Warner Archive Blu-ray Announcements
The Warner Archive will be adding four additional titles to their collection on Blu-ray later this summer/early fall. The titles include two absolute classics: Arthur Penn’s Night Moves (1975), one of the greatest detective films ever made, and Steve Martin’s funniest film, The Man with Two Brains (1983).
The other two titles fall into the realm of guilty pleasures: The racist, homophobic 70’s comedy actioner, Freebie and the Bean (1974), which is more enjoyable than it should be, and My Blue Heaven (1990), a witness protection comedy that is just fine (and that’s about as far as it goes).
While we don’t know the official release dates, we have the rest of the specs from the Warner Archive Facebook page:
NIGHT MOVES (1975)
New 2017 1080p HD remaster created from 4K scan from the original camera negative
BD50
Director: Arthur Penn
Cast: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Melanie Griffith, James Woods
16 x 9 WIDESCREEN-Aspect ratio 1.78
DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO-2.0 MONO
ENGLISH SDH
Special features: Vintage featurette “DAY OF THE DIRECTOR”; Original Theatrical Trailer (Remastered in HD)
L.A. detective Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) has problems. Missing persons and bedroom stakeouts are no match for his glory days as a pro football player. His wife is having a not-so-secret affair. And while sorting things out, he takes on the case of a runaway teenager that may be a lot more than he can handle.
Director Arthur Penn, who worked with Hackman on Bonnie and Clyde and Target, guides this spellbinding, first-rate thriller where solutions to murderous riddles don’t come easily. Joining Hackman and Penn are two actors just starting out on the road to stardom: James Woods and Melanie Griffith. The stars come out – and so does the excitement – when the Night Moves.
FREEBIE AND THE BEAN (1974)
New 1080p HD remaster
BD50
Director: Richard Rush
Cast: James Caan, Alan Arkin, Loretta Swit, Valerie Harper
16 x 9 LETTERBOX-Aspect Ratio 2.40
DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO-2.0 MONO
ENGLISH SDH
Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer (Remastered in HD)
What cops in their right minds would arrest a big-time racketeer on an indecent exposure charge because he zipped up his fly? The answer is none. The answer’s also Freebie Waters and Benito “Bean” Vasquez, who are assuredly not in their right minds.
James Caan and Academy Award®-winner* Alan Arkin are Freebie and Bean, mismatched San Francisco cops who bird-dog a notorious mobster like they’re auditioning for a demolition derby, cutting loose with bullets and wisecracks all the way. Directed by Richard Rush (The Stunt Man), this rough-and-ready early buddy-cop caper follows in the skid marks of Bullitt and The French Connection — but it’s a burning-rubber classic itself, with four major chase scenes and more than 100 car crashes. Fully loaded with humor and firepower, Freebie and the Bean is one beloved smash hit.
THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS (1983)
New 1080p HD remaster
16 x 9 WIDESCREEN-Aspect Ratio 1.78
DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO-2.0 MONO
ENGLISH SDH
Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer (Remastered in HD)
Anyone who doesn’t think Steve Martin is one of the funniest fellows on the planet should have his head examined. As The Man with Two Brains, madman Martin is just the guy to do it, playing Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, famed originator of screw top, zip lock brain surgery. The good doctor pines for his late wife – but slinky siren Dolores Benedict (Kathleen Turner) sashays into his life and changes all that. They’re soon married, but the truth quickly emerges: Dolores’ beauty hides a calculating heart of stone. The situation is hopeless – until another brain specialist’s oddball research offers a bizarre ray of hope. Anyone with half a brain will rejoice in the sheer lunacy of this sublimely silly farce, directed and cowritten by frequent Martin collaborator Carl Reiner (The Jerk, All of Me).
MY BLUE HEAVEN (1990)
New 1080p HD remaster
BD50
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Joan Cusack
16 x 9 WIDESCREEN-Aspect Ratio 1.78
DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO-2.0 STEREO
ENGLISH SDH
Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer (Remastered in HD)
The FBI’s Witness Protection Program is turned funny-side up when Steve Martin and Rick Moranis play mob informant Vinnie Antonelli and agent Barney Coopersmith in this criminally comic caper. Vinnie’s got smooth moves, a swank wardrobe and a mean dance step. His identity, home and lawn mower are new, but he’s still the same: a guy with an eternal scam. That makes overseer Barney a guy with a huge headache.
Costars Joan Cusack, Carol Kane, Melanie Mayron and William Hickey, director Herbert Ross (The Goodbye Girl) and writer Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail) ably aid and abet the two stars. No wonder My Blue Heaven is a paradise for lovers of funny, funny stuff!
