I really hope they release this film on blu ray soon, it's one of Altman's best and is totally deserving of a Hi Def release. I sure hope it's not held up due to the music rights like Heavy Metal was for so many years.
I believe I read somewhere that the DVD sold poorly and thus Criterion isn't considering a Blu-Ray release. Here's hoping that someone (anyone) puts it out. I don't even require special features, though it would be preferable. You're right, it's one of Altman's finest efforts and one of the best films of the 1990s.
Speaking of possible special features, I remember reading somewhere that there was actually a whole documentary shot about the making of Short Cuts that's nowhere to be found. Anybody know anything about this? If that were to be included in the package, it'd certainly be worth the money.
Which documentary are you talking about? The original Criterion DVD set from 2004, and now the blu-ray edition, includes a feature-length doc called Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country. It's about the making of the film, with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage, shot in 1992-93. I recall watching it when I got the set and finding it quite excellent, along with the other extras. All it's missing to my mind is a commentary from Altman himself, which is a shame because he recorded a lot of them from the late 90s til his death. They also could have ported over the audio commentary with Pauline Kael from the old laserdisc, which sounds very intriguing to me (she didn't like the movie much, but Kael's always interesting to listen to/read).
Yup, that's the one; not sure why I thought it's some kind of lost item. I'm still watching the VHS tape recorded from TV over 10 years ago... time to upgrade, I guess.
I doubt any illegal version of this film you'd find online would be in the wrong AR, unless for some reason it was ripped from an old non-widescreen VHS tape. Otherwise, 9.99 times out of 10 if you look for this film to watch online it should be the correct 2.35:1 ratio from the 2004 Criterion DVD, or (in the future) the 2.35:1 Criterion blu.
There's an HD version that is 1:78:1. I think it's some HDtvrip, maybe just upscaled. And there's the criterion dvd with the right ratio, so no HD version with correct ratio yet.
Oh, that's unfortunate. I wouldn't expect to see this film chopped up on the internet. Nothing is worse than a beautiful 'Scope film presented in the wrong ratio.