Disc Details
Special Features:	Widescreen anamorphic and Full Frame formats Chapter selection Trailers.
Video Format:	Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) [SS-DL]
Languages:	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Subtitles:	English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Thai.
Captions:	Yes
Casing:	1-Disc Keep Case

Ashby's films of the 70s were "The Landlord" with Lee Grant and Beau Bridges, "Harold and Maude" with Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, "The Last Detail" with Jack Nicholson and Randy Quaid, "Shampoo" with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn and Lee Grant, "Bound For Glory" with David Carradine, "Coming Home" with Jane Fonda, Jon Voight and Bruce Dern and "Being There" with Peter Sellers, Melvyn Douglas and Shirley MacLaine. Each of these films are among my personal favorites. Therefore, I may rate this DVD a bit higher than a non-Ashby fan.

As a film editor, Ashby learned from a couple of very good directors. Ashby won the Best Editing Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night." He studied filmmaking under Norman Jewison (for whom he cut four major films) and Tony Richardson. From the art of cutting to the art of creating, Hal Ashby had a meteoric career that was cut off way too short.

"Shampoo" was written by Robert Towne and Warren Beatty. They were nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay. Set on the eve of the 1968 presidential election, "Shampoo" examines the sexual revolution through the romantic misadventures of George (Warren Beatty) a Beverly Hills hairdresser who sleeps with anything that moves. George has a steady girlfriend, Jill (Goldie Hawn). Jill loves George and believes his lies about being faithful. George wants to open his own salon. George is sleeping with Felicia (Lee Grant), the sex-starved wife of Lester (Jack Warden), a very rich businessman. Lester is having an affair with Jackie (Julie Christie) and has no time for his wife. George is also sleeping with Jackie. George approaches Lester for a loan to open his salon. George is intrigued, but hesitant to commit to a loan. Lester doesn't know that George is sleeping with both his wife and mistress. Hell, George even nails Lester's teenage daughter Lorna (Carrie Fisher)! If you ever fantasized about hearing Princess Leia say "Wanna Fuck?," this is the movie for you!

This may all sound exciting but the message comes across loud and clear in the final scene of the movie. Human emotions may not evolve as fast as social trends. "Shampoo" has some definite views concerning the behavior of these characters.

The performances are outstanding all around. Lee Grant won an Oscar for her performance. There are many Oscar caliber performances in this film. Warren Beatty is perfect as George. George is a good-natured guy who doesn't mean to hurt the women he loves. George is the perfect example to illustrate the old cliche "God gave man a brain and a cock, but only enough blood to run one at a time. George is a slut, plain and simple. He is so good-looking and charming that women throw them selves at him. As George has no moral compass, he is unable to resist temptation, even when the consequences spell his doom. AIDS wasn't even a remote nightmare when this film was set. Herpes hadn't even made the news. From a physical standpoint, a bit of penicillin would clear up any of these character's woes. From an emotional standpoint, the consequences of George’s behavior are much more devastating.

Picture Quality: 10/10
Laszlo Kovacs photography in "Shampoo" is beautiful. The colors are very rich. Kovacs captured the bright, gaudy look of 1968. The transfer is excellent. The colors are deep and well saturated. The picture may seem soft around the edges, but that is the way certain scenes were filmed. The flesh tones are great. Excellent delineation in the shadows. Only one or two artifacts. Lots of big name stars glamorously captured.

Sound Quality: 10/10
The soundtrack for "Shampoo" is almost as good as the songs found on the "Coming Home" soundtrack. The 2.0 Dolby Surround is perfect for this film. "Shampoo" is not a sound effects film. Nice balance between the ranges. Full-deep bass and rich highs. No distortion.

Menu: 10/10
Nice menu design. Each of the screens is a single frame from the film. Easy to navigate. No Easter Eggs found.

Extra Features: 0/10
No extras to speak of. There are three trailers for other Columbia films. I'd have liked the original trailer from "Shampoo," but what the heck. The price is fine for a vanilla DVD.

The Final Word:
This is a great DVD. You'll want this one for the movie alone. I'd like to see Columbia put out a Superbit special edition with some extras. A commentary track by Warren Beatty would be great. As it is, this DVD contains one of the best films of the 1970s by a great director. A must have.

Rusty White