Long rumored and wished for, "The Game" is finally getting the special edition treatment the rest of David Fincher's films have, joining the director's "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" in The Criterion Collection. That's right, this September your wallet is going to get a little bit lighter when the refreshed film becomes available from the boutique label.
So, what are you gonna get for the dollars you drop on this? Besides a newly restored transfer, the meaty part of the extras is an audio commentary, previously only available on the Region 2 edition of the DVD, featuring Fincher, Harry Savides, Michael Douglas, screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, digital animation supervisor Richard “Dr.” Baily, production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, visual effects supervisor Kevin Haug, and visual effects producer Robyn D’Arcy. Damn. There's also an hour's worth of fresh behind-the-scenes footage and film-to-storyboard comparisons for four of the film’s major set pieces, with commentary; an alternate ending, and more. If you haven't seen the film since it was released, there's no better way to reacquaint yourself than with this Criterion edition.
Also coming in September? Well, how about two films by legendary French filmmaker Marcel Carné? First up, Criterion is giving the dazzling "Children Of Paradise" an upgrade to Blu-ray and are bringing, for the first time, the fantasy "Les visiteurs du soir" to both formats. The film follows two emissaries of the devil, disguised as minstrels, who plan to spread heartbreak and suffering, but fall in love instead. Sounds fantastic. Not much in the way of extras for this one — there's a documentary on the making of the film — but having this movie even available is good enough.
Cult film fans will be pleased to see Paul Bartel's bonkers, hard-to-describe, but totally hilarious and unforgettable "Eating Raoul" getting the wacky C. The satirical, slapstick comedy about cannibalism (among other things) will be coming with two short films from Bartel — "The Secret Cinema" and "Naughty Nurse" — a commentary, a gag reel (awesome), archival interviews, a brand new documentary about the making of the film, and more. But that's not the only bit of obscurity coming from Criterion in September as the Eclipse will unveil a box set containing three of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Norman Mailer's oddball movies: "Maidstone," "Wild 90" and "Beyond The Law." No extras, but the movies themselves should be more than enough.
Finally, for all you neo-realist fans out there, Vittorio De Sica's stone cold classic and heartbreaking "Umberto D." is getting the Blu-ray treatment at long last. All the same extras, but now with the film delivered in dazzling 1080p.
