6:01 AM PST, December 14, 2009
From 'Blazing Saddles' to 'Young Frankenstein' and 'Spaceballs,' the best of comedy king Mel Brooks is finally on Blu-ray! This ultimate set also contains 'High Anxiety,' 'History of the World Part I,' 'Robin Hood: Men In Tights,' 'Silent Movie,' 'To Be Or Not To Be' and 'The Twelve Chairs' – all in Hi-Def!
Mel blasts prejudices in 'Blazing Saddles,' his hilarious spoof of Wild West movies, starring Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn. Special features include additional scenes; scene-specific commentary by Mel; the documentaries "Back in the Saddle" and "Intimate Portrait: Madeline Kahn"; and "Black Bart," the 1975 pilot episode of the proposed TV series spinoff.
'High Anxiety' is Mel's clever homage to Hitchcock, with Mel himself starring as a psychiatrist with a paralyzing fear of heights caught in a web of intrigue. Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn also star. Special features include the "Am I Very, Very Nervous?" test; "Dr. Thorndyke's Ink Blot Test"; "How Anxious Am I?"; "Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense" and "Don't Get Anxious! The Trivia of Hitchcock."
'History of the World Part I' gives new meaning to the term "revisionist history," spoofing everything from Caesar's Palace to the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition with Mel, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Gregory Hines and Sid Caesar. Special features include "Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World"; "Musical Mel: Inventing 'The Inquisition'"; "The Real History of the World" trivia track and more.
Mel turns the Robin Hood legend upside down with 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights,' with Cary Elwes as the legendary outlaw and Roger Rees as the evil, dyslexic Sheriff of "Rottingham." Amy Yasbeck plays Maid Marian, and Richard Lewis, Patrick Stewart, Tracey Ullman and Dave Chappelle round out the cast. Special features include commentary by Mel; "Funny Men in Tights: Three Generations of Comedy"; and the HBO Special "Robin Hood: Men in Tights – The Legend Had it Coming."
Only one person says a word in the Tinseltown comedy 'Silent Movie,' and that's world-famous mime Marcel Marceau! Paul Newman, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, Anne Bancroft and James Caan make cameos in this story of a has-been director (played by Mel) who tries to save his movie studio with a star-studded silent picture. Special features include "Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of Silent Movie" and a "Speak Up! Historical Hollywood" trivia track.
'Star Wars' and other sci-fi comedies get the Mel Brooks treatment in 'Spaceballs,' starring Mel, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, Joan Rivers and Bill Pullman. Can the mystical power of "The Schwartz" bring peace to the galaxy before Dark Helmet steals all the air from planet Druidia? Special features include filmmaker commentary; "Spaceballs: The Documentary"; "In Conversation: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan"; "Watch the movie in Ludicrous Speed"; "John Candy: Comic Spirit"; film flubs and more.
In 'To Be or Not To Be,' Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy gets remade by Mel, who stars opposite wife Anne Bancroft as actors caught up in the German invasion of Poland. Can they thwart the Gestapo and save the Polish underground simply by improvising? Special features include "Brooks and Bancroft: A Perfect Pair"; "How Serious Can Mel Brooks Really Get?"; "Profiles of Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning"; and "To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Trivia!" trivia track.
Mel's sophomore feature-film directing effort, 'The Twelve Chairs' is set in 1927 Russia, in which a former aristocrat (Ron Moody), now a Russian clerk under the new Soviet regime, goes on a quest across Russia to find his family's jewels in one of twelve dining room chairs. Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise and Mel play the men in equal pursuit.
Filmed in glorious black and white, 'Young Frankenstein' is the definitive spoof of the classic Universal Frankenstein films, with Gene Wilder as the grandson of the late Dr. Frankenstein who inherits his grandfather's work. Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn and Peter Boyle co-star. Special features include filmmaker commentary; deleted scenes; outtakes; "Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas in the Making of Young Frankenstein"; "It's Alive! Creating a Monster Classic"; "Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Morris"; "Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein"; and "The Franken-Track: A Monstrous Conglomeration of Trivia" trivia track.
'The Mel Brooks Collection' on Blu-ray
Mel blasts prejudices in 'Blazing Saddles,' his hilarious spoof of Wild West movies, starring Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn. Special features include additional scenes; scene-specific commentary by Mel; the documentaries "Back in the Saddle" and "Intimate Portrait: Madeline Kahn"; and "Black Bart," the 1975 pilot episode of the proposed TV series spinoff.
'High Anxiety' is Mel's clever homage to Hitchcock, with Mel himself starring as a psychiatrist with a paralyzing fear of heights caught in a web of intrigue. Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn also star. Special features include the "Am I Very, Very Nervous?" test; "Dr. Thorndyke's Ink Blot Test"; "How Anxious Am I?"; "Hitchcock and Mel: Spoofing the Master of Suspense" and "Don't Get Anxious! The Trivia of Hitchcock."
