Search - River's Edge [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity, Substance Abuse Movie Release: 1986 DVD Release: 01/23/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 39 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Teen Movie, Coming-of-Age See Also: River's Edge

The nude, strangled body of a teenaged girl lies on the edge of the river. Her murderer is her boyfriend, Daniel Roebuck. All the kids in Roebuck's dismal, dead-end town know who committed the murder. Trouble is, no one bothers to turn Roebuck in; some of the teens don't know how to react to the crime, while others, strung out on drugs and booze, just don't give a damn. A study of contemporary alienation, River's Edge was based on a real-life incident that occurred in Milpitas, California, in 1981. That same year, Neal Jimenez wrote his screenplay for River's Edge, but was not able to finance the project until 1987. Except for Dennis Hopper, cast as a holdover from the sixties who hobbles about on one leg and makes love to a blow-up doll, the cast was largely comprised of unknowns, many of whom (Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye) would definitely be heard from in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Crispin Glover - Layne
Keanu Reeves - Matt
Ione Skye - Clarissa
Daniel Roebuck - Samson "John" Tollette
Dennis Hopper - Feck

Director Tim Hunter's unrelentingly bleak study in broken youth and haunting isolation receives its DVD debut courtesy of MGM/UA in this disc that offers a fair presentation of the film, but little more than the basics in the way of extra features.
The presentation of the film itself is the main attraction of this release, featuring an attractive 1:85.1 anamorphic transfer of the film that appears mainly crisp and clear despite minor occurrences of scratches and speckles and minimal appearance of film grain. Colors are rich and lush considering the intentionally drab visual scheme of the film, with flesh tones appearing even and well balanced. Artifacting is minimal except for a few pivotal nighttime scenes in which it is noticeable if you're looking, though not particularly distracting otherwise. The English Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is mixed well, though scenes that share music and dialogue find the music slightly overpowering. Subtitles are offered in English and French. The main menu is easy to navigate but offers nothing more than chapter selections and a murky and dirty transfer of the original theatrical trailer. Overall, MGM/UA's fair release offers a nice transfer of this compelling film that should have longtime followers breathing a sigh of relief as they confidently discard their well-worn and long out-of-print VHS tapes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide