CRUISING DELUXE EDITION
William Friedkin’s Landmark Film Finally Debuts on DVD September 18 -- Newly Remastered, with Revealing
New Featurettes and Director Commentary
Burbank, Calif., June 18, 2007 -- Cruising – the murder thriller that is set against the gay S & M subculture of the late ‘70s and prompted widespread community protests when it opened in 1980 – makes its long-awaited DVD debut September 18 as a Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video (WHV). Acknowledging years of consumer requests, Cruising will receive a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco the first week of September, prior to its DVD release at $19.97 SRP.
Directed by Academy Award® winner William Friedkin (The French Connection) from his own screenplay adaptation of Gerald Walker’s novel, the film has as its magnetic centerpiece Academy Award®-winner Al Pacino’s (Scent of a Woman) performance as an undercover cop who infiltrates New York City’s leather bar scene, and whose identity and relationships are hauntingly affected by his assignment. Pacino, no stranger to tough cop roles (Heat, Serpico and Sea of Love), currently can be seen in Warner Bros.’ Oceans 13 and recently received an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cruising incited New York's gay community like nothing had since the rioting after the 1969 police raid on Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn. The incident became a watershed event for the gay civil rights movement.
The clashes during Cruising production centered around objections to the stereotyping of all gays. Friedkin never intended any lifestyle generalizations. “But that world did exist and I tried to portray it objectively without any moral comment,” the director says today. “Those murders happened [in real life], and it was always my intention to make a film, set in that milieu, that would be an unsettling experience and to ask the question when you look at someone, “Do you really know who they are?”
Notes Drew Fitzpatrick of fringeunderground.com, “Maybe now, with gay-themed movies and television shows permeating pop culture with a more or less even balance of characterizations, the time might finally be right for Cruising to wipe away 25 years of bad cultural karma and take its proper place in the oeuvre of one of America's most consistently challenging filmmakers.”
Perhaps so. Audiences were visibly stunned recently -- and gave the film two standing ovations -- at the end of a screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where Mr. Friedkin was part of the Directors’ Fortnight program. Traditionally, such reactions are only bestowed on first-time Festival screenings.
Mr. Friedkin has personally supervised the creation of an all new high-definition master and new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track for the release with new director commentary. Also included are eminent documentarian Laurent Bouzerou’s two new featurettes containing interviews with actors and filmmakers who provide thorough perspective on the incidents surrounding the production. In addition to Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub (Oceans 11 series, Diner The Firm), participants include editor Bud Smith (The Exorcist, Flashdance, Ladder 49) , actors Don Scardino (now a top TV director) and James Remar (48 Hours, TV’s Sex in the City) and real-life cops Randy Jurgensen and Sonny Grosso.
Special Features
· Commentary by Director William Friedkin
· Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
· 2 New Featurettes: The History of Cruising and Exorcising Cruising
· Original Theatrical trailer
· Languages: English & Español
· Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only).
Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.
William Friedkin’s Landmark Film Finally Debuts on DVD September 18 -- Newly Remastered, with Revealing
New Featurettes and Director Commentary
Burbank, Calif., June 18, 2007 -- Cruising – the murder thriller that is set against the gay S & M subculture of the late ‘70s and prompted widespread community protests when it opened in 1980 – makes its long-awaited DVD debut September 18 as a Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video (WHV). Acknowledging years of consumer requests, Cruising will receive a limited theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco the first week of September, prior to its DVD release at $19.97 SRP.
Directed by Academy Award® winner William Friedkin (The French Connection) from his own screenplay adaptation of Gerald Walker’s novel, the film has as its magnetic centerpiece Academy Award®-winner Al Pacino’s (Scent of a Woman) performance as an undercover cop who infiltrates New York City’s leather bar scene, and whose identity and relationships are hauntingly affected by his assignment. Pacino, no stranger to tough cop roles (Heat, Serpico and Sea of Love), currently can be seen in Warner Bros.’ Oceans 13 and recently received an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cruising incited New York's gay community like nothing had since the rioting after the 1969 police raid on Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn. The incident became a watershed event for the gay civil rights movement.
The clashes during Cruising production centered around objections to the stereotyping of all gays. Friedkin never intended any lifestyle generalizations. “But that world did exist and I tried to portray it objectively without any moral comment,” the director says today. “Those murders happened [in real life], and it was always my intention to make a film, set in that milieu, that would be an unsettling experience and to ask the question when you look at someone, “Do you really know who they are?”
Notes Drew Fitzpatrick of fringeunderground.com, “Maybe now, with gay-themed movies and television shows permeating pop culture with a more or less even balance of characterizations, the time might finally be right for Cruising to wipe away 25 years of bad cultural karma and take its proper place in the oeuvre of one of America's most consistently challenging filmmakers.”
Perhaps so. Audiences were visibly stunned recently -- and gave the film two standing ovations -- at the end of a screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where Mr. Friedkin was part of the Directors’ Fortnight program. Traditionally, such reactions are only bestowed on first-time Festival screenings.
Mr. Friedkin has personally supervised the creation of an all new high-definition master and new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track for the release with new director commentary. Also included are eminent documentarian Laurent Bouzerou’s two new featurettes containing interviews with actors and filmmakers who provide thorough perspective on the incidents surrounding the production. In addition to Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub (Oceans 11 series, Diner The Firm), participants include editor Bud Smith (The Exorcist, Flashdance, Ladder 49) , actors Don Scardino (now a top TV director) and James Remar (48 Hours, TV’s Sex in the City) and real-life cops Randy Jurgensen and Sonny Grosso.
Special Features
· Commentary by Director William Friedkin
· Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
· 2 New Featurettes: The History of Cruising and Exorcising Cruising
· Original Theatrical trailer
· Languages: English & Español
· Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only).
Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.
Speaking of the sketch, it's prtty surprising it made it onto tv when you think of it.
