Press Release Criterion Press Release: Moonstruck (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

A full moon, a New York City night, and love and music in the air . . . One of the most enchanting romantic comedies of all time assembles a flawless ensemble cast for a tender and boisterously funny look at a multigenerational Italian American family in Brooklyn, wrestling with the complexities of love and marriage at every stage of life. At the center of it all is a radiant Cher as Loretta, an unlucky-in-love bookkeeper whose feelings about her engagement to the staid Johnny (Danny Aiello) are thrown into question after she meets his hot-blooded brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage), and one night at the opera changes everything. Winner of the Academy Awards for best actress (Cher), supporting actress (Olympia Dukakis), and original screenplay (by playwright John Patrick Shanley), this modern-day fairy tale is swept along on passionate Puccini melodies, and directed by master storyteller Norman Jewison with the heightened emotion to match.

FILM INFO

• Norman Jewison
• United States
• 1987
• 104 minutes
• Color
• 1.85:1
• English
• Spine #1056

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with screenwriter John Patrick Shanley
• New interview with scholar Stefano Albertini about the use of opera in the film
• Introduction from 2013 featuring Cher
• Interviews from 1987 with director Norman Jewison and actors Cher, Nicolas Cage, Vincent Gardenia, and Olympia Dukakis
• Interview from 2002 with actor Danny Aiello
• Audio interview from 1989 with Shanley about screenwriting and the development of Moonstruck
• At the Heart of an Italian Family, a 2006 program about the making of the film
• The Music of “Moonstruck,” a 2006 program featuring interviews with Jewison and composer Dick Hyman
• Audio commentary from 1998 with Cher, Jewison, and Shanley
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Emily VanDerWerff

November 17, 2020

 

[Robert Crawford]

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[albert_m2]

This is surprising to me. I love this movie, but had no idea they were going to do a release.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I wouldn’t have thought of this film to be on Criterion’s radar. Good film.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

It's been ages since I've seen this and I never upgraded to Blu, so this is a no brainer for this die hard Cher fan.

 

[darkrock17]

Odd for the cover not to be included, could Criterion be having an issue with Cher's estate over her image appearing on the cover?

 

[B-ROLL]

Odd for the cover not to be included, could Criterion be having an issue with Cher's estate over her image appearing on the cover?

I'm pretty sure that Cher is still with us ... but if her representation is preventing her image from appearing ... they need to "Snap out of it"!

 

[Mark-P]

Good for Criterion, but no, I'm not going to keep rebuying titles I already have in the same resolution. I will however pick up a copy on iTunes next time it's on sale just in case it gets a 4K upgrade (hey it worked for The Great Escape!)

 

[Robin9]

I'm satisfied with the original Blu-ray disc. When I get through my current backlog, I'm going to watch it again.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Good for Criterion, but no, I'm not going to keep rebuying titles I already have in the same resolution. I will however pick up a copy on iTunes next time it's on sale just in case it gets a 4K upgrade (hey it worked for The Great Escape!)

I bought the iTunes HD digital for $4.99 last year so perhaps, I'll get lucky again.

 

[Ejanss]

Odd for the cover not to be included, could Criterion be having an issue with Cher's estate over her image appearing on the cover?

Possibly...But Criterion makes a career out of crazy non-intuitive covers (never mind the Great Dictator cover, what pretentious nut designed the David Cronenberg "The Brood" cover??), so this is nothing new.

Still, isn't it nice to have all the out-of-copyright MGM, UA, Orion and Paramount "Orphan" (ie. not sure if they're officially "Public domain" after the studios either went belly-up or just abandoned the disk rights) titles free and up for grabs by third-party labels like Kino and Twilight Time, and we can get Criterion editions of Shampoo, Princess Bride, Some Like It Hot, 1984, The Elephant Man, and other titles now clogging the streaming services for free?
Somebody has to disk them, and makes a darn nice change from Ingmar Bergman and Wes Anderson.

 

[darkrock17]

Possibly...But Criterion makes a career out of crazy non-intuitive covers (never mind the Great Dictator cover, what pretentious nut designed the David Cronenberg "The Brood" cover??), so this is nothing new.

The cover art for that film is taken from this scene.

 

[Ejanss]

The cover art for that film is taken from this scene.

I know WHAT the cover was taken from, but like most Criterion fans, I just don't know WHY.
(Hence the citing of the "Pretentious nut" who does their covers, except for that relatively cool Godzilla-book one.)

I'm pretty sure that Cher is still with us ... but if her representation is preventing her image from appearing ... they need to "Snap out of it"!

Every disk cover is copyrighted by its designer, so each one has to be legally altered to be different, no matter how many times it's redipped.
Just look at the desperation and creativity Warner has to go through finding new, and increasingly more repeat-viewer-idiosyncratic cover design concepts for the Nth house-icon redips of Blade Runner (oh, a unicorn! ), The Dark Knight and The Big Lebowski.

That's also why they can't use the original poster more than once per DVD or Blu-ray, no matter how happily Cher prances down the street.

 

[filmnoirguy]

I agree with Robin9. I'm content with my current Blu-ray. But thanks for reminding me. It's one of my favorite romantic comedies and I'm going to watch it again as soon as the weather turns nasty.

Btw, any comments on the cover art for Criterion's new Blu-ray of The Lady Eve?

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Every disk cover is copyrighted by its designer, so each one has to be legally altered to be different, no matter how many times it's redipped.

Have you a source for this claim? I would be astonished if cover-art designs were not done as work for hire, in which the hiring entity, not the worker, holds the copyright.

 

[Ejanss]

Have you a source for this claim? I would be astonished if cover-art designs were not done as work for hire, in which the hiring entity, not the worker, holds the copyright.

Yes, sorry for the wording, by the entity. So, THEY can't do the same cover twice, once the worker has an idea.

 

[marshman1138]

I will have it day one.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

One of my favourite movies. But there would have to be a huge improvement in the transfer to make it worth double-dipping.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

 

[Jeffrey D]

I like that cover.