1980 Best Picture Ordinary People Blu-ray

[micktravis1979]

Respectfully request for anyone in the Blu-ray.com community to take the time to read and consider signing my petition to Paramount Pictures and the Sundance Institute to remaster and release the 1980 Best Picture, Robert Redford's ORDINARY PEOPLE on Blu-ray with some serious bonus features, ideally through Criterion. The link can be found here:

https://www.change.org/p/paramount-p...people-blu-ray

Here's a copy of the petition for all of you to read here:

I have never met Mary Tyler Moore. All I know is my father was a huge fan of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the 1970s, back when she was known as the Queen of American Comedy, and that I will always know her as the coldest, most unloving mother in cinematic history in the 1980 Best Picture winner ORDINARY PEOPLE. When my father and I watched ORDINARY PEOPLE in the late 1990s, I just remember him saying during the film, "I don't like Mary when she's a *****!" He was joking, of course, but he also really emphasized what a brilliant dramatic performance she contributed to Robert Redford's masterful film, adapted by Alvin Sargent from Judith Guest's best-selling 1976 novel, which is still read in English classes today.

I had always planned to launch this petition on September 19, the day that ORDINARY PEOPLE opened in theaters back in 1980, to respectfully request Redford, Paramount and Criterion to join forces for remastering the film in high definition and releasing it on Blu-ray with bonus features. When I recently read about Moore's personal tragedy only three weeks after the film's release, however, I broke down and cried. Like I said, I never met the woman and I'm sure in real life, as Donald Sutherland emphasizes in the film to Judd Hirsch, "she's a wonderful woman." And it blows my mind that this could have happened to her considering the plot dynamics of the movie and the novel. Thus, it more or less explains why ORDINARY PEOPLE has hardly been seen in the past 35 years, except by teachers that are able to get the school's approval with the extremely light R-rating. We never seem to see the film on television, even with the minimal profanity excised, at all and Paramount's DVD is now so old and, well, ordinary that it depresses me.

We are now living in an era in which everything including 1970s pornography has made it to Blu-ray. If RAGING BULL can have three Blu-ray releases alone, then why can't we have just one Blu-ray of ORDINARY PEOPLE, a film which not only earned the studio Oscars and prestige but also millions at the box office: nearly $55 million (in addition to another $35M+ more in rentals) on a $6 million dollar budget??? I don't give a damn if cinephiles think RAGING BULL is "better" or "was robbed" or whatever when there are millions of reasons right there why Paramount should give attention to ORDINARY PEOPLE and soon. That being said, it probably would be more ideal to license the film over to Criterion, like Paramount did with their previous classics IF.... and HAROLD AND MAUDE. I would also strongly recommend and request that Paramount give the same Blu-ray treatment to their other huge 1980 critical hit, David Lynch's equally powerful THE ELEPHANT MAN.

One thing that Paramount and/or Criterion must keep in mind is practically all of the major cast and crew members of ORDINARY PEOPLE are still with us today. Novelist Judith Guest, screenwriters Alvin Sargent & Nancy Dowd (uncredited), director Robert Redford, producer Robert L. Schwary, cinematographer John Bailey, editor Jeff Kanew, and cast members Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton, M. Emmet Walsh, Elizabeth McGovern, Dinah Manoff, Frederic Lehne, James Sikking, Basil Hoffman and, of course, Adam Baldwin, are all still with us today. Whether its Paramount or Criterion, isn't it possible to get interviews with as many of them as possible for Blu-ray bonus features, or even multiple commentaries recorded? I'm sure those who love the film, myself included, would be eternally grateful. But most of all, can we at the very least remaster in HD or even get it scan the entire film in 4K for future preservation?

I don't care if ORDINARY PEOPLE is not in AFI's top 100 films or even the top ten like RAGING BULL. The point I'm making is that ORDINARY PEOPLE, like Guest's novel, is still very relevant, still very important, and still as powerful as it has ever been. I've been watching and writing about movies for 25 years and everybody I have shown ORDINARY PEOPLE to have had strikingly similar reactions, complete with a lot of tears and and lot of discussion. Thus, I respectfully request for Paramount Pictures, and the Sundance Institute (along with Criterion, if Paramount is willing) to answer the call and give us a Blu-ray release for ORDINARY PEOPLE with some serious bonus material. I'm sure it wouldn't cost much, and I'm also sure most, if not, all who worked on the film would be more than willing to participate and talk about the movie. Thank you very much for reading and your support! And, finally, Mr. Robert Redford: whenever you get wind of this petition, all I want to say is THANK YOU, thank you so much for making one of my favorite movies, as it's been a treasured part of my collection ever since Paramount released their DVD almost two decades ago. Hopefully you Sir, of all people, will agree it's time for an upgrade!

Thanks very much for reading and for your support!