To some what may be a more obvious improvement is the lossless audio. Growling car engines impress with powerful depth via both DTS-Master treatments - for original mono and 5.1 mix. As far as bumps go - this is exceptional with buoyant separations and tight effects sounds circumventing the Home Theater space. MoC have also included an isolated music and effects track in lossless and optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their region 'B'-locked Blu-ray disc.   

Some extras from the Criterion DVD are repeated in the supplements including On The Road Again: Two-Lane Blacktop Revisited, a 43-minute video piece in which Monte Hellman revisits the film’s locations – directed by Monte Hellman, Gabriel Cowan, Brett Mann, and John Suits, Somewhere Near Salinas, a 28-minute interview by Monte Hellman with singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson – directed by Monte Hellman, Sure Did Talk to You, a 24-minute video piece featuring interviews with producer Michael Laughlin, production manager Walter Coblenz, and the director’s son Jared Hellman – directed by Monte Hellman and the Rare archival screen-test footage of James Taylor and Laurie Bird. Masters of Cinema add the commentary found on the 1999 Anchor Bay DVD and a lavish 36-page booklet featuring rare production imagery, the words of Monte Hellman etc.

Two -Lane Blacktop is a film that never seems to grow stale - keeping its appeal through each progressive decade. It's quite a treat to have it on Blu-ray with the advancements in video and especially audio. Strongly recommneded! 

***

ON THE CRITERION DVD: The image may seem slightly weak to some but it simply reflects the pragmatic production methods and available cinematography components used to make the film. There are significant moments of digital noise but as stated on the Criterion website "digital transfer supervised and approved by director Monte Hellman" so I doubt it could look any better on SD DVD. Thankfully Criterion hasn't tried to rectify this with excessive digital manipulation. I suspect the film looks exactly as it did theatrically (although I admit to never having seen it on the big screen). Positively it looks quite clean with minimal speckles or scratches. I hope the screen grabs below represent the DVD image accurately for you. It has the original mono as well as a grand 5.1 boost. It is not of modern state-of-the-art standards but it does give some healthy buoyancy the the track with screeching car sounds and rumbling engines. There are optional English subtitles offered (sample below).  

The package is incredibly stacked with supplements - there are two audio commentaries; one by Hellman and filmmaker Allison Anders, and another by screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer and author David Meyer. Hellman has a great voice for commentary. He is allowed to reflect back on how he entered the world of cinema and the freedoms that he was afforded (he wrote the scripts, hired the cast and crew and was the producer). Funnily some of his recollection of the film narrative is incorrect but he immediately corrects himself. Wurlitzer and Meyer's seem fairly laid-back and grassroots with a fair amount of discussion about the cars (as performers as much as the actors were). There are some fairly profound observations in the 2nd commentary.

We are given many interviews - one 40 minute one with Hellman alone, another with star James Taylor (38:28), another 30 minute one with musician Kris Kristofferson and finally one with producer Michael Laughlin, and production manager Walter Coblenz lasting almost 25 minutes. Amusingly there are, two screen-test outtakes (found in Hellman's garage!) of James Taylor (10:50) and Laurie Bird (14:48). There are some click-thru slideshows - Performance and Image: a look at the restoration of a '55 Chevy from the movie and the film's locations today and Color Me Gone with photos and publicity from Two-Lane Blacktop, Finally on the digital front we have the original theatrical trailer at 2:28. In the package are Rudy Wurlitzer's screenplay (114 page book), reprinted specially for this release and a 38-page liner notes booklet with new essays by Kent Jones, appreciations by Richard Linklater and Tom Waits; and a reprint of the 1970 Rolling Stone article "On Route 66, Filming Two-Lane Blacktop."

This is so wonderful that this film has essentially been resurrected by Criterion to reach a larger audience. As well as how it authentically feels, has the bumped sound option and also the bountiful extra features. This is like stepping back into a very cool era that seems farther away every day with our reliance on technology and lack of interaction with our environment and its inhabitants. Two-Lane Blacktop is more than a movie about cars - it says volumes about where we have come and nostalgic remembrances of what we have left behind. "Amateurish but in a profound way" seems appropriate. Highly recommended - this should receive many ballots for our DVD of the Year voting. LOVE Two-Lane Blacktop!!  

Gary W. Tooze