The first disc features a "Restoration Demonstration" as Martin Scorsese takes us briefly through the process of restoring The Red Shoes and just how challenging it was to do. He shows a clip from the damaged original and how it was restored digitally. The restorers did an amazing job on this film and the proof is in the final results.
There is an audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie and interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese. The veteran director talks about the use of colour and how it drew him to the film. Cardiff talks about how he got involved. Initially, he hated the ballet but soon grew to love it. Goring talks about the blend of fairy tale and reality in the film. Unlike Cardiff, Easdale was a long-time fan of the ballet and speaks of the origins of the music. Shearer says that she took some convincing because she was enjoying a successful run as a dancer and found the film's script dreadful. This is an excellent track that covers all aspects of The Red Shoes.
"The Red Shoes Novel" features actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from the 1978 novelization of the film as you're watching it. He has a great voice which really enhances the prose.
Also included is a theatrical trailer.
The second disc starts off with "Profile of The Red Shoes," a 25-minute retrospective documentary. It starts off giving some background to the genesis of the film and takes us through its production with surviving crew members sharing their memories and relatives of those who died recounting stories as well. This is an excellent look at how The Red Shoes was made.
Legendary film editor Thelma Schoonmaker is interviewed at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. She had been married to Michael Powell from 1984 until his death in 1990. She talks about the film's restoration and also comments on what the film means to her. She speaks quite eloquently and very knowledgeably.
Also included are six stills galleries covering the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes in London, Paris and Monte Carlo, deleted scenes, and production and costume designs.
"Scorsese's Memorabilia" is a gallery of items from the filmmaker's personal collection. It's quite impressive with things like the red ballet shoes worn by Shearer in the film, and posters and lobby cards from various countries.
Finally, there is "The Red Shoes Sketches," a collection of production designer Hein Heckroth's original colour storyboards animated and set to Brian Easdale's score. You can view them on their own or as a side-by-side comparison to The Red Shoes ballet as seen in the film with an optional audio track of Jeremy Irons reading excerpts of the original Hans Christian Andersen story.
Faulty Disc 2 - Wally Fay - New York City
The film itself (Disc 1) is wonderfully restored & all the extras on Disc 1
are interesting. However, on Disc 2 the documentary on the making of "The Red Shoes" could not be accessed on my DVD player, only on my computer. All the
other features could be accessed.I returned it to Amazon & they promptly sent me a replacement. Unfortunately,the problem still exists. Beware this flaw.
Confused - John R. Sherman, Jr. - North Adams, MA USA
I ordered this from Barnes and Noble and the set is one disc on Blu-ray. It will not start to play easily. Is there a 2 disc set? Once I got it going, it proved to be best of VHS and the earlier Criterion.
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