Search - Raising Arizona on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 1987 DVD Release: 08/03/1999 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 34 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 21 Genres: Comedy, Crime Comedy, Domestic Comedy

Combining influences from Tex Avery cartoons to Sam Raimi horror movies to 1940s B-movies, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen followed up the stylish film noir of their debut, Blood Simple (1984), with this frantic screwball comedy. H.I. "Hi" McDonnough (Nicholas Cage) is a philosophical but slightly dim career criminal who has been arrested so often that he gets to know "Ed," short for Edwina (Holly Hunter), the officer who takes his mug shots. Hi takes a shine to Ed and promises to go straight if she marries him. She accepts, and they move to the Arizona desert, where Hi holds down a factory job and blissfully watches the sunsets with Ed. Their serenity is shattered when the couple decides that they want a child and discover that, as Hi puts it, "Ed's womb was a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase." (One of the film's many delights is Hi's unexpectedly flowery dime-novel narration.) Ed goes into a severe depression until she sees an item in the news. Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of a chain of unpainted furniture stores, has become the father of quintuplets, and he and his wife joke that they now have more children than they know what to do with. In what seems like a perfect "helps you, helps me" situation, Hi and Ed kidnap one of the Arizona infants, figuring that they'll have a baby and the Arizonas will have less of a burden. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Nicolas Cage - H.I. McDonnough
Holly Hunter - Ed
Trey Wilson - Nathan Arizona, Sr.
John Goodman - Gale
William Forsythe - Evelle

A classic film from the Coen brothers, Raising Arizona features an excellent DVD transfer but not much more. Top cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who later directed Get Shorty and Wild Wild West, photographed this film and its transfer would make him proud. The widescreen 1:85 sparkles with color saturation and even the smallest background detail stands out to enhance the humor. Joel and Ethan Coen are known for making great quirky films and for never including commentary or interviews on their discs. They stay true to form here. Extras-wise, the disc doesn't offer much, except for a theatrical trailer, three TV spots, and trailers for their other films, Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink. Dolby Surround is available in English and French languages. Since the film has such a fanatical following, even without extras the awesome transfer will be enough for many fans to add this to their collection. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide