August 28 is a special day in the Twin Peaks universe. On this date in 1992, David Lynch’s theatrical masterpiece Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, was released in the U.S. The film had debuted earlier that year in Japan and at the Cannes Film Festival. While initial screenings didn’t thrill audiences, the passage of time has changed the way this film is now viewed. In my book, it’s one of Lynch’s finest (with The Straight Story a close second). For this 28th Anniversary, I’m taking a deep dive into the 2017 Blu-ray release of the film from The Criterion Collection.
I adore The Criterion Collection. Their attention to quality and efforts to preserve film history are commendable. I have several classic films from their catalog including my most recent acquisition, Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World.
I strongly recommend picking up Fire Walk With Me, even if you have it included in other releases. It’s simply amazing.
TEASING THE CRITERION COLLECTION FOR TWIN PEAKS – FIRE WALK WITH ME
In April 2017, Criterion teased the 2017 release of Lynch’s film in their newsletter with this wacky drawing.
Just as Season 3 on Showtime was kicking off in May that year, a user on Reddit discovered the film had Criterion Collection branding while surfing AppleTV.
ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
After months of speculation, Criterion officially announced their October 2017 titles on July 17, 2017. The three other titles in their July tweet included Barry Lyndon (gorgeous film from Criterion), Personals Shopper and The Lure. Lynch’s film would be available on October 17, 2017.
They continued with a second tweet that included three publicity photos from Lynch’s 1992 film and this description: TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992): In the town of Twin Peaks, everyone has their secrets, but especially Laura Palmer…
CRITERION COLLECTION COVER ARTWORK FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
Fred Davis, an independent design professional based on the central coast of California, created the cover art for this release. on July 21, 2017, he published alternate covers on his Tumblr page that weren’t selected. Interestingly, Mr. Davis also designed the cover to Lynch’s Mulholland Drive release for Criterion.
Frankly, I love all of these alternate designs. Then again, I’m also a super fan of this amazing film.
Interestingly, Fred shared the unreleased artwork again for “Twin Peaks Day” on February 24, 2020. This time, folks could find two previously released images and a third new one on his Instagram account (@FDavis_Design)
“Happy Twin Peaks Day. It’s the anniversary of the first day Agent Cooper came to town. I was fortunate enough to design the packaging for the Criterion Collection release of Fire Walk With Me. Shown here are a few unused cover comps.”
RELEASE DAY FOR CRITERION COLLECTION – OCTOBER 17, 2017
The Blu-ray was released on October 17, 2017 and Criterion shared the news on their Twitter account. The three previously shared photos from July were joined by Lil’ the Dancer in this tweet.
Gosh, I love this scene about as much as Gordon Cole loves his coded messages.
Here is the current landing page for the film on the Criterion website.
THE BLU-RAY SLEEVE
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was release number 898 from Criterion. In order to write this article, I purchased two copies of the title and deconstructed one set to properly scan the images. Above is the front cover sleeve.
The film’s description reads as follows:
“In the town of Twin Peaks, everybody has their secrets – but no one more than Laura Palmer. In this prequel to his groundbreaking 1990s television series, David Lynch resurrects the teenager found wrapped in plastic at the beginning of the show, following her through the last week of her life and teasing out the enigmas that surround her murder. Homecoming queen by day and drug-addicted thrill seeker by night, Laura leads a double life that pulls her deeper and deeper into horror as she pieces together the identity of the assailant who has been terrorizing her for years. Nightmarish in its vision of an innocent torn apart by unfathomable forces, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is nevertheless one of Lynch’s most humane films, aching with compassion for its tortured heroine – a character as enthralling in life as she was in death.”
One of the coolest details is the floral wallpaper pattern found on the inside of the sleeve. I tore apart the sleeve in order to see how far back the design went.
It’s basically the same design as found in Laura Palmer’s dream room after she places the photo from the Grandmother on her wall.
INSIDE CASE OF CRITERION COLLECTION
After removing the sleeve, there is a folder over case that contains artwork inside and out.
Closer looks at the front and back of the inside case.
The image inside the case features a scene above the convenience store.
The Blu-ray disc includes the Owl Cave symbol seen in the film. It’s slightly different than the one from the series (note the extra line down from the bottom of the diamond).
BOOKLET FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
The release contained a 50-page soft cover book with excerpts from an interview with David Lynch from “Lynch on Lynch,” a 1997 book edited by filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley. For this article, I did not include those particular excerpts. If you don’t have “Lynch on Lynch” in your library, you need to find a copy stat!
Here is the front and back covers from the booklet. It looks like Fred David was able to use his flaming Blue Rose from one of the unused sleeve cover designs.
The front inside cover contains a cropped image of a guardian angel feeding children at a dinner table.
It’s my ultimate holy grail prop to identify. One day I will but for now, I will enjoy this incredible beautiful image.
The table of contents on Pages 2-3 use static from the television screen found at the beginning of the film.
Pages 4-5 contain an image of the Power and The Glory floor covered in cigarettes and empty Rainier Ale bottles. A partial list of cast and credits is provide.
DAVID LYNCH INTERVIEW EXCERPTS
Chris Rodley and David Lynch’s interview excerpts begin on Pages 6 and 7 in the book. As mentioned, I only focus on the graphics from these pages.
For some of these graphics, I combined the two corresponding images found on different pages into one.
A great image of the Jumping Man is found on Page 19.
Another fantastic image from the booklet is found on Page 30. It provides a close-up look at the ring whose symbol is also found on the Blu-ray disc.
There were a few two-page spread images in the book including one of the white horse in the Palmer’s bedroom found on Pages 36 and 37.
This powerful image of Laura Palmer who is alive but dead is found on Page 41.
Pain and Sorrow on the floor of the Red Room is seen on Pages 42-43.
ABOUT THE TRANSFER
A haunting image of killer Bob (Frank Silva) is seen on Page 44, while on Page 45 we learn more about the transfer.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is presented in its original aspect ration of 1:85:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format. Supervised by director David Lynch, this digital transfer was scanned from the 35 mm original camera negative by MK2 at Eclair Laboratories in Vanves, France, and restored in 4K resolution at CBS Television City in Hollywood.
The 7.1 surround soundtrack was created in 2014 by rerecording mixer Dean Hurley and Lynch at the director’s own Asymmetrical Studio in Los Angeles. It was made using the original 35 mm magnetic stock stems, which were originally created in configurations of monaural dialogue, LCR effects, stereo additional effects, and stereo music reels. The original 2.0 surround magnetic print master was digitized along with period laserdisc source audio for A/B comparative listening reference. The original theatrical and early home-video sources of the film’s “Portland” scene had historically featured music that intentionally obscured dialogue intelligibility to convey the oppressively loud bar environment. This was adhered to for this mix, correcting an early-2000s 5.1 surround mix that failed to carry over that relationship between the music and the dialogue. A specific mix buss chain was developed for this mix that emulates the EQ, tape saturation, and dynamic characteristics of older full-coat magnetic print masters that Lynch has an affinity for. The original 2.0 surround soundtrack was mastered from the 35 mm magnetic printmaster.
I can’t get over this image as it’s quite disturbing.
SPECIAL THANKS
The booklet concludes with an extensive list of folks who made the release possible along with acknowledgements and production credits.
The inside back cover of the booklet contains the image of the children at the table after the guardian angel has disappeared.
Like I said, this is one outstanding release you’ll want for your home movie collection. Thank you once again Criterion!
