I just bought this on DVD last week, and was overall impressed with it. I'm somewhat biased since Michael Mann is one of my all-time favorite directors (pushing that bias somewhat, I hope hope hope the CC puts out a SE of The Insider soon). Other than some of the things that date the film visually, I found it to be effective all the way to the bloody climax.

Thoughts?

Mann is one of my favorite filmmakers of all time as well. I just love his work -- esp. his urban crime thrillers.

I think that Thief is an interesting film in his body of work in that its the purest form of his archetypal protagonist: the loner who is also a consummate professional and tries to achieve his dream of a family and a normal life but is destined to see it slip through his fingers because it causes him to betray who he is. Great film.

James Caan is excellent and brings his customary intensity to the role... arguably his last greatest one to date. James Belushi is quite good too -- who woulda thunk? Thief and Salvador were definitely his finest moments.

I too would love it if Criterion would do an SE of The Insider. It's my favorite Mann film to date. I mean, it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility -- they do have a relationship with Buena Vista. Someone needs to plant the idea in Mann's ear seeing as how he's been revisiting his movies on DVD with special editions (I quite enjoyed the one for Heat). Just imagine the possibilites... Mann commentary, a Pacino-Crowe track and a Wigand-Bergman track... plus, the 60 Minutes Wigand interview... ah, the possibilities!

On top of being Michael's first Criterion, I believe it would be the first film with Pacino in the CC. BTW, does anyone know what is up with the odd black bars on the DVD that BV released?

You mean on the menu? I haven't looked at it in a while but is it maybe formatted for widescreen TVs?

No, the menu is fine. The black bars of the widescreen on the movie are uneven. I think the same might apply for the trailer and the bits of the movie on the DVD's EPK.

Hear, hear - The Insider in the CC!! I love that idea for three commentaries. Getting Eric Roth on the commentary would be great, too, considering that it's one of the best scripts I've ever read.

The commentary on the Thief DVD (with Mann and Caan) is quite interesting too. It gets quiet in certain spots, but it's one of the more entertaining and informative ones I've heard in awhile.

The one Mann does for the Manhunter DVD is quite good as well. I find that he tends to talk more about character's motivations and the themes of a given movie more than anything else. Although, the one he did for Ali was more focused on the history and real-life figures, which makes sense all things considered.

This is a matter of personal taste, but I'm not incredibly fond of solo commentaries. There are a few guys who can do it and keep my attention (one that comes to mind would be John McTiernan). But I do like Mann's approach to his commentaries, especially on discussing the subtext to the characters on the Heat and Collateral tracks.

His commentary on both the Die Hard films he directed were interesting as well.

I've always been puzzled by the final shoot out in Thief. It's like they shot it in slow-mo and then sped it up again. The DVD of Thief is a "director's cut" and I was told this "sped up" effect was added many years later. Is that true?

Yeah, I read that it was on the liner notes of the original laserdisc.

This was on one of the Cinemax channels today, and it appeared to have a nice new HD upgrade. I'd love it if it was indicative of a new release, maybe Criterion maybe not, but it was a definite improvement on the old DVD.

It was also on MGM-HD a few months back (probably the same HD master rotating between channels) which gives credence to the 10 MGM titles likely to make it to Criterion article.

If it does wind up a Criterion disc, I hope they take the commentary track from the old disc. James Caan was pretty funny on it and it made for a good track.