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Monday
02Nov2009

'Hurt Locker' on DVD and Blu-ray January 12th

DateMonday, November 2, 2009 at 4:14PM
It's entirely possible Summit really has this figured out, but I would've pushed the DVD and Blu-ray for The Hurt Locker into stores a little earlier than January 12th (I'd actually do it next week, in honor of Veteran's Day). We've got the new Blu-ray artwork from DVD Active, which also contains a print ad for the trade publications showing how they beat the awards deadlines.

Again, there might be very legitimate reasons to wait until after Christmas - the clogged marketplace for home video titles being the most obvious - but I can't think of a film with a better reputation that can also be assisted more by an earlier DVD release. Why? Those pesky movie critics, that's why. A lot of us tend to forget movies that come out earlier in the year when the top ten lists are being formulated. Maybe "forget" is not as accurate as "fail to revisit," but in any case, part of the reason so many movies at the end of the year are on all those Ten Best lists is because they're the most recent things to wow critics.

That leaves films like The Hurt Locker just a fond memory, especially after it's been five months or more since we've seen it. But we're not talking about one of 30 or 40 small films that got good reviews; this is a legitimate Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay nominee, one of only a few to hit in all of those categories.

Here's the new artwork and the ad:


Click to Enlarge

Over the past couple of years, I've noticed that some of the soon-to-be-released DVDs are sent out in lieu of screeners, which actually works better because you don't have the "For Your Consideration" or "Property of Magnum Opus Pictures" text or whatever over the letterbox. That could be the case here, where critics get the film in its commercial form a month or six weeks before the street date, although I can't think of a specific movie that had Oscar odds this good that fits that description. But it would still help, I think, to have the film on the shelves prior to the Tuesday before the Golden Globes.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

I'm disappointed on the wait through the holidays and agree with the author at the value of a holiday-time release to help bolster the film's argument that it should not be forgotten come award recognition time.

I'll buy it on Blu-Ray for my theater, and SD for my laptops.

Monday, November 2, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterJon

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