Academy Award®-Winning Director Barry Levinson
Adds 15 Minutes of Never-Before-Seen Footage to
One of the Most Beloved Sports Movies Ever Filmed
THE NATURAL: DIRECTOR’S CUT
10 BONUS FEATURETTES INCLUDE ALL-NEW INTERVIEWS
WITH ROBERT REDFORD AND GLENN CLOSE
~ Two-Disc DVD Debuts April 3 ~
CULVER CITY, CALIF. (January 22, 2007) – Director Barry Levinson restores 15 minutes of never-before-seen footage for The Natural: Director’s Cut, debuting on DVD April 3 in a two-disc collector’s set from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "I was able to not just simply add a few more scenes to the Director's Cut, but to actually re-cut the first act as it was originally conceived,” said Levinson. “This version is much closer to what I envisioned and it was fantastic to finally bring it to fruition."
The critically-acclaimed, international box-office hit also has new color mastering by the Oscar® nominated Director of Photography Caleb Deschanel. The film, starring Robert Redford, was nominated for numerous awards, including four Academy Award® nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Art Direction, as well as a Golden Globe® nomination for Kim Basinger as Best Supporting Actress.
In addition to the added footage, the bonus materials for The Natural: Director’s Cut contain more than 10 featurettes, which include new interviews with Robert Redford and Glenn Close, as well as professionals from the sports broadcasting and baseball worlds. The featurettes consist of the four-part documentary Extra Innings, the three-part “making of” documentary When Lightning Strikes, A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waitkus, Clubhouse Conversations, Knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of “The Natural,” and a video introduction by director Barry Levinson. This must-own DVD for all baseball fans will be available for $24.94 SRP.
Directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Levinson (winning Best Director for Rain Man, 1989), The Natural spins the magical tale of an unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs (Redford) who appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat hewn from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs experiences the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he was inexplicably shot by a young woman. In addition to Academy Award winner Redford (Best Director, Ordinary People, 1981), the exceptional cast includes five-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close (The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction), Academy Award winner Kim Basinger (Best Supporting Actress, L.A. Confidential, 1998), Wilford Brimley (Cocoon), Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey (Best Supporting Actress, Portrait of a Lady, 1996), Robert Prosky (Mrs. Doubtfire), two-time Academy Award nominee Richard Farnsworth (Comes a Horseman, The Straight Story), Joe Don Baker (Walking Tall, Tomorrow Never Dies), and Michael Madsen (Kill Bill).
DVD Special Features Include:
• Featurette: A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waitkus
• Featurette: Clubhouse Conversations
• Featurette: Extra Innings 1: Slow Motion
• Featurette: Extra Innings 2: Uniform Color
• Featurette: Extra Innings 3: The Sandberg Game
• Featurette: Extra Innings 4: The President’s Question
• Featurette: Knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of The Natural
• Featurette: The Heart of The Natural
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 1 – Pre-Game: A Novelist Steps Up to the Plate
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 2 – The Line-Up: Assembling the Movie-Making Team
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 3 – Let’s Play Ball: Filming the Show
• Video Introduction by Barry Levinson
• Digitally Remastered Audio and Video
• Audio: English, Japanese, Portuguese 5.1 (Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, Japanese, French
The Natural has a run time of approximately 144 minutes and is rated PG. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPUBLICITY.COM. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.
DVD Catalog # 18408
UPC Code: 0-43396-18408-4
Order Date: 3/1/07
SLP: $24.94
Adds 15 Minutes of Never-Before-Seen Footage to
One of the Most Beloved Sports Movies Ever Filmed
THE NATURAL: DIRECTOR’S CUT
10 BONUS FEATURETTES INCLUDE ALL-NEW INTERVIEWS
WITH ROBERT REDFORD AND GLENN CLOSE
~ Two-Disc DVD Debuts April 3 ~
CULVER CITY, CALIF. (January 22, 2007) – Director Barry Levinson restores 15 minutes of never-before-seen footage for The Natural: Director’s Cut, debuting on DVD April 3 in a two-disc collector’s set from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "I was able to not just simply add a few more scenes to the Director's Cut, but to actually re-cut the first act as it was originally conceived,” said Levinson. “This version is much closer to what I envisioned and it was fantastic to finally bring it to fruition."
The critically-acclaimed, international box-office hit also has new color mastering by the Oscar® nominated Director of Photography Caleb Deschanel. The film, starring Robert Redford, was nominated for numerous awards, including four Academy Award® nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Glenn Close), Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Art Direction, as well as a Golden Globe® nomination for Kim Basinger as Best Supporting Actress.
In addition to the added footage, the bonus materials for The Natural: Director’s Cut contain more than 10 featurettes, which include new interviews with Robert Redford and Glenn Close, as well as professionals from the sports broadcasting and baseball worlds. The featurettes consist of the four-part documentary Extra Innings, the three-part “making of” documentary When Lightning Strikes, A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waitkus, Clubhouse Conversations, Knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of “The Natural,” and a video introduction by director Barry Levinson. This must-own DVD for all baseball fans will be available for $24.94 SRP.
Directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Levinson (winning Best Director for Rain Man, 1989), The Natural spins the magical tale of an unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs (Redford) who appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat hewn from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs experiences the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he was inexplicably shot by a young woman. In addition to Academy Award winner Redford (Best Director, Ordinary People, 1981), the exceptional cast includes five-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close (The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction), Academy Award winner Kim Basinger (Best Supporting Actress, L.A. Confidential, 1998), Wilford Brimley (Cocoon), Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey (Best Supporting Actress, Portrait of a Lady, 1996), Robert Prosky (Mrs. Doubtfire), two-time Academy Award nominee Richard Farnsworth (Comes a Horseman, The Straight Story), Joe Don Baker (Walking Tall, Tomorrow Never Dies), and Michael Madsen (Kill Bill).
DVD Special Features Include:
• Featurette: A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waitkus
• Featurette: Clubhouse Conversations
• Featurette: Extra Innings 1: Slow Motion
• Featurette: Extra Innings 2: Uniform Color
• Featurette: Extra Innings 3: The Sandberg Game
• Featurette: Extra Innings 4: The President’s Question
• Featurette: Knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of The Natural
• Featurette: The Heart of The Natural
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 1 – Pre-Game: A Novelist Steps Up to the Plate
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 2 – The Line-Up: Assembling the Movie-Making Team
• Featurette: When Lightning Strikes: Creating The Natural Part 3 – Let’s Play Ball: Filming the Show
• Video Introduction by Barry Levinson
• Digitally Remastered Audio and Video
• Audio: English, Japanese, Portuguese 5.1 (Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English, Japanese, French
The Natural has a run time of approximately 144 minutes and is rated PG. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPUBLICITY.COM. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.
DVD Catalog # 18408
UPC Code: 0-43396-18408-4
Order Date: 3/1/07
SLP: $24.94
