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Highlander released in Region B (1 Viewer)

Thomas Agermose

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Looking at Amazon UK today I discovered much to my surprise that Highlander (one of my favourites) is up for a BluRay release.
Highlander: Immortal Edition (Limited Edition Steelbook) [Blu-ray] [1986]: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Russell Mulcahy: Amazon.co.uk: DVD

How this managed to stay below the radar in this forum puzzles me, even though its region B (some reviewers have the region coding listed as A/B).

If anyone has seen the release can they please give some feedback on the disc. I'm especially interested in the video/audio quallity and, and what the deleted scenes consist of.
 

Thomas Agermose

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Merci Jerome.
My French is just good enough to make out the details of the review.

Even though the audio/video is rated as average its still a must have for me. Too bad its not the Ultimate Edition I was hoping for.
Guess I still have to hang on to my old Laserdisc for the still gallery and the previous DVD for the music videos.
 

JulianK

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I've had a look at the UK disc, and was pleasantly surprised (especially considering some of the terrible, terrible DVD transfers the film's had).

There are definitely some scenes where grain is very apparent, but others that look very nice indeed. It's certainly a considerable step-up from the DVD version.

There are six minutes of deleted or differently-edited scenes, which were discovered when the film was mastered for HD.

Sadly the original audio is lost, so they're presented mute, with appropriate tracks of music. The scenes are extended wrestling footage; an extended scene with Connor and Rachel; an extended Silvercup fight; an extended version of the Kurgan's death scene
and an extended version of Connor and Brenda's picnic.

The 85m Making of... documentary is included in SD.

The disc features a commentary track by Mulcahy (not the one on the Anchor Bay DVD), and an original theatrical trailer.
 

RobertR

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What's "unnice" about film grain? If it was there to begin with, it should still be there. The linked review speaks of a waxy look, which doesn't sound good.
 

Will_B

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Previous DVDs looked like a sandstorm in terms of grain, so I knew this would be a tricky one. The screenshots don't present the "waxy" look he spoke of. They have grain, often a lot of grain, but it looks better than the DVD. Maybe he thinks the sweaty, waxy look of the Kurgan is odd, but that's how his makeup was done.

Plus I don't like the way the reviewer refers to grain as "film artifacts". To me, the word "artifacts" is so strongly associated with "digital artifacts" that to call grain "film artifacts" is just strange.

In short, I wouldn't put too much faith in the words of the reviewer. Go by the screenshots.
 

Paul Arnette

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Julian, were you able to determine the region coding for this disc? The French release is A/B, so I am hoping this one is the same.
 

JulianK

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Sorry, Paul. The only Blu-ray players I have access to at the moment are Region B only.

I did look to see if there was a programme like DVDInfoPro that offered the same sort of options for Blu-ray (ie: reporting a disc's region coding), but haven't found one.
 

Ferdinand Hudson

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In the previous thread of the Blu-Ray, prior to the review being posted over at DVDActive the reviewer mentioned the UK disc to be A/B as well. Fairly certain this will apply to all European releases as all companies are in league with Lucif... uhm, I mean Studio Canal.
 

Paul Arnette

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:laugh: Thanks. In taking another look at the DVD Active review, there is a field called 'RCE' under Disc Details that states 'No'. I couldn't tell if that was the region coding information or not. They used to put that information in the blue title bar at the top of the review IIRC.
 

cafink

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RCE is "region code enhanced" (or something like that), and refers to the advanced form of region coding used on some DVDs to prevent them from playing on region-free DVD players. I believe that Sony was the only company ever to use RCE, and that they did so only briefly years ago. Nothing similar has been used on Blu-ray, as far as I'm aware, so I'm assuming that DVD Active uses the same generic template for both DVD and Blu-ray reviews.
 

Shawn DuHast

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The German 2 disc DVD SteelBook Special Edition had a New 117min documentary plus a previously released 8 minute interview with Christopher Lambert.
Total over 2 hrs!

2 DISC DVD Special Edition Set in the high Steelbook ™.

- Making Of documentary in 4 parts:
* A Legend is Born: The authors Gregory
Widen and Peter Bellwood of the Highlander
Screenplay (30 minutes)
* The visual style: cinematographer Gerry Fisher and
Highlander Architect Allan Cameron on the Highlander
Look (41 min)
*A strong woman: An interview with actress
Roxanne Hart (16 mins)
* The vision of the producer: William Panzer on
the emergence of Highlander (30 mins)
- Interview with Christopher Lambert (approx. 8 minutes)
- Cinema Trailer
- Photo Gallery

Kinowelt has produced a new documentary in 4 parts, and around 2 hours running time.

The above is from DVD Reviews: Highlander - Es kann nur einen geben 2 Disc-Set Special Edition Steelbook | DVD-Forum.at


So as the BR Making Of is listed as only 85 mins I wonder what is missing from it?
 

Ferdinand Hudson

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It drops the 4th part, "The vision of the producer". All non-German DVD releases featured the same 3-part documentary, Kinowelt had the 4th as an exclusive (or rather, I haven't seen it elsewhere and I do own a fair bit of Highlander DVDs). It is a shame that they drop that for the BD release but since I have that already I'm not that bothered by it.
 

Will_B

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Domestic release of Highlander won't be for quite awhile, due to marketing B.S.:

From the nameless publicist who updates the official Highlander page on Facebook:

"Lionsgate is planning on releasing the original film on blu-ray in conjunction with the theatrical release of the remake. So, next winter 2010."

(The status of the delayed video game was also updated: "Not canceled at all. We had to change developers and trust me it's for the better! Look for it in late 2010.")
 

Mike_G

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Judging from what's said, this looks like the theatrical release. Can anyone confirm this? Also, can anyone in the U.S. confirm we can play it here? If so, I'll order it.
 

RobertR

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I have it. I'm pleased with how it looks, even though picture quality is somewhat inconsistent. Yes, everything on it plays.
 

Will_B

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Originally Posted by Mike_G

Judging from what's said, this looks like the theatrical release. Can anyone confirm this?
Unlikely. All versions of Highlander for awhile now have been the international cut, which is a few minutes longer. One of the clearest indications you're watching the international cut is if an immortal does a somersault-like move in the parking garage fight. Or if there's a very brief flashback to Nazi Germany in the middle of the film.
 

Paul Arnette

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Originally Posted by Mike_G

Judging from what's said, this looks like the theatrical release. Can anyone confirm this? Also, can anyone in the U.S. confirm we can play it here? If so, I'll order it.
This disc is the international cut, and, yes, it will play here. I was very impressed with the A/V quality of this disc considering Anchor Bay's underwhelming DVD releases. Buy it, I say!
 

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