Casablanca
80th Anniversary Edition
[4K/Blu-Ray combo]
Look, I’m not going to sit here and try to convince on why you should watch Casablanca. Everyone should watch this movie. Everyone. Even if you don’t like it, you’re supposed to have the reference in your brain. This movie has been copied, recopied, stolen from, and referenced over and over and it’s because it’s damn near timeless. Everyone in this movie is mostly known for being in this movie as well, so that shows the importance that Casablanca has had on everyone it’s ever touched. But the thing is, it’s actually a really good movie. I guess you could say it’s a slice of life movie, because really, when you break it all down, it’s about Rick making sacrifices for an old lover. Can’t we all relate to that? Picture this: trying to outrun the Nazis, a resistance leader and his lady (Bergman) try to find a way into Paris, and there’s only one hope for them; the grouchy hero of Rick Baine.
Casablanca undoubtedly needs to be restored and protected in the best way possible. This 4K restoration and transfer is probably the closest we get to the source negatives, and they look beautiful, with film grain visible, and the tone set perfectly for this noir. The darks shadows and lighting set the tone just right. The audio is a split channel presentation of the original mono track in HD. It’s subtle and as pure as you can get to the original source.
This edition is loaded with extras as well with introductions by Lauren Bacall, two audio commentary tracks by Roger Ebert (I told you, this film is important!) and film historian Rudy Behlmer, some awesome animated shorts and newsreel that would have screened before this movie way back in the day (including one of my favorite WB cartoons: Dover Boys at Pimento University), a 2 hour in depth feature about the film, cast, crew, and audio, and even outtakes and deleted scenes. A truly completist package!
Again, you need to see this film, and for any film lovers, this edition is a must-own. No collection is complete without this.
