Release Date: Sept. 9
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writers: Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson
Cinematographer: ?Conrad Hall
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Harry Dean Stanton, Strother Martin?
Studio/Run Time: ?Warner Home Video, 126 mins.
Newman has aged well
Stuart Rosenberg’s 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke has left a heavy footprint in our pop-culture conscience. A sampling of its many iconic moments includes Boss Godfrey’s mirrored aviators, the hardboiled-egg-eating contest and Strother Martin drawling, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Newly remastered on DVD and Blu-ray, this deluxe edition features a “making-of” documentary and audio commentary from writer Eric Lax. But it’s Paul Newman’s exhilaratingly understated performance as the existential title character that anchors the film. Unlike Brando or Redford, Newman was a master at softening his masculinity without sacrificing virility. His anti-authoritarianism quietly burns as he first spars then bonds with his fellow prison-camp inmates, all the while planning his escape. Forty years later, Cool Hand Luke feels as fresh and vibrant as it did in the turbulent era of its initial release.