Before the absurd reality shows took the airwaves by storm, director Peter Weir and writer Andrew Niccol imagined the world of Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey). Adopted and placed in a soundstage build to resemble a small American town Seahaven, Truman discovers that his life is nothing more than a TV show full of product placement. Truman discovers his friends, family and the world he lives in is nothing more than a construct. The first clue occurs when a flood light used to illuminate the massive soundstage where Truman lives falls into the middle of the street. When Truman wants to leave the small town he lives in and go to Fiji the TV show that is when his life begins to fall apart. Although Weir didn't write the film it deals with a subject common to his films; an individual who literally is an outsider in his own world. It's also about deception. Truman like most of Weir's protagonist discovers a web of deceit that corrupts his own world. A brilliant film that finds Weir ("Witness", "The Year of Living Dangerously", "Picnic At Hanging Rock") in top form, it's amazing that this Oscar nominated film didn't pick up Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Writer and Best Director it was that good. Instead, the Academy rewarded "The Truman Show" like it does any film made by a Hollywood outsider-with a few awards recognizing the brilliance of the film and then settling into sublime mediocrity for the rest of the awards. There are clever visual references to Patrick MacGoohan's "The Prisoner" TV series woven into the visual motif of the film. Featuring a stunning anamorphic transfer, "The Truman Show" looks nearly perfect. Paramount has done a terrific job with this new edition. Colors are vibrant and bright and the image quality is amazingly sharp and crystal clear. The 5.1 sound mix makes nice use of the format with imaging placed around the speakers. We get a two part documentary that can either be played separately or as one. Weir, Carrey, Lara Linney and Noah Emmerich appear in interviews in the documentary. Curiously, the only person missing is writer Andrew Niccol. I'm not sure why Niccol doesn't appear in the film (perhaps he wasn't happy with some of the changes that Weir did but they work brilliantly). The fact that it closely resembles elements from Philip K. Dick's "Time Out of Joint" is also not addressed as well. The two part documentary runs about 40 minutes. The first part of the documentary focuses on the genesis of the film and some of the changes that occurred before the film was shot. The second part of the film focuses on pre-production through critical reception. This includes information on the wealthy beach community Seaside, Florida that DIDN'T want them to shoot there. We also get four deleted/extended scenes that provide additional information and background on the story. While they aren't essential, they are pretty fascinating to watch. There's also original theatrical trailers, TV spots and previews for other Paramount releases. A terrific film that was overlooked at Oscar time for far lesser films, "The Truman Show" catches Weir and his collaborators in top form. It's ironic that 10 years later the "reality show" world that was predicted came true (although not on this scale). The transfer looks terrific and the extras are certainly superior to the previous release on DVD.