DISC ONE: "The Final Cut": New widescreen transfer of Terry Gilliam's
142-minute final cut, Remastered Dolby stereo surround soundtrack, Audio
commentary by Terry Gilliam, English subtitles for the deaf and hearing
impaired, RSDL dual-layer edition.
DISC TWO: "The Supplement": 'What is Brazil?', Rob Hedden's 30-minute on-set
documentary, 'The Battle of Brazil: A Video History', an original 56-minute
Criterion documentary by Jack Mathews, Script Evolution: sreenwriters Tom
Stoppard and Charles McKeown illuminate the script through several drafts and
treatments, Production design: Norman Garwood displays his designs for
Brazil's unique sets, Costume design: James Acheson on the 'couture of
fantasy and fascism', Storyboards for Gilliam's original dream sequences,
many of which didn't make it into the film, Composer Michael Kamen revealss
the sources of his score, A study of the special effects, Theatrical
trailer, Publicity and production stills, RSDL dual-layer edition.
DISC THREE: The "Love Conquers All" Version: The 94-minute cut of Brazil, with
all the changes that Gilliam refused to make, from the alternate opening to
the controversial happy ending, Audio commentary by Gilliam expert David
Morgan
The naturalised British film director Terry Gilliam
describes Brazil as "the impossibility of escape from reality".
This is probably why the ponytailed ex-Python had to take an advertisement
in Variety Magazine asking Universal pictures "When are you going to
release my movie 'Brazil'?" The nervous suits thought that the film was
too bleak to do business in America and wanted to lose the downbeat ending
(actually the whole point of the film - see Gilliam's opening quote).
Unusually, Gilliam won the fight, and the result is this dystopian comic-opera
of visual excess and high-budget paranoia.
Lowly office-worker Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce, excellent) unwisely breaks
cover from a lifetime of anonymity to find and keep the girl of his dreams.
The full force of Gilliam's nightmarish future bureaucracy descends upon him
and he must team up with misfits like guerilla plumber Stanley Tuttle (Robert
De Niro in a brilliant cameo) and his dreaded Mother (Katherine Helmond), who
has had so much cosmetic surgery that in one scene she actually melts into a
disgusting pile of offal.
If this is a must-have film, then the DVD is... erm... even more must-have.
This monumental three disc set from the Criterion collection is the winner of
the "1st Annual Digital Bits Bitsy Award" and is probably the best DVD
release ever. That's ever.
The picture is in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 but is of excellent quality.
The sound is presented in newly remastered Dolby Surround
Extras :
Chapters :
35 Chapters over 142 minutes for the film.
Languages/Subtitles :
English for hearing impaired is your lot in this American disc.
And there's more... :
As you can see from the list of extras, there's a wealth of information in
this package, spread over three discs.
On the second disc there are two excellent documentaries: "What is
Brazil?" goes behind the scenes and interviews the cast and crew. "The
Battle of Brazil" charts the bitter fight between Gilliam and
Universal head honcho Sid Sheinberg, providing us with an extraordinary
look into the nasty realities of corporate film-making.
All the key players in the battle are interviewed, allowing an unusually balanced
view. Individual draft analysis with the writers follows the script through
all its many guises. There are storyboards and design stills, and detailed
looks at the music and costume. Oh, and the theatrical trailer.
Finally, on disc three, the 94-minute studio cut is an unique way to experience
how two different editors made entirely different films from the same
footage - for instance, watch how the studio version uses different takes to
entirely change the nature of scenes.
If you are interested in film, it doesn't get better than this.
Menu :
Animated menu of filing cabinets stretching into infinity, to the tune of
'Brazil'. The chapters are animated, showing clips from the film.
Overall, a great film on an extraordinary three disc set. Film nirvana for 60
bucks.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
