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Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition
Score: 92%
Rating: R
Publisher: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Region: A
Media: Blu-ray/1
Running Time: 126 Mins.
Genre: Drama
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio,
           German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio,
           French 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio

Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish,
           French, German


Features:
  • 4 Part Retrospective: Reflecting On A Journey: Good Will Hunting 15 Years Later
  • The Era Of Good Will Hunting
    • Cast And Crew Spotlight
    • Academy Awards: A Winning Season
    • Life Goes On
  • Matt Damon Remembers Good Will Hunting
  • Audio Commentary By Director Gus Van Sant and Academy Award Screenwriting Winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
  • 11 Deleted Scenes With Audio Commentary
  • Production Featurette
  • Academy Award Best Picture Montage
  • "Miss Misery" Music Video
  • Behind The Scenes Footage
  • Theatrical Trailer

Good Will Hunting: 15th Anniversary Edition is the re-release of the famed Gus Van Sant-directed drama that put Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the Hollywood map. Not only did they star in the drama, but they wrote the screenplay and won an Oscar for their efforts. Good Will Hunting is about a brilliant young man who works at MIT cleaning the floors, but whose genius surpasses students and professors alike. When Will Hunting (Damon) solves an incredibly difficult problem left on a chalkboard as a challenge to students, it places him squarely on the radar of one Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skargard), but before he can even get a chance to talk to this amazing young man, Will's temper lands him in jail. Lambeau takes responsibility for the young man, as long as he will work on math problems with him and undergo counseling. After burning through several therapists with his razor-edge wit and bitter sense of humor, Lambeau asks former college roommate and rival Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) to see him. Although the two initially clash, albeit in an intellectual challenge sort of way, they eventually become friends and each is able to unlock a hidden part inside the other, previously kept closed off from the world.

Through a chance meeting at a Harvard bar, Will and his friends, Chuckie (Ben Affleck), Morgan (Casey Affleck) and Billy (Cole Hauser) meet Skylar (Minnie Driver), a charming British beauty who is instantly enchanted with Will. The pair starts dating, but Will keeps his blue-collar life a secret from Skylar because of insecurities about his social level. As the pressures mount from Skylar wanting more and Prof. Lambeau wanting Will to reach his potential through job offers the Professor lines up, Will soon spirals downward, cutting himself off from those who love him and retreating into his Southie comfort zone. Will he take the lessons learned from Sean or throw his future away because he is afraid to take a chance?

Good Will Hunting is one of those movies with iconic memorable lines like, "How ya like them apples?" Lines you'll remember, even if you don't remember a lot about the film itself. I hadn't seen Good Will Hunting since it came out 15 years ago and I had forgotten a lot of the nuances of the film, so it was a treat to watch it all over again and see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon so young. I even spotted a young Vic Sahay (Chuck) in the halls of MIT and he looks exactly the same. The acting is excellent, it's a great story and the Elliott Smith/Danny Elfman soundtrack is just perfect, so haunting. It looks especially crisp and vivid on Blu-ray and although the vistas of South Boston are often not all that much to look at, every little detail pops.

Most of the special features are the same ones that were included on the Blu-ray release last year, with the exception of two featurettes – Matt Damon Remembers Good Will Hunting and The Era of Good Will Hunting. Matt Damon Remembers is fun but short, whereas The Era of Good Will Hunting clocks in at a little over an hour and will visit with Damon and Affleck, as well as Gus Van Sant, Robin Williams, Co-Producers Chris Moore and Kevin Smith, talking about everything from how they first came up with the script all the way to bringing it to life on the big screen. This will be the big draw for fans. I wish Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard and Casey Affleck had joined in, but they were only mentioned. In addition are the previously released special features which include commentary with Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, a nice handful of deleted scenes with commentary, a short production featurette, Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery" music video, the trailer, some behind the scenes footage and an Academy Award picture montage. Although I am not typically a big fan of commentary, it was a joy to listen to these three discuss a film that is so clearly close to their hearts.

If you already have Good Will Hunting in your collection on Blu-ray, I’m not sure that the additional two featurettes will be a big enough draw to re-purchase the film, but as far as Blu-rays go, it's pretty cheap at under $12. I really enjoyed the new featurettes and the transfer is beautiful, so if you haven't yet added this fantastic film to your collection, now is the time.



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins
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