If you asked me seven years ago if I thought there would be a chance in hell that I would write a review of Robert Mulligan’s film adaptation of To Kill of Mockingbird, I would have told you “that ain’t gonna happen.” Well, after many changes in my life, I now sit here writing a review for the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD/Digital copy release of To Kill A Mockingbird, the first film in Universal’s 100th Anniversary Limited Edition Collector’s Series.
For this article, I’m going to briefly review the film, due to its well established notoriety in the film world, and instead focus more on the hours of bonus features that come along with it.
For the few of you that have never read Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel in high school, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s where a respectable lawyer named Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) takes on a case to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is unfairly being accused of raping the daughter of Bob Ewell, a white woman. The film is shot mostly from the perspective of Scout (Mary Badham), Atticus’ daughter, and how both her and her brother Gem learn and grow from Atticus’ wise teachings while they run rampant around the town. While Atticus is out working on the case, the children mainly focus their attention on sneaking a peek of crazy Boo Radley (Robert Duvall), the psychopath from down the street that only comes out at night, while sometimes paying their father a visit at the courthouse. The film, and novel, teaches us the meaning of sympathy, compassion while also acting as a commentary on race and prejudice.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of America’s seminal films thanks to the terrific directing and amazing performances, particularly by Gregory Peck who won the Oscar for his role. For me though, the movie pays off in the second half because of how powerful Peck’s courtroom presence is. A good half hour is spent inside that court house and as a fan of law dramas it immediately sucked me in. I’ll be honest, I was kind of bored by the end of the first hour but was shocked by how captivated I became once the second half began. The real kicker though ends up being when we finally get to see Robert Duvall in his first role as Boo Radley. This iconic scene is what shows Scout that the myth of Boo actually exists and that he doesn’t act the way people describe him and, as Scout says, he’s more like a precious mockingbird.
I realize that this film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but at least it’s one that not only provides valuable lessons about life and our country’s history, but one you can walk away from knowing that you haven’t been cheated out of two hours of your life. It’s that fine of a picture. Oh, I’d also suggest reading the book if you haven’t already.
Bonus Features:
Blu-ray: The latest release of this film looks incredible on Blu-ray. The film has been cleaned up so much over the years and this latest job was top notch. You couldn’t even tell that this film was made in the 60s if it wasn’t in black and white.
Fearful Symmetry— This is a 90 minute documentary about the making of To Kill A Mockingbird. While it is a tad long and some of the people talk a little longer than they should, it provides for such an interesting experience for classic film fans. It gives us an opportunity to go back to 1962 and hear stories from the filmmakers and cast about the shoot and what it was like to work on an adaptation of such a influential novel. The documentary also takes us on a visit to Harper Lee’s hometown which helps give us some perspective in regards to the film and novel.
A Conversation with Gregory Peck—The second feature length documentary on the disc is A Conversation with Gregory Peck , which gives us a look at the later years of Gregory Peck through the use of interviews, theater tour clips, home movies and other candid video footage. This documentary is the one worth watching because you get learn about the real man and how much he was actually like Atticus Finch, he was a man with principles. Not only that, he is also really funny which I never realized; Through the clips of his autobiographical road show, we learn about his experiences showering with Sophia Loren and answering funny questions from the audience members. This fascinating documentary shows you just how beloved of an actor he was and how influential his role as Atticus was to the lives of those who saw it upon its release.
100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics— This featurette gives us “an in-depth look at the film restoration process.”It teaches us how old films are restored and how far the technology has come in order for use to be able to view our favorite films without the announces of time effecting our viewing experience. We get to see before and after footage from films like Jaws, The Birds, Dracula and All Quiet on the Western Front and how the restoration process has saved them from being ruined. This is pretty much a Universal promo and can be boring but I personally enjoyed it.
Academy Award®Best Actor Acceptance Speech—Gregory Peck’s acceptance speech is short and sweet and while it is relevant to this film it isn’t a moving speech worth watching. He simply says thank you to everyone that helped make the film possible.
American Film Institute Life Achievement Award—Of the two awar speeches to watch this is the one. Gregory Peck give a heartfelt and very funny speech about his career and what this award means to him.
Excerpt from “Tribute To Gregory Peck”—Cecilia Peck gives a speech in honor of her father at the Academy Awards after her father had passed away. This is another feature you can skip because everything she says you learn from all the other features, namely the documentaries. It also seems to lack any emotion and sounds like she’s simply reading a speech, I was bored by it.
Scout Remembers—A 12 minute interview with Actress Mary Badham who “shares her experiences working with Gregory Peck.” She talks discusses how because her family wasn’t around for the shoot she became really close With Gregory and his children. She looked up to him like a father and she his daughter. It was an interesting interview especially because you get to see what Scout is like all grown up.
Feature Commentary with Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula
Original Theatrical Trailer
If you do pick up the Blu-ray combo pack you’ll also be getting the following disc specific bonus features:
A digital copy of the film, U-Control: Scene Companion, BD-Live, pocket BLU app, Advanced remote control usage, video timeline, mobile-to-go, browse other pocketBLU titles, keyboard usage, uHEAR (allows you to jump back a few seconds in case you missed a line).
As you can see this Collector’s Edition Combo Pack comes with a lot of features that make it well worth the asking price. If you are a true collector and are a fan of classics, there is no doubt that this film will end up in your library, if it isn’t already. The 50th Anniversary of this brilliant piece of cinema is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
Movie Rating: A timeless classic with one of the most heartfelt performances you’ll ever see on screen (9/10)
Blu-ray Rating: All the extras you’d ever want from a film of this caliber (9/10)
Recent Comments