The Natural (Director's Cut) (DVD)

I feel somewhat unqualified to review this DVD, primarily since I have not seen The Natural for many, many years. This is not because I don’t like this movie; as a matter of fact I think this might be the best sports movie ever. Of course there are several other great sport films, I just reviewed the Rocky Balboa DVD and I would say Rocky fits right in that list of sports films. But when it comes to The Natural who doesn’t love this movie?

Considering I haven’t seen this movie in so long it makes it hard for me to see any difference in this movie compared to the original, but I can say I didn’t notice anything. However, I can tell you what you are in for. There is an introduction to the cut by director Barry Levinson in which he goes over his process and the fact that he actually played a major role in the cut, which is something you don’t get most often so it was encouraging. He will tell you that there is almost 20 minutes of new footage, but actually this only translates to an additional six minutes in length added to the film. Levinson actually cut out some of the original film for pacing purposes when adding the new footage. But, like I said, there wasn’t anything noticeable to me and since there isn’t a commentary there is no way to really tell you what is new and what isn’t.

However, this two-disc set is about more than just the new cut of the film, it also includes a new set of special features, all of which are perfectly paced and timed out that they never wear on you and are easy to watch in one sitting.

There is an “Extra Innings” feature that talks about a few interesting and unique tidbits including the use of slow-motion in the film (more interesting than it sounds), the uniform colors (again, more interesting) and a few others. It may sound boring, but the clips are short and a couple of cool pieces on movie magic. The big making-of featurette is “When Lightning Strikes” and it goes into the whole story from book, to script, to screen. There are three other featurettes of this style, one of which, “The Heart of The Natural,” which is actually more about Cal Ripken Jr. than the movie. Of the group you can probably skip this last one unless you are a Ripken fan.

Overall, I would say this is the one to buy, especially since I couldn’t find any plot points missing and if you don’t already own it why not buy the version that comes with a second disc of features and has been re-mastered in high definition? One way or another, if you are a sports fan, or a fan of good movies in general, this is a film that should be in your collection. So get on it!