4K UHD, Blu-ray Release: Goodbye Uncle Tom

4K UHD, Blu-ray Release Date: April 23, 2024
Price: 4K UHD $42.99, Blu-ray $31.99
Studio: Blue Underground/MVD

The film considered too shocking for the world! Written, edited, produced and directed by Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi of Mondo Cane fame, 1971’s Goodbye Uncle Tom, an epic recreation of the American slave trade atrocities, was both condemned as depraved exploitation and acclaimed as an unprecedented cry of Black anguish and rage. The Detroit Chronicle hailed it as “a graphic, moving, nerve-paralyzing film,” while legendary film critic Pauline Kael called it “the most specific and rabid incitement of the race war.” One of the most reviled and misunderstood films of its time, five decades cannot diminish Goodbye Uncle Tom’s impact or quiet its controversy as it has become even more relevant TODAY!

In 1971, distributors forced the filmmakers to completely re-cut the film and radically re-write its extreme narration, removing more than 13 minute of race-war politics and inserting alternate scenes – creating what would become an entirely different film – before it could be released. Now more than 50 years later, both versions of Goodbye Uncle Tom can finally be seen in brand-new restorations, scanned in 4K 16-bit from their original negatives, with Dolby Vision HDR & newly restored DTS-HD Master Audio.

The four-disc package is loaded with five hours of features, including the following:

• Ultra HD Blu-ray (2160p) Widescreen 2.40:1 feature presentations
• Audio: 1.0 DTS-HD MA (English); 1.0 DTS-HD MA (Italian)
• English Version (123 Mins.) with Optional English SDH and Espanol Subtitles + English Trailer
• Italian Version (136 Mins.) with Optional English and English SDH Subtitles + Italian Trailer
• THE IMPORTANCE OF SHOCKING: GUALTIERO JACOPETTI – A feature-length documentary by Director Andrea Bettinetti (94 Mins.)
• THE GODFATHERS OF MONDO – A feature-length documentary by Director David Gregory (89 Mins.)
• Goodbye Cruel Mondo – Interviews with Writers/Directors Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi, and Composer Riz Ortolani (20 Mins.)
• Behind-the-Scenes 8mm Footage with Audio Commentary by Production Manager Giampaolo Lomi (50 Mins.)
• Mondo Mercenaries – Interview with Author & Academic Mark Goodall (27 Mins.)
• Abjection Under Authoritarianism – Interview with Professor Matthew J. Smith (20 Mins.)
• Extensive Still Galleries, including Giampaolo Lomi’s Behind-the-Scenes Photos
• BONUS! GOODBYE UNCLE TOM Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Riz Ortolani
• BONUS! Collectible Booklet with new essay by Dan Madigan