ADDITION: Indicator - Region FREE - Blu-ray April 16': My copy finally arrived and it was worth the extended wait. The Divisa is, predictably, significantly weaker, hazy, soft, slightly cropped and the Indicator  - on a dual-layered disc with max'ed out bitrate - looks super in 1080P. There is consistent grain, the image tightens, colors appear true and un-embellished - it looks fabulous from all the digital versions we've watched previously.

Audio comes in a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original English (with some Spanish, German + French). It easily handles all the film requires and dialogue is audible with optional English (SDH) subtitles. The Blu-ray disc is Region FREE - playable worldwide.

Supplements are, as usual with Indicator, immensely desirable. Firstly we get the option of the alternative presentation with original Italian Professione: reporter titles and credits that run just over 6-minutes in total and are seamlessly-branched into the transfer, so quality for the feature itself is duplicated. Indicator include the 2006 audio commentary with actor Jack Nicholson as well as the other one from that year with screenwriter Mark Peploe and journalist Aurora Irvine. But the appealing extra is a new audio commentary with film historian Adrian Martin where he initially describes how he isn't going to discuss The Passenger  from the viewpoint of the production details but rather as a work of art. He quotes other critics and addresses perceptions that The Passenger could be viewed as an allegory of how all Antonioni's films can be seen. There is discussion of the view of director's detached style - melodrama drained - estrangement and how the character of David becomes a stranger in his own life. He talks about the writers, Mark Peploe and Enrico Sannia, and his ideas on what their intent was... It is excellent and adds a whole new layer to viewing the film. Wonderful. We also get 1/4 hour with Jenny Runacre on ‘The Passenger' which has the South African-born English actor recalling the film’s production and Steven Berkoff on ‘The Passenger’ - new 10-minute interview in which the actor-writer-director remembers working with Antonioni. Profession Reporter runs 5-minutes where Michelangelo Antonioni discusses The Passenger in an archival interview conducted at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. Antonioni on Cinema the acclaimed filmmaker discusses The Passenger and his philosophy of cinema - running shy of 5-minutes and also from 1975. The Final Sequence is from 1985 and has Antonioni analyze The Passenger’s much-celebrated climactic sequence for about a dozen minutes. There is an original theatrical trailer, image gallery of on-set and promotional photography and this limited edition contains an exclusive 40-page booklet with a new essay by Amy Simmons, Antonioni’s production notes, archival interviews with Antonioni and Nicholson, and film credits.

One rarely forgets the first time they see Antonioni's The Passenger. You reflect back on that in each subsequent viewing. The perfect transfer and Adrian Martin commentary make this an essential Blu-ray. It is 'limited', so I wouldn't wait if you are keen. This is one of the best packages of the year, imo.

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ADDITION: Divisa HV - Region FREE - Blu-ray February 16': More a warning to avoid - poor quality - either a bump or 3rd generation source - the DVD may actually be sharper. It is 1080P and 24 fps but has artifacts, colors bleed etc.. Lossy original English audio - only optional Spanish subtitles - bare-bones with junk extras. I LOVE this film and when watching I feel like I could play it on a loop. But we await for a real 1080P release. Pass.

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ON THE DVDs: ADDITION: SONY - Region 1,3,4 - NTSC (April 06') - Regarding the image - I don't know that there is much more that I can add from simply looking at the screen captures. The new Sony is anamorphic, darker, a bit saturated, I believe the colors to be more accurate and it has some of the top frame (and left and right) slightly cropped. It is cleaner and doesn't show the damage visible on the washed-out Imagica release. Most importantly to many of us the new Sony has the international version, including the seven extra minutes that are deleted from the 'American edition'. On a tube or projection the Sony image is a vast improvement.

On Jack's commentary: Part of Jack Nicholson's strong off-camera appeal is his total lack of pretence. He never comes across as trying to impress or gloat. In this commentary, his voice is very hoarse and quite gravely. I really enjoyed his anecdotes, relating stories about production, cast, crew and the maestro. He catches himself a couple of times simply narrating the story. It was nice to hear him be so respectful of Antonioni. From a technical standpoint the commentary is a bit weak. There are a few short gaps where Jack is obviously just watching the film. Overall it really helped me further my appreciation of this masterpiece, but I think he simply should have let the final scene run instead of breaking in with 'one shot' every 20 seconds or so. 

On Aurora Irvine and Mark Peploe commentary: Of the two commentaries Jack's is far better. Mr. Peploe talks quite slowly in a very mundane tone relating more information about himself than the film. I suppose his influences may be of some interest as it related to his development of the story but he can't relay anywhere near the anecdotal musings that Jack did. I was expecting much more. Aurora Irvine hardly speaks at all occasionally asking a question or giving her $.02 worth. This is one of the least satisfying commentaries I can recall but it does tend to improve as he moves along. I suggest that a more technical individual (or an Antonioni expert) would have been a good counter-commentary to Jack's.  

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NOTE: Antonioni in Il Messaggero 31. August 1983: "There has not been a film of mine that has completely satisfied me. Well, The Passenger would have completely satisfied me if I had been able to include all of the parts I was forced to cut out because of its length. And lets not talk of the final version for the English-speaking market which I can not accept, and would have removed my name from, if I could have. But the even the European edition- which is the one I signed, and which I consider the acceptable version of the film- even that version, I believe, is mutilated because the story is not well explained. For example, a sequence is omitted that explains the relationship between the protagonist and his wife, thus making it possible to understand how the failure of their marriage has an impact. If I could have included that sequence, the narrative would have been much better Another example might be the brothers who produced The Eclipse and cut the films ending without letting me know. The ending might have seemed a little long, but it actually worked because it left the viewer certain feelings, a lingering sense of the whole story that has just been told."

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NOTE: The phasing problem on THE PASSENGER Japanese DVD is there. Never did figure out what it is, but yes, something is goofed up for the first 10 minutes or so and there's some sort of inadvertent doubling of the mono channels in the master. There's no way to correct it via a "mono" button or anything, either. (Thanks Peter!)

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This Japanese DVD is both NTSC and Region 0 making it playable with normal US/Canada players. Perhaps this is the reason that it is Out-of-print, but being a DVD5 (single layered job) copies are floating around everywhere from EBay to pirate websites.

The non-anamorphic image isn't exceptionally poor. There is a black border around the frame inhibiting full horizontal resolution and there are some scratches and damage marks, but neither are catastrophic in terms of view-ablity. It is agreeably sharp enough.  I didn't find any fatal manipulations and colors appear accurate if somewhat dull.