While Robert Altman is considered an icon of American cinema, there’s way too many of his films are still not on DVD. Thankfully Streamers will get its shiny disc debut at the start of 2010. The film lets you see Matthew Modine’s first time as a military recruit before his classic performance in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
A Film by Academy Award® Winner Robert Altman
Available for the first time on DVD, Bonus Content includes
All-New Interviews with Matthew Modine, Bruce Davison, George Dzundza, and the cast from the film and stage play
The late Academy Award® winner Robert Altman was one of the most celebrated and influential filmmakers in history. He’s best recognized for his cinematic sensibility and unique style of storytelling that often parlayed with large diverse casts, open-ended narratives and multiple interwoven storylines as seen in The Player, Short Cuts and Gosford Park. One of Altman’s long forgotten early film works, Streamers, took the opposite approach, focusing on the uneasy melodrama of four raw Army recruits waiting to be sent overseas for combat as they deal with their internal conflicts over class, race, and sexuality intertwine and collide in a shocking, unexpected denouement.
Starring Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, Weeds), Mitchell Lichtenstein, Michael Wright (Oz), George Dzundza (Crimson Tide), Guy Boyd (Black Scorpion) and David Alan Grier (Life with Bonnie) in his first onscreen role, this acclaimed and topical 1983 Altman film was made before the controversial “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy towards gays in the military. Adapted from David Rabe’s Tony Award winning Broadway play of the same name and featuring powerhouse performances from its central cast members, Streamers carries as much emotional weight and impact as it did over 25 years ago.
On January 19, 2010, Shout! Factory will honor Robert Altman with the long-awaited DVD release of Streamers. Available for the first time on DVD, this title boasts special retrospective interviews with the cast members Matthew Modine, Mitchell Lichtenstein and George Dzundza from the film; and Herbert Jefferson and Bruce Davidson from the stage play. A must-own for Altman fans and film/ DVD enthusiasts to complete their film library, Streamers is priced to own at $19.99.
Streamers was directed by Robert Altman; screenplay by David Rabe; produced by Robert Altman and Nick J. Mileti. The complete Streamers cast won an unprecedented six Golden Lions for Best Actor when the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1983.
Pre-order it today at Amazon.com.
