Taxi Driver, the movie which took
Martin Scorsese to the mainstream of Hollywood cinema and further propelled
Robert De Niro into being one of the highest profile actors the world has ever seen is about to receive the right kind of treatment on DVD. There's something about Scorsese's classic that is addictive to me and is one of his films that you find yourself re-visiting time and time again. It very much has the same effect on me as
Raging Bull and
The Aviator. Both movies depict man's downward spiral into that dark and dangerous place where we all strive to avoid but worry that we could go into if we take too many knocks in life. A great social commentary about how soldiers were treated after they returned from the Vietnam war? An updated Western, depicting a lone avenger who wants to rid the town of it's scum? A political satire? Or what it most obviously appears to be, a movie about the terrible condition of loneliness and a depiction of the wrong kind of way to connect with people. This new 2 Disc Special Edition DVD carries an audio commentary from it's screenwriter
Paul Schrader and even one from Prof. Robert Kolker who authored The Cinema of Lonliness. I've kindly been sent a press release for the DVD and I thought I would share it with you guys. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this thing... 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen English and French DD5.1 Surround English, French and Spanish subtitles New Feature-length Commentary by Writer Paul Schrader New Feature-length Commentary by Professor Robert Kolker Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver Featurette Producing Taxi Driver Featurette Gods Lonely Man Documentary - Writer Paul Schrader and Professor Robert Kolker discuss the loneliness themes as seen in the film. Schrader also talks about what circumstances lead to writing the screenplay Influence and Appreciation Documentary - Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman and others pay tribute to Scorsese and the film Taxi Driver Stories Featurette Making Taxi Driver Documentary Travis New York Locations Featurette - An interactive map with visits to the famous New York City locations in 2006, while comparing them to the same locations in 1975 Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction Animated Photo Gallerie - Including Scorsese at Work Photo Montage Original Screenplay Read Along Look for this in your local DVD store on Region 1 DVD on August 14th.