The Criterion Collection Readies Five New 4K Ultra HD Releases For Delivery During The Month Of March

The Criterion Collection has revealed its March lineup of new film restorations, which features five new 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack releases spread out over each of the four street-date Tuesday during the month.

As always, it is a very subjective choice as to which film treasure to focus on, but for the month of March we will focus on director Arthur Penn’s 1975 mystery/thriller, Night Moves, starring Gene Hackman, Susan Clark, Jennifer Warren and a teenage relative newcomer by the name of Melanie Griffith, who might just have a future in film. 

The street date will be Mar. 25.

This is one of those ducks out of water.   The studio (Warner Bros.) actually delayed the release until Griffith turned eighteen so that they could skirt potential legal issues related to her nude scenes (underwater), which were shot actually 18 months earlier.  

The studio also didn’t understand what filmmaker Arthur Penn was up to with his storyline, so they staggered the opening of the film to try and generate critical interest (treating it as something of an arthouse entry).

Regardless, Night Moves — often described as neo-noir — is a gem, with an outstanding performance from Hackman and plenty of exposure for the female members of the cast.
Bonus features include commentary by author Matthew Asprey Gear (“Moseby Confidential”), a new audio-only session with Jennifer Warren, two vintage Arthur Penn interviews and the featurette titled “The Day of the Director.”

Also on the 4K Ultra HD front from Criterion in March are director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 masterpiece, The Wages of Fear (Mar. 4 … also a Blu-ray purchasing option); director Michael Mann’s 1981 film release of Thief, starring James Caan (Mar. 11); director Kazuki Omori’s 1989 Godzilla/kaiju franchise entry, Godzilla vs. Biollante (Mar. 18 … also with a stand-alone Blu-ray release) and the under-appreciated 1984 film release of Choose Me from director Alan Rudolph will be available on Mar. 25 (also on Blu-ray).