David Cronenberg’s Videodrome by Criterion

(physical media spotlight)

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Criterion brings Videodrome into the Collection with a beautiful new special edition. Lately I’ve been on a mission to collect all of David Cronenberg’s films and get the best physical versions available on the market. The Criterion Collection has quite a few Cronenberg releases and recently I purchased Videodrome(Spine #248).

The film gets a new digital transfer that looks excellent. There’s a pleasing filmic quality to the image with a moderate level of grain. The audio is an uncompressed monaural track that’s crisp and clear with well-balanced dialogue.

Where this special edition truly shines is with the packaging. The slipcover highlights an iconic scene from the movie and is sturdy in construction. The clear Blu-ray case resembles a VHS tape, another nod to the film, and there’s a full-color booklet.

All this combine to create a solid entry into The Criterion Collection and another example of physical media done right.

I hope you enjoy the original photos that I took of my personal copy(see the photo gallery below). I’ll also include some detailed notes(from the manufacturer) about the specs and bonus features.

– coe33

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New high-definition digital transfer of the unrated version, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Two audio commentaries: David Cronenberg and director of photography Mark Irwin, and actors James Woods and Deborah Harry
• Camera (2000), a short film starring Videodrome’s Les Carlson, written and directed by Cronenberg
• Forging the New Flesh, a new half-hour documentary featurette by filmmaker Michael Lennick about the creation of Videodrome’s video and prosthetic makeup effects
• Effects Men, a new audio interview with special makeup effects creator Baker and video effects supervisor Lennick
• Bootleg Video: the complete footage of Samurai Dreams and seven minutes of transmissions from “Videodrome,” presented in their original, unedited form with filmmaker commentary
• Fear on Film, a 26-minute roundtable discussion from 1982 between filmmakers Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris
• Original theatrical trailers and promotional featurette
• Stills galleries featuring hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production photos, special effects makeup tests, and publicity photos
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by writers Carrie Rickey, Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana

Purchase the Videodrome Criterion Collection Blu-ray (Amazon Affiliate Link – Using this link doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps support this website. Thank you.)

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