Braveheart Special Edition DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Tom_Ca]

From The Digital Bits:

10/18/04

Industry sources have slipped us some interesting information, revealing a few interesting titles that Paramount is considering for re-release as Special Collector's Editions in 2005. This information is extremely tentative, but you might keep your eyes peeled for new SCEs of Face Off, Airplane, McLintock!, Hondo, The Truman Show, Braveheart, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and maybe... just maybe... Titanic, among other titles, by the end of next year. Presumably, those films released previously on DVD in non-anamorphic widescreen will receive new HD anamorphic transfers.

 

[Jeff D Han]

Just thought I would chime in with my thoughts on
Gibson's commentary-

My impression of it was he didn't want to be there
doing it. Once in a while he would say something
interesting about the shooting locations, the
actors or actresses, or historical facts, but it
took him forever to warm up to the idea of talking.
IMO it's one of the dullest tracks I have listened to.

 

[Nick Martin]

Well, it's been almost a year since the Bits Rumor Mill post...anything at all in terms of news?

 

[Brandon Conway]

I guess on the plus side most of those other titles have turned out to be true. So, perhaps just a little longer 'til Braveheart.

 

[Mark Lucas]

I rather see real special editions of the Naked Gun movies or heck, any of the countless Paramount movies which don't even have a trailer as a extra.

 

[Paul.S]

Although according to a piece in the Wall Street Journal this past week Par has moved their first HD DVD release slate out of Q4, what with Braveheart having been an announced title in Jan. '05, I doubt there will be a standard def SE of this title. But having said that, it remains to be seen if Par will do what U has done and re-release last minute standard def (not-so-special) SEs of titles they've announced for HD DVD.
"[M]ost"? Brandon I think you're mistaken. A quick check of DVD Empire confirms that only two of the eight titles mentioned in that Bits quote have been (re-)released or are slated for (re-)release by Par as SEs: Truman and Titanic.

It looks like Hondo is coming out for the first time on DVD on October 11 (and as a single-disc edition, not a SCE). McLintock!'s release next month (again, in what looks to be a single-disc edition) is Par's first release of the pic on DVD. It looks like the 2002 release was from the previous home vid rights holder, Delta Entertainment.

Braveheart is one of my most eagerly-anticipated HD DVD titles and, Par being Par, I'm not expecting much: I'm hoping for a spring 2006 release for which they simply do the minimum of a new HD transfer and port over the extras from the SD DVD.

-p

 

[Colin Jacobson]

??? You say only two of the eight have been scheduled but then you mention two more - the Wayne titles. Maybe you're nitpicking on the definition of "SCE", but the fact remains that the titles are set for release.

Also, Paramount has announced a new version of Airplane. Some new DVDs have an ad for it. Weird there's no formal release date - at least none I've seen - but it's definitely been officially announced. That makes five of the eight, with only Braveheart, Bueller and Face/Off MIA...

 

[Chris Bergmann]

If they've already made a new transfer for the HD-DVD then I'm pretty sure that we'll see a new "normal" DVD release too - that way they'll make at least some money from the new transfer.

 

[Paul.S]

Colin, in addition to, yes, making a point of the "SCE" designation mentioned in Bill's twice-quoted comments which as you know is a specific 2-disc Par line with significant brand equity thanks to the Star Trek re-releases, the focus of my comments is on what we can divine about what Par may or may not do based upon the studio's typical, past re-release behavior. If that wasn't clear to you from my first post herein, it's certainly a recognizable theme from my posts in other threads in which you have parried and jousted with me over such minutiae.

"The fact remains" that, given that it was Goodtimes and Delta Entertainment that first released Hondo and McLintock!, we can't accurately use the upcoming Par releases of those titles as points of departure to make prognostications about what Par's re-release posture might be about the other titles Bill mentioned. As far is Par is considered, they're not re-releases.

It's illogical to seemingly conclude, as Brandon's comments indicate, that we only have "just a little longer 'til Braveheart" based upon "most" of those other titles having been supposedly re-released when for half of those that we have ("re-")release dates for Par had nothing to do with the original DVD. That's my point. Go back and (re-)read the second sentence of my comments which you quote and note the important qualifier: "by Par."

I'd opine that the absence of a release date for Aiplane! is probably related to the somewhat amorphous but significant HD DVD issue.

By the way Colin, your penchant for entering a thread (largely, seemingly) to take issue with something I've said when my comments were not even addressed to you has not gone unnoticed.

-p

 

[Paul.S]

Post #29 edited for clarity. -p

 

[Brandon Conway]

Semantics aside, a new DVD for Braveheart is possibly around the corner given the track record (5/8) of that digital bits rumor. I wasn't promising salvation or anything. Sheesh.

