The tenth anniversary of the popular prison drama The Shawshank Redemption sees a deluxe DVD edition of the film hitting stores for the first time. The movie's image is presented in a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a commentary from writer/director Frank Darabont, a making-of documentary, and a second documentary explaining how the film has attained such a high level of popularity, seeing as it was not exactly a blockbuster when it initially played in theaters. A Charlie Rose interview with Darabont and stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, the movie's trailer, and a spoof of the film featuring sharks round out this first-rate release from Warner Bros.

Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is back in action on director John Carpenter's action flick Escape From L.A. Paramount's work on this non-anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is decent, though not as good as it should have been. While the colors and black levels all appear fairly solid and dark, overall, there is a softness in the image that tends to be distracting when the film is playing. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English, as well as Dolby 2.0 Surround in French and English. This mix is very bombastic and bass heavy, featuring a multitude of directional effects in both the front and rear channels. The soundtrack is also free of any excessive hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc are Spanish subtitles. The extra features on Escape From L.A. are kept to the bare minimum -- the only supplement to be found here is a single theatrical trailer for the film.

Director John Boorman (Deliverance, Point Blank, Hope and Glory) examines his own Shangri-La in this highly unusual cult film. The disc presents it in widescreen anamorphic (aspect ratio of 2.35:1) with audio choices of English in Dolby Digital 3.0 and French in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Unfortunately, for some scenes a slight tunneling effect can be heard. There are subtitles in English and Spanish. The film was shot by cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret, 2001: A Space Odyssey), who perfected a technique that was intentionally soft; thus the images shouldn't be confused with the traits of a faulty digital transfer. That said, the transfer isn't perfect by any means, but it is quite presentable. One of the special features of the disc is a screen-specific audio commentary by the director. Though there are many pauses and it is not truly "screen-specific," Boorman does offer many insights, including the admission that perhaps the film suffers from having too many ideas. Also included is a theatrical trailer of the film, as well as trailers for Alien Nation, Aliens, Enemy Mine, Independence Day, and The Abyss. A "Still Gallery" has nine production photos and concept art pieces, ten lobby cards and publicity photos, and five images of one sheets and press books. The disc is rounded off by six radio spots. All in all, this is a solid presentation of this science fiction oddity.