Appropriately out in time for Black History Month in February, back on January 25th, Warner Home Video released the 1985 Steven Spielberg film The Color Purple to Blu-Ray for the first time.  The film is based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer prize-winning story, and was nominated for 11 Academy Awards.  The Blu-Ray exclusive includes a 40-page book with photos, production notes, and actor profiles.

 

The special features on the disc include the following:

 

• Conversations with the Ancestors: The Color Purple from Book to Screen

• A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple

• The Color Purple: The Musical

• Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple

• Behind-the-Scenes and Cast-Focused Featurette Galleries

• Theatrical Trailers

 

The Color Purple is known as both Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey’s first feature film (and both were Oscar nominated for their roles), as well as for winning none of it’s 11 Oscar noms and not even nominating Steven Spielberg for Best Director.  This is the second of two Best Picture nominees to have received this many noms without winning any awards (the other film was The Turning Point in 1977).  The Color Purple held another 11 wins and 8 nominations.

 

The Color Purple is 154 minutes and is rated 14A.

 

– Erin V.