Bowling for Columbine Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Michael Moore

USA 2002

In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the intrepid documentarian Michael Moore set out to investigate the long, often volatile love affair between Americans and their firearms, uncovering the pervasive culture of fear that keeps the nation locked and loaded. Equipped with a camera and a microphone, Moore follows the trail of bullets from Littleton, Colorado, and Flint, Michigan, all the way to Kmart’s Michigan headquarters and NRA president Charlton Heston’s Beverly Hills mansion, meeting shooting survivors, militia members, mild-mannered Canadians, and musician Marilyn Manson along the way. An unprecedented popular success that helped usher in a new era in documentary filmmaking, the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine is a raucous, impassioned, and still tragically relevant journey through the American psyche.

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Filmmaker, author, and political activist Michael Moore trains his satirical eye on America's obsession with guns and violence in his third feature-length documentary, which gets its title from a pair of loosely related incidents. On April 20, 1999, shortly before they began their infamous killing spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold attended their favorite class, a no-credit bowling course held at a bowling alley near the school, the same bowling alley which would become the scene of a robbery and triple homicide two years later. While pondering these events, Moore humorously considers the link between random violence and the game of ten pins; along the way, Moore calls on the Michigan Militia (and gets to know some of the models for their "Militia Babes" calendar); spends some time with James Nichols, brother of Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols; visits K-Mart's corporate offices with two teenagers injured in the Columbine massacre as they ask the retail chain to stop selling bullets for handguns; investigates the media's role in the American climate of fear and anger; compares crime statistics in the United States with those of Canada (which, despite higher unemployment and a larger number of guns per capita, manages to rack up a small fraction of the homicides committed in the United States), and questions actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston regarding his appearance at a pro-gun rally held in Littleton a few days after the Columbine massacre, and a similar rally in Flint, MI, after a six-year-old boy killed a classmate with a gun he took from his uncle's house. Bowling for Columbine received its first public screening at the 2002 Ann Arbor Film Festival; the film's official premiere took place a few months later at the Cannes Film Festival.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Poster

Release: May 16th, 2002 (Cannes Film Festival)

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Review:

Criterion Collection - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Criterion Collection Spine #928 Region 'A' Blu-ray
Runtime	2:00:01.611
Video	Disc Size: 48,978,229,104 bytes Feature Size: 32,731,127,808 bytes Average Bitrate: 32.33 Mbps 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2098 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2098 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Collection Disc Size: 48,978,229,104 bytes Feature Size: 32,731,127,808 bytes Average Bitrate: 32.33 Mbps 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Michael Moore Makes a Movie, a new documentary featuring Moore, chief archivist Carl Deal, supervising producer Tia Lessin, and field producer Meghan O’Hara (34:57) • Programs covering Moore’s return to Colorado in 2002 (25:07), his 2003 Oscar win (13:00), and three film-festival Q&As with Moore (11:59) • Excerpt from a 2002 episode of The Charlie Rose Show featuring Moore (24:46) • Corporate Cops, a segment from Moore’s 2000 television series The Awful Truth II (07:15) • Trailer (01:57) • PLUS: An essay by critic Eric Hynes Blu-ray Release Date: June 19th, 2018 Transparent Blu-ray case Chapters: 26

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Criterion give us a new HD digital restoration of Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" on a dual-layered Blu-ray disc. The film has a reasonably high bitrate, and looks fine in motion. Because the documentary uses many instances of video/film clips, there are varying degrees of clarity, but this is undoubtedly the best the film will look. The image is presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

Criterion has given us a 2.0 (24-bit) track - Criterion cites the 2.0 channel as 'surround'. The music is credited to frequent Moore collaborator, Jeff Gibbs. Dialogue is clean and clear. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray disc.

Criterion give us a bunch of extras here, starting with their new documentary, "Michael Moore Makes a Movie". This 35-minute 2018 doc features chief archivist Carl Deal, composer and field producer Jeff Gibbs, supervising producer Tia Lessin, and field producer Meghan O'Hara. These interviewees discuss the process of making a Michael Moore film. "Film Festival Scrapbook" is a 12-minute compilation featuring videotaped appearances by director Michael Moore at film festivals in Cannes, Toronto, and London, during the 2002 premiere tour for "Bowling For Columbine". "Charlie Rose" is a 25-minute excerpt from the 2002 episode featuring Moore. "Moore returns to Colorado" is a 25-minute 2003 program documenting director Michael Moore's return to Colorado six months after the theatrical release of Bowling For Columbine, for a speaking engagement at the University of Denver. The audience is made up primarily of Littleton residents and Columbine High School students. Next up is "Oscar Speech", a few weeks after "Bowling For Columbine" won best documentary at the 2003 Academy Awards, director Michael Moore talked about that experience and this is his controversial acceptance speech. "The Awful Truth: Corporate Cops" is a 7-minute segment from Moore’s 2000 BBC-produced television series The Awful Truth II. The show was written and directed by Michael Moore, and this segment highlights the fictional satirical program Corporate Cops, which would also appear in Bowling for Columbine. The film's trailer is also included.

Criterion has presented "Bowling For Columbine" in a well-rounded Blu-ray package, with many extras and a faithful A/V transfer. Michael Moore fans would be advised to upgrade to this set.