New on Blu this week are a new chick flick and a classic epic celebrating its 50th anniversary:
1.) “Spartacus 50th anniversary edition” (Universal, $26.98) looks so pristine in HiDef Blu-ray that it appears as if the 3-hour-plus 70mm Oscar-winner for best cinematography and art direction that was recently fully restored by Robert A. Harris could have been produced this year. The decidedly un-Stanley Kubrick-like film for which he was merely a director-for-hire by producer Kirk Douglas depicts a Roman slave who leads a briefly inspirational but ill-fated rebellion against the evil empire.
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— Extraordinary near-nudity of Jean Simmons multiple times for 1960
— Remarkable suggestions of homosexuality by Sir Laurence Olivier’s character with slave played by Tony Curtis.
— Peter Ustinov and Charles Laughton are stand-outs, with Ustinov a spineless mercenary, and Laughton a cynical Senator
— full overture preceding obviously re-created opening titles, plus intermission
— alternate ending without any close-ups of Spartacus on cross.
— entertaining canned interview comments by Jean Simmons for TV stations
— rare footage of gladiator fight training and rehearsals
— fun vintage newsreels at London and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre premieres
2.) Dear John (Sony, $34.95) delivers exactly what you would expect for a chick flick based on the Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook”) romance novel about a two-week summer romance involving an American solider with an autistic father who must return to fight in Iraq, sparking a challenge for the relationship, and that’s a good thing unless you are a total cynic and unable to let yourself enjoy such simple pleasures.
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— Director Lasse Hallstom (“The Cider House Rules,” “Chocolat,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?”) is who injects substance beyond the typical sappy romance yarn.
— Solid and engaging performances by hot young actors Channing Tatum (“Step Up”) and Amanda Seyfried (“Mama Mia,” “Letters to Juliet”).
— Nice supporting performance by Henry Thomas, who has handled the evolution to adult actor very nicely since his starring role as Elliott in “E.T.: The Extra-Terrerstrial” 28 years ago.
— Radically different alternate ending in bonus features that more closely follows the book’s more realistic, less convenient, and less happy ending.
— Fun assortment of deleted and alternate scenes, outtakes, and featurettes on the autistic child actor, the military advisor, the town of Charleston, and more.
— By Scott Hettrick