Van Sant's film is, if not universally accepted as a masterpiece, then certainly a cult classic that holds a profound and haunting place in the hearts and memories of those who were contemporaries of River Phoenix, like myself, and who had come to see him as one of the great actors of our generation. My appreciation to James Franco for apparently seeing in Phoenix what I do, and for, as I do, wanting to see more of him. It would be a travesty to have saved all that footage, digitized it, and then not let those of us who hold all of these artists in high regard have a chance to experience it; how tragically ironic would it be to have it lost to time even after all that effort to preserve and artistically edit it.

Astonishingly, virtually none of Phoenix's films are available on Blu Ray, I'm thinking particularly of "Running On Empty," "The Mosquito Coast," "Dogfight," "Silent Tongue," "Dark Blood," not even the all-star "I Love You To Death."