Slacker Blu-ray - Richard Linklater

Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance is essential to our survival.

What do Patrons receive, that you don't?

1) Our weekly Newsletter and Calendar Updates sent to your Inbox!
2) Access to over 70,000 unpublished screen captures in lossless high-resolution format!

Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change! / a coffee!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. I am indebted to your generosity.

Search DVDBeaver

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

directed by Richard Linklater
USA 1991

Richard Linklater's Slacker presents a day in the life of a loose-knit subculture of marginal, eccentric, and overeducated citizens in Austin, Texas. Shooting the film on 16mm for a mere twenty-three thousand dollars, writer/producer/director Linklater and his close-knit crew of friends eschewed a traditional plot, choosing instead to employ long takes and fluid transitions to create a tapestry of over a hundred characters, each as unique as the last, culminating in an episodic portrait of a distinct vernacular culture and a tribute to bohemian cerebration. Slacker is a prescient look at an emerging generation of aggressive nonparticipants, and one of the key films of the American independent film movement of the 1990s.

Theatrical Release: July 5th, 1991 - USA

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Criterion (2 disc) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Covers		Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by Criterion in June 2024:
Distribution	Criterion Collection - Spine # 247 - Region 1 - NTSC	Criterion Collection - Spine #247 Region 'A' -Blu-ray
Runtime	1:40:03	1:40:43.662
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.8 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,893,793,716 bytes Feature: 21,391,460,352 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.32 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 2093 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2093 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentaries: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: DISC ONE • New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound supervised by director Richard Linklater and director of photography Lee Daniel, made from original 16mm film elements • Three audio commentaries featuring Richard Linklater and members of the cast and crew • Casting tapes featuring select "auditions" from the over one-hundred-member cast, with an essay from production manager/casting director Anne Walker-McBay • An early film treatment • Home movies • Ten-minute trailer for a documentary about the landmark Austin café, Les Amis, which served as location for several scenes in Slacker • Stills gallery featuring hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production and publicity photos • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition DISC TWO I• t's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988), Linklater's first full-length feature, with commentary by the director, available here for the first time on home video Woodshock, an early short 16mm film made by Linklater and Lee Daniel in 1985 • "The Roadmap," the working script of Slacker, including fourteen deleted scenes and alternate takes Footage from the Slacker tenth-anniversary in Austin, Texas, in 2001 • Original theatrical trailer • Slacker culture essay by Linklater • Information about the Austin Film Society, founded in 1985 by Linklater with Daniel, including early flyers from screenings • A 64-page booklet featuring essays by author and filmmaker John Pierson (SPIKE MIKE RELOADED: A GUIDED TOUR ACROSS A DECADE OF INDEPENDENT AMERICAN CINEMA) and Michael Barker, head of Sony Pictures Classics, as well as reviews, production notes, a complete cast and crew listing, and an introduction to IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS by Monte Hellman (TWO-LANE BLACKTOP, THE SHOOTING) DVD Release Date: September 14th, 2004 A digi-pak and book fitted in a slip case Chapters: 33	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 - 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,893,793,716 bytes Feature: 21,391,460,352 bytes Video Bitrate: 28.32 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New, restored high-definition digital film transfer, supervised by director Richard Linklater and director of photography Lee Daniel, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack • Three audio commentaries, featuring Linklater and members of the cast and crew • It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988), Linklater’s first full-length feature, with commentary by the director (1:26:02) • Woodshock, a 1985 16 mm short by Linklater and Daniel (7:18) • Casting tapes featuring select “auditions” from the more-than-100-member cast (14:44) • “The Roadmap,” the working script for Slacker, including fourteen deleted scenes and alternate takes (DVD) • Deleted scenes and alternate takes (Blu-ray - 28:24) • Footage from the Slacker tenth-anniversary reunion (20:03) • Early film treatment (No Longer / Not Yet) • Home movies • Ten-minute trailer for a 2005 documentary about the landmark Austin café Les Amis • Original theatrical trailer (2:50) • PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by author and filmmaker John Pierson and Michael Barker, as well as reviews, production notes, and an introduction to It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books by director Monte Hellman Blu-ray Release Date: September 17th, 2013 Standard Blu-ray case Chapters: 32

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray (August 2013): In regards to the image - the higher resolution improves support of the grain structure of this 16mm film (negative) format. Skin tones cool and appear more realistic and certain scenes gain a minor sense of depth. Obviously this is not a glossy, crisp image but as a representation of the original this has escalated beyond SD in a number of important areas notably contrast, texture and colors.

The audio advances with a 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack - but again we are at the mercy of the production limitations and I could only note a small uptick in clarity and crispness via the Blu-ray.

We are losing some extras from the DVD with no stills gallery and its hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes production and publicity photos, the Slacker culture essay by Linklater and the information about the Austin Film Society, founded in 1985 by Linklater with Daniel, including early flyers from screenings. “The Roadmap,” the working script for Slacker, including fourteen deleted scenes and alternate takes has morphed into "Ain't No Film in That Shit" with 13 deleted scenes and alternate takes and pages from the original script, entitled, No Longer / Not Yet is a separate entry. The three commentaries remain plus a lot more including the booklet featuring essays by author and filmmaker John Pierson and Michael Barker, as well as reviews, production notes, and an introduction to It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books by director Monte Hellman.

Beejesus, it's such a stacked package and a very cool Indie film experience. I could watch this yearly. Recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Criterion can even make an indie/low budget film look professional. Great colors/ film grain/great optional subs/Extras out the wazoo... Linklater fans will certainly appreciate the detail and effort that went into this. I'd love to take a tour of Criterion sometime - they look like they must have a staff of 100 to do all this. Amazing! As well as the second disc of extra features - there is a 64 page liner book filled with interesting reading. It might be getting to the stage where there are actually too many extras on their DVDs - I wonder just how many people wade through all of this? Of course though, it is just magnificent to have the option. out of