Yesterday I received from Amazon.com my Christmas present from my sister the movie Casablanca on Blu-ray high definition DVD. After the "National Championship" college football game our son and I did a comparison between the new Blu-ray and the restored regular DVD copy of the movie. The movie is in black and white and both copy's give a very good picture but the Blu-ray gives a clearer picture with more depth in large group shots such as inside Rick's Cafe American. I stayed up till almost midnight watching the movie with Roger Ebert's commentary track. I final left our son in the movie room watching the rest of the movie because today is a working day. The movie still has it after all these years. I stayed up through the scene in Rick's Cafe where the French expatriates from German occupied France sing the French Nation Anthem, "La Marseillaise," much to the consternation of the German Nazis in the night club. I never tire of watching that scene or any number of other scenes in the movie. I can almost recite much of the dialogue with the actors. To think for many years we had to watch the cloudy grainy copy's of the movie on broadcast TV in the 1960's and 1970's. Even the VHS copy's of the movie were not very good. I love the movie and thanks to my sister for a perfect present. The following is the Amazon.com description of the Blu-ray edition:
Amazon.com essential video
A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if you're wanted by the Nazis. Such a man is Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one - especially Victor's wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's transport out of the country and bitter Rick must decide what counts more - personal happiness or countless lives hanging in the balance.
Winner of three Academy Awards including Best Picture, the Casablanca Ultimate Collector's Edition marks nearly 70 years as a beloved favorite with many bonuses that no matter how often you've viewed the film itself - this gift set provides a most compelling reason to foster a whole new beginning of our continuing friendship with this unforgettable classic.
Included in this very special edition of Hollywood's most unforgettable classic is a bonus disc of the featurette "Jack Warner: The Last Mogul" - a rare glimpse into the public and private life of oneof the most respected names in the entertainment industry.
Amazon.com's price for the movie is much less than the advertised price listed above.