'History of the World Part I' gives new meaning to the term "revisionist history," spoofing everything from Caesar's Palace to the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition with Mel, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Gregory Hines and Sid Caesar. Special features include "Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World"; "Musical Mel: Inventing 'The Inquisition'"; "The Real History of the World" trivia track and more.
Mel turns the Robin Hood legend upside down with 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights,' with Cary Elwes as the legendary outlaw and Roger Rees as the evil, dyslexic Sheriff of "Rottingham." Amy Yasbeck plays Maid Marian, and Richard Lewis, Patrick Stewart, Tracey Ullman and Dave Chappelle round out the cast. Special features include commentary by Mel; "Funny Men in Tights: Three Generations of Comedy"; and the HBO Special "Robin Hood: Men in Tights – The Legend Had it Coming."
Only one person says a word in the Tinseltown comedy 'Silent Movie,' and that's world-famous mime Marcel Marceau! Paul Newman, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, Anne Bancroft and James Caan make cameos in this story of a has-been director (played by Mel) who tries to save his movie studio with a star-studded silent picture. Special features include "Silent Laughter: The Reel Inspirations of Silent Movie" and a "Speak Up! Historical Hollywood" trivia track.
'Star Wars' and other sci-fi comedies get the Mel Brooks treatment in 'Spaceballs,' starring Mel, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, Joan Rivers and Bill Pullman. Can the mystical power of "The Schwartz" bring peace to the galaxy before Dark Helmet steals all the air from planet Druidia? Special features include filmmaker commentary; "Spaceballs: The Documentary"; "In Conversation: Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan"; "Watch the movie in Ludicrous Speed"; "John Candy: Comic Spirit"; film flubs and more.
In 'To Be or Not To Be,' Ernst Lubitsch's classic comedy gets remade by Mel, who stars opposite wife Anne Bancroft as actors caught up in the German invasion of Poland. Can they thwart the Gestapo and save the Polish underground simply by improvising? Special features include "Brooks and Bancroft: A Perfect Pair"; "How Serious Can Mel Brooks Really Get?"; "Profiles of Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning"; and "To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Trivia!" trivia track.
Mel's sophomore feature-film directing effort, 'The Twelve Chairs' is set in 1927 Russia, in which a former aristocrat (Ron Moody), now a Russian clerk under the new Soviet regime, goes on a quest across Russia to find his family's jewels in one of twelve dining room chairs. Frank Langella, Dom DeLuise and Mel play the men in equal pursuit.
Filmed in glorious black and white, 'Young Frankenstein' is the definitive spoof of the classic Universal Frankenstein films, with Gene Wilder as the grandson of the late Dr. Frankenstein who inherits his grandfather's work. Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn and Peter Boyle co-star. Special features include filmmaker commentary; deleted scenes; outtakes; "Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas in the Making of Young Frankenstein"; "It's Alive! Creating a Monster Classic"; "Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Morris"; "Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein"; and "The Franken-Track: A Monstrous Conglomeration of Trivia" trivia track.
'Taking Woodstock'
Special features included filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes (including three deleted scenes exclusive to the Blu-ray) and the behind-the-scenes featurette "Peace, Love and Cinema."
'The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard'
'G-Force'
Special features on the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack include a digital copy of the film; filmmaker commentary; deleted scenes; a look at the "Mastermind" special effects behind the scenes; "Blaster's Boot Camp," in which Blaster (Tracy Morgan) gives viewers a high-energy, high-tech orientation into the elite world of the G-Force; "G-Farce" bloopers; three music videos and much more! Plus, exclusive to the Blu-ray are "Cine-Explore with Darwin, Blaster and their Creator"; a retrospective of the groundbreaking CGI in the work of Jerry Bruckheimer in "Bruckheimer Animated"; and "Access Granted: Inside the Animation Lab," a tour of the high-security facility showing how the G-Force was animated from initial sketches to completed performances.
'Inglourious Basterds'
Special features include a digital copy of the film; extended and alternate scenes; a gag reel; the entire film-within-the-film, 'Nation's Pride' (and the making of that movie); a salute to the original 1978 film 'Inglorious Bastards'; a conversation with veteran star Rod Taylor, including his favorite Australian beer; "Quentin Tarantino's Camera Angel"; a roundtable discussion with Tarantino, Pitt and film historian/critic Elvis Mitchell, along with a film poster gallery tour with Mitchell.
'The Hangover' Extended Cut
Special features include extended and theatrical versions of the film; a digital copy of the theatrical version; a hilarious gag reel; a "Map of Destruction," tracing each step the guys took during their fate-filled evening and the story behind the locations; "Three Best Friends Song," with Brad, Ed and Zach "freestyling" their own tune; 100 more pictures of mayhem from the "missing camera"; hilarious improv from Ken Jeong; Picture-In-Picture commentary; Blu-ray BD-Live exclusive content (Mike Tyson's rendition of "In the Air Tonight," a cursing compilation mashup, The Dan Band performs "Fame") and much, much more!