Dazed and Confused [2 Discs] [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Like George Lucas' American Graffiti, Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is an affectionate look at the youth culture of a bygone era. While Lucas took aim at the conservative 1950's, Linklater jumps ahead a generation to the bicentennial year of 1976 to celebrate the joys of beer blasts, pot smoking and Frampton Comes Alive. Set on the last day of the academic year, the film follows the random activities of a sprawling group of Texas high schoolers as they celebrate the arrival of summer, their paths variously intersecting at a freshmen hazing, a local pool parlor and finally at a keg party. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • Disc 1:
  • All-new high-definition Digital transfer, supervised by director Richard Linklater and cinematographer Lee Daniel
  • Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks
  • Audio commentary by Linklater
  • Deleted scenes
  • Original trailer
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Disc 2: Making "Dazed," a 50-minute documentary by filmmaker Kahane Corn
  • Rare-on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
  • Footage from the ten-year anniversary celebration
  • Audition footage
  • Plus: A 72-page book featuring new essays by Kent Jones, Jim DeRogatis, and Chuck Klosterman; memories of the film from cast and crew; and character profiles
  • And the original film poster designed by Frank Kozik

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Jason London - Randy "Pink" Floyd
       Wiley Wiggins - Mitch Kramer
       Rory Cochrane - Slater
       Milla Jovovich - Michelle
       Joey Lauren Adams - Simone
       Marissa Ribisi - Cynthia
       Adam Goldberg - Mike
       Anthony Rapp - Tony
       Sasha Jenson - Don Dawson
       Parker Posey - Darla
       Matthew McConaughey - Wooderson
       Ben Affleck - O'Bannion
       Michelle Burke - Jodi Kramer
       Cole Hauser - Benny
       Jason Smith - Melvin
       Nicky Katt - Clint
       Deena Martin - Shavonne
       Christin Hinojosa - Sabrina

• Director:

  Richard Linklater

• Producer:

  Sean Daniel, Richard Linklater, James Jacks

• Screenwriter:

  Richard Linklater

• Cinematographer:

  Lee Daniel

• Editor:

  Sandra Adair

• Production Designer:

  John Frick

• Set Designer:

  Deborah Pastor

• Costume Designer:

  Kari Perkins

REVIEW:

• Dazed and Confused is an American Graffiti for the 1990s, set in the 1970s. Though not quite up to the high standard of its spiritual predecessor, it does an excellent job of following an ensemble cast, who, through the course of one day, enjoy the myriad emotions and experiences that compose the teenage years. Writer/director Richard Linklater does not force the film to follow one storyline in particular, and this choice helps him avoid the conventions of the teen genre, in which the kids learn a big lesson after a series of wacky misdeeds. Indeed, the film is notable for its refreshing lack of sentiment. This isn't a movie interested in leading us through standard character arcs, and it gives us a portrait of youth that is surprisingly realistic, wiping away much of the gloss with which we often remember "the best years of our lives," but never going too far in the other direction by indulging in too much grittiness. Dazed and Confused is also remarkable for its sheer number of young actors who went on to big careers, including Milla Jovovich, Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Adam Goldberg, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey, and Matthew McConaughey, as the memorable Wooderson ("That's what I like about these high school girls: I keep getting older; they stay the same age"). Dazed and Confused offers neither a warmly reminiscent nor an intentionally bleak picture of high school. It is a uniquely astute portrait of those teenage years, which at times seem full of magic and energy and at other times feel as anticlimactic and banal as adulthood. ~ Matthew Doberman, Rovi