SPHE Press Release: Taxi Driver Limited Collector's Edition

“You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here.”
Travis Bickle in TAXI DRIVER

“One of the best and most powerful of all films.”
Roger Ebert/Chicago Sun-Times

ROBERT DE NIRO AND JODIE FOSTER DELIVER BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES IN MARTIN SCORSESE’S MASTERPIECE

TAXI DRIVER LIMITED COLLECTOR’S EDITION

-Four-time Academy Award®-nominated Classic Arrives on DVD August 14 Featuring All New Bonus Material-

Culver City, Calif. (June 4, 2007) – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings the four-time Academy Award®-nominated modern film classic Taxi Driver (Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Music, 1977) in a Limited Collector’s Edition to DVD August 14. In this urban angst-ridden drama by Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese (Best Director, The Departed, 2007), two-time Academy Award®-winning actor Robert De Niro (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The Godfather: Part II, 1975; Best Actor in a Leading Role, Raging Bull, 1981) and two-time Academy Award®-winning actress Jodie Foster (Best Actress in a Leading Role, The Accused, 1989; Best Actress in a Leading Role, The Silence of the Lambs, 1992) deliver stellar performances. Foster was only thirteen years old when Taxi Driver was released in 1976. In Taxi Driver, Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a traumatized Vietnam War veteran who takes a job as a night-time taxi driver in New York City. When he encounters a 12-year-old prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster), controlled by a pimp named Sport (Harvey Keitel), Travis is determined to "rescue" Iris, and does so, in a bloodbath that is unsurpassed even in the films of Scorsese.
Taxi Driver Limited Collector’s Edition is full of exciting bonus features including a newly recorded feature-length commentary by director Martin Scorsese, an “Appreciation and Influence” documentary including interviews with directors, producers, actors and film critics on the cinematic importance of Taxi Driver and its director, a “Taxi Cab Confessions” documentary where De Niro and Schrader meet with NYC taxi drivers as well as a “Taxi Driver Locations” Interactive Map. This Limited Collector’s Edition will be available in a two-disc DVD set for an SRP of $TBD.

Synopsis: Taxi Driver
At 26, Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (De Niro) is slipping slowly into isolation and violence on the streets of New York City. Trying to solve his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the people who hang out at night: “Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets.” His touching attempts to woo Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) to desert her pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel) and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a `lone crazed gunman'.

DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
“Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver” Featurette
“Producing Taxi Driver” Featurette
“Influence and Appreciation” Documentary
Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman and others pay tribute to Scorsese and the film
“God’s Lonely Man” Documentary
Writer Paul Schrader and Professor Robert Kolker discuss the loneliness themes as seen in the film. Schrader also talks about what circumstances lead to writing the screenplay
“Travis’ New York Locations” Featurette
An interactive map with visits to the famous New York City locations in 2006, while comparing them to the same locations in 1975.
Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction
New Feature-length Commentary by Writer Paul Schrader
New Feature-length Commentary by Professor Robert Kolker
“Taxi Driver Stories” Featurette
“Making Taxi Driver” Documentary
Animated Photo Galleries
“Including Scorsese at Work” Photo Montage
Original Screenplay Read Along

Taxi Driver Limited Collector’s Edition has a runtime of 114 minutes and is rated R. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPublicity.com. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

Re: SPHE Press Release: Taxi Driver Limited Collector's Edition

Guys,

I have some information I was able to obtain regarding this upcoming
release of Taxi Driver that I'd like to share with you.

This new Collector's Edition DVD is from a new remastered HD source.
Sony worked with Michael Chapman on the color and overall look and
both he and Thelma Schoonmaker (Marty's editor) approved the HD
transfer.

The overall look of this DVD transfer will be subtle compared to
the last release with some places perhaps not as so subtle. Sony
was very diligent about removing a lot of dirt and scratches and
such. However, in the end, this is definitely Chapman's color correction.

There also seems to be a myth about the color ending of the film.
There seems to be the impression that the original color ending of the
film is lost. Not so. The original negative for the ending is what it has
always been and was never removed or cut out. There was never an
alternate negative. The reason the film looks desaturated is because
of a photochemical process the negative was run through at the time
Scorsese was finishing the film. The ending is the way it is because
Marty wants it that way (whether he originally intended it or not).

In fact, it is my understanding that Scorsese is adamant that the look
not be altered in any way, which means the film will still look grainy
and somewhat degraded when it comes out. It is intentional and
as such, this is something that people don't seem to be aware of.
The Columbia lady logo is even degraded (look at your old dvd) and
Scorsese insists that it not be replaced.

Quite often people will jump on the studios for what they feel are
transfer mistakes that were made in house. Most often, transfers
are supervised by the Director and what you get is their interpretation
of what it should look and sound like. For instance, this release sports
a brand new 5.1 audio track mixed by Marty's own sound people.

The studio would never think of doing something on their own
without involving the original filmmaker.