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Apr 10, 2009 Web Exclusive By Nick Hyman

No Country for Old Men Blu-ray/3-Disc Collector’s Edition (Miramax)

Joel and Ethan Coen had been in a tremendous slump before the release of this 2007 Best Picture Oscar winner. After the limp remake of The Ladykillers and the insufferable Intolerable Cruelty, the Coens finally found the right source material in Cormac McCarthy’s modern genre classic and made arguably their best film since Fargo. In No Country, the three main characters, a sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones), a cowboy (Josh Brolin), and a killer (Javier Bardem), do physical and emotional battle with each other in 1980s Texas. Elegantly made, the film is riveting, thought-provoking, and has held up brilliantly.

This new double-dip edition is worth the wait, although the Coens have once again declined to do an audio commentary. Fortunately, you have a couple of making-of docs that showcase the brothers and their natural-born storytelling talent with some great on-set footage of them directing a few scenes. Josh Brolin (prolly smoking with co-star Woody Harrelson) provides his own unauthorized behind-the-scenes that’s incomprehensible, to say the least.

Most interesting is the interactive press timeline that includes local news interviews, a Charlie Rose interview, two NPR interviews, The Treatment radio interview, and a cool Spike Jonze Q&A. The Q&A, which features the Coens, frequent collaborator cinematographer Roger Deakins, and the sound team, is perhaps the most in-depth examination of the Coens’ process that we’ve seen this guarded team participate in. There are literally hours of material here (some of which is redundant), but you’ll no doubt find several treasures. (www.miramax.com)

Author rating: 8/10