Frankly, my dear, I do give a damn. Mark November 9th on your calendar and load up on the tissues, because Warner Home Video will unleash no less than a four-disc mega-set of one of the all-time classics of the cinema, Gone with the Wind. Go ahead and laugh at the outdated morality, silly theatrics and overt racism, but here is a film that still ranks as one of the ten-best of all time the world over.
Digitally restored via Warner's "Ultra-Resolution" hi-def technology, the film's original three-strip Technicolor negatives were digitally separated, realigned frame-by-frame, painstakingly restored and are, according the press blurbs, "miraculous." The four-hour film will be spread across two full dual-layer discs and presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 (but no need to worry, the original mono audio tracks are also included). And you want extras? How about a new full length, screen-specific audio commentary with film historian Rudy Behlmer, new narrated introductions by Christopher Plummer, two 60-minute apiece documentaries on Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh, the "Melanie Remembers: Olivia de Havilland Recalls Gone With the Wind" 45 minute documentary (featuring a brand-new interview), and the 1989 documentary "The Making of a Legend: Gone With the Wind," plus additional behind-the-scenes footage, extensive still galleries, trailers and, for a limited time, a 22-page collectible booklet that replicates the materials sent out with the limited 1939 and 1941 Roadshow engagements. Retail for the set will be $39.95.
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