Search - Tucker: The Man and His Dream on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1988 DVD Release: 10/24/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 50 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Drama, Americana, Biopic [feature] See Also: Tucker: The Man and His Dream [I Love the 80's Edition] [DVD/CD]

History tells us that would-be automobile mogul Preston Tucker was a silver-tongued con man, who misappropriated his investors' money and played fast and loose with ethics and legalities in the pursuit of his dream. Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola isn't buying this: to hear Coppola tell it, Tucker was "Mr. Smith Goes to Detroit," a sincere visionary who tried and failed to buck the Big Three auto manufacturers. Moreover, he was a staunch defender of family values, as witness his inseparable relationship with his loyal wife (Joan Allen) and adoring children. It was for his family's sake, rather than any dreams of financial gain, that Tucker created the oddball three-headlight vehicle which he envisioned as the "car of the future". Naturally, the corporate fat cats of 1947 can't abide competition from a rugged individualist; thus, with several politicos in their pockets, they crush the Tucker and the man who built it. We'd have been more inclined to believe the story had Coppola adopted a straightforward Capraesque approach and not utilized all sorts of complicated camera trickery. Somehow, by presenting Tucker in so showoffy a directorial manner, the character comes off more as a sleight-of-hand artist than a bastion of sincerity. Even so, Jeff Bridges does a nice job as Tucker, as does Martin Landau as Tucker's incongruous business partner. Jeff's dad, Lloyd Bridges, appears in an uncredited role as a "bought" senator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jeff Bridges - Preston Tucker
Joan Allen - Vera Tucker
Martin Landau - Abe Karatz
Frederic Forrest - Eddie Dean
Dean Stockwell - Howard Hughes

Francis Ford Coppola's visually and emotionally compelling, Academy award-nominated biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream comes to DVD with a widescreen, anamorphic transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio, and a few worthwhile features, including a detailed but entertaining commentary track by Coppola. The "making of" featurette "Under the Hood: Making Tucker" adds further insight into the creative processes behind the film, but the disc's most interesting extra is "Tucker: The Man and the Car," a 1948 promotional film about Preston Tucker and his "car of the future," about which Coppola also provides a commentary. Though it isn't crammed full of bonuses, the DVD of =Tucker: The Man and His Dream chooses quality over quantity, providing just enough supplements to enrich the film instead of detract from it. ~ Heather Phares, All Movie Guide