Midnight Cowboy Collector's Edition (1 Viewer)

[Brent Avery]

I had a chance to pick up a copy - first thing on the agenda was to compare it to the original non-anamorphic version. I did come away with the impression that they were comparable in picture quality, I was expecting a very noticable diference but from what I saw it just was not there, sorry to say. Mind you, the extra resolution afforded by this release does help - especially if you were to zoom out the original, which of course would show its limitations. Still, it does look better but only by what I could see as a modest improvement. I was also watching What's Up Doc? soon after and it had a noticably more detailed picture. The 5.1 soundtrack seemed to have more presence so that was an improvement at least. I viewed it on a 90" screen so any shortfalls were easy to see. With that in mind others may have higher praise for this 2 disc edition seeing it on a smaller display. It's worth having for the upgrade to 16X9 enhanced - I just wished Sony had done more with this landmark film. Only just started with the extras and they look promising - I found the first one " After Midnight: Reflecting On The Classic 35 Years Later" documentary quite interesting but have not finished it yet - good interviews with Voight and Hoffman and others. Finally, you also get 7 various still shots from the movie (postcards) - they look to be printed in a sepia tone - a nice addition. The fold out digipack is inside a slipcover which has a shot each of Voight and Hoffman inside and a repeat picture (backside) of the one on the front of the slipcase and a list of both disc contents framed by both actors graces the digipack's front. Packaging is done nicely - some may disagree with my comments when they view their own copy but I was somewhat letdown - but again it is an improvement over the original release.

 

[Dave Mack]

Thanks for the early heads up. Shame it doesn't look better but it is an older film and maybe they didn't want to spend the dough?? One of my faves.

d

 

[Brent Avery]

Well, I wouldn't say it isn't better - the film is cleaner with less dirt, scratches etc. and the colour is more accurate- but I'll leave that to those who know the film more intimately to discuss. Can't say what shape the negative is in of course but if you like the film I would not hesitate to purchase this edition - unless a High Def version is on the horizon and one would rather wait for that. The features have two documentaries and one featurette.

"After Midnight:Reflecting On The Classic 35 Years Later"
runs 30 min.

"Controversy And Acclaim" runs 10 min.


"Celebrating Schlesinger" runs 11 min.


All three well worth watching - the first two, besides Voight and Hoffman also interview Jerome Hellman (producer), Adam Holender (cinematographer) and some other cast members.

 

[AlexCremers]

Damn, this one truly deserved to be restored in the same fashion as 2001.