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I've been mostly posting this sort of thing in the 'Random movie thoughts' thread but I thought I'd make a separate thread. A place to announce and discuss interesting and special home-video releases (Yes we know the latest Marvel film is being released ).
Long may elaborately packaged physical formats live!
First off...
I hadn't heard this was a thing until I saw it in the shops today... 'The World at War' (The war-documentary to end them all) has been recently remastered in HD... again! It was meticulously remastered in 2010 but to the Horror of just about everyone, they cropped it to 16:9 despite all 22 hours of the source material being 4:3. This new Remaster reverses that, as the packaging proudly proclaims. It seems to only be a Region-B release as yet.
Roundup of some old posts I really should have created this thread for instead of filling the 'random movie thoughts' thread with them (I can find them all here now)...
I don't know if there is some list of bizarro DVD extras but...
I got my copy of the 1967 Japanese movie 'Branded To Kill' (On Arrow Video) and discovered it had a full-length porno remake of the movie called 'Trapped In Lust' amongst the bonus material :-D.
The original isn't axactly short on nudity by the way and features some amazing black and white images/camera-work.
Man these two forthcoming Ken Russell Blu-Ray collections from the BFI sound amazing...
...they're out a month before my birthday, how thoughtful of the BFI!
Oh wow, 1987's '*Batteries Not Included' debuted on Blu-Ray last Tuesday! (R1 only)
I re-watched it on TV last year after James Horner died and nearly bawled my eyes out. One of those films that you fondly remember from being a kid... but then when you re-watch as an adult... and you have to upgrade it to "perfect filmic masterpiece"!
If I can just figure out how to import it at a sensible price...
Oh happy day!
Ian McKellen's incredible WWII inspired version of Richard III is finally getting a proper release on Blu-Ray (There was a limited edition run last year which commands steep prices on Amazon/eBay). I saw it on TV back in the late 90s and was blown away. I've been waiting for an HD release to rewatch it.
Only one month to wait and Park Circus/BFI have put together a thrilling new trailer...
Apparently Criterion is starting to release some of their Blu-Rays in the UK (Europe/RegionB) (Read here).
I was in the video store this morning and did a little double-take when I saw two Criterion Blu-Rays on the shelf. Why would they be stocking RegionA discs? I looked on the back and they were both RegionB.
I'd actually been seriously considering ordering Polanski's Macbeth from the US, just the other day and there it was for £18. That's pricey for a UK BR but way cheaper than the £30+ it would have been to import the RegionA disc. I'm looking forward to watching this again in HD having first seen it on VHS in the school video-lab while studying the Scottish play for English class.
The downside is that its only 6 releases to begin with and a shame they didn't just Region-Free the damn things. Still it's good news for film fans in Europe.
Hallelujah! It's finally happening on October 18th, The Marx Brothers are debuting on Blu-Ray . Lots of fine brand-new extras too including commentaries for all 5 films. It's labelled as being region-free.
Also the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' film series is finally getting the proper HD treatment from Criterion in November. At $80/£60 it's pretty pricey but check out the awesome artwork, featuring Ogami Ittō and Daigoro atop a mound of their vanquished foes! (I'm not crazy about the font though)...
I was watching the latest RLM re:View on 'Dawn of the Dead' last night...
...and they open by saying it's out of print worldwide?!? I thought they were joking at first, it turns out they weren't. The Blu-rays are going for stupid prices now on Amazon and eBay. I've had the "Director's Cut" on PAL-DVD for years but never got round to an HD upgrade .
The 3-disc Arrow release is now £40-50 but then I noticed this Italy-only 6-disc release from Nicolas Winding Refn is coming out in November and is also about £40-50...
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/193949/dawn-dead-gets-4k-blu-ray-release-italy/
http://www.midnightfactory.it/film/zombi-dawn-of-the-dead#info
I've just pre-ordered a copy. I'm probably most looking forward to the full-frame European cut on blu-ray#3. As far as I know this is the first time that it's been released in HD at all and now it's coming in two aspect-ratios!
Long unavailable in HD, the Japanese animated film 'Metropolis' is being released on Region-B blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment . A limited-steelbook in January and the regular release in March.
It looks beautiful in this new Eureka upload of the trailer...
Mark Kermode...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TusbTj2usoY[/video]
...is raving about this new trailer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6504eRh5h6M[/video]
I can see why, it looks amazing. I've been wanting to see this movie for years and finally it's got a 3-disc blu-ray release.
I'm gonna ask Santa if he can get me a copy .
Long may elaborately packaged physical formats live!
First off...
I hadn't heard this was a thing until I saw it in the shops today... 'The World at War' (The war-documentary to end them all) has been recently remastered in HD... again! It was meticulously remastered in 2010 but to the Horror of just about everyone, they cropped it to 16:9 despite all 22 hours of the source material being 4:3. This new Remaster reverses that, as the packaging proudly proclaims. It seems to only be a Region-B release as yet.
Roundup of some old posts I really should have created this thread for instead of filling the 'random movie thoughts' thread with them (I can find them all here now)...
I don't know if there is some list of bizarro DVD extras but...
I got my copy of the 1967 Japanese movie 'Branded To Kill' (On Arrow Video) and discovered it had a full-length porno remake of the movie called 'Trapped In Lust' amongst the bonus material :-D.
The original isn't axactly short on nudity by the way and features some amazing black and white images/camera-work.
Man these two forthcoming Ken Russell Blu-Ray collections from the BFI sound amazing...
THE KEN RUSSELL COLLECTION: THE GREAT COMPOSERS (Dual Format Edition)
Three films by Ken Russell
A Dual Format Edition collection bringing together the career defining work of Ken Russell at the BBC. Russell's work during the sixties for award-winning arts documentary series Monitor and Omnibus were critically-acclaimed and often seen as a high point in his filmmaking.
