Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends. For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery.
Restored 4K digital transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
High-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
2013 audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
2013 documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
Excerpt from a 1974 talk show hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and cast members
Excerpts about the influence of the film from the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs
Two-part 1963 episode of the TV program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere
The Last 70 mm Film Festival, a 2012 program featuring Mad World cast and crew, hosted by actor Billy Crystal
Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio ads for the film, with a 2013 introduction by Freberg
Trailers and radio spots
PLUS: An essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis
Extras
Restored 4K digital transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
High-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
2013 audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
2013 documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
Excerpt from a 1974 talk show hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and cast members
Excerpts about the influence of the film from the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs
Two-part 1963 episode of the TV program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere
The Last 70 mm Film Festival, a 2012 program featuring Mad World cast and crew, hosted by actor Billy Crystal
Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio ads for the film, with a 2013 introduction by Freberg
Trailers and radio spots
PLUS: An essay by film critic Lou Lumenick and illustrations by legendary cartoonist Jack Davis
