Search - Wild at Heart [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Graphic Violence, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children Movie Release: 1990 DVD Release: 12/07/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 4 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 20 Genres: Drama, Thriller, Road Movie, Black Comedy

Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern play a pair of lovers on the run in David Lynch's surrealist road movie Wild at Heart. Cage's Sailor Ripley is a violent ex-convict with an Elvis Presley fixation who falls in love with Dern's Lula Pace Fortune, the daughter of a rich, but mentally unstable, Southern belle named Marietta (Diane Ladd, Dern's real-life mother). Just after Sailor is released from prison, where he was jailed for brutally killing one of Marietta's thugs, he and Lula take off on a wild cross-country trip, pursued by his parole officer, her mother, criminals, bounty hunters, and detectives. Along the way, Sailor and Lula have a lot of sex, share their pasts, share their respective obsessions for Elvis and The Wizard of Oz, and meet a lot of bizarre characters, including a seedy ex-marine (Willem Dafoe) who persuades Sailor to participate in a bank robbery. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Nicolas Cage - Sailor Ripley
Laura Dern - Lula Pace Fortune
Diane Ladd - Marietta Fortune
Willem Dafoe - Bobby Peru
Isabella Rossellini - Perdita Durango

A shocking and surreal journey through the darkest depths of love, director David Lynch's Wild at Heart receives the deluxe treatment thanks to the efforts of MGM/UA Home Video. The feature is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and it looks nothing less than stunning. Colors are bright and vibrant, and the transfer -- supervised by Lynch himself -- is absolutely gorgeous. Audio is also used effectively, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound scheme offering a satisfying mix of dialogue and music punctuated by loud and effectively placed bursts during key moments. Purists will be satisfied to note the inclusion of the original English Stereo Surround track, with a Spanish Mono track and optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles making for an impressive selection of audio and language options. For years, the production of Wild at Heart has been surrounded by rumors that have since become the stuff of cinematic urban legend, and an abundance of bonus materials offer not only a definitive look at the making of the film, but give viewers the chance to truly connect with the film from inception to post-production.

Clocking in at nearly 30 minutes, "Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart" offers the most detailed recollection of the films' production ever committed to celluloid, and interviews with Lynch, book author Barry Gifford, and many more members of the cast and crew track the progression of the tale from book to film. Discussion regarding the film's violence and its infamous premiere at the Cannes Film Festival will certainly hit the spot for Lynch fans, and the informative documentary leads nicely into "Dell's Lunch Counter," where a series of brief featurettes detail everything from Gifford's inspiration for the book to the lengths the notoriously quirky director would go to get the perfect shot. After viewers follow the journey of Sailor and Lula through a dynamic photo montage, "Specific Spontaneity: Focus on David Lynch" speaks with many of the director's closest collaborators to explore his creative methods and inspirations. An original making-of featurette, given only a brief running time of six minutes, isn't quite as informative as the aforementioned documentary, though it is fun to take a brief trip back in time and see Lynch and company comment on the film from a more immediate perspective. Explore the process of transferring a film to DVD with the director himself in "David Lynch on the DVD Process," and after you've taken in the theatrical trailer and television spots, the liner notes offer a great "family tree" of the film's colorful cast of characters. Though some may be disappointed to note that the optical censorship of the infamous shotgun decapitation still remains well in place on this release, the fact that Lynch himself supervised the transfer shows that this is his preferred cut for stateside distribution, and the sheer wealth of bonus materials -- not to mention a fabulous presentation of the film itself -- more than justifies the purchase of this fantastic and comprehensive release. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide