 
The Deer Hunter To Kill A Mockingbird The Sting Coal Miner’s Daughter Rumble Fish With one of the richest back catalogs in the industry, Universal has kept up a steady stream of titles with newly mastered prints and previously unseen bonus materials. Kicking off their new “Legacy Series” are three films that can legitimately be called “classics” – The Deer Hunter, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Sting, all winners of multiple Academy Awards. Each two-disc set is handsomely packaged to resemble a hardbound novel with sepia-toned images in heavy cardboard cases that look impressive sitting on the shelves. Each has been digitally remastered for optimum picture quality and in some cases new Dolby 5.1 surround mixes, but all of this wouldn’t mean much if the films weren’t as great as they are. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch – the lawyer selected to defend a poor African-American laborer against a trumped-up rape and battery charge in a racially-divided Southern town, was a career-defining role that earned him the Oscar for Best Actor and became one of the most powerful statements of the civil rights movement. Seen through the eyes of his daughter “Scout” (Mary Badham), Mockingbird explored the subjects of prejudice and fear on several levels that were heartfelt and compassionate, thanks to director Robert Mulligan’s sensitive adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-winning novel. All of the actors are spot on, especially the three children and Brock Peters as the prisoner who although wrongly accused, never compromises his dignity, in or out of the courtroom. Bonus features include Peck’s Oscar acceptance speech and remarks after receiving the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, as well as a documentary produced by his daughter that explores his career in detail. The Deer Hunter brought the tragedies of the Vietnam War and the effect it had on an industrial community to the big screen and won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1978. Told basically in three parts, the film’s first hour takes us into the lives of a group of friends who toil by day as steelworkers in a small Pennsylvania town and spend their off hours at the local tavern, or hunting in the Alleghenies. Following an extended wedding sequence that most directors wouldn’t dare shoot these days, we’re abruptly tossed into the middle of the war where the main characters played by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage are taken prisoner and forced to play a deadly game of Russian roulette that forever changes their lives. The third act deals with the physical and emotional impact of the conflict on the soldiers returning home and on their friends and family. Bonus features are minimal and it’s unclear why the missing scenes and trailer were not included on the main disc. Nevertheless, it’s a powerful statement. Following the success of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Paul Newman and Robert Redford teamed up for another stellar buddy pic in The Sting and won the Oscar for Best Picture. Following the death of his mentor, Redford seeks a simple revenge, but Newman convinces him to get even by pulling an elaborate sting operation instead. With plenty of red herrings and plot twists, the boys succeed in not only fooling the mob, but the audience as well, as their ingenious schemes come to light. Disc 2’s bonus features include interviews with both Newman and Redford, a look at the making of the film and a tribute to director George Roy Hill. Although not part of the Legacy series, Coal Miner’s Daughter could also be considered a classic, 25 years following its initial release. Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for her depiction of country music star Loretta Lynn and led a strong cast, fleshed out by Tommy Lee Jones as her husband, Levon Helm as her father and Beverly D’Angelo as the late Patsy Cline. Based on Lynn’s best-selling autobiography, the movie chronicles her life as a poor Kentucky girl who marries at age 13 and thanks to her husband’s encouragement, becomes the “first lady of country music.” Jones discusses his role in the film with director Michael Apted, who also interviews Lynn about her memories of the film and the true-life tales that it was based upon. Rumble Fish can be thought of as a classic of sorts, with early performances by Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne and Tom Waits and was the second ‘gang’ film Francis Ford Coppola produced in 1982 (the first, The Outsiders, also featured Dillon, Lane and Waits). Shot in atmospheric black & white, Coppola uses shadows and light to great effect, occasionally tossing in symbolic splashes of color to represent hope and/or freedom from the lifestyle that the main characters find themselves a prisoner of. Dillon plays a young hoodlum who fronts a small gang once led by his brother, The Motorcycle Boy (Rourke) and because he’s not that bright, tries unsuccessfully to command the same degree of respect. When The Motorcycle Boy returns after a long absence, he tries to school his sibling in some of life’s lessons, but has his own demons to confront, along with a local policeman who’s determined to put him away once and for all. While thin on plot, Rumble Fish is more about visuals and mood and is most enjoyable if you aren’t looking for deeper meanings. Available on DVD for the first time, the pic also sports a nifty soundtrack written by Stewart Copeland and includes “Don’t Box Me In,” written and performed by Stan Ridgeway. If you haven’t seen some or all of these memorable works, now’s a great time to check them out in their all their newly restored glory. - David Bassin
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