STUDIO: Lionsgate
RELEASE DATE: June 10, 2008
STARRING: Grace Kelly, Gary Cooper, Katy Jurado, Lee Van Cleef, Lloyd Bridges, and Lon Chaney
WRITTEN BY: Carl Foreman
DIRECTED BY: Fred Zinnemann
FEATURES: Original Restored Dolby Digital Audio
Enhanced Original Restored Dolby Digital Audio
Audio Commentary with Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman, Tim Zinnemann and John Ritter
"Inside High Noon": 50-Minute Documentary on the Making of High Noon
"Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage, Texas": Portrait Piece on the Tex Ritter Museum
Full-Length Tex Ritter Performance of Oscar-Winning Original Song "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" on the Jimmy Dean TV Show
"The Making of High Noon" Featurette
"Behind High Noon" Featurette
Radio Broadcast with Tex Ritter

When someone says "Western", what's the first movie you think of? For me, it's The Searchers, followed shortly by the Sergio Leone movies, but I imagine most people think of High Noon first. If they don't think of the film specifically, they at least think of the imagery from it - two men at either end of a dusty street, tumbleweeds blowing by, waiting for the other to move first. Along with the work of the Johns (Ford and Wayne), High Noon set the template for the entire genre. The tagline really says it all - "Simple. Powerful. Unforgettable." High Noon gets all three of those Western ingredients absolutely right. It's one of the most influential films ever made and on many people's "all-time favorites" list. It currently ranks right near 100 on the IMDB list of the best movies ever made, right after Return of the Jedi and above The Wizard of Oz. If you've somehow never seen it, you really must, and if you call yourself a film collector, it's a must-have. Just in time for Father's Day, Lionsgate has released the most definitive edition of this classic film to date.

Movie fans need to own High Noon for its importance to the history of the medium, but, and I hate to say this, this classic hasn't aged particularly well. Admittedly, it could be the limitless copycats that followed it that have lessened its power. I completely understand why this is such a beloved film and really anything with "Ultimate Collector's Edition" is primarily for the hardcore fans, but people love this movie more for nostalgia than for the quality of the flick itself. Don't get me wrong - High Noon is good, but, dare I say it, overrated. Watch it again and tell me I'm wrong. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are an important part of the fabric of movie history but this isn't their best work. Heck, it's not Lloyd Bridges' best work. And there's a surprising lack of real dramatic tension. High Noon is an important film, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good one. I love Gary Cooper and I think Grace Kelly was my first childhood crush, but the adoration of High Noon is for its iconic quality more than anything else.

Having said that, FANS of High Noon couldn't possibly ask for more than the new Two-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition. It takes guts to claim that your DVD is both "Ultimate" and "Collector's" (I keep waiting for someone to release an "Ultimate Special Collector's Unrated" edition of something just to get all the overused DVD titles in one) but High Noon will live up to the exclamation for fans. High Noon has been released on DVD several times before, but never with this high quality of an audio transfer and there are some new special features on the second disc. Most notable is the 50-minute documentary "Inside High Noon" and a portrait piece on the Tex Ritter Museum. Also included are an audio commentary with Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman, Tim Zinnemann, and John Ritter, and a few more fawning featurettes. Don't pick up another tie for dad this Father's Day. Give him a classic, a movie that practically redefined the word Western.