The most beautiful thing about Sony's new Blu-ray transfer of Easy Rider is the rich color palette only hinted at in the previous DVD edition. The browns and reds don't bleed together, and the landscape can be seen in enough new detail that it isn't just there, it pops. The finer detail on the characters both at rest and in motion is gorgeous, from articles of clothing down to spokes in wheels. I've never seen Easy Rider projected (which kills me, honestly), but the natural grain in the image makes it look like a newly-struck print. One of the reasons I love the Blu-ray format is that it allows me the opportunity to get as close to seeing a print of so many classic films as I very well may. Repertory or "revival" screenings are really on the decline and have been for years.
The commentary track with director Dennis Hopper is appealing and candid, from what little I've had the chance to listen to. Hopper is always good for stories, and he's full of them here. He reminds me of Peter Fonda's appearance at South by Southwest in 2003, where he either put on being high or really was. He jumped from one end of the universe to the other, confounding the moderator (AICN's Harry Knowles) but delighting the audience, who were hoping for a one-of-a-kind experience they got in spades. Hopper only sounds like he's high on nostalgia fumes on the track.
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage runs at just over an hour and covers the whole thing, beginning to end. They touch on the script development, the casting, the making of it, what came after (and since), and of course all things druggy. It's in standard-def, but the more room on this dual-layer BD-50 for the feature, the better. The BD-Live extra here is MovieIQ, a sort of live-updated trivia, filmography, and pop-up fact track thing.
The book portion includes bios of the stars and the co-writer, and a piece about the music in the film, but the essay is a great deal more substantive than most "blu books". "Born to Be Wild: Freedom and Captivity in Hollywood Post-Easy Rider" by Travis Baker is good enough you might read it more than once, which I don't usually say outside the mini-books you get from Criterion releases.
That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.
Much to my satisfaction, Sony has listed the damn extras on the back rather than try to make it look more like a hardcover Dr. Seuss book than a movie disc case. This title not only belongs in any real Blu-ray collection, it has a spot reserved on the top shelf. I dare anyone to name a film more widely-held as being emblematic of that era than this film. Whether it is perfectly accurate or not, the collective consciousness believes this, so this it is. Easy Rider is a great American film, and Sony has delivered in giving it a proper transfer. I also applaud them for letting the film to speak for itself for the most part and not loading it down with goofy featurettes and whorish product-placement "extras" advertising bikes or brands. Amazon's got it for $20.99.