The Incredible Shrinking Man (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Existentialism goes pop in this benchmark of atomic-age science fiction, a superlative adaptation of a novel by the legendary Richard Matheson that has awed and unnerved generations of viewers with the question, What is humanity’s place amid the infinity of the universe? Six months after being exposed to a mysterious radiation cloud, suburban everyman Scott Carey (Grant Williams) finds himself becoming smaller . . . and smaller . . . and smaller—until he’s left to fend for himself in a world in which ordinary cats, mousetraps, and spiders pose a mortal threat, all while grappling with a diminishing sense of himself. Directed by the prolific creature-feature impresario Jack Arnold with ingenious optical effects and a transcendent metaphysical ending, The Incredible Shrinking Man gazes with wonder and trepidation into the unknowable vastness of the cosmic void. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New audio commentary featuring genre-film historian Tom Weaver and horror-music expert David Schecter New program on the film’s special effects by effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt New conversation between filmmaker Joe Dante and comedian and writer Dana Gould Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal (Director’s Cut) (2021) Interview from 2016 with Richard Christian Matheson, novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson’s son Interview from 1983 with director Jack Arnold 8 mm home-cinema version from 1969 The Lost Music of "The Incredible Shrinking Man" Trailer and teaser narrated by filmmaker Orson Welles PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien