Casablanca (HD DVD)

Classic lines and a classic film are welcomed warmly as Warner Bros. releases Casablanca on HD DVD. This was my first time with this film and my first time ever seeing Bogart on screen and while I am well familiar with Bogart's persona as a classic gangster actor seeing him as the strong yet sensitive Rick is something you have to see, and a role not a lot of guys could have pulled off. Bogart, together with Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund and Paul Henreid as Victor Laszlo, is fantastic, but outside of those three I was especially impressed with Claude Rains as Captain Renault. Rains adds something almost indescribable to the feature. He is conniving, self-serving and ultimately commits a selfless act, all are very difficult traits to pull-off in terms of a character that has to wear so many hats in this picture. In my eyes Rains has just as hard a role to pull off convincingly as does Bogie.

On top of the acting it was fun to finally hear the classic lines as they were originally delivered, lines such as "Here's looking at you kid" and "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." However, I was waiting for "Play it again Sam," only to find out it is never said. In fact the line is, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!" Don't forget to tell your friends that one.

Originally released in 1942 the black-and-white classic lends itself well to the high definition format in almost all cases. The only noticeable issues occur in the especially dark scenes, most often in Rick's cafe. In these scenes the black levels just can't live up and I am not entirely sure digital restoration would help as much as would some major color correction. The scenes are extremely dark and seem to have a flicker to them. However, if WB could somehow correct this issue it would make this film damn near perfect. These dark scenes I mention are very important to the overall mood and emotion of the film and if you were able to watch them without any distraction it would add even that much more to a film that doesn't need much help.

As for special features this high definition edition repeats all the features found on the 2003 two disc edition and unfortunately I have not seen that edition so I can't compare the picture, but all the features are offered in standard definition. Here is a quick look at each:

Two Commentaries - Film critic Roger Ebert lends his voice to one commentary while WB film historian regular Rudy Behlmer lends his facts and trivia to the second commentary. Personally I have heard so much from Behlmer recently the Ebert track was welcomed. Plus, who doesn't like Ebert? The guy is so well respected in film circles it is very nice to get a personal listen to his opinion on this classic.

The Children Remember (6:45) - Humphrey Bogart's son, Stephen Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman's daughter, Pia Lindstrom, talk about Casablanca and what the film meant not only to their parents, but to the world of cinema.

Bacall on Bogart (1:23:21) - A documentary on Humphrey Bogart hosted by Lauren Bacall, and quite simply that is what it is. Personally I am not familiar enough with Bogart's work to get too into this, but anyone that likes Bogart is sure to find this doc good. From his early work balancing stage and screen to his break-out roles including The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca this is sure to attract the attention of Bogie fans.

You Must Remember This (34:36) - Here you have a historical look at the making of the film. You will hear from a variety of actors, historians, etc. on the making of the film and the odd production as the film was being written on the fly. It is quite interesting and lends additional support to what you heard in the commentaries.

Production Research - A look at some memos and production notes shuffled around during the production of Casablanca.

Additional Scenes (1:40) - A look at a few scenes that didn't make the final cut of the film and while audio isn't available subtitles are added to help out. The first scene finds Laszlo in jail visited by Rick and the second scene takes place in Rick's cafe and centers on a German officer guzzling down a drink. Nothing too special here.

Outtakes (4:58) - Like the additional scenes, the outtakes have no audio and in my opinion are worthless. I just don't care to watch something when I have no idea what is really going on.

1955 Television Adaptation (18:36) - Brought to you by Chesterfield cigarettes which are "smoother, cooler and best for you," this is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Casablanca. The short feature is hosted by Gig Young and is a cool look at how the past did a little extra promotion for their films. The short film adaptation of the feature film speeds up the story and isn't supposed to be better than the film as much as it is just a teaser. Oh and it adds a parrot to the mix.

Carrotblanca (8:02) - A Bugs Bunny animated spoof on the classic film with Bugs as Rick, Daffy Duck as Sam, Sylvester and his date as Victor and Ilsa and finally Pepe le Pew as Capt. Renault. I had never seen this before and it was actually pretty neat to watch. Although it is from 1995 and isn't using the original voices, which hurts it for someone like me that watched these cartoons as a kid. Oh well.

9 Score Stage Sessions (15:18) - You can listen in on some alternate, instrumental and outtake versions of the songs from the film including four different versions of "As Time Goes By." This is a feature for the Casablanca enthusiast that has fallen in love with the music because if you are like me you enjoy the music in context with the film, but outside of it you can do without.

Trailers - A look at the original trailer, the 1992 re-release trailer and a look at the Adventures of Robin Hood trailer starring Errol Flynn.

Resting firmly in the #2 position on AFI's Top 100 movies of all time to say that Casablanca is anything but timeless is silly and I am happy to now say I have seen it and have it as part of my film watcher's résumé. It was also fun to finally take in a Bogart performance, something I need to do more of after watching the Bogart documentary on this disc, something that will be even more fun once I have taken in more films.

As for making this a must purchase HD DVD I am not so sure, only if you already own the two-disc DVD. While I am sure the picture and Dolby Digital Plus audio are an improvement over the DVD edition I can't really say for sure. However, if you are an early adopter of HD DVD and without a copy of Casablanca I would say this is a worthy addition to most libraries. Then again, if you aren't a classic film fan and don't like black-and-white productions just skip it altogether.