DATELINE -- Wednesday, 15 September 1999
"Private Ryan" comes in from the cold: In a stunning bit of news that few were able to predict, Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed Saving Private Ryan will arrive on DVD as a "Special Limited Edition" this Nov. 2, day and date with the sell-through VHS tape. In addition to what is promised by DreamWorks to be "an all digital Telecine high definition transfer," extra content on the disc will include a message from Spielberg, a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary called "Into The Breach," two trailers, cast and crew bios, and production notes. The SPR disc will also be available in both Dolby Digital and DTS audio versions, so those of you with a taste for DTS won't have to wait. And it looks like our prediction that either Titanic or The Matrix would be the top-selling DVD by the end of the year may be premature. As the first major Spielberg film on disc, SPR could outclass both.
Two additional SPR items: First, credit must go to Steve Tannehill at The DVD Resource Page for being the first Web pundit (as far as we know) to predict a DVD release of Saving Private Ryan this year. And secondly, the announcement completely jives with DVD Journal reader Todd Dupler's recent exchange with Steven Spielberg, wherein The Man told him that SPR would be one of his first DVDs. We'd like to note that Spielberg mentioned another highly anticipated title in that brief confab, and now we're expecting to see it before long -- Men in Black.
And you heard that one here first.