Criterion has announced a May 25th release date for Stagecoach (1939) in both a standard 2-disc DVD set and single disc Blu-Ray release.

Previously released in 2006 in a 2-disc special edition by Warner, new rights holder Criterion is, well, giving Stagecoach the Criterion treatment as bonus features are plenty (below) and all new.

NOTE: We normally retire older versions of any title when a superior version comes out to reduce confusion as to which DVD to rent. However, we'll leave Warner's release in our inventory as it contains completely different bonus features that may be of interest.

SYNOPSIS:
This is where it all started. John Ford’s smash hit and enduring masterpiece Stagecoach revolutionized the western, elevating it from B movie to the A-list. The quintessential tale of a group of strangers thrown together into extraordinary circumstances—traveling a dangerous route from Arizona to New Mexico—Stagecoach features outstanding performances from Hollywood stalwarts Claire Trevor, John Carradine, Thomas Mitchell, and, of course, John Wayne, in his first starring role for Ford, as the daredevil outlaw the Ringo Kid. Superbly shot and tightly edited, Stagecoach (Ford’s first trip to Monument Valley) is Hollywood storytelling at its finest.

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

BONUS FEATURES:

• Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
• Bucking Broadway (1917), a fifty-four-minute silent western by John Ford, with new music by Donald Sosin
• Extensive video interview with Ford from 1968
• New video interview with Dan Ford, biographer and grandson of the director, about Ford’s home movies
• New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
• New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher
• New video feature about Monument Valley
• New video interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong about Stagecoach’s stuntman Yakima Canutt
• Radio dramatization of Stagecoach from 1949
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns and the short story that inspired the film