The Criterion Collection release of The Battle of Algiers shows once again why there is no more trustworthy name in DVD. The film itself looks as good as it ever has on home video. The image is presented in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The French and Arabic soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. Two discs of supplemental materials include documentaries on the director Gillo Pontecorvo, the making of the film itself, a look at the historical time period depicted in the film, a film about the director returning to Algiers three decades after making the film, and a short on how security expert Richard A. Clarke finds lessons in the film that can be applied to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Another short film features Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Steven Soderbergh, Julian Schnabel, and Mira Nair discussing the film's influence over their own work. This is one of the best discs of 2004.