Traffic Film Still

Traffic

Steven Soderbergh

United States

2000

147 minutes

Color

1.85:1

Spanish, English

151

Synopsis

Traffic examines the effect of drugs as politics, business, and lifestyle. Acting as his own director of photography, Steven Soderbergh employs an innovative, color-coded cinematic treatment to distinguish the interwoven stories of a newly appointed drug czar and his family, a West Coast kingpin’s wife, a key informant, and cops on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Rarely has a film so energetic and suspenseful presented a more complex and nuanced view of an issue of such international importance. Instantly recognized as a classic, Traffic appeared on more than 200 critics’ ten-best lists, and won four Academy Awards.

Cast

Javier RodriguezBenicio Del Toro
Robert WakefieldMichael Douglas
Montel GordonDon Cheadle
Helena AyalaCatherine Zeta-Jones
Chief of StaffAlbert Finney
Arnie MetzgerDennis Quaid
Barbara WakefieldAmy Irving
Ray Castro Luis Guzman
Caroline WakefieldErika Christensen
Seth AbrahmsTopher Grace
Jeff SheridanD.W. Moffett
Carlos AyalaSteven Bauer
Francisco FloresClifton Collins, Jr.
Attorney Michael AdlerPeter Riegert
Juan ObregónBenjamin Bratt
Eduardo RuizMiguel Ferrer
Manolo SanchezJacob Vargas

Credits

DirectorSteven Soderbergh
ScreenplayStephen Gaghan and Simon Moore
ProducerLaura Bickford, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick
EditingStephen Mirrione
CinematographySteven Soderbergh

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

  • Digital transfer, enhanced for 16×9 televisions
  • Three commentary tracks: director Steven Soderbergh and writer Stephen Gaghan; producers Laura Bickford, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, and consultants Tim Golden and Craig Chretien; composer Cliff Martinez (with two music cues not included in the film)
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
  • Twenty-five deleted scenes featuring commentary from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Stephen Gaghan
  • Film processing demonstration: Achieving the look of the Mexico sequences
  • Editing demonstration with commentary from editor Stephen Mirrione
  • Dialogue editing demonstration
  • Additional footage featuring multiple angles from the scenes of the El Paso Intelligence Center, and the cocktail party where U.S. Senators, major politicians, lobbyists, and others state their views on the drug war
  • Theatrical and television trailers
  • U.S. Customs trading cards of the K-9 squad used in the detection of narcotics and illegal substances
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

From the Current

Traffic

by Manohla Dargis May 27, 2002

At once a political epic and a radical gesture in personal filmmaking, Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic is an unexpected, unlikely triumph. It was a film that Hollywood didn’t want to make—every studio in town turned it down—that went on to secure some of the American movie industry’s highest . . .

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Available Editions

Traffic Criterion DVD Add to Cart

DVD

2 Discs

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price

$31.96