Dr. Strangelove (1964/Sony/Columbia/Criterion Blu-ray)/Eureka (1983/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Zelig (1983/Orion/MGM/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)

Picture: B Sound: B- Extras: A-/B-/C Films: A/B/B-

PLEASE NOTE: The Eureka and Zelig Blu-rays are now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, are limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered from the links below.

We take a look at three of the most challenging, complex and daring films from three of the greatest filmmakers of all time, one of which is an all-time classic, the others of which are very special entries in the respective filmographies of the artists...

Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964) is truly one of the most important films ever made, one of many such all-time classics from the auteur and the film where Kubrick came into his power as a one-man studio to pull of this greatest of dark comedies about ego, sexuality, madness and nuclear annihilation. Released at about the same time (and by the same studio, who leaned towards this film) as Sidney Lumet's well-done Fail Safe, this film manages to go all the way (and at the start of the counterculture period at that) to bare all about how the 'men in control' were not as in control as they thought or think (or still think) and a film filled with eccentric characters becomes a study of world politics, government, military and power at all costs.

The film beings when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) contacts one of his cohorts (Peter Sellers, in one of several roles, including as the title character, that is easily among his best work ever) that it looks like a nuclear conflict (casually as if the radiation was harmless and it would not be a problem if any nukes were launched and detonated) as another general (George C. Scott, more on spot here than he realized) is all for it along with a Colonel (Keenan Wynn) and a Southern Major (Slim Pickens) who happens to be running a big plane with a nuke.

The President (also Sellers) is supposed to be the only one who can give 100% confirmation to use such weapons, but what if they're wrong? Thus, most of the braintrust convenes in the War Room and tries to figure things out, though the conversation turns to how to live with deadly radiation should the worse happen. They also have to deal with the USSR and the Soviets have sent a visiting official (Peter Bull) who may be up to more no good than anyone suspects.

The set up is even smarter and more complex than that set up can explain, but each scene speaks volumes about madness against the high stakes ignored as they all mindlessly on several levels march towards the possibility of the worst of outcomes, even if they are each using their own logic and intellectuality. Too bad it will be more like intelligentsia, but this one-of-a-kind masterwork is as relevant now as ever and has been imitated a few times... all with inferior results.

Sony/Columbia has licensed the film to Criterion for the first time since the old 12-inch LaserDisc days and this Blu-ray is looking and sounding fine with more extras than ever (see all below), but it is the film that counts and like all Kubrick films, a part of it may seem dated, but then as you watch, you realize it really is not and that is the mark of a master filmmaker at work. Be careful not to laugh too much, as you may miss something.

Nicolas Roeg's Eureka (1983) is one of the last great films to date by the bold, innovative director whose films include Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell To Earth and (with Donald Cammell) Performance. Delayed for a few years because of a war on Hollywood films about something with a political point of view (like Blade Runner, Heaven's Gate and Brazil) and (like Gate) loosely based on a true story, Gene Hackman is Harry Oakes, a man who spent 15 years looking for a huge find of solid gold he thought would be out there. In 1912, he literally hit pay dirt and became one of the wealthiest men in the world, but with family issues and dangerous people around him, all kinds of conflict and unhappiness would be mixed well with the good things in life and signs of bad things ahead.

Early on, a mysterious female friend (actress and sometimes dancer Helena Kallianiotes of Five Easy Pieces, et al) starts telling him of bad things to come like some kind of fortune teller, though that is not her main occupation. A Jewish gangster (the very Italian Joe Pesci) and his lawyer (Mickey Rourke, both in effective early work) take notice and want what he's got. His daughter (Teresa Russell) becomes more involved with a man (Rutger Hauer) who Harry is rightly untrusting of and a complicated madness ensures. Note that no one plays their actual, realistic ethnicity, a technique for which Roeg and screenwriter Paul Mayersberg create pattern of character doppelgangers.

Roeg's most underrated film, it may become more standard in the latter reels, but it is long overdue for serious rediscovery (much more than the overrated Bad Timing) so it is great that MGM has given Twilight Time the chance to deliver one of their Limited Edition Blu-rays editions of it with more extras than I have seen with the film before. It is a biopic, a gangster film, a tale of greedy and money, a tale of the near-supernatural and how we sometimes leave ourselves open to bad things in ways we never consider and its a pure cinematic experience from the first scenes. Nice to see the film finally get the respect it deserves.

Woody Allen's Zelig (1983) has the writer/director as the title character, a mysterious man who back in the 1920s onward could transform himself into the people around him regardless of race, color, age, national origin and more. Done in a mockumentary style that is comical, but has a more underlying darkness than his breakthrough film and mockumentary Take The Money And Run (1969, a couple of its jokes show up here), gives us the research and exploration on who he was, how he became a celebrity, still remains a mystery to some extent and why change (he was alone and his desire to fit in apparently turned into this biological superpower, but we never see any morphing) as the film asks some important questions in between surprises.

