Lost Highway

Filmed in Panavision, the 2.35:1 anamorphic picture flawlessly shows off the film's brilliant photography. Lost Highway is a film I first owned on a horrid pan and scan video which mutilated it beyond the point of unwatchability. Buy the biggest DVD player you can find and turn all the lights off. This is a film that must be watched in total darkness.

The Dolby/DTS 5.1 sound design is a huge, huge step up from the cruddy stereo soundtrack on the previous DVD by Universal. Why this film was never up for a Best Sound Design Academy Award is beyond me, as David Lynch's masterful manipulation of sound is very impressive. There's always something else you'll pick up with repeat viewings and subtle nuances in the way the film sounds is one of them. Crank it up loud and switch your phone off!

The main extras are interviews with Lynch in 1996 and 2005. It came as a surprise how much his voice has changed in the past few years, but the cigarette in his hand led me to understand why. The 1996 interview consists of him explaining what the film will be about and what he hopes to achieve with it, while the 2005 interview is more of a retrospective, though he does try to explain certain things and what inspired him to write. Apparently the opening scene of the movie really did happen to him and his explanation of the Mystery Man, after a moment's pause, is "To put it into words...would be wrong." So there!

The interviews with Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette and Robert Loggia are 1996 on-set quickies, in which they explain their characters and what working with David Lynch is like. They appear to enjoy it, but clearly have no idea what is going on.

Behind The Scenes is videotape footage of the movie being filmed and all the goings on between takes. It's kinda interesting, but hardly amazing.

The seven-minute featurette is better, but still not really satisfying. When I think about it, maybe less is more with Lost Highway. Perhaps, there's just some stuff you don't want explained and would rather figure it out for yourself. Too much inside info would only spoil the magic.

Who's who is no more than a list of the characters with a one second clip of who they are. Why? Don't look at me.

There are no deleted scenes, but there were a few that ended up on the cutting room floor, one even starring Lynch himself. You can find out what they are by reading the original screenplay, published by Faber and Faber.

A teaser and a trailer are also included.