Gone with the Wind: Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Edition is not the first time David 0. Selznick's classic has been remastered, but with the 70th Anniversary and advent of the HD-era technology, it was time for an upgrade. Rather than simply cleaning up the stock, Warner Brothers went through and re-mastered everything, including rescanning the entire film for both DVD and Blu-ray (edition not reviewed). Gone with the Wind was already a beautiful movie, but now it looks better than ever.
Based on Margret Mitchell's novel of the same name, Gone with the Wind follows the rocky romance between Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable). Scarlett is a greedy, selfish Southern Belle with an eye for Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). However, Ashley is engaged to her cousin, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), prompting Scarlett to surround herself with eligible bachelors at a barbecue in an effort to make Ashley jealous. Things don't go as planned and even after Ashley confesses his love for Scarlett, he still marries Melanie. Cue Rhett, who after dodging a vase heaved by Scarlett in a fit of rage, decides to pursue Scarlett because of her "fire," thus kicking off a nearly four-hour epic following their on-again, off-again courtship through the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction.
While the main story is very much Scarlett's, Gone with the Wind manages to remain high on multiple "Top Ten" lists for more than just the romance angle. There are the sweeping shots of the Civil War, including the burning of Atlanta (still one of the more breath-taking shots in cinema), epic-scale set pieces like Tara and Twelve Oaks Plantations and, more importantly, the very human relationships between characters. Love, jealously, rage, lust, revenge... this is melodrama at its very best and its got a cast to make sure everything runs perfectly. In addition to the primary talent, Gone with the Wind sports masterful performances from Thomas Mitchell, Butterfly McQueen and Hattie McDaniel, in a role that won her an Academy Award (the first awarded to an African-American).
The only thing missing from the 2-disc set is extras. The feature is split between both discs and joined only by commentary from film historian Rudy Behlmer. The commentary is really good, though only if you have a high threshold for academic commentary. It is, however, loaded with interesting facts and other details, so its worth listening too if you've seen the movie countless times already. A special "Ultimate Collector's Edition" is also being released, which features more extras spread across five discs, as well as a Blu-ray edition. Though a major letdown, the leaner 2-disc version does offer viewers who are only interested in seeing the re-mastered cut a cheaper option. However, regardless of version, Gone with the Wind is a film that should have a spot in any film buff's collection.
