West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Pre-Orders Now Available
HomeWest Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Pre-Orders Now Available
Posted July 12, 2011 02:59 PM by Matthew Smith
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will give the 1961 musical West Side Story its Blu-ray debut in a 50th Anniversary Edition on November 15th. The studio is claiming that the film, which won 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, has undergone hundreds of hours of restoration and will feature a 2:20:1 aspect ratio with 7.1 HD-DTS Master Audio.
The film version of West Side Story is an adaptation of the stage play in which the relationship of two lovers is complicated by the animosity of two rival street gangs, akin to Romeo and Juliet. The two leads are Tony (Richard Beymer), a member of the Jets gang, and his love interest Maria (Natalie Wood), who is a sister to the leader of the Sharks gang. Like most musicals, the film is best remembered for its songs and dance sequences, which include "Maria", "America", "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty".
Fans of the film will have two options when picking this one up on Blu-ray. A four-disc Limited Edition giftset will include the film and special features on two BD discs, a DVD version, a tribute CD, and a full color book alongside numerous lobby card reprints. A second version will simply feature the two Blu-ray discs in digibook packaging.
Special features for this release include plenty of material that breaks down the film's songs and choreographed dance sequences, as well as a good assortment of the film's theatrical trailers. This 50th Anniversary Edition also brings over the bonus content from the 2003 Special Edition DVD set. The complete list is as follows:
The film version of West Side Story is an adaptation of the stage play in which the relationship of two lovers is complicated by the animosity of two rival street gangs, akin to Romeo and Juliet. The two leads are Tony (Richard Beymer), a member of the Jets gang, and his love interest Maria (Natalie Wood), who is a sister to the leader of the Sharks gang. Like most musicals, the film is best remembered for its songs and dance sequences, which include "Maria", "America", "Tonight" and "I Feel Pretty".
Fans of the film will have two options when picking this one up on Blu-ray. A four-disc Limited Edition giftset will include the film and special features on two BD discs, a DVD version, a tribute CD, and a full color book alongside numerous lobby card reprints. A second version will simply feature the two Blu-ray discs in digibook packaging.
Special features for this release include plenty of material that breaks down the film's songs and choreographed dance sequences, as well as a good assortment of the film's theatrical trailers. This 50th Anniversary Edition also brings over the bonus content from the 2003 Special Edition DVD set. The complete list is as follows:
- Pow! The Dances of West Side Story: All new featurette in which cast members, contemporary filmmakers, dancers and choreographers analyze and illuminate the film's famous dance sequences.
- Prologue
- Dance at the Gym
- Tony and Maria's Cha Cha
- America
- The Rumble
- Maria's Roof Dance
- Cool
- A Place for Us: West Side Story's Legacy: All new featurette that takes a look back at West Side Story and the impact it has had all over the world.
- Creation and Innovation
- A Timeless Vision
- Song Specific Commentary by Lyricist Stephen Sondheim:
- Prologue
- The Jet Song
- Something's Coming
- Dance at the Gym
- Maria
- America
- Tonight
- Gee, Officer Krupke
- I Feel Pretty
- One Hand, One Heart
- Quintet
- Somewhere
- Cool
- A Boy Like That / I Have a Love
- West Side Memories: One-hour retrospective documentary.
- Music Machine: Allows viewers to go straight to their favorite musical numbers
- Storyboard to Film Comparison Montage
- Trailers:
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Original Issue Trailer
- Reissue Trailer
- Animated Trailer