Search - Glengarry Glen Ross [10 Year Anniversary Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1992 DVD Release: 11/19/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 1 hrs 40 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Ensemble Film

David Mamet's award-winning play about a group of desperate real estate agents comes to the big screen from director James Foley. In a role created specifically for the movie, Alec Baldwin appears as a sales motivator, informing the group of hard-luck salesmen that they must compete in a sales contest where the losers will be fired. The agents work their same tired leads, until one hatches a scheme to burglarize the office, steal the leads, and sell them to a rival. Featuring a cast that includes Al Pacino as the office's sales leader, Jack Lemmon as an elderly loser, Alan Arkin and Ed Harris as frustrated salesmen, Kevin Spacey as the harassed office manager, and Jonathan Pryce as a client, Glengarry Glen Ross is, at its core, a character study about a group of men whose time has passed. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Al Pacino - Ricky Roma
Jack Lemmon - Shelley Levene
Ed Harris - Dave Moss
Alan Arkin - George Aaronow
Kevin Spacey - John Williamson
Alec Baldwin - Blake
Jonathan Pryce - James Lingk

David Mamet's writing style, a sort of vulgar poetry, will not appeal to everyone, and that has never been more evident than in Glengarry Glen Ross, now released as a two-disc special edition for its tenth anniversary from Artisan. If you can handle Mamet's abrasive (though riveting) dialogue, which can be very challenging, then this movie -- and DVD -- is for you. Though labeled a special edition, there are some immediate problems. The main issue is that the supplements from the original laserdisc release are not included, those being commentary tracks from director James Foley and actor Jack Lemmon. On this disc there is a track from Foley, but it amounts to only specific scenes (around 25 minutes' worth), and is far from complete.

What this disc does offer, though, is nice, including a half-hour "talking heads" documentary on real and reel salesmen, with an in-depth discussion of what it takes to work this daunting trade. The video is rather harsh though, making it difficult to watch at times. Also at 30 minutes is a nice featurette called "Magic Time: A Tribute to Jack Lemmon," in which associates of this legend reminisce about their time with him. In addition are some scene-specific commentaries from cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia, actors Alec Baldwin and Alan Arkin, and production designer Jane Musky. Each runs around 20 minutes, and some are far more interesting than others. These extras are rounded off with cast and crew biographies and filmographies, production notes, and a very odd, but interesting vintage black-and-white documentary called J. Roy: New and Used Furniture. If that weren't enough there are also brief clips of Lemmon from the The Charlie Rose Show and Kevin Spacey from Inside the Actors Studio.

As for the image, this is where Artisan really went out of their way. On the first disc is an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer and the second disc contains a cropped pan-and-scan version. Both are stunning to look at. The transfers are impeccable with strong blacks, and a reproduction of the specific color scheme that is so memorable for this film. There are no significant signs of grain, scratches or other distracting elements. The sound is quite good too. The widescreen disc contains both 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS tracks (the pan-and-scan version only has the Dolby Digital track), and while they are basically centered up front, they still come across with excellent clarity. While not a perfect disc, this is one that could have easily slipped through the cracks. Fortunately, that was not the case. ~ Trent Fordham, All Movie Guide