Blue Velvet [Special Edition]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Director David Lynch crafted this hallucinogenic mystery-thriller that probes beneath the cheerful surface of suburban America to discover sadomasochistic violence, corruption, drug abuse, crime and perversion. Kyle Maclachlan stars as Jeffrey Beaumont, a square-jawed young man who returns to his picture-perfect small town when his father suffers a stroke. Walking through a field near his home, Jeff discovers a severed human ear, which he immediately brings to the police. Their disinterest sparks Jeff's curiosity, and he is soon drawn into a dangerous drama that's being played out by a lounge singer, Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) and the ether-addicted Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). The sociopathic Booth has kidnapped Dorothy's young son and is using the child as a bargaining chip to repeatedly beat, humiliate and rape Dorothy. Though he's drawn to the virginal, wholesome Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), Jeff is also aroused by Dorothy and in trying to aid her, he discovers his dark side. As the film nears its conclusion, our hero learns that many more indivduals are tacitly involved with Frank, including a suave, lip-synching singer, Ben (Dean Stockwell), who is minding the kidnapped boy. Director Lynch explored many similar themes of the "disease" lying just under the surface of the small town, all-American facade in his later television series Twin Peaks (1990-91). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
• Subtitle: Mult
• Features:
  • New digital transfer supervised by David Lynch
  • "Mysteries of Love" documentary
  • Deleted scenes montage
  • Original "Siskel & Ebert" review
  • Photo gallery
  • Collectible booklet
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • And more

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Director - 1986 (David Lynch)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1986 (Dennis Hopper)
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1986 (David Lynch)

• Independent Spirit Awards

•     Won Best Actress - 1986 (Isabella Rossellini)
•     Nominated Best Actor - 1986 (Dennis Hopper)
•     Nominated Best Actress - 1986 (Laura Dern)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 1986 (Frederick Elmes)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1986 (David Lynch)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1986
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1986 (David Lynch)

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Director - 1985 (David Lynch)
•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1985 (Dennis Hopper)

• Montréal World Film Festival

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1985 (Dennis Hopper)

• National Society of Film Critics

•     Won Best Director - 1985 (David Lynch)
•     Won Best Picture - 1985
•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1985 (Dennis Hopper)

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1986

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Kyle MacLachlan - Jeffrey Beaumont
       Isabella Rossellini - Dorothy Vallens
       Dennis Hopper - Frank Booth
       Laura Dern - Sandy Williams
       Hope Lange - Mrs. Williams
       Dean Stockwell - Ben
       Brad Dourif - Raymond
       Jack Nance - Paul
       Frances Bay - Aunt Barbara
       George Dickerson - Detective Williams
       Jack Harvey - Mr. Beaumont
       Priscilla Pointer - Mrs. Beaumont
       Ken Stovitz - Mike
       A. Michelle Depland - Party Girl

• Director:

  David Lynch

• Producer:

  Fred Caruso

• Screenwriter:

  David Lynch

• Cinematographer:

  Frederick Elmes

• Composer (Music Score):

  Angelo Badalamenti

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Angelo Badalamenti

• Songwriter:

  Angelo Badalamenti, Bill Doggett, Edward Heyman, David Lynch

• Featured Music:

  Roy Orbison

• Songwriter:

  Clifford Scott, Shep Shephard, Bernie Wayne

• Composer (Music Score):

  Edward Reyes

• Songwriter:

  Lee Morris, Victor Young

• Editor:

  Duwayne Dunham

• Production Designer:

  Pat Norris

• Executive Producer:

  Richard A. Roth

• Costume Designer:

  Gloria Laughride, Pat Norris

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Alan Splet

• Makeup:

  Jeff Goodwin

• Special Effects:

  Greg Hull

• Stunts:

  Richard Langdon

• Production Manager:

  Fred Caruso

• Casting:

  Pat Golden, Johanna Ray

REVIEW:

• David Lynch's map of the terrain between wet dream and nightmare, Blue Velvet reaffirmed the director's status as one of the most vital talents in American filmmaking, and achieved a mood and tone which would indelibly influence popular culture for the remainder of the 20th century. Though much of the film revolves around a compelling, lurid mystery -- executed in a tense, economical manner that might have made Alfred Hitchcock proud -- Blue Velvet is more interested in the mysteries of desire and the horrors of unchecked deviance. Lynch uses the form, style, and mood of a film noir to challenge and ultimately subvert notions of innocence, sexuality, and love. Even the casting reflects the director's agenda: Lynch's fresh young heroes, as played by Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern, are like leads in a 1950s hygiene film; he pits them against two icons of a lost Hollywood, Isabella Rossellini and Dennis Hopper, the latter turning in a jolting, career-resuscitating performance. Though it specifies no particular time, Blue Velvet's "golly gee" milieu of Lumberton, replete with soda fountains, convertibles, and hardware stores, is a Reagan-era idyll, an exaggeration of the 1980s concept of the American Dream. But from the moment Lynch's camera delves underground (in a surreal, Bunuel-like moment) to take in a thriving community of ants, it's clear that the director is more interested in the Reagan of Kings Row (1941), and in the grotesque despair that lurks beneath the surface of placid middle-American life. The film was a breakthrough for Lynch in the way it melded the dream worlds of Eraserhead (1977) and Dune (1984) with the more literal, narrative approach of The Elephant Man (1980): its densely saturated, red-white-and-blue color scheme was stunningly photographed by Fredrick Elmes; the haunting, expressionistic soundscape was designed by frequent Lynch collaborator Alan Splet. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi