MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

At the time of its release, Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia was the first big-budget Hollywood film to tackle the medical, political, and social issues of AIDS. Tom Hanks, in his first Academy Award-winning performance, plays Andrew Beckett, a talented lawyer at a stodgy Philadelphia law firm. The homosexual Andrew has contracted AIDS but fears informing his firm about the disease. The firm's senior partner, Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards), assigns Andrew a case involving their most important client. Andrew begins diligently working on the case, but soon the lesions associated with AIDS are visible on his face. Wheeler abruptly removes Andrew from the case and fires him from the firm. Andrew believes he has been fired because of his illness and plans to fight the firm in court. But because of the firm's reputation, no lawyer in Philadelphia will risk handling his case. In desperation, Andrew hires Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a black lawyer who advertises on television, mainly handling personal injury cases. Miller dislikes homosexuals but agrees to take the case for the money and exposure. As Miller prepares for the courtroom battle against one of the law firm's key litigators, Belinda Conine (Mary Steenburgen), Miller begins to realize the discrimination practiced against Andrew is no different from the discrimination Miller himself has to battle against. The cast also includes Antonio Banderas as Andrew's partner, Joanne Woodward as Andrew's mother, and Stephanie Roth as Joe's wife. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.0, Dolby Surround
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: English, Thai, Spanish, French, Japanese
• Features:
  • • Filmmakers' audio commentary with director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner
    • "People Like Us: Making Philadelphia" -- The cast and crew of Jonathan Demme's groundbreaking Philadelphia discuss the inspiration for and creation of the first Hollywood studio film about AIDS
    • The critically acclaimed documentary "One Foot on a Banana Peel, the Other Foot in the Grave"
    • Deleted scenes
    • Includes the music video for the Academy Award-winning original song, "Streets of Philadelphia," performed by Bruce Springsteen
    • Courthouse protest footage and interviews
    • Joe Miller's Macready & Shilts Legal Services TV spot
    • Original theatrical release featurette
    • Previews
    • Filmographies

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Actor - 1993 (Tom Hanks)
•     Won Best Song - 1993 (Bruce Springsteen)
•     Nominated Best Makeup - 1993 (Alan D'Angerio, Carl Fullerton)
•     Nominated Best Original Screenplay - 1993 (Ron Nyswaner)
•     Nominated Best Song - 1993 (Neil Young)

• Berlin International Film Festival

•     Won Silver Bear for Best Actor - 1994 (Tom Hanks)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Original Song - 1993 (Bruce Springsteen)
•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comed - 1993 (Tom Hanks)
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1993 (Ron Nyswaner)

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1993

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Jonathan Demme

• Producer:

  Jonathan Demme, Edward Saxon

• Screenwriter:

  Ron Nyswaner

• Cinematographer:

  Tak Fujimoto

• Composer (Music Score):

  Howard Shore, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young

• Editor:

  Craig McKay

• Production Designer:

  Steve Rose, Kristi Zea

• Art Director:

  Tim Galvin

• Associate Producer:

  Kristi Zea

• Executive Producer:

  Ron Bozman, Gary Goetzman, Kenneth Utt

• Set Designer:

  Karen O'Hara

• Costume Designer:

  Colleen Atwood

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Chris Newman

• Camera Operator:

  Tony Jannelli

• Casting:

  Howard Feuer

REVIEW:

• Widely noted as the first mainstream studio film to deal with AIDS, and featuring two of the world's biggest actors (Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington), Jonathan Demme's moving, well-intentioned drama, despite its naysayers, is a challenging and sometimes surprising work. Both leads (especially Hanks, in his first Oscar-winning role) deliver wonderfully nuanced portrayals, and Demme's signature touches (particularly the potent use of close-ups and music) are perfectly suited to this material. Denounced by many gay audiences as timid and tentative about its central romantic pairing (Hanks and Antonio Banderas) -- not to mention its eagerness to please mass American viewers -- the film nonetheless benefits from its decency and warm approach in dealing with its characters. For whatever missteps the film makes (framing a deeply tragic character study within the auspices of a courtroom drama, for one), its emotions are indelible and its risk-taking is appreciated. Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for his haunting, elegant opening-titles theme, "Streets of Philadelphia," and in an odd case of art imitating life, Hanks' tearful, memorable Oscar acceptance speech (where he thanked his gay acting teacher from years back) became the source material for the 1997 comedy In & Out, starring Kevin Kline. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi