector's Edition)
by John Schlesinger
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brenda Vaccaro, Dustin Hoffman, John McGiver, Jon Voight, Sylvia MilesDirector: John Schlesinger
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Adam Holender
Editor: Hugh A. Robertson
Producer: Jerome Hellman
Producer: Kenneth Utt
Writer: James Leo Herlihy
Writer: Waldo Salt
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Italian (Original Language); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Midnight Cowboy (Two Disc Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: MGM hops backin the saddle with "Midnight Cowboy"
Summary: 5 Stars
In 1969 an "X" rating meant one of two things-you were going to be watching a porn movie or "Midnight Cowboy". John Schesinger's classic drama won a Best Picture Academy Award and giving the award to this drama is about the most daring thing the Academy ever did. "Midnight Cowboy" has never looked better. The grainy images perfectly capture the look of the film's theatrical presentation and the image quality is much sharper here than the previous edition. Digital artifacts are minimal and the condition of the print is surprisingly good. The audio likewise sounds extremely good with a new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix made from the original mono master soundtrack. While it lacks the dynamic range of a newer film and doesn't take full advantage of the format, the film sounds surprisingly spry in this presentation. Overall an outstanding job was done by MGM at restoring and presenting this classic film.
Schlesinger's film is still surprisingly powerful and the performances of the film are terrific. Jon Voight plays Joe Buck who arrives in the Big Apple hoping to make a life as a male prostitute servicing the ladies. Dustin Hoffman Ratzo Rizzo a minor hustler who ends up befriending Buck through a series of unusual circumstances. This odd couple ends up caring about each other and find that in the scuzzy streets of New York they have only each other to depend on and the dream of making their fortune and moving to Florida.
This 35th Anniversary Special Edition of the film contains a number of special features that are quite nice but is lacking in the one area where it could excel-the commentary track. While original producer Jerome Hellman provides some interesting comments about the making of the film and his memory is quite good but the film would have benefited from someone on the creative side say Hoffman or Voight since both director Schlesinger and screenwriter Waldo Salt are dead.
The featurettes and documentary are all located on the second disc of this set. The half hour "After Midnight: Relfecting on the Classic 35 years Later" is a marvelous documentary pulling together everything from footage of Voight auditioning with director Schlesinger to stories about the difficulty in getting the film made and all the hoops that producer, director, screenwriter and actors had to jump through. The featurette "Controversy and Acclaim" focuses on the reaction to the film. As I mentioned at the top of this article an "X" rated film was the kiss of death for a mainstream movie in 1969. Films had to be toned down to insure as much of a general audience could see it as possible (as well as concerns about picketing by the Catholic Church which actually condemned the film in its publications on the film). The producer, director and studio were obviously concerned about the reaction to the film; would an audience "get" the movie. Because of the counter culture atmosphere at the time the film succeeded where earlier it might not have. "Celebrating Schlesinger" features interviews with producer Hellman and actors Hoffman & Voight discussing the late director. Hoffman got on famously with the director after some initial discomfort and went on to collaborate with him again on the marvelous thriller "Marathon Man". We also get a decent photo gallery with shots from the time and trailers for a variety of other MGM Special Editions. Oh and I can't forget that the set, like "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" features postcards with original images from the film.
A terrific package from MGM, "Midnight Cowboy" looks marvelous here and blows away the previously available single disc edition with solid extras including an outstanding documentary on the making of the movie. Also we get some collectable postcards, two solid featurettes on the film, a photo gallery and a solid commentary track from producer Jerome Hellman. Again the only thing missing in this set is a commentary track with Voight and Hoffman which would have made this the ultimate edition of the film. Perhaps we'll have to wait for the Blu-Ray Edition of the movie for that after all they have to make you want to buy this again.
Summary of Midnight Cowboy (Two Disc Collector's Edition)
Daring. Provocative. Shocking. Compelling. Nearly thirty years after its original release, "Midnight Cowboy is still heartbreakingand timeless" (The New York Observer). This Academy AwardŽ winner* for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay also boasts OscarŽ-nominated** performances by Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, neither of whom have "ever been better on screen than they are here" (Chicago Tribune)! When Joe Buck (Voight), a good-looking,naively charming Texas "cowboy" makes his way to the Big Apple to seek his fortune, the only wealthhe finds is in the friendship of Ratso Rizzo (Hoffman), a scrounging, sleazy, small-time con man with big dreams. Living on the tattered fringe of society, these two outcasts develop an unlikely bond one that transcends their broken dreams and get-rich-quick schemes and makes Midnight Cowboy "that rarest of things: [a film] every bit as moving now as it was when it was [first] released" (Premiere). *1969 **1969: ActorSimilar DVD Movies
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