Pearl Harbor

It has been a week of big announcements and today is no exception. In a press release that I know will have many, but sadly not I, salivating, Touchstone Home Video, via Buena Vista, have announced the release of three DVD editions of the summer’s biggest movie, Pearl Harbor. I’ll assume everyone knows the plot details of Michael (The Rock) Bay’s movie and so will cut straight to the disc details.

The first edition will be a two-disc set and will be released on the 4th of December, retailing at $29.99. Pearl Harbor: 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition will contain the following features:

• 2.35:1 widescreen transfer (no doubt anamorphic, but after this week I am not taking anything for granted)
• THX certified DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound
• An introduction by Michael Bay
• A documentary on the real attack on Pearl Harbor and the day’s unsung heroes
• A documentary on the real life Pearl Harbor veterans and their return to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial for the film’s premiere
• Cast interviews
• Faith Hill "There You’ll Be” music video

This two-disc set will also be available in a 60th Anniversary Commemorative Gift Set that also comes with the 53-minute National Geographic Beyond The Movie: Pearl Harbor special, which compares the script, characters and footage from the movie with the real events, stories, heroes and places of Pearl Harbor. The special features movie clips, interviews with the stars and their real-life counterparts, filmmakers, historians and others. The set also includes a “National Geographic 60th Anniversary Commemorative map,” one side of which provides an overview of the events at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the other an authentic replica of a world map from this time period, displaying political boundaries. This gift set, also released on the 4th of December, will have a retail price of $49.99.

Then, a month later on the 15th of January, Pearl Harbor will be released in the VISTA series. This edition will contain three-discs featuring all the extras from the 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition along with the director’s cut of the movie. The VISTA edition will also contain audio commentaries, making-of featurettes, timelines and a Pearl Harbor memorial art gallery. This set will retail at $39.99.