Local Hero

The comedies of Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth have swiftly earned him a reputation as one of the most inventive writer/directors in the business. Local Hero is the story of what happens when a powerful oil company decides to buy a sleepy Scottish coastal village so they can construct an oil refinery on the beach. Burt Lancaster is wonderful as the stargazing company chief who sends level-headed Peter Riegert to the village to close the deal. It turns out that Riegert gets much more than he bargained for, as the wily villagers turn him every which way but loose (without signing anything). The lovely soundtrack is by Mark Knopfler, lead guitarist/singer/songwriter of Dire Straits. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Sept. 24, 2019—Criterion, 111 min., PG, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1983’s Local Hero features a great transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include audio commentary by director Bill Forsyth and film critic Mark Kermode, the 1985 documentary 'Shooting from the Heart' on cinematographer Chris Menges (53 min.), a 1983 episode of The South Bank Show on the film (53 min.), a 1983 'making-of' documentary (53 min.), 1983’s 'I Thought Maybe I'd Get to Meet Alan Whicker' interview with Forsyth (27 min.), a new interview with Forsyth and film critic David Cairns (17 min.), and an essay by film scholar Jonathan Murray. Bottom line: a beloved indie classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]