The first of the three films, Elgar (1962), portrays in vigorous style the life of the English composer Sir Edward Elgar, with Huw Wheldon narrating his life story over beautiful mountain scenery. The Debussy Film (1965), Russell's penultimate film for Monitor was an ambitious work about the composer s life, written by Melvyn Bragg and starring Oliver Reed as Claude Debussy. Delius: Song of Summer (1968) is generally regarded (not least by its director) as Russell's best television film with many critics citing it as his finest work in any medium. The story traces Eric Fenby and is based on his memoirs of trying to help the blind and paralysed composer Frederick Delius.
The films in this collection have been remastered to High Definition, and are presented on Blu-ray for the very first time
Special features:
Elgar commentary by Michael Kennedy and Ken Russell
Delius: Song of Summer commentary by Ken Russell
Other extras TBC
Illustrated booklet with essays and full credits
1962-1968 | black & white | 210 minutes | 2 X DVD9 | 1 X BD50 | Other details TBC
THE KEN RUSSELL COLLECTION: THE GREAT PASSIONS (Dual Format Edition)
Four films by Ken Russell
The second of BFI's Ken Russell releases is another two disc collection bringing together four films from 1965-1967.
The collection opens with Always on Sunday a dramatized examination of the painter Henri Rousseau. The combination of Russell reuniting with Melvyn Bragg and Oliver Reed and Russell's infectious love of the film's subject results in a film which is illuminating in every frame. Isadora: The Biggest Dancer in the World (1966), a study of the outrageous American dancer, Isadora Duncan, starring Vivian Pickles as the dancer whose obsession with the importance of art and complete disdain for decorum chimes perfectly with Russell's own sensibility. Last of the TV dramas is Dante's Inferno (1967) which tells of the complex relationship between the 19th century artist and poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his model Elizabeth Siddal.
The films in this collection have been remastered to High Definition, and are presented on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Special features:
Late Night Line-up: Ken Russell at Work (1966): documentary showing Russell at work on various BBC TV documentaries, discussing his methods and filmmaking philosophy
Interview with editor Michael Bradsell (2015): the editor discusses his work with Ken Russell
Illustrated booklet with essays and full credits
1965-1967 | 202 minutes | 2 x DVD9 | 1 x BD50 | Other details TBC
...they're out a month before my birthday, how thoughtful of the BFI!
Oh wow, 1987's '*Batteries Not Included' debuted on Blu-Ray last Tuesday! (R1 only)
I re-watched it on TV last year after James Horner died and nearly bawled my eyes out. One of those films that you fondly remember from being a kid... but then when you re-watch as an adult... and you have to upgrade it to "perfect filmic masterpiece"!
If I can just figure out how to import it at a sensible price...
Oh happy day!
Ian McKellen's incredible WWII inspired version of Richard III is finally getting a proper release on Blu-Ray (There was a limited edition run last year which commands steep prices on Amazon/eBay). I saw it on TV back in the late 90s and was blown away. I've been waiting for an HD release to rewatch it.
Only one month to wait and Park Circus/BFI have put together a thrilling new trailer...
Apparently Criterion is starting to release some of their Blu-Rays in the UK (Europe/RegionB) (Read here).
I was in the video store this morning and did a little double-take when I saw two Criterion Blu-Rays on the shelf. Why would they be stocking RegionA discs? I looked on the back and they were both RegionB.
I'd actually been seriously considering ordering Polanski's Macbeth from the US, just the other day and there it was for £18. That's pricey for a UK BR but way cheaper than the £30+ it would have been to import the RegionA disc. I'm looking forward to watching this again in HD having first seen it on VHS in the school video-lab while studying the Scottish play for English class.
The downside is that its only 6 releases to begin with and a shame they didn't just Region-Free the damn things. Still it's good news for film fans in Europe.
Hallelujah! It's finally happening on October 18th, The Marx Brothers are debuting on Blu-Ray . Lots of fine brand-new extras too including commentaries for all 5 films. It's labelled as being region-free.
Also the 'Lone Wolf and Cub' film series is finally getting the proper HD treatment from Criterion in November. At $80/£60 it's pretty pricey but check out the awesome artwork, featuring Ogami Ittō and Daigoro atop a mound of their vanquished foes! (I'm not crazy about the font though)...
I was watching the latest RLM re:View on 'Dawn of the Dead' last night...
...and they open by saying it's out of print worldwide?!? I thought they were joking at first, it turns out they weren't. The Blu-rays are going for stupid prices now on Amazon and eBay. I've had the "Director's Cut" on PAL-DVD for years but never got round to an HD upgrade .
The 3-disc Arrow release is now £40-50 but then I noticed this Italy-only 6-disc release from Nicolas Winding Refn is coming out in November and is also about £40-50...
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/193949/dawn-dead-gets-4k-blu-ray-release-italy/
http://www.midnightfactory.it/film/zombi-dawn-of-the-dead#info
I've just pre-ordered a copy. I'm probably most looking forward to the full-frame European cut on blu-ray#3. As far as I know this is the first time that it's been released in HD at all and now it's coming in two aspect-ratios!
Long unavailable in HD, the Japanese animated film 'Metropolis' is being released on Region-B blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment . A limited-steelbook in January and the regular release in March.
It looks beautiful in this new Eureka upload of the trailer...
Mark Kermode...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TusbTj2usoY[/video]
...is raving about this new trailer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6504eRh5h6M[/video]
I can see why, it looks amazing. I've been wanting to see this movie for years and finally it's got a 3-disc blu-ray release.
I'm gonna ask Santa if he can get me a copy .