Disc News: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid and Dragnet Finally Get Rereleased

Disc Announcements, News

Universal Pictures has lifted the moratorium on two of its classic comedies, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and Dragnet. While both can be found in comedy sets for Steve Martin and Tom Hanks, the individual releases have been OOP. You will be able to own both on October 5th.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid is a Steven Martin pastiche homage to the great crime movies of the forties and fifties. Like Woody Allen’s What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, the movie incorporates footage from classic movies with original footage starring Martin and Rachel Ward, and like the great Steve Martin movies from the beginning of his career, it’s highly absurd and highly funny. Dragnet is an homage and quasi-parody of the classic Jack Webb television show. It stars Dan Aykroyd and a pre-Forest Gump Tom Hanks. Aykroyd plays the nephew of the original Joe Friday and Hanks plays his unorthodox, often times frustrating partner Pep Streebek. The two investigate a series of missing persons which leads them to corrupt politicians and religious officials.

Bonus features for Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and Dragnet are production notes, cast and filmmaker notes, and the theatrical trailer.

The Pulse: I’m definitely happy about Dragnet getting a rerelease, but I’m particularly excited about Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid. I love Steve Martin’s early movies, and this one doesn’t seem to get the attention I think it deserves. The integration of the scenes with the new are almost seamless and the entire movie is just plain hilarious. Needless to say, it’s going on the “Cool Stuff for Josh” buy list.