Part of the research on him comes from sometimes filmed sessions with a then-rare female psychoanalyst (Mia Farrow) and between old scientific footage, new interviews, stills and footage of Zelig showing up with some of the most important people of the day and at some of the most historical events, Allen and company are able to keep this all up pretty consistently even if some of the jokes are obvious.

33+ years later, this holds up pretty well and especially in the digital visual effects era, impresses on a technical level, but at the heart of it is a solid script and ambitious production that he pulls off with ease, proving his stretch at Orion would be as interesting as that of United Artists. This one is definitely worth seeing.

Extras on all three editions include illustrated booklets on each respective film including informative text and essays. Eureka and Zelig get excellent, underrated essays by the great film scholar Julie Kirgo, while Strangelove offers its David Bromwich essay in a faux 'top secret' document in a faux Strategic Air Command envelope that includes a very miniature 'Holy Bible & Russian Phrases' booklet and faux 'Strangelove Magazine' in the Playboy mode that adds a 1994 text interview by the film's screenplay writer terry Southern, again in the print mode of 'the Playboy Interview' et al. All three have Original Theatrical Trailers, while Eureka and Zelig also add Isolated Music Score tracks (Eureka also has Sound Effects on its track).

Strangelove also offers four short documentaries, about the making of the film, the sociopolitical climate of the period, the work of actor Peter Sellers, and the artistry of Kubrick (all from previous editions, including two that were the first-ever for this film), new interviews with Stanley Kubrick scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill; archivist Richard Daniels; cinematographer and camera innovator Joe Dunton; camera operator Kelvin Pike; and David George, son of Peter George, on whose novel Red Alert the film is based, excerpts from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, conducted by physicist and author Jeremy Bernstein, Interviews from 1963 with Sellers and actor George C. Scott that a press person could insert themselves in and a excerpt from a 1980 interview with Sellers from NBC's Today show. Fans of the old 12-inch LaserDisc should know that the text screenplay and Duck & Cover U.S. Government short film are NOT here.

Eureka also offers a long Q&A as feature length audio commentary with Director Nicolas Roeg at the World Premiere of the film (104 Minutes), Writer Paul Mayersberg on Eureka, Producer Jeremy Thomas on Eureka and Editor Tony Lawson on Eureka, all on camera.

The 1080p 1.66 X 1 digital High Definition image on Strangelove is a slightly better version of the new HD version of the film Sony created a few years ago as the camera negative was damaged from printing and other factors necessitated its upgrade. Not using Kubrick's personal, 'do not project' print, the film was saved, restored and looks great, though some purists might still like the 1.33 x 1 version that switches aspect rations between that and 1.66 X 1. Kubrick knew the film might even be shown at 1.75 X 1 or 1.85 X 1, so the 1.66 X 1 here is fine and in standing with proper presentation. The great Gilbert Taylor, B.S.C., pushed the black and white film stocks with Kubrick, used the latest, fastest-at-the-time stocks (Kubrick used a ton of Kodak Super XX for Look Magazine years before, so he was ready for anything) and save the limits of 1080p, this is as good as this could possibly look in this format.One of the greatest-looking films of all time and certainly one of the last great black and white films (along with Raging Bull, The Last Picture Show and the like before everything went to color), this is the best way to see this film outside of a high quality film print.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Eureka has some flaws and dated parts that show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and the last Roeg film to date to sport his advanced style of editing, advanced use of camera angles, vivid cinematography and uniquely impactful editing. This HD transfer is a little old, but impresses often thanks to the work of another one of the greatest cameramen of all time, Director of Photography Alex Thompson, B.S.C., who does stunning work here throughout as only a master of cinema could deliver and Roeg was a DP too, so their synergy really hits the mark here.

Not to be outdone, the 1080p 1.85 X 1, mostly black & white, digital High Definition image transfer on Zelig is supposed to show the age of the materials used because most if it is supposed to look old, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film including the color sequences that look like Kodachrome documentary footage. I suspect the way Allen and his genius Director of Photography Gordon Wills got to get every scene Allen and any other actors were inserted in historic situations by literally shooting old black and white film stock along with the slowest stocks available at the time. More impressive than ever in the digital age, there are few noticeable flaws throughout and you can really see here just how good in HD.

As for sound, all three films were theatrical monophonic releases, but Strangelove is offered here in both an upgraded DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix and an uncompressed on 2.0 Mono track for purists (Laurie Johnson's underrated score sounds fine both ways), while Eureka and Zelig are offered in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless mixes that sound good, though Eureka could use a bit of an upgrade (Stanley Meyers' score is also impressive), while Zelig goes out of its way to sound authentically old.

To order Eureka and Zelig limited edition Blu-rays, buy them and other great exclusives while supplies last at these links:

www.screenarchives.com

and

http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/

- Nicholas Sheffo