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While scouring my RSS feed, I spotted this article title: “Robert Redford has mixed feelings about Blu-ray.” I immediately wondered what the issue could be. Would any director have problems with crisp, high-def transfers? I’ve never thought of Redford as a filmmaker whose work thrives in mono-sound, with visual grittiness best suited to old-school VHS and DVD. Reading through the article at USA Today, however, as Redford talked about The Natural](The Natural (1984) - Movie | Moviefone) hitting Blu-ray, he said: “I’m just a purist. I know it is fascinating to people, but I never ascribed that you should have a documentary about the making of a film.”
The director is referring to the special features on the disc, from the MovieIQ+sync that plays like Pop-Up Video during the feature, to behind-the-scenes extras. In Redford’s eyes: “Films were meant to be a kind of magic that transports you somewhere else because you can imagine on your own and not have everything spelled out about this trick and this explosion. I would be just fine with none of that.” He later adds, while talking of Avatar, IMAX, and technological achievements: “I think technology is driving things to the point where it is beginning to dictate the spirit of something. … But I think a good story well told will always be the name of the game.”
Continue reading Do Special Features Take the Cinematic Magic Away?