Barry Levinson's The Natural is one of the finest movies about baseball (or any sport for that matter). I watched it for the first time on VHS or cable (I forget which) at a friend's house as a kid. We played on the same team. Until I got to college, I didn't re-watch it, but once I grabbed the DVD secondhand, I watched it every couple of months for a year, alternating with Field of Dreams. That classic rounding of the bases is how reflecting on the best memories feels.

Roberts Redford and Duvall are both wonderful, as is the rest of the cast. Sony's new Blu-ray from a few weeks ago is the typical bang-up AV transfer. The only thing missing from previous DVD editions is the director's cut, which this release borrows its cover art from (rather confusingly). The big pile of featurettes are nice and all, but the movie is all I really feel like I need here. This reminded me of how I have no need for commentary tracks on Spielberg flicks (and tons of other movies, honestly).

Redford was recently quoted saying he doesn't care about extras at all, and even though I wouldn't go that far...I get where he's coming from. If I could have a gorgeous transfer of the movie, the theatrical trailer (missing here...what gives, Sony?), and no forced ads or trailers, I'd start happy. Not everything needs a "disc two". On the merit of the transfer alone, I've added this to my list as one of the best discs of the year thus far. I'll be serving up a Discs of the Year 2010 Thus Far piece as soon as I've got it solid (likely just in time for the weekend).