The Hired Hand (Collector's Edition) (1971) On DVD

The handsome collector's edition features an hour-long documentary explaining nearly everything about the curious life of the film, from origin to rediscovery 30 years later. It almost makes Peter Fonda's wholehearted commentary track obsolete. The 20 minutes of deleted scenes include a whole story arc (featuring Larry Hagman as a local deputy) that was dropped. The real curio here is Universal's puzzling advertising campaign, which tried to sell the laconic Western to the Easy Rider crowd ("Peter Fonda is riding again; moving fast, living hard!"). The restoration is marvelous; the film probably has never looked or sounded better. If for some reason you are looking through the extras without watching the movie, Martin Scorsese's ace introduction will sell you on it in two minutes flat. --Doug Thomas

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