Search - Cockfighter [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Not For Children Movie Release: 1974 DVD Release: 01/30/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 23 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Drama, Sports Drama

Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) is a game cock trainer who has taken a vow of silence; he once bragged too loudly about his cockfighting prowess and ended up losing his best fowl in a drunken, late-night match before an important tournament. To regain his pride after such hubris, Frank refuses to utter a word until he wins the coveted "Cockfighter of the Year" medal. Cockfighter follows his ups and downs as he attempts to succeed in the shadowy, barely legal sport. Frank loses his truck, trailer, and a girlfriend after trying to rig a match with fellow cocksman Jack Burke (Harry Dean Stanton), and has to sell his house to raise funds for stock. Later, Frank wins ten roosters in a private backwoods match and trains them heavily with his partner, Omar Baradinsky (Richard B. Shull), working his way back to the top of his chosen craft. He also attempts to reestablish his relationship with an old girlfriend (Patricia Pearcy) who doesn't know much about cockfighting and is repulsed when she actually witnesses one in the flesh. There is plenty of brutal footage included in Cockfighter that will dismay many animal lovers, so those with qualms about the sport should steer clear. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Warren Oates - Frank Mansfield
Richard B. Shull - Omar Baradinsky
Harry Dean Stanton - Jack Burke
Troy Donahue - Randall Mansfield
Millie Perkins - Frances Mansfield

When originally released in 1974 by Roger Corman's New World Pictures, Cockfighter bombed and never had a chance to capture an audience or the critical respect it so richly deserved. Relegated mostly to the southern drive-in belt, the film was released three times under various titles, all to no avail. But thanks to the folks at Anchor Bay, iconoclastic director Monte Hellman's controversial ode to the savage, masculine blood sport is now given that new chance on DVD. The film's beautiful cinematography, by the legendary Néstor Almendros (probably best known for his Oscar-winning work on Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven), is properly aglow and subtle. Whatever grain is in the film (and there's very little picture degradation at all) is due to the film's low budget, not a fault of the superb transfer job. But the two major things going for this disc are the commentary track with Hellman and production assistant Steven Gaydos, and the excellent 54-minute documentary Warren Oates: Across the Border. The commentary track, nicely moderated by Dennis Bartok, is enjoyable and humorous, and gives a better understanding of such a misunderstood film. (It also offers up some rather unsavory anecdotes concerning cockfighting.) Trailers are included, as are talent bios of Hellman, Oates, and the great pulp novelist Charles Willeford, who wrote the original novel and screenplay. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide