Meet Joe Black: Ultimate Edition

In VL-4/99, Scott Renshaw wrote: "Death, in the nattily-attired form of Brad Pitt, decides he wants to make up for an eternity spent in his lonely task by experiencing human pleasures. You may feel the Reaper has made up for plenty of long time by the end of Martin Brest's bloated three-hour spectacle, in which pregnant pauses and portentous glances are supposed to amount to epic scope. The real shame is that there's two hours of solid material trying to escape from this loose remake of Death Takes a Holiday, a relationship comedy with a creepy edge as Death inhabits the human body (Mr. Pitt's) that has already charmed an heiress (Claire Forlani). The consistent lack of narrative economy dooms Meet Joe Black in spite of strengths such as Anthony Hopkins' performance as an intense tycoon and Emmanuel Lubezki's luminous photography." Unlike some of Universal's other questionable "Ultimate" editions (Patch Adams? American Pie on both "rated" and "unrated" versions--bringing the total number of American Pie DVD discs to four?), this one truly brings something extra to the table: on the second disc you'll find the 1934 original Death Takes a Holiday (not available separately on DVD). Of course, the picture (both technically and critically) is unremarkable and the sound is worse, but…the idea is excellent. Optional. (R. Pitman)