Why So Blu?

“Taxi Driver” Picks You Up On Blu-ray April 5th

Oh yes, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is finally bringing Taxi Driver to the Blu-ray format this April!  Taxi Driver is considered one of the best character studies and even one of the best films of all time.  What will truly separate this release from all the others that have come before is that SPHE has gone to the source and restored the film in 4K from the original camera negative.  In addition to the restoration this version of Taxi Driver will also be fully loaded with special features including the Scorsese/Schrader audio commentary that has only ever been available on the laserdisc edition.  It will truly be a sight for sore eyes when Taxi Driver hits the shelves on Blu-ray April 5th.  “You looking at me?”

Culver City, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2011) – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Oscar winner® Martin Scorsese’s (Best Director, The Departed, 2006) classic of modern cinema, Taxi Driver, on April 5, 2011–for the first time on Blu-ray Disc–in celebration of the landmark film’s 35th anniversary. This powerful, angst-ridden urban drama was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Score (1976) and features Oscar-favorites Robert De Niro (Raging Bull, Goodfellas) and Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs, The Accused) in career-defining performances.

De Niro plays the legendary Travis Bickle, a traumatized Vietnam War veteran who takes a job as a night-time Taxi Driver in New York City. When he encounters a 12-year-old prostitute named Iris, played by then-13-year-old Foster, Travis sets forth to rescue her from an exploitive pimp, played by Oscar-nominee Harvey Keitel (Best Supporting Actor, Bugsy, 1991). The film also features Cybill Shepherd (The Last Picture Show, Moonlighting).

The Taxi Driver 35th Anniversary Edition has been newly remastered following an extensive 4K digital restoration from the original camera negative, approved by cinematographer Michael Chapman and director Martin Scorsese. The film arrives on Blu-ray packed with bonus material, including an all-new interactive “Script to Screen” feature, MovieIQ+Sync, and Martin Scorsese’s original 1986 commentary with Paul Schrader, as well as documentaries and animated photo galleries. The Taxi Driver 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.95.

BLU-RAY FEATURES INCLUDE:

• Interactive “Script to Screen” feature, exclusive to Blu-ray. Explore the Taxi Driver script like never before in this interactive experience. The script will automatically scroll as the film plays so you can read along and discover the stage direction notes along with differences from the original script to the finished film.

• Original 1986 Commentary with Director Martin Scorsese and Writer Paul Schrader recored by The Criterion Collection

• “Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver” featurette

• “Producing Taxi Driver,” a behind-the-scenes featurette

• “Influence and Appreciation” – Robert De Niro, Oliver Stone, Roger Corman and others pay tribute to Scorsese and the film in this video homage

• “God’s Lonely Man” – a documentary featuring screenwriter Paul Schrader and Professor Robert Kolker discussing the loneliness themes as seen in the film. Schrader also talks about what circumstances lead to writing the screenplay

• “Travis’ New York Locations” – a contemporary, video visit to the film’s famous locations in New York City, comparing them to the same locations used in 1975

• Video bonus: “Storyboard to Film Comparisons,” with a Martin Scorsese Introduction

• Commentaries by writer Paul Schrader and professor Robert Kolker, discussing the film scene-by-scene

• “Taxi Driver Stories” featurette—taxi tales as told by real life New York city cab drivers

• “Making Of Taxi Driver” Documentary

• Animated Photo Galleries that include photo montages featuring the film’s music score, location shots taken during filming and Martin Scorsese at work

• The Taxi Driver 35th anniversary edition also features movieIQ+sync, which gives you the full movieIQ experience on your computer or iPhone by linking to your Blu-ray Disc. Once connected, movieIQ+sync will display all of the great information movieIQ offers on your computer screen or iPhone instead of onscreen, all while staying synchronized to the movie!

• Trailers

Synopsis: Taxi Driver

At 26, Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (De Niro) is slipping slowly into isolation and violence on the streets of New York City. Trying to solve his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the people who hang out at night: “Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets.” His touching attempts to woo Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a Senator’s campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) to desert her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel), and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a “lone crazed gunman.”

Taxi Driver 35th Anniversary Blu-ray Disc has a runtime of 114 minutes and is rated R.

Pre-Order Taxi Driver on Blu-ray!