Sleeper

Director: Woody Allen Woody Allen

Overview

"It's unfortunate that with older films the transfer onto DVD is not always a smooth one. Besides the expected nicks and scratches, lines often appear blurred and colors can bleed. This inconsistency is evident in this MGM release of Woody Allen's futuristic comedy Sleeper. Often when there is a clean image, it will quickly become an unbalanced one, especially when there is much activity happening in the frame. This is not an anamorphic transfer, though there is a choice between widescreen and pan-and-scan. As with all Allen films, sound is in mono only with dialogue superseding everything else. It serves this film well, and the tinny background clarinet music is not due to the transfer quality as much as to the actual dated recordings. Allen's DVDs are expected to contain the barest in the special features department, and here there is only a collectible booklet containing background info, and the original trailer. Still, this is such a witty film that audiences will not be disappointed."

Product Details

Release Date:	07/05/2000
UPC:	0027616850157
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[monaural, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	19,254

Special Features

Collectible booklet; Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Woody Allen	Miles Monroe,Composer
Diane Keaton	Luna Schlosser
John Beck	Erno Windt
Don Keefer	Dr. Tyron
Don McLiam	Dr. Agon,Dr. Agon
Bartlett Robinson	Dr. Orva
Chris Forbes	Krebs:
Susan Miller	Ellen
Marya Small	Dr. Nero,Actor
Mary Gregory	Dr. Melik
Peter Hobbs	Dr. Dean
Spencer Milligan	Jeb Hrmthmg
Stanley Ralph Ross	Sears Wiggles
Whitney Rydbeck	Janus
Lou Picetti	M.C.
Brian Avery	Herald Cohen
Jessica Rains	Woman in the Mirror
Howard Cosell	Actor
Seamon Glass	Actor
Jerry Hardin	Actor
Harry Holcombe	Actor
Spencer Mulligan	Jeb Hrmthmg
Douglas Rain	Evil Computer
Mark Gordon	Actor

Technical Credits

Woody Allen

Marshall Brickman

Woody Allen	Director,Screenwriter
Marshall Brickman	Screenwriter
Jack Grossberg	Producer
Charles H. Joffe	Executive Producer,Producer
Jack Rollins	Executive Producer
Jerry Endler	Special Effects
A.D. Flowers	Special Effects
James Arnett	Stunts
Lynn Stalmaster	Casting
Jack Solomon	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Four years before his Oscar-winning breakthrough with Annie Hall, Woody Allen was still deep in absurdist humor, and, over the course of Sleeper's 88 minutes, he wins a beauty contest, kidnaps a nose, transforms into Blanche DuBois, impersonates a robot, is strangled by a giant tape machine, battles a glob of pudding, reveals the truth about Richard Nixon, and slips on a banana peel three times his size. On a belly-laugh scale, Sleeper is one of the most enjoyable works he's ever produced. While the humor is broad, it's hardly unintelligent, delving into political and social commentary, as Allen's Miles makes his way as the lone survivor of the 20th century. Diane Keaton plays second fiddle, but she's a good straight woman and begins to display the comic flair that would soon make her famous. This was the first movie to feature Allen's love of classic jazz; the up-tempo Dixieland score by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with Allen on clarinet, plays a key role in propelling the movie's rip-roaring comic tempo. Woody Allen may have made more personal and moving films, but he rarely made one funnier than Sleeper.