Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump
Robin Wright Penn as Jenny Curran
Gary Sinise as Lt. Dan Taylor
Mykelti Williamson as Pvt. Benjamin Buford ‘Bubba’ Blue
Sally Field as Mrs. Gump
Rebecca Williams as Nurse at Park Bench
Michael Conner Humphreys as Young Forrest Gump
Harold G. Herthum as Doctor
Special Features:
Disc 1
Commentary with Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Rick Carter
Commentary by Wendy Finerman
Musical Signposts to History
Disc 2
Greenbow Diary
The Art Of Screenplay Adaptation
Getting Past Impossible: Forrest Gump And The Visual Effects Revolution
Little Forrest
An Evening With Forrest Gump
The Magic Of Makeup
Through The Ears Of Forrest Gump – Sound Design
Building the World Of Gump – Production Design
Seeing Is believing – The Visual Effects
Screen Tests
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
DTS-HD MA 5.1
Spanish and French Languages
Spanish, French, Portuguese Subtitles
Running Time: 141 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Experience ‘Forrest Gump’ in stunning high definition for the first time, accompanied by over two hours of dynamic new bonus features. Tom Hanks gives an astonishing performance as Forrest, an everyman whose simple innocence comes to embody a generation. Alongside his mamma (Sally Field), his best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) and his favorite girl Jenny (Robin Wright), Forrest has a ringside seat for the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), and Best Actor (Tom Hanks), ‘Forrest Gump’ remains one of the great movie triumphs of all time.”
“Forrest Gump” is rated PG-13 for drug content, some sensuality and war violence.
Mini-Review:
The modern classic “Forrest Gump” finally gets the Blu-ray treatment. Since you already know the story and that it looks and sounds great on Blu-ray, I’ll focus on the new bonus features included in the set.
“Greenbow Diary” is a featurette showing visits to the numerous sets in South Carolina. The southern location doubled as Vietnam, China, and Gump’s hometown. We get to see several scenes filmed and vintage footage of the making of the movie. It’s like getting to visit the set while the movie was being made. You get to hear candid conversations, see the crew working, and more.
“The Art of Screenplay Adaptation” is a retrospective showing screenwriter Eli Roth, author Winston Groom, and others discussing bringing the novel to the big screen. They discuss the long journey it took, the necessary changes from the book, the differences between writing for novels and films, and more. This is required viewing for any aspiring screenwriter. It’s also interesting to hear how the book was different. It featured Gump meeting Raquel Welch in a remake of “Creature From the Black Lagoon,” Gump befriending an orangutan from Vietnam, Jenny marrying another man, and more.
“Getting Past Impossible: Forrest Gump And The Visual Effects Revolution” discusses all the effects challenges that the movie presented. “Forrest Gump” was right there on the edge of the digital FX revolution, so a lot of what they accomplished wasn’t as simple as it seems now. Fans of “Star Wars” will recognize a lot of ILM folks in this featurette including John Knoll, Ken Ralston, and Doug Chiang.
“Little Forrest” discusses the casting of the unknown actor who played young Forrest Gump. It also shows Michael Conner Humphreys now as an adult. They talk about how Humphrey’s real accent actually drove the signature accent Hanks used as Gump. It’s interesting to see what an influence the young boy had on the character.
“An Evening With Forrest Gump” shows Sinise, Hanks, Zemeckis, and Roth attending a Q&A at USC after a screening of the film. It’s about an hour long and it puts you in the middle of the discussion with these fellows. Rounding out the new bonus features is “Musical Signposts to History.”
This ends up being a very nice Blu-ray presentation and a great addition to the collections of Gump fans everywhere.
