Watergate Revisited

All the Post's fictional men: Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam in "All the President's Men." (Via Ap)

"All the President's Men" (R; List price: $26.98)
Release Date: Feb. 21

There could not be a more appropriate time to revisit "All the President's Men" than right now.

The 1976 thriller -- based on the book about the breaking of the Watergate scandal by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein -- stands as a clear forefather to current Best Picture contenders "Good Night, And Good Luck" and "Capote," both of which also explore the ceaseless digging and moral dilemmas inherent in investigative journalism. Some may also see parallels between the secrets and lies of Watergate and the current scandals and leaks of the Valerie Plame investigation. And, of course, there is all the hoopla surrounding last year's unmasking of Deep Throat, Woodward's key anonymous source, who turned out to be aging former FBI man Mark Felt.

Add the fact that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the movie's release, and Warner Bros. has plenty of motivation to issue a new, special-edition version of "All the President's Men," available on DVD today. The updated two-disc DVD delivers a sharper version of the film -- allowing a new generation to watch Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford banging on typewriters and traveling door-to-door to interview sources, long before computers or e-mail. For the first time, "Men" also comes with several quality extra features that place the issues raised by the film -- about both journalism and politics -- in contemporary context. "If Watergate happened today, for several reasons, it probably wouldn't be exposed," says Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter, one of several journalists interviewed during several featurettes, "which is kind of scary."

A short documentary on Mark Felt called "Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat," offers little new information for those who followed last summer's coverage of the exposure of Felt's identity. Those eager for confirmation that the Bush administration's apple doesn't fall far from Nixon's tree won't find any such explicit suggestion here. During his feature-length commentary track, Redford, firmly on the left side of the political spectrum, simply notes, "If there's any value to the revival of this film, it would be, hopefully, that it would cause people to look at the then and the now and see what they can make out of it. Because there are tremendous warnings all over the place."

Politics aside, there is great value in reviving this engrossing look at two unknown reporters who brought down one of the most famous figures in American history.

Most Detail-Oriented Bonus Point: The half-hour documentary, "Telling the Truth About Lies: The Making of 'All the President's Men'" offers numerous tidbits about the process of bringing the Woodward-and-Bernstein story to the big screen. Revelations include how the Post newsroom was recreated on a movie set in Burbank. How nitpicky did the set designers get? Trash from the Post newsroom in downtown Washington actually appears in the movie. "So that no one would say, 'Oh, it's phony. It has the L.A. Times there,' or whatever it is, it was all Washington Post garbage," explains screenwriter William Goldman.

Most Disappointing Bonus Point: As respected as Redford may be, he's not known as the chattiest fellow. On the commentary track he often falls silent for significant stretches. This commentary could have been saved by adding Hoffman to the mix or, even better, letting the real reporters contribute commentary alongside the actors who played them.

Most Prescient Bonus Point: A 1976 featurette, "Pressure and the Press: The Making of 'All the President's Men'," includes a telling comment from a much-younger Woodward. "I think the identity of Deep Throat will come out someday," he says. "I'm surprised it hasn't come out already." But probably not as surprised as he would be 29 years later, when Vanity Fair broke the story.

Also on DVD This Week: "North Country," "Rent" and "The Weather Man."

For more on new DVDs, visit washingtonpost.com's DVD section.