To Kill a Mockingbird (Legacy Series Edition) (DVD)

One of the reasons I love Special Editions is the fact that old school flicks such as this get the grand treatment they deserve and then I get to see them in their very best presentation. Now I am saying this after just watching To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time, and let me tell you - I was floored. This film captures the essence of everything that makes movies good, not to mention one of the greatest actors ever in Gregory Peck.

I had kept myself blissfully unaware of the storyline (yeah, I didn't read it in high school) for this feature and allowed the twists and turns to unfold before my very eyes. Watching this film for the first time on DVD was indeed a special treat as Universal Legacy Series DVDs certainly added to the viewing pleasure.

Presented with a brand new digital restoration of sound and video To Kill a Mockingbird simply sparkles as Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch, AFI's #1 hero of all time, in a story that speaks of values, family, trust and innocence in a way few films now days do. On top of that this film has a fantastic score considering it was made in 1962, that is to say the music is so complex it is far ahead of its time, and just after I watched it, AFI released their top 25 film scores of all time and go figure, there was Elmer Bernstein right there at number 17 with To Kill a Mockingbird. Trust me, it is that good.

After watching this DVD and its special features you will see that to talk about To Kill a Mockingbird is to talk about Gregory Peck himself as he is constantly compared and equaled to his character of Atticus Finch, even Mary Badham (the actress who played Finch's young daughter Scout) reiterates the point in her own featurette, "Scout Remembers," on the first disc and goes on to say that "it's difficult to separate the man from the character." As odd as that may seem, after watching the rest of the features you will begin to believe it yourself.

Documentaries rule this special edition as Barbara Kopple directs "A Conversation with Gregory Peck," a documentary produced by Peck's daughter Cecilia that lets you into Peck's personal life and offers up the opinions of many on how he touched so many lives. Peck seemed to have been a genuinely good guy and these features prove it as the making-of documentary, also on disc two, really only focuses on Peck even when discussing every other aspect of the filmmaking process.

Disc one also contains Gregory Peck's Academy Award acceptance speech after he won Best Actor for To Kill a Mockingbird and then his acceptance speech after receiving the 1989 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in which the most memorable comments he made boil down to his request to Hollywood to make better films with less flash and more emotion and social values. Finally there is a feature commentary with director Robert Mulligan and producer Alan Pakula.

Rounding out this two-disc special edition is something MGM's special edition of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly came with, something I personally love, a collection of 11 reproductions of the theatrical poster for the film from several different countries, it is truly a treat.

This special edition is exactly what To Kill a Mockingbird needed and deserved as I am sure Universal Home Video wanted to kick off their Legacy Series DVDs with a bang. It captures everything necessary for the major fans along with presenting the best copy of the film yet.