Blu-Ray Review: ‘Lost in Translation’ Hits HD to Coincide With Release of ‘Somewhere’

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CHICAGO – As Sofia Coppola’s excellent “Somewhere” with Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning begins to roll out across the country (read our review), catch up with Coppola’s best film, one of the best of the ’00s, the great “Lost in Translation,” now available on Blu-ray for the first time. The release is mostly just a tie-in with a filmmaker’s current release but there is a new special feature — basically a commercial for “Somewhere.” It’s not a fantastic “special edition” but it’s still a fantastic movie.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

Bill Murray does the best work of his career (and should have won an Oscar) as Bob Harris, an actor alone in a city full of people, Tokyo, Japan. Bob meets the lovely Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson, delivering the best work of her career as well), a woman who knows a thing or two about loneliness as well. The two strike up a very affecting friendship as Coppola proved that she was a young filmmaker to watch, winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Lost in Translation was released on Blu-Ray on January 4th, 2011.
Photo credit: Universal Home Video

It’s not merely a situation of timing. “Lost in Translation” and “Somewhere” share clear thematic parallels as well as both are about melancholic actors coming to terms with the mundane routine of their lives as they stay at hotels. Coppola is clearly fascinated by how much people can be surrounded by others and yet still feel alone. “Somewhere” doesn’t feel so much like a retread of “Lost in Translation” an artist revisiting the same themes. She’s a great filmmaker and one need look no further than “Lost in Translation” for proof.

Universal rocks the HD transfer market even when it’s for a catalog release like “Lost in Translation.” And the special features aren’t scant enough to be truly upset, although one hopes perhaps for a more comprehensive release in a couple years when the film reaches its tenth anniversary. It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a decade since “Lost in Translation” but few films from 2003 have held up nearly as well.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o On the Set of Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere”
o A Conversation With Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola
o “Lost” On Location
o Matthew’s Best Hit TV
o Kevin Shields “City Girl” Music Video
o And More!

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com