The Pusher Has Arrived. A Look At The UK Boxset.

Though the set doesn't hit UK shelves until June 12th the good people at Vertigo have been kind enough to send us an advance copy of their release of Nicholas Winding Refn's complete Pusher trilogy. Here's how it breaks down:

The Good.
The films themselves. This is quite simply powerhouse film making, a trio of films that establishes Refn as one of the most vital film makers in the world. Yes, they really are that good.

The commentaries. Each film gets a commentary track by Refn who is, as you would expect, a very obviously intelligent and articulate man and not afraid to dish details on the process and philosophy of the films. He's simply fascinating to listen to.

The price. The current asking price for the set works out to less than $30 US which is pretty much impossible to beat.

The Bad
Perhaps in an effort to keep that price point down there have been some odd decisions made putting the package together, most obviously the fact that the three films are presented on only two DVDs. Disc one of the set is identical to the old Metronome release, right down to the disc art and part numbers. It seems likely that they've simply repackaged old stock of the original release, which is not a problem in itself as that release was perfectly servicable with a 16:9 anamorphic transfer and a behind the scenes feature. It does, however, mean that the second disc has to hold two complete features. The video transfers are fine - the films were shot DV and are intentionally grainy - and represent the look of the films when projected very well, but putting both on one disc leaves no room for any significant features beyond the commentaries.

The Ugly
Disc two features one major flaw, and it's a doozy. Though the transfers on both films are quite good in terms of video quality both are in letterboxed widescreen and not anamorphic. In this day and age that's a major issue and I'm very perplexed by the decision to do this given that the anamorphic transfers are out there and easily available in the Danish releases of the films. Why take a lesser option when something better exists?

So, in the end this is a mixed bag. The films themselves are stunning but the feature set is limited and many will be put off by the non-anamorphic transfers on the second and third films. If you want the films cheap and fast and aren't concerned about the letterboxing then this is the way to go, otherwise you may want to wait for the R1 release coming later this fall.

Pre-order the set here

Pusher 1 Review
Pusher 2 Review
Pusher 3 Review

Pusher 2 Trailer
Pusher 3 Trailer