Orson Welles's iconic film noir masterpiece in a ridiculously deluxe new edition, offering three versions of the film in both of its intended aspect ratios (1.37:1 and 1.85:1) for the first time anywhere in the world on Blu-ray.

Touch of Evil begins with one of the most brilliant sequences in the history of cinema; and ends with one of the most brilliant final scenes ever committed to celluloid. In between unfurls a picture whose moral, sexual, racial, and aesthetic attitudes remain so radical as to cross borders established not only in 1958, but in the present age also. Yet, Touch of Evil has taken many forms. The film as released in 1958 was certainly compromised from Orson Welles’ vision, but a brilliant and lengthy memo written by Welles to studio heads in 1957 – taking issue with a studio rough-cut – had some influence on a subsequent preview version shown to test audiences (and rediscovered in the mid-1970s) as well as the 1958 theatrical version. Forty years later, in 1998, Universal produced a reconstructed version of the film that takes into meticulous account the totality of Welles’ memo, and ostensibly represents the version of the film that most closely adheres to his original wishes.

Charlton Heston portrays Mike Vargas, the Mexican chief of narcotics who sets out to uncover the facts surrounding a car bomb that has killed a wealthy American businessman on the US side of the border. As Vargas investigates, his newly-wed wife Susie (Janet Leigh, two years before Hitchcock’s Psycho) is kidnapped by a gang out to exact vengeance for the prosecution of the brother of their leader (Akim Tamiroff). Meanwhile, Vargas’ enquiries become progressively more obfuscated by the American cop Hank Quinlan (played by Welles himself, in one of the most imposing and unforgettable screen performances of his career), a besotted incarnation of corruption who alternately conspires with Susie’s captors and seeks solace in the brothel of the Gypsy madame (Marlene Dietrich) who comforted him in bygone times.

Welles’ final studio-system picture has at last become secure in its status as one of the greatest films ever made. It remains a testament to the genius of Welles –– a film of Shakespearean richness, inexhaustible. The Masters of Cinema Series attempts to honour Welles with this special two-disc, Blu-ray only edition of Touch of Evil, with the film presented in six versions.

LIMITED EDITION 2 X BLU-RAY ONLY

• Six versions of Welles’ film: the 1998 reconstruction; the 1958 preview version rediscovered in the mid-1970s; and the 1958 theatrical version — each presented in both 1.85:1 and 1.37:1 aspect ratios
• English SDH subtitles on all versions
• A host of extras presented for the first time in the UK
• A lavish 80-PAGE illustrated book containing the words of Orson Welles, and much more

Three years after helping to achieve some of the most amazing imagery in cinema history with 2001: A Space Odyssey, special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull made an auspicious directorial debut at age 29 with the environmentally themed science fiction classic Silent Running.

In the distant future, plant life on our planet is extinct. Remaining specimens are cultivated in vast greenhouse-like domes orbiting in space. Bruce Dern stars as Freeman Lowell, dedicated botanist aboard the “Valley Forge”, awaiting the call to refoliate Earth – despite the scorn of his crewmates. When an order comes to instead destroy the domes and return home, Lowell takes matters into his own hands, beginning a long and lonely voyage into the unknown.

With its remarkable special effects (especially the robot drones Huey, Dewey, and Louie); glorious score (including songs performed by Joan Baez); memorable sound effects (created by Joseph Byrd from the cult band The United States of America); a screenplay co-written by Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues), and an impassioned central performance from Dern, Silent Running remains a uniquely contemplative and haunting adventure that continues to make hippies of young children, even today. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a new Blu-ray special edition to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary.

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY ONLY

• New high-definition master in its original aspect ratio
• A host of extras
• PLUS: A lavish booklet featuring rare production imagery, and more!

disc 1

• commentary (restored version) with charlton heston, janet leigh and producer rick schmidlin
• commentary (restored version) with producer rick schmidlin
• bringing evil to life featurette (20:59, 4:3)
• evil lost and found featurette (17:05, 4:3)
• theatrical trailer – (2:10, 4:3)

disc 2

• commentary (theatrical version) by critic f.x. Feeney
• commentary (preview version) with journalist jonathan rosenbaum and james naremore

Cinematic anthropologist extraordinaire Shōhei Imamura won his first Palme d’Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for The Ballad of Narayama [Narayama bushikō], his transcendent adaptation of two classic stories by Shichirō Fukazawa.

In a small village in a remote valley where the harshness of life dictates that survival overrules compassion, elderly widow Orin is approaching her 70th birthday – the age when village law says she must go up to the mythic Mount Narayama to die. But there are several loose ends within her own family to tie up first.

Creating a vividly realised inverse image of “civilised” society with typical directness and black humour, Imamura presents a bracingly unsentimental rumination on mortality and an engrossing study of a community’s struggles against the natural elements. Handled with a masterful control and simplicity, moving effortlessly between the comic and the horrific, The Ballad of Narayama is one of the legendary director’s deepest, richest works, and ranks among the finest films of its decade. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the film’s first UK home viewing release in a new Dual Format Blu-ray + DVD edition.

DUAL FORMAT RELEASE INCLUDING BLU-RAY AND DVD VERSIONS OF THE FILM

• New, restored high-definition transfer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Exclusive new video interview with scholar Tony Rayns
• Four original Japanese theatrical trailers, including behind-the-scenes footage
• PLUS: A lavish booklet featuring an interview with Shōhei Imamura, excerpts from the producer’s on-set diary, rare promotional material and stills, and more!

New, restored high-definition transfer
New and improved English subtitle translation
Exclusive new video interview with scholar Tony Rayns
Four original Japanese theatrical trailers, including behind-the-scenes footage
PLUS: A lavish booklet featuring an interview with Shōhei Imamura, excerpts from the producer's on-set diary, rare promotional material and stills, and more!