 

[Paul.S]

It's 3/8 for Par, vis-a-vis whether we can speculate anything from the titles' re-release about the likelihood of a Braveheart SE (and technically it's 2/8, since Airplane! is currently vaporware: announced for release, but with no street date according to Colon). And one home vid rights holder versus another is hardly a matter of semantics. It's a legal reality.

The fact that Par has announced Braveheart for HD trumps the coincidence of what titles Bill happened to mention in a sentence IMO. If there were going to be a standard def SE of Braveheart, I think we'd have heard word from the studio about it by now.

Braveheart is the only title of the 8 that Par has announced an HD release of. There's no 100% accounting for studio DVD release strategies (thus my interest in prognosticating based upon their past behavior), but if you think there's no relationship between that and the heretofore absence of an SD SE of one of their Best Pic winners, I'd disagree.

-p

 

[ScottJH]

Paul S. quote from post 26, "It looks like Hondo is coming out for the first time on DVD on October 11 (and as a single-disc edition, not a SCE)."

http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...d=739350&tab=5

SCE isn't "a specific 2-disc Par line" all the time.
Upcoming Witness, and already released Island in the Sky, Untouchables, Fatal Attraction are all single disc SCE.

 

[Brandon Conway]

And, aside from Star Trek, the majority of Paramount SCEs are 1-disc. In addition to the ones you listed, there's Alfie (2004), Beverly Hills Cop, Clear and Present Danger, The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, The Sum of All Fears, Crossroads (2002), Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, The Duellists, Footloose, Deep Impact, The Four Feathers (2002), The Hours, The Italian Job (2003), The Italian Job (1969), Jackass: The Movie, Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, Mean Girls, Paycheck, Roman Holiday, Sunset Boulevard, School of Rock, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Stepford Wives (2004), Team America: World Police (both Rated and Unrated), and Zoolander.

The # of discs in a SCE is a factor outside of the label.

 

[Paul.S]

Thx for SCE clarifications/examples, Scott and Brandon. I had my wires crossed: I was thinking ST II: TWOK--with its double-wide Amaray (and often with the key art surrounded by a gray border, although not always, i.e., Gump--is a definitive example of Par's SCE line. In fact, that release is labeled "The Director's Edition."

I didn't realize Par had so diluted the SCE brand tag that appears on all of the two disc ST re-releases except for ST II. Heck, I even have the Footloose and BHC SCEs. Thx for clarificiation.

Viscerally/frankly speaking, the misunderstanding on my part is a function of my not having Par at the top of my list of studios whose re-release nomenclature I've kept up with, esp. since their HD DVD slate announcement. I'm still fimished about the IMO sub-par DVDs for two of their contemporary Best Picture winners, Braveheart and my fave pic of all time Ordinary People. And if any Par pic deserves an "SCE," it's Chinatown. And don't even get me started on the long, long absence of a Titanic SE and the fact that the studio has still not made an announcement regarding their HD DVD plans for the title now that an SD SE is skedded for release next month.

-p

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Gee, have I made your enemies list? :rolleyes

I have no "penchant" for taking issue with you. Hate to break it to you, but I don't even pay attention to the names of folks who post, so I have no idea when I've responded to your comments in the past.

You posted something with which I disagreed - I replied. That's the extent of it...

 

[Bill Thomann]

In the free preview disc of Get Rich Or Die Tryin' at CC this week is a (CC only) $3 off coupon good on Braveheart (or any of 9 other titles listed). It's good until January 31, 2006. I haven't replaced my Braveheart which I lost in Hurricane Charley anticipating an SE in 2005 which didn't happen. Should I wait for a really low price & use the coupon or wait for an SE. Has there been any talk since August of the possibility of one in '06?
I just know if I buy it & unwrap it they will immediately announce an SE but it is pretty cheap & with $3 off would probably cost about the same as a rental to own it. Whadya think?

BTW other titles you can use the coupon on are: Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Coach Carter, School Of Rock, Italian Job (2003), Manchurian Candidate (2004), Untouchables SCE, Face/Off (another one I am waiting on), The Godfather & Eddie Murphy: Raw.

 

[Paul.S]

I suggest you decide if you wanna get it and if so, do so as cheaply as possible (copies as cheap as $7.66 via Amazon Marketplace as of this typing) and with eyes wide open re what Par is doing here. One title shy of *half* of the 10 titles in that promo were announced for HD DVD.

"Last call for alcohol,"
-p

 

[DanR]

I would love to know if this is still coming as a SE. I would also love to know, given that Braveheart was announced in the initial slate of Paramount HD-DVD's, if perhaps a Blu-Ray version is in the works for the middle of next year (now that Paramount is aboard Blu-Ray). That, my friends, would be GLORIOUS in 1080P with DTS or possibly even Dolby TrueHD. We can dream can't we?

Regards,
Dan

 

[Nick Martin]

This would have been the perfect time, too- 10th anniversary of the film's release.