Product Description

Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall. A classic fantasy about a superstar rookie baseball player who faces unexpected tragedy while leading his lowly team to victory. This Barry Levinson home run" was nominated for four Academy Awards and is now in this intense director's cut version loaded with extras. 2 DVDs. 1984/color/144 min/PG/widescreen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3904 in DVD
• Color: Multi
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 2007-04-03
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese, Portuguese
• Subtitled in: English, French, Japanese, Portuguese
• Dubbed in: French, Japanese, Portuguese
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, .30 pounds
• Running time: 144 minutes

Features

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Director's Cut; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

Amazon.com
Director Barry Levinson mentions in his video introduction the 1984 movie was rushed to theaters and this 2007 DVD is more the film he originally intended. This "director's cut" adds about 15 minutes of footage and deletes 5. It tightens the first third of the film, yet any fan of the lyrical prologue set in perfect synchronization with Randy Newman's score will be disappointed. Now the beginning is told in flashback as the elder Hobbs returns home. (It's also confusing to keep track of which Hobbs story you are watching when they are both on a train.) The changes do not improve the story or character; it simply packs in more information before Hobbs enters the Knight's dugout. After that, there are a few new scenes and many extensions, most involving Memo (Kim Basinger) and Red (Richard Farnsworth). None of the additions are exceptional. One could hope there is an Easter egg with the remastered original edition. What is on the second disc are above-average featurettes with interviews from most of the major talent. The best little ditties includes Newman's playful "lyrics" to his theme music and Levinson's divulgence that he is the radio play-by-play man. There's a good discussion on adapting (and changing) the novel, the allegorical myths, and the real-life inspirations including a heart-felt segment on Eddie Waitkus, a baseball player who was shot by an obsessed fan. A 5.1 Dolby soundtrack is now available and compliments an excellent video upgrade. --Doug Thomas