Dead Poets Society [Blu-ray]

Director: Peter Weir

Overview

Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blas? attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/17/2012
UPC:	0786936761481
Original Release:	1989
Rating:	PG
Source:	Touchstone / Disney
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	2:09:00
Sales rank:	14,801

Special Features

Dead Poets": A look back; Raw takes; Master of sound: Alan Spiet - interviews with David Lynch and Peter Weir; Cinematographer master class - an intensive and inspiration lighting workshop; Audio commentary with director Peter Weir, cinematographer John Seale and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman (1989, Best Original Screenplay); Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robin Williams	John Keating
Robert Sean Leonard	Neil Perry
Ethan Hawke	Todd Anderson
Josh Charles	Knox Overstreet
Gale Hansen	Charlie Dalton
Dylan Kussman	Richard Cameron
Allelon Ruggiero	Steven Meeks
James Waterson	Gerard Pitts
Norman Lloyd	Mr. Nolan
Carla Belver	Mrs. Perry
Leon Pownall	McAllister
Kurtwood Smith	Mr. Perry
Maurice Jarre	Composer
James Waterston	Gerard Pitts,Actor
Joe Aufiery	Chemielehrer
Matt Carey	Hopkins
Kevin Cooney	Joe Danburry
Colin Irving	Chet Danburry
Alexandra Powers	Chris Noel
Melora Walters	Gloria
Welker White	Tina
Steve Mathios	Steve
Alan Pottinger	Bubba
Christine D'Ercole	Titania
John Cunningham	Mr. Anderson
Debra Mooney	Mrs. Anderson
Howard Feuer	Actor
Charles Lord	Mr. Dalton,Mr. Dalton
George Martin	Dr. Hager
Kurt Leitner	Lester
Richard Stites	Stick
James J. Christy	Spaz
Robert J. Zigler III	Beans
Pamela Burrell	Directing Teacher
Allison Hedges	Actor/Fairy
John Martin Bradley	Bagpiper
Catherine Soles	Stage Manager
Hoover Sutton	Welton Professor
Simon Mein	Welton Vicar
Ashton W. Richards	Physical Education Teacher
Robert Gleason	Father of Spaz
Bill Rowe	Dormitory Porter
Jane Moore	Mrs. Danburry
Lara Flynn Boyle	Ginny Danburry

Technical Credits

Tom Schulman

Steven M. Haft	Producer,Producer
Tony Thomas	Producer
Paul Junger Witt	Producer
Tom Schulman	Screenwriter
Allen Hall	Special Effects
C.J. Appel	Sound Effects
Luis Colina	Sound Effects
Gloria D'Alessandro	Sound Effects
Carlos Delarios	Sound Effects
Frank Eulner	Sound Effects
Howard Feuer	Casting

Editorial Reviews

Unconventionality and nonconformity are often desirable qualities, but attaining them occasionally carries some risk, especially when the society around you seems to value them insufficiently. That's the message of this earnest, uncompromising drama, which won the 1989 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and reminded viewers just how effective veteran funnyman Robin Williams could be when applying his considerable talents to a dramatic role. Under the direction of Peter Weir, Williams abandoned his sometimes annoying, hyperkinetic performance style to play iconoclastic English teacher John Keating, who labors overtime to fan the flames of creativity and freethinking in his New England prep school students, most of whom seem destined for Ivy League colleges and soul-deadening careers. Captivated by Keating's ebullience and enthusiasm, outgoing student Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) revives the aged school's secret club, the Dead Poets Society, and enlists among its members the deeply withdrawn Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke). The story is predictable up to a point, but it has a shattering climax that even today, more than 15 years after the film's theatrical release, retains the power to shock and dismay audiences. The young actors are uniformly excellent in their sharply drawn characters, and Kurtwood Smith is outstanding as Neil's domineering father, but it's Williams who makes this Society worth joining. The film soars whenever he's on camera, and even the most jaded home viewer will be moved by the influence his character wields over the impressionable students.