Region 4 Winners and Losers

     Two-Lane Blacktop has been released twice in Region 1 (US/Canada) and twice in Region 2 (Germany)and (Netherlands).

     The Region 2(Germany) release is 16x9 enhanced and has the same audio commentary as the Region 4. It also includes the 'You Can Never Go Fast Enough: Two Lane Blacktop Revisited' documentary, although it is the longer version at 42:42 minutes in length.

     The Region 2 (Netherlands) release is similarly 16x9 enhanced but has no extras.

     The first Region 1 (US/Canada) release was by Anchor Bay in 1999. That release has a 16x9 enhanced 2:35:1 NTSC aspect ratio widescreen transfer with the same audio tracks as the region 4. The Audio commentary is also included by Hellman and Kurtz as is the same documentary on Monte Hellman's career.

     The second Region 1 (US/Canada) release was by The Criterion Collection in 2007. This release includes a remastered 16x9 enhanced 2:35:1 NTSC transfer, a re-mixed audio transfer, two audio commentaries; one by Hellman and filmmaker Allison Anders, and one by screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer and author David Meyer; new interviews with Hellman, star James Taylor, musician Kris Kristofferson, producer Michael Laughlin, and production manager Walter Coblenz; rare, never-before-seen screen-test outtakes of James Taylor and Laurie Bird; a look at the restoration of a '55 Chevy from the movie and the film's locations today, photos and publicity from Two-Lane Blacktop and Rudy Wurlitzer's screenplay (114 pages), reprinted specially for this release; 38-page liner notes booklet with new essays by Kent Jones; appreciations by Richard Linklater and Tom Waits; and a reprint of the 1970 Rolling Stone article 'On Route 66, Filming Two-Lane Blacktop.'

     If you are a fan of the film, the Criterion Collection Region 1 release is the one to go for.