Search - Man on the Moon on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Brief Nudity, Adult Humor, Profanity, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 1999 DVD Release: 05/30/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 59 mins Studio: Universal Studios Total Copies: 24 Genres: Comedy Drama, Tragi-comedy, Biopic [feature], Showbiz Drama

Comedian Andy Kaufman gave performances that were bizarre and difficult to categorize, in which he might do or say almost anything: show cartoons, impersonate Elvis Presley, play conga drums while singing children's songs, read aloud from -The Great Gatsby, or take the audience out for milk and cookies. Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski and directed by Milos Forman (the team behind The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)), this biopic takes an in-depth look at Kaufman's life and art, with Jim Carrey as Kaufman, who could (and would) be any number of different people onstage: the quiet and childlike man, the little foreign guy, the overbearing showbiz "professional," the violently obnoxious wrestler, or the world's worst lounge singer. As Kaufman rose from comedy clubs to guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and a spot on the TV sitcom Taxi, his performances became more complex and dangerous -- so much so that when word got out in 1984 that he was suffering from lung cancer, many fans and associates thought it was just another bizarre stunt; the disease took his life later that year. Man on the Moon features Danny De Vito as Kaufman's manager George Shapiro, Courtney Love as his girlfriend Lynne Margulies, Paul Giamatti as his friend Bob Zmuda, and David Letterman, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Carol Kane, and Christopher Lloyd as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jim Carrey - Andy Kaufman
Danny DeVito - George Shapiro
Courtney Love - Lynne Margulies
Paul Giamatti - Bob Zmuda
Vincent Schiavelli - Maynard Smith

An original celebrity biopic, Milos Forman's Man on the Moon comes to DVD with a great picture and a wealth of information about its subject, Andy Kaufman. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and does a fine job with what is a rather flatly shot film. English soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, while a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. There are no subtitles, but both English soundtracks are closed-captioned. The supplemental materials include deleted scenes that for the most part show why they were edited out, but one fascinating scene -- after the wrestling match -- adds a dimension to Kaufman's relationship with his parents that is never established in the film's final cut. A text biography of Kaufman includes live clips of his performances and wrestling matches. REM, which scored the film, includes the music videos for "Man on the Moon" and "The Great Beyond," both of which are worth revisiting. The theatrical trailer, a pedestrian "making of" featurette, and some DVD-ROM features round out this superb package that offers something for Kaufman fans beyond an excellent presentation of the film. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide