Groundhog Day: Special Edition

Maybe Bill Murray is still stuck on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania waiting for Phil to show his furry face on Groundhog Day, since he's nowhere to be found on this "special edition." For those unfamiliar with the tale: Harold Ramis's 1993 hit stars Murray as cynical TV weatherman Phil Connors, who is sent to cover the Groundhog Day festivities…and for unknown reasons keeps reliving the day over…and over…and over. Consciously patterned on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, Phil works through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance as he experiences his daily dose of déjà vu stuck in a comic time warp. In addition to a director's audio commentary, the DVD includes a 25-minute retrospective documentary titled "The Weight of Time," featuring interviews with Ramis, writer Danny Rubin, producer Trevor Albert and co-stars Andie MacDowell and Stephen Tobolowsky. Although previously released on DVD, the special edition sports a slightly better transfer, with nice color saturation, and an all-new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Recommended. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Jan. 22, 2007—Sony, 101 min., PG, $19.95—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1993's Groundhog Day (Special 15th Anniversary Edition) features a fine transfer. In addition to the DVD extras also featured on the earlier “special edition”—audio commentary by director Harold Ramis, and the 25-minute “making-of” featurette “The Weight of Time”–this version includes “A Different Day” interview with Ramis (10 min.), “The Study of Groundhogs: A Real Life Look at Marmots” (6 min.), six minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: if you own the other “special edition,” there's not much point in adding this one.][Blu-ray Review—Feb. 3, 2009—Sony, 101 min., PG, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1993's Groundhog Day (Special 15th Anniversary Edition) sports a good transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentary by director Harold Ramis, the 25-minute “making-of” featurette “The Weight of Time,” “A Different Day” interview with Ramis (10 min.), “The Study of Groundhogs: A Real Life Look at Marmots” (6 min.), six minutes of deleted scenes, and trailers. New to the Blu-ray release is a “Needle Nose Ned's” picture-in-picture pop-up trivia track featuring costar Stephen Tobolowsky and the BD Live function. Bottom line: a perennial comedy favorite makes a solid debut in Blu.]