Four New 4K Entries From The Criterion Collection In April • Director Nancy Savoca's Dogfight Debut On Blu-ray On Apr. 30

The Criterion Collection revealed its April release calendar this past week, which includes a four-strong selection of new 4K Ultra HD debuts.  These are: Director Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (Apr. 2); the timeless Picnic at Hanging Rock from Australian filmmaker Peter Weir (Apr. 9); director Laszlo Krasznahorkai’s Werckmeister Harmonies (Apr. 16) and director Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 film release of I Am Cuba (Apr. 23).

Impressive to be sure, not only the films themselves, but the fact that Criterion has four new 4K Ultra HD releases lined up for distribution during the month of April.

The real treasure, arriving on Blu-ray on Apr. 30, might just be a 1991 indie film from director Nancy Savoca.   This would be the new 2K digital restoration of Dogfight, teaming Lili Taylor with River Phoenix.  

It took five years to get Dogfight from page to screen, beginning with producer Peter Newman (The Squid and the Whale) reading Bob Comfort’s script and wanting to do it.   That took place sometime in 1986, but nothing happened.  

After spending two years trying to cast the key role of Rose, Newman was no closer to getting the film into production then he was when he first read Comfort’s story.

It wasn’t until the spring of 1990 that cameras began to role — we won’t even list all of the changes, the ins and outs, etc., that took place during the two years since they gave up trying to find Rose.   John Cusack was in, then he was out, so too for director Michael Dinner, who was replaced by Savoca (True Love, The 24 Hour Woman, Dirt) … and Rose was finally found, Lily Taylor, who had some minor parts in Mystic Pizza and Born on the Fourth of July leading up to her performance here.

It took about three and half months to shoot the film (on location in Seattle and San Francisco), but post work seemed to go on forever (rumors about conflicts between filmmaker Nancy Savoca and the studio over the R-rating).   Finally, this indie film opens in the fall of 1991.   A limited run … buried.   That’s what happens when an independent filmmaker has a fight with a Hollywood studio and wins (take that).

But something happened over the years.  A great story, wonderfully told, and blessed with a brilliant performance by Lili Taylor as Rose made Dogfight a must-see film.

It was originally released on DVD by Warner Home Video on Jan. 7, 2003 and then reissued (MOD) ten years later (2013) when the replicated inventory ran dry … now it will be available for the first time on Blu-ray.

Bonus goodies include commentary from filmmaker Nancy Savoca, who is joined by producer Richard Guay, plus there are newly minted video sessions with Savoca, Taylor, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski, production designer Lester Cohen and more, including editor John Tintori.