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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (October 2019): Here we have a new 4K digital restoration of "The Daytrippers", supervised by director Greg Mottola. The 90's indie comedy appears on Criterion's new dual-layered Blu-ray disc. The 1.85:1 1080p transfer has a max'ed out bitrate. One may notice in our bitrate graph that the film rarely dips below 30mbps, which is impressive and somewhat confusing. The film was shot in Super 16mm (with a 35mm blow-up) so there is the expected thick and ever-present grain (which is never a complaint). The film has a relatively strong amount of detail, given the limitations of 16mm film when compared to its big (and exponentially more expensive) 35mm brother. Colors don't seem to be too manipulated in any direction (cough, teal, cough) and seem authentic to the original theatrical experience. Contrast also perhaps suffers due to the aforementioned limitations of the film stock, though the darker moments are few and far-between, and don't show too much black crushing, for example. The film is everything and Criterion have a solid Blu-ray transfer with this new 4K digital restoration.

"The Daytrippers" features an uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray, more specifically a 24-bit linear PCM 2.0 track. Though never a reference-level showy track, the various city and freeway noises and are subtle yet effective, without ever overpowering the clear and discernible witty dialogue. The score is thanks to Richard Martinez, who went on to work as an electronic music producer in many films and shows (even acting as the electronic score producer for 1995's "Heat"). There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Criterion.

The first and most extensive extra feature is an all-new commentary featuring Mottola, editor Anne McCabe, and producer Steven Soderbergh. They start out by explaining how they came to know each other and create "The Daytrippers". The three have a great ability to recall specifics of the film shoot and subsequent release. "Mottola, Posey, Schreiber, and Scott" is a 38-minute conversation between writer-director Greg Mottola and actors Parker Posey and Liev Schreiber, with Campbell Scott later joining by phone. The director and cast recall how the film came to be, as well as mentioning Mottola's early student film, "Swingin' in the Painter's Room" (1989) and then featuring a brief but fascinating clip, if only Criterion could include the entire film on this Blu-ray. "Mottola and Davis" is a 21-minute 2019 conversation (at the Criterion Collection's New York offices) between the writer-director and star. The two have an intimate and revealing conversation explaining the production of the film, including the mutual reverence for Anne Meara. "The Hatbox" is a 4.5-minute short film, the first directed by Mottola who also shot and edited the film during his time at Pittsburgh Filmmakers in 1985. The film is silent but there is the option of listening with a commentary track. If you do choose to listen to Mottola's commentary, you will learn that the director was hired as an unpaid intern in the art department (making zombie vomit and creating that iconic dream-sequence wall with the zombie hands bursting through) for 2 weeks on George A. Romero's "Day of the Dead", thanks to a kind teacher (whose brother happened to be Romero's editor). Color me impressed!

"The Daytrippers" is an often overlooked indie-comedy from the 1990's. At the center of this film is a strong sense of love and connection. Mottola would go on to fame for directing "Superbad", though this film shows a lot more heart. Criterion's new 4K digital restoration and many extras make this a worthy Blu-ray purchase for fans. 

Colin Zavitz