It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Blu-Ray / DVD Combo) - Criterion Collection

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Blu-Ray / DVD Combo) - Criterion Collection

(1963)

actors: Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Terry-Thomas, Edie Adams, Jonathan Winters, (more)
director: Stanley Kramer
genre: Comedy
line: Criterion
year: 1963
length: 159 minutes
released: January 21, 2014
format: Blu-ray
misc: Color, Widescreen, NTSC, Anamorphic
language: English (Original Language)

Synopsis

Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends.

For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer's wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery.

BONUS FEATURES: 

  • Restored 4K digital film transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version-including some scenes that have been returned to the film here for the first time-with 5.1 surround Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New audio commentary featuring It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
  • New documentary on the film's visual and sound effects, featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage of the crew at work and interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
  • Talk show from 1974 hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
  • Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and members of the film's cast
  • Interviews recorded for the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs, featuring comedians and actors discussing the influence of the film
  • Two-part 1963 episode of the CBC television program Telescope that follows the film's press junket and premiere
  • The Last 70mm Film Festival, a program from 2012 featuring cast and crew members from Mad World at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hosted by Billy Crystal
  • Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg's original TV and radio advertisements for the film, with a new introduction by Freberg
  • Original and rerelease trailers, and rerelease radio spots
  • Two Blu-rays and three DVDs, with all content available in both formats
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Lou Lumenick