On February 15th, MGM Home Entertainment released three previous Academy Award honoured classics on Blu-ray for the first time.  The very diverse selections include Rain Man, Moonstruck and Last Tango in Paris.  This announcement comes just in time for Oscar-weekend viewing.

Rain Man: When the self-centered Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) meets his estranged autistic brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), they are both taken down a road of self-discovery that ultimately becomes a profound look at the inseparable bond between family.  Nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1988 and winning four including Best Picture,  Rain Man remains one of my personal favourites, and one of the best movies ever made about autism.

The Blu-ray includes commentary tracks with director Barry Levinson, writer Barry Morrow, and writer Ronald Bass, two featurettes and a deleted scene.

Rain Man is 134 minutes and rated PG.

Moonstruck: In this wonderful and classic romance, Cher stars as a superstitious Brooklyn widow who plans to get married again, only to unexpectedly fall in love with her fiance’s estranged brother, Ronny (Nicholas Cage). Moonstruck was nominated for six Academy Awards in 1987 including Best Picture, and it was deservedly honoured with three wins including John Patrick Shanley’s screenplay and a Best Actress nod for Cher.

The Blu-ray includes a commentary track with Cher, Shanley and director Norman Jewison, a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary and a featurette on the music of the film.

Moonstruck is 102 minutes and rated PG.

Last Tango in Paris: Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris shows us two tortured people (Marlon Brando & Maria Schneider) who remain nameless over the course of a Parisian affair where they use each other only to satisfy their purely physical sexual desires.  When it was released in 1973, the extremely controversial film was surprisingly only honoured with Oscar nominations for Brando and director Bertolucci, but it ultimately didn’t win.

The Blu-ray includes the uncut and uncensored version of the film, but no bonus features.

Last Tango in Paris is 129 minutes and rated 18A.

-John C.