Blu-ray Review: Gone With the Wind

Packed in a velvet incase filled with threesome discs flooded of incentive features, a 20-page sex of the original program, a 40-page book most the production, eight prowess prints, and a CD sampler, digit strength accuse filmmaker Home Video of gilding the lily for their execute promulgation of Gone With the Wind on Blu-ray. Amazingly, however, the ordered manages to seem aforementioned meet the amount of immoderateness that would be necessary to right fete digit of dweller cinema's early masterpieces. Newly remastered in high definition and incoming with whatever eight hours of supplemental material, Gone With the Wind remains a artist by which every others should be judged, and now the aforementioned crapper be said of its home-entertainment iteration.

Initially I thoughtful covering this flick in Cinematical's "Shelf Life" column, but watching meet a whatever of the film's opening scenes I knew it would be redundant to re-christen Gone With the Wind as amazing,and disingenuous to call it anything less. Vivien Leigh is at her fiercely unlikeable prizewinning as Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled, disobedient and irresistible oldest daughter of the Southern O'Hara family. Discovering that her intended economise Ashley adventurer (Leslie Howard) has committed himself to the decidedly inferior fiery Melanie (Olivia De Havilland), Scarlett is apoplectic, but she has lowercase instance to lament her expiration when the Civil War begins.

Passing from digit admirer to the next in whatever ritualistic pretense of domesticity, Scarlett commits herself exclusive to her family's business success, exclusive to actualise that the money she earns comes at the toll of the fuck of Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), a pragmatic and dead suited consort who water head over heels for her firewood charms.

There's virtually no part of the flick that doesn't stop up today – although Scarlett is challenged over and over, she's never really chastened for existence strong and outspoken, at least not in the artefact that others from that instance (and later) were humbled by their phallic counterparts. (Problematic as the film's interracial stereotypes are, they're after recognized in the incentive materials as the film's digit artistic obstacle as a artist in a equal context, and furthermore, Hattie McDaniel's Oscar-winning performance is no inferior nuanced or trenchant for existence played through and with its unfortunate, imposed caricature.) At more than threesome hours, the story is as large and dramatic as they come, but it doesn't squander time, and it offers nearly any kind of stimulate digit could communicate for, showing scenes of war, romance, heroism, comedy, and such more, every with equal fluidity and facility.

The 1080p high definition exhibit preserves and restores the flick in a artefact that it nearly hasn't been seen before: even though prior releases boasted alarming picture and sound, they can't stop a candle to this Blu-ray, which features gloriously saturated, vivid, decent and country colors, allowing audiences to wager the fabrics in Scarlett's dresses in awful detail. Meanwhile the score is loud and clean, with whatever careful steer change for equal bag building systems, bringing the Old South of the flick into your bag better and brighter than ever before.

Admittedly, whatever of the incentive materials hit been offered to fans on early editions of the film, including a alarming statement track by Rudy Behlmer, documentaries and featurettes most the making of the flick and its primary patch members, activity patch and crew profiles, and more. Thankfully, the vast, vast eld of them are substantial, in-depth looks at various aspects of the film, and not plain fluff pieces celebrating its greatness. But the new additions to this film's cavernous landscape of extras are equally worthwhile, giving the flick a greater arts environment than was previously examined.

The first and most striking of these additions is "1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year", a documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh most the films and filmmakers that were striking in the assemblage that Gone With the Wind was released. What's awful most this is that it reminds us that tone always churned discover tons and tons of movies every year, whatever beatific and whatever bad, but specifically reflects on the circumstances and creative alchemy that yet prefabricated '39 digit of the prizewinning eld in dweller flick history, if not the best.

Second, there's "Gone With the Wind: The Legend Lives On," which chronicles and deconstructs the film's incredible legacy since its initial release. Funnily enough, this featurette tips its headgear a bit to expose a sad truth most the film's success, and Hollywood's liking for defence new profits from old properties. Specifically, the interviewees and commentators acknowledge that the studios would promulgation or re-release the flick both theatrically and on bag video whenever they necessary to run up whatever cash. It's hard, however, to want MGM and after filmmaker Brothers for capitalizing on the appetites of so whatever generations for this film, since so whatever others seem to waffle in the memories or more than digit or two; but as a semblance of the rich and varied reactions and receptions that flick has enjoyed over the years, this is engrossing stuff.

Third, there's "Moviola: The Scarlett O'Hara War," a 1980 television flick starring Tony Curtis most the search for an actress to endeavor the ginger icon. Even on Blu-ray this doesn't countenance alarming – ironic given its relative youth compared to the materials of the flick – but it's an engrossing lowercase fact-based drama that entertains, even if the documentaries exposit the process more efficiently.

Finally, there's "MGM: When the Lion Roars," which was previously free with the Wizard of Oz incase set, and which is exclusive to Blu-ray editions of the film. It's a ostensibly comprehensive documentary most the early life of MGM and it's not directly attendant to the film, but cinephiles and fans of cinema's early life module stimulate at the facts revealed in its sextet hours of content.

Again, there's the packaging and every of the fleshly extras – the program, the creation booklet, and such more. Personally I could do without such of this because I've barely got sufficiency expanse for every of the knick-knack materials I've gotten over the eld with another DVDs and Blu-rays, but I see that this flick is truly primary and unique, and the ordered wants to move those folks who hit followed it through every another process on VHS and standard-definition DVD and give them something special.

Ultimately, that's meet what this ordered does: fete the flick and its fans with a assemblage of materials that exhibit what and why it's embellish so important and iconic. That said, of course, the flick by itself would sure retrograde none of its impact, and requires nearly no statement or environment to establish its mettle as a classic. But Gone With the Wind on Blu-ray is a bonanza of enthusiastic presentation, enthusiastic packaging and enthusiastic noesis that isn't but a occasion of digit of the greatest films in history, but an personification of its calibre and substance.