Stage and screen mega-star Bette Midler headlines popular big screen musical THE ROSE and it arrives on Blu-ray for the very first time via a brand new edition from the Criterion Collection, set to be released this May.
The official description of THE ROSE is as follows: “Bette Midler exploded onto the screen with her take-no-prisoners performance in this quintessential film about fame and addiction from director Mark Rydell. Midler is the rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster (known as the Rose to her legions of fans), whose romantic relationships and mental health are continuously imperiled by the demands of life on the road. Incisively scripted by Bo Goldman and beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond (with assistance on the dazzling concert scenes by a host of other world-class cinematographers, including Conrad L. Hall, László Kovács, Owen Roizman, and Haskell Wexler), this is a sensitively drawn and emotionally overwhelming melodrama that made the popular singer into a movie star as well.”
Special features of the director-approved Blu-ray include:
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD master audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary featuring director Mark Rydell
- New interviews with Rydell, Zsigmond, and Bette Midler
- Archival interviews with Midler and Rydell, with on-set footage
- PLUS: An essay by music critic Paula Mejia
Pre-order THE ROSE Blu-ray at the official site here.
What is this Criterion collection store?
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If I may, I would like to elaborate a bit on Cris’ Criterion comment, as I used to sell the Criterion Collection when I worked for a Home Theater store.
Criterion typically selects foreign, art-house, and highly critically acclaimed films from all over the world for restoration and preservation. They have taken old black and white films, with dirt and scratches on them, and completely restored them to a pristine finish. They literally re-work the image and sound of a motion picture, frame by frame, to ultimate perfection. It’s a huge undertaking, and only the finest of films are chosen to be part of the Criterion collection.
Criterion started out by restoring these films on laserdisc, with improved picture quality, sound quality, and essentially pioneered “extras” on a disc, such as commentary, alternate sound tracks, trailers, alternate endings, etc., which at the time, was never put on videotape. As a result of their efforts, these “extras” migrated to the new format of DVD, which had the ability to store more information with higher picture quality, and additional room for extras.
Criterion’s selection of “The Rose” to their catalog, puts the film in the class of other Criterion greats, such as those by Fellini, Kurosawa, Riefenstahl, Scorsese, Costa-Gavras, Godard, Bergman, Hitchcock, Truffaut and others.
At the time of DVD, there were 12 classes of high definition, with Blu-ray, essentially being the highest quality picture image of the 12. “The Rose” is being re-mastered in 4K, also known as “ultra high-definition” which is double (or twice) the picture quality of standard Blu-Ray.
That along with improved audio and sound quality, extras and commentary makes the Criterion’s version of The Rose a must-have for every Bette fan who also cares about sound and picture quality, along with the extras that are pretty much non-existent on every other Midler DVD.
I hate to be crass about this, but what Criterion has done to this film, isn’t just a big deal, it’s a BIG FUCKING DEAL! There is a reason this DVD lists for $39.99, and once you purchase it and pop it into your Blu-Ray player, it will automatically become the finest film in your collection. Especially if it is your first Criterion disc. Depending on your home theater set-up, it will look and sound as good, if not better, than seeing it in the theater.
In my opinion, if you can only own one Bette movie on DVD, this is the one to own. It will be the gold standard, upon which all your other DVD’s will be measured.
Thanks for that lesson on Criterion. I had no idea what they did and now i’m beyond excited to get mine. Don
Thank you so much! I have to check our blue ray player, cause apparently there may be a “region” problem…:-(