Warner Bros Classic & Contemporary Gangster Films Come to Blu-ray Today

As part of the studio's 90th Anniversary celebration, eight of Warner Bros. Pictures' greatest gangster films - from Edward G. Robinson's 1931 classic Little Caesar to Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning masterpiece The Departed[i] -- will now be available in two Blu-ray sets today, May 21.

Released to coincide with Father's Day gift-giving, the WB genre greats, along with one of Paramount's best gangster films, will be offered in the Ultimate Gangster Collection: Classic and Ultimate Gangster Collection: Contemporary.

The four films in the Classic Collection have been remastered for their Blu-ray debuts. They include The Public Enemy and White Heat with the legendary performances of James Cagney; Little Caesar with Edward G. Robinson as hoodlum Rico Bandello; and The Petrified Forest starring Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. The Collection includes a feature-length documentary Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Drama which explores the development of the crime genre and the rise of Warner stars like Cagney, Bogart and Robinson. Also discussed are directors such as Walsh, Wellman and Curtiz; the films themselves; their influence on filmmakers worldwide; and Warner's impact in establishing the genre.

The Contemporary Collection is a 5-disc set with five crime films that include Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas, The Departed and Mean Streets; Heat, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer; and Paramount's The Untouchables with Kevin Costner, De Niro and Sean Connery.

These two collections are being released in tribute to the films that remain a cornerstone in the legacy of Warner Bros. Major Hollywood studios in the '30s and '40s were each known for their distinctive styles (MGM for its musicals, Universal for its horror films, etc.). Warner Bros. was best known for firmly establishing the genre which contained socially conscious themes and a simple visual look (low key lighting and sparse sets). Nowhere were these elements more prominent than in the films featured in the Classic Edition, with the Contemporary Edition showing how a new generation of crime drama has been established.

Both Ultimate Gangster Collection: Classic and Ultimate Gangster Collection: Contemporary will include 32-page booklets with images and additional information about each film. Each of the two Collections will be offered at $49.99 SRP. The titles in the Classic Collection will be available individually as well.

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