Twenty years after it swept Australia into the international film spotlight, Peter Weir's stunning 1975 masterpiece remains as ineffable as the unanswerable mystery at its core. A Valentine's Day picnic at an ancient volcanic outcropping turns to disaster for the residents of Mrs. Appleyard's school when a few young girls inexplicably vanish on Hanging Rock. A lyrical, meditative film charged with suppressed longings.

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

ADDITION - Criterion ('Director's Cut') - Region 'A' - Blu-ray June 2014: Both the technical transfer, and visually, the Criterion matches up nicely with the Shock Blu-ray. It's very solid in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio - even the bitrate graphs match-up, almost, exactly. I'll give a slight edge to the Criterion audio - almost very robust - notable in the haunting Zamfir pan flute (I can't even look at the captures without hearing it in my head!). The Criterion audio may have a bit more depth and richness in the piano and various classical offerings from Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky. It offers optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc. So, it comes down to the extras...

Criterion include an extended, 25-minute, interview with Weir from 2003 where he discusses the production and enduring mystery of Picnic at Hanging Rock. There is a new piece on the making of the film, featuring interviews from 2003 with executive producer Patricia Lovell, producers Hal McElroy and Jim McElroy, and cast members. It runs over 1/2 an hour. Plus there is a new, 10-minute, introduction by film scholar David Thomson, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film. A Recollection . . . Hanging Rock 1900 is an on-set documentary, from 1975, hosted by Lovell and featuring interviews with Weir, actor Rachel Roberts, and source novel author Joan Lindsay. It runs 26-minutes but the source is not in ideal condition. Homesdale is an award-winning, 50-minute, black comedy by Weir made in 1971, described as "Guests arrive at an expensive private guest house on a remote island near Sydney. The guest house and weird activities, like theatre sports and orienteering, are run by a leery eccentric. One of the guests is a loner and the only way to fit in with the crowd is to participate in the questionable events. Some of the games border between comedy and horror - like the murder mystery" There is a long 4.5-minute trailer (also in less than ideal condition) and the package contains a booklet featuring an essay by author Megan Abbott and an excerpt from film scholar Marek Haltof’s 1996 book Peter Weir: When Cultures Collide and a new paperback edition of Lindsay’s novel, previously out of print in the U.S. This is a dual-format set with 2 DVDs of the feature and all the extras of the Blu-ray.

Must-own film. Criterion's Blu-ray Digipak package is gorgeous.

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ADDITION: Umbrella Entertainment - PAL (October 2004) - Well this is probably the only film I will have 5 different DVD editions of. Phew.... the Umbrella Region 0 - PAL DVD from Australia has some good points... and some bad. On the positive side the Extras are magnificent ! The second disc blows away all other versions and Weir fans will, for this alone, make it a must-have DVD. The animated menus are incredible - some of the best I have seen- ever. Packaging likewise is classic - a perfect keepsake. This is, as all others, the 'directors cut'. Now the bad - why is this disc not anamorphic? and why are there no subtitles ? I found the audio clear but seemed to fluctuate in volume level at times - kind of unusual. The ratio is 1.77 keeping the Criterion as the only issue at 1.66 - thereby showing the most information in the frame (Go Criterion!). Why is this 1.77 and not anamorphic ? there is no reason not to adhere to the correct aspect ratio in this case. We give some leeway for 16X9'ing, but this is not right. As far as image goes - this is very good on tube - amazing actually - but falls short in sharpness next to the Criterion. I think the colors may be a shade more vibrant in this Umbrella issue. Bottom line: There is a very good reason to pick this up - those amazing extras! and if you don't own the Criterion or a projection system - you will be content with the image quality - guaranteed.

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In 1998 Peter Weir band Producer Patricia Lovell  decided to offer a 'directors cut' of his theatrical film "Picnic at Hanging Rock'. They both agreed that certain original scenes were not to their liking. This consisted of about 14 minutes that the production company thought would help ticket sales at the time of release. Most of the scenes that Weir and Lovell removed were in the last 1/3 of the film. Each of these above DVD releases represents the 'director's version' or 'cut version' of the film. The German Kinowelt actually offers the additional footage as "deleted scenes" in their extra features.

Okay, the Criterion is the only one of the four that is in the original aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The others have been slightly cropped to fit a 16X9 anamorphic screen. I really don't understand this as you can have 1.66 anamorphic images. And the Criterion is the only one of the four that is not anamorphic. However, if you do not have a widescreen system it is the best image. For widescreen viewing (HTPC, widescreen TV etc.) The Kinowelt is the best. Colors are pretty consistent in all 4 releases.

The Criterion remastered 5.1 audio is the best- even superior to the Kinowelt 5.1audio. Audio is such a large part of this film that this is a paramount criteria for purchase. The Kinowelt is marvelous, but I thought the Criterion was even better (range). The Gaumont and Pathe 2.0 were very flat in comparison.

Extras are a tie. I couldn't decide between the invaluable 14 removed minutes on the Kinowelt DVD of the extras (called 'deleted scenes'), or the interview and shorts on the Gaumont.

So, buying: Fans will want (depending on their system) the Criterion or the Kinowelt for image. True fans will want the Kinowelt and Gaumont for all the extras (they are super!)

NOTE: On my rear projection TV the French version looks great, but it has some quirks with my Malata Region Free player. It jitters unless you put it in 'still mode' and then it shimmers (strobs). No winning. It need filters on an HTPC setup for optimum viewing. The DVD Menus open to beyond the frame of the TV (is this anamorphic 'on the fly'?).