Product Description

2 DVD collector's edition of this treasured modern western features a wealth of commentaries, documentaries, and bonus features that make it worth buying again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6142 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2006-06-06
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
This 1969 film has never lost its popularity or its unusual appeal as a star-driven Western that tinkers with the genre's conventions and comes up with something both terrifically entertaining and--typical of its period--a tad paranoid. Paul Newman plays the legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy as an eternal optimist and self-styled visionary, conjuring dreams of banks just ripe for the picking all over the world. Robert Redford is his more levelheaded partner, the sharpshooting Sundance Kid. The film, written by William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and directed by George Roy Hill (The Sting), basically begins as a freewheeling story about robbing trains but soon becomes a chase as a relentless posse--always seen at a great distance like some remote authority--forces Butch and Sundance into the hills and, finally, Bolivia. Weakened a little by feel-good inclinations (a scene involving bicycle tricks and the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" is sort of Hollywood flower power), the movie maintains an interesting tautness, and the chemistry between Redford and Newman is rare. (A factoid: Newman first offered the Sundance part to Jack Lemmon.) --Tom Keogh

On the DVD
The original DVD release in 2000 was an excellent duplication of the 25th anniversary laser disc produced in 1994. This 2006 "ultimate edition" includes those features and adds another disc of extras, but many of the extras go over the same stories and facts numerous times. On the good side, screenwriter William Goldman begins his new commentary track by stating there was a deleted sequence echoing the nickelodeon footage seen in the opening titles. His wish that someone would find the sequence he has never seen is granted with this DVD (the sound was lost, but there are subitles and commentary from director George Roy Hill who died in 2002) Goldman does his usual crack commentary diagnosing the film and dishing out wisdom on the industry in general. There are two features here produced for the disc, one about the making of the film ("All of What Follows is True") with new interviews and "The True Tale of Butch and Sundance." The interviews in 2006 cover much of the ground as the 1994 interviews (with a few new mysteries cleared up including why Steve McQueen fell out of the project). A standard 90-minute TNT program expands on the historical facts stated in "True Tale" (with some of the same historians to boot). The best stuff was seen and heard on the original disc, thanks in part to Hill's involvement. His original commentary along with other crew remembers (including master cinematographer Conrad Hall) is biased, rambling, and fun. The mistakenly labeled 1994 making-of documentary was produced in 1968 by associate producer Robert Crawford. This 45-minute film is no piece of fluff; narrated by Hill, Goldman, and the stars, it tells of troubles on the set, gives frank assessments of talent, and deconstructs many of the scenes. For anyone brought up on tight, studio-controlled making-of docs, it's a breath of fresh air. The print is a bit warmer in this edition, but just as crisp. The original mono track has been slightly dressed up to a 2.0 stereo mix. --Doug Thomas