Ronald Epstein

SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

Academy Award® Winner Michael Caine and
Academy Award® Nominee Jude Law
Star in
SLEUTH
Directed by Academy Award® Nominee Kenneth Branagh

Debuts on DVD and Blu-ray High-Def ™ on March 11, 2008


Culver City, CA (January 14, 2008) Academy Award® winner Michael Caine (2000, Best Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules; 1987, Best Supporting Actor, Hannah and Her Sisters) and Academy Award® nominee Jude Law (2000, Best Supporting Actor, The Talented Mr. Ripley; 2004 Best Actor, Cold Mountain; Closer) go head-to-head in the mystery-thriller Sleuth, arriving on DVD Blu-ray High-Def ™ on March 11 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This Sony Pictures Classics Film features a screenplay by Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter, adapted from the Tony Award winning play by Anthony Shaffer, and is directed by Academy Award® nominee Kenneth Branagh (1990, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Henry V; 1997, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Hamlet). Sleuth will be available for an SLP of $38.95 for Blu-ray High-Def ™ and $26.96 for DVD.

Sleuth was originally filmed in 1972 with Michael Caine as the young Milo Tindal and veteran actor Sir Laurence Olivier (Marathon Man) as aging novelist Andrew Wyke. When Wyke discovers that Tindal is having an affair with his wife, he invites him to his country estate where they engage in a increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse. With a completely re-imagined script by Harold Pinter, Jude Law convinced Caine to take on the role of Wyke in this version, with Law as the younger man. With the cast and screenplay in place, acclaimed filmmaker Kenneth Branagh was brought on to direct.

Jeffrey Lyons on Reel Talk described the result of this collaboration as “a tense, intelligent, superbly performed tour de force by two great actors from two generations,” while Rex Reed in the New York Observer called Sleuth “wickedly entertaining.” Peter Fischer in Dark Horizons summed the film up as “a stylish, hypnotic and flawlessly acted masterpiece.”

Synopsis
Oscar® nominee Jude Law (2000, Best Supporting Actor, The Talented Mr. Ripley; 2004 Best Actor, Cold Mountain) and two-time Oscar®-winner Michael Caine (1987, Best Supporting Actor, Hannah and Her Sisters; 2000 Best Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules) join forces in this sharp-witted, modern adaptation of the 1972 classic, Sleuth.

Locked in a high-tech English manor, bound in a deadly dual of wits, Andrew Wyke (Caine) and Milo Tindle (Law) come together as English gentlemen to discuss the matter of Wyke’s wife: the woman both are sleeping with. But as wit becomes wicked and clever becomes cutthroat, Wyke and Tindle’s game of one-upmanship spirals out of control, in an escalating chess match than can have only one outcome: murder.

DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
Commentaries with Jude Law, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh
“A Game of Cat and Mouse: Behind the Scenes of Sleuth”
“Inspector Black: Make-up Secrets Revealed:

Sleuth was directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Harold Pinter. Adapted from the play by Anthony Shaffer. With Michael Caine and Jude Law.

"Academy Award®" and "Oscar®" are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

SLEUTH DVD
DVD Catalog #:
22522
DVD UPC Code:
0-43396-22522-0
DVD Order Date:
2/7/08
DVD SLP:
$29.96
Running Time
86 minutes
Rating
R for strong language


SLEUTH Blu-ray High-Def ™
Blu-ray Catalog #:
24452
Blu-ray UPC Code:
0-43396-24452-8
Blu-ray Order Date:
2/7/08
Blu-ray SLP:
$38.95
Running Time
86 minutes
Rating
R for strong language

Mike Frezon

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

Well...that's good news.

But then there's the bad news. Why is the DVD of the 1972 film still OOP?

Too bad they didn't include it as a "bonus feature" with this release. I suppose if there are some sitting somewhere in a warehouse they could always have some two-fer deals during the release week of the new film.

I've been wanting the 1972 film for a loooooooooong time! (It was released February 5, 2002.)

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

MattH.

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

I know what you mean. The 1972 version has had two DVD releases, but I don't believe either was anamorphic. I have the first release. Masterfully performed and directed. I can't imagine how a new version could compete with it, but I'll be eager to give it a look-see.

Mike Frezon

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

IIRC, when the new version was launched in theaters the majority of reviewers pondered why they even bothered with the re-make.

I was really hopeful that the inevitable DVD release of the remake would spur the re-release of the original. We've seen that very phenomenon recently with a number of titles--including 3:10 to Yuma.

**EDIT. Copies on amazon.com are running from between $95 to $250!

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

seanOhara

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

The thread title really got my hopes up, and then I see it's the remake. (Did it even get a theatrical release? I don't remember seeing any ads for it.)

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Mike Frezon

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

Sean: You must've blinked.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Brandon Conway

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

Unfortunately, the original Sleuth is a Starz (Anchor Bay) title, so Sony has no say in its release.

My DVD/BD Collection
"A man just naturally can't take the law into his own hands and hang people without hurtin' everybody in the world, 'cause then he's just not breaking one law but all laws. Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you." - Martin's letter, The Ox-Bow Incident
Criterion DVDs Owned: 46, Total DVDs Owned: 566, Blu-ray Discs Owned: 84

Mike Frezon

Re: SPHE Press Release: Sleuth (DVD/Blu-ray)

Maybe someone needs to forward the Sony press release to Starz so they could see the obvious benefits of releasing the damn 1972 film in concert with the re-make.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!