MAN ON THE MOON

An original celebrity biopic, Milos Forman's Man on the Moon comes to DVD with a great picture and a wealth of information about its subject, Andy Kaufman. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and does a fine job with what is a rather flatly shot film. English soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, while a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. There are no subtitles, but both English soundtracks are closed-captioned. The supplemental materials include deleted scenes that for the most part show why they were edited out, but one fascinating scene -- after the wrestling match -- adds a dimension to Kaufman's relationship with his parents that is never established in the film's final cut. A text biography of Kaufman includes live clips of his performances and wrestling matches. REM, which scored the film, includes the music videos for "Man on the Moon" and "The Great Beyond," both of which are worth revisiting. The theatrical trailer, a pedestrian "making of" featurette, and some DVD-ROM features round out this superb package that offers something for Kaufman fans beyond an excellent presentation of the film.