Witness, 1985.
Directed by Peter Weir.
Starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Jan Rubeš, Danny Glover, and Josef Sommer.
SYNOPSIS:
Peter Weir’s classic Witness makes its 4K Ultra HD debut in a solid edition from Arrow. The film has been restored and the company commissioned some new bonus features — a commentary track, a visual essay, and an interview with cinematographer John Seale — along with porting over older extras, including a great making-of.
I don’t recall if this was the case at the time (I was 15 and not reading a lot of film industry news, to be honest), but Witness has always seemed like an odd choice for Harrison Ford. Coming off two Indiana Jones films, the original Star Wars trilogy, and Blade Runner, it seemed like he would have wanted to establish himself as an 80s action star.
Instead, he took the role of John Book, an earnest police detective in Philadelphia who investigates a murder and interviews a young Amish boy named Samuel (Lukas Haas) who saw it from a bathroom stall.
When he realizes that the murder is part of police corruption that goes to the top of the force, Book ends up taking refuge in the Amish community the boy belongs to, where he struggles with his attraction to the child’s recently widowed mother (Rachel, played by Kelly McGillis) and tries to fit into a society that wants nothing to do with the outside world.
Witness is a movie that showcases a side of Ford that wasn’t displayed much in his earlier roles. While John Book isn’t afraid to use his fists when he needs to, much to the dismay of his Amish hosts, he’s more interested in blending into the community and using his wits to figure out how to unravel the police conspiracy without endangering Samuel, Ruth, and their neighbors.
As explained in a new bonus feature, Show…Don’t Tell, commissioned for this new 4K Ultra HD edition from Arrow, much of the relationship between Rachel and John is conveyed non-verbally. The script apparently had much more dialogue between them, but Weir stripped much of it out and let Ford and McGillis tell the story between the characters without saying anything. The result is a powerful dynamic that’s worth revisiting. (And, yes, I should note that Ford followed this up with another atypical movie, Weir’s Mosquito Coast, which showed that he was willing to go against type.)
This new Arrow edition features a new 4K restoration that’s probably on par with how the film looked in theaters in 1985. If you’re a fan, like I am, this is certainly the pinnacle of Witness on home video. The included Blu-ray is no slouch either, of course, and Arrow included the extras on both discs.
In addition to the aforementioned Show…Don’t Tell, which is a visual essay by film journalist Staci Layne Wilson, Arrow also commissioned a new commentary track and a new 15-minute interview with director of photography John Seale. The former features film historian Jarret Gahan delivering one of those “film class on a disc” discussions that I really enjoy, while the latter dives deep into the effort to capture the ambiance of a rustic society.
The rest of the extras were ported over from previous editions that date back to a two-disc DVD edition issued in 2005. They include:
• Between Two Worlds: The Making of Witness (64 minutes): Broken into five parts, this is a comprehensive making-of that digs deep into the film. (I wish every movie on disc had one of these.) Members of the cast and crew participate, including Viggo Mortensen, who plays one of the Amish but has no dialogue.
• Harrison Ford in Conversation (7 minutes): Dating to the film’s release, this is an interesting chat with the actor in which he speaks pretty candidly about his career to that point.
• A Conversation with Peter Weir (7 minutes): Also dating back to 1985, this is a quick but information-packed discussion with the director.
• EPK (Electronic Press Kit) Featurettes (9.5 minutes): There are two of these found here. Like other featurettes of similar vintage, these are more interesting for their on-location footage than anything else.
• Deleted scene (4 minutes): At one point, Book has Rachel and Samuel stay with his sister and her children, and this is a cut scene that shows the stark contrast between Samuel and the other kids.
An image gallery and the theatrical trailer round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published October 30, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
