The Sting Blu-ray

As part of its 100th Anniversary this year, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will offer special Blu-rays of selected catalog titles, and The Sting should arrive in the June wave. Director George Roy Hill's classic crime comedy reunites Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stars Robert Redford (Out of Africa) and Paul Newman (The Color of Money) as two con men operating in 1930s Chicago.

After his mentor (Robert Earl Jones, Trading Places) is killed, small-time hustler Johnny Hooker (Redford) decides to go after Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw, Jaws), the gangster responsible for the murder. However, Hooker quickly realizes that he can't get revenge on his own, and with the help of legendary grifter and part-time drunk Henry Gondorff (Newman), Hooker plans an elaborate con that will bankrupt Lonnegan - provided that the cops, duplicitous fellow con men, and Lonnegan's men don't figure out Hooker's scheme first.

Written by David S. Ward (Major League), the film features an impressive ensemble that includes Ray Walston (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Eileen Brennan (Clue), Harold Gould (Silent Movie), Dana Elcar (2010: The Year We Make Contact), and Charles Durning (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).

The Sting was also a huge success at the 1974 Academy Awards Ceremony, winning the following Oscars:

• Best Picture: Tony Bill, Michael Phillips, and Julia Phillips
• Best Director: George Roy Hill
• Best Original Screenplay: David S. Ward
• Best Art Direction: Henry Bumstead and James W. Payne
• Best Costume Design: Edith Head
• Best Film Editing: William H. Reynolds
• Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation: Marvin Hamlisch

In addition, the picture received further nominations for:

• Best Actor: Robert Redford
• Best Cinematography: Robert Surtees
• Best Sound: Ronald Pierce and Robert R. Bertrand

Universal offers two HD versions of the film - a Blu-ray/DVD Collector's Edition digibook and a single-disc Blu-ray copy. Both editions present the film - digitally restored from high resolution 35mm film elements - in its 1.85:1 original aspect ratio with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track alongside these bonus supplements:

• Three-part The Art of the Sting documentary
• Three 100 Years of Universal featurettes:
- The Lot
- The '70s
- Restoring the Classics
• Theatrical trailer

The Sting is expected to street on June 5th.




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