Seconds (Blu-ray)

Rock Hudson (All That Heaven Allows) is a revelation in this sinister, science-fiction-inflected dispatch from the fractured 1960s. SECONDS, directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), concerns a middle-aged businessman dissatisfied with his suburban existence, who elects to undergo a strange and elaborate procedure that will grant him a new life. Starting over in America, however, is not as easy as it sounds. This paranoiac symphony of canted camera angles (courtesy of famed cinematographer James Wong Howe), fragmented editing, and layered sound design is a remarkably risk-taking Hollywood film that ranks high on the list of its legendary director’s major achievements.

• New, restored 4K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Audio commentary featuring director John Frankenheimer
• New interview with actor Alec Baldwin
• Excerpts from Hollywood on the Hudson,a 1965 television program featuring on-set footage and an interview with actor Rock Hudson
• New program on the making of the film, featuring interviews with Evans Frankenheimer, the director’s widow, and actor Salome Jens
• Interview with Frankenheimer from 1971
• New visual essay by film scholars R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Sterritt