Mario Puzo captured America’s desire to know more about the underworld with The Godfather. Even after the major motion pictures, Puzo had more tales about the birthplace of the Mafia. The Sicilian was his response. The book did well. When it came time for the movie, Michael Cimino was brought on in his post Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate career. Now this epic tale from the land of rectangular pizza is coming to Blu-ray. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
THE SICILIAN TO BE RELEASED ON BLU-RAY
BY SHOUT! FACTORY ON MARCH 29
“…this is one of Cimino’s best films, with a fine sense of spectacle and landscape…”
– Chicago Reader
Los Angeles, CA – The Director’s Cut of The Sicilian bows on Blu-ray on March 29, 2016, Shout! Factory has announced.
From Mario Puzo, the best-selling author of The Godfather, comes the riveting saga of the life, loves and dreams of the infamous Sicilian bandit, Salvatore Giuliano. Directed by the Academy Award®-winning* director of The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino, this epic motion picture stars Christopher Lambert (Highlander) in the most powerful performance of his career.
World War II is finally over, and a war-torn world is at rest. But for the island of Sicily, whose inhabitants dream of independence from Rome’s oppressive, ironhanded regime, the struggle has just begun. Three powers have always ruled the island – the Church, the landowners and the Mafia – until Salvatore Giuliano pronounced himself the fourth.
Determined that Sicily shall gain its freedom, Giuliano and his “brothers” rob and ransom the rich, cold-bloodedly murdering all who dare to defy or betray them. As Giuliano proudly redistributes his newfound wealth among the peasants, Don Masino, the head of the Sicilian Mafia, declares that Giuliano must be stopped – at any cost. Now it’s a fight for survival, as the bloodiest manhunt in Italian history sweeps the countryside of the notorious outlaw, Giuliano.