LIFEFORCE SE desperately wanted... (1 Viewer)

[David_Blackwell]

I have the original disc. I bought it cheap. It would be great to see an upgrade.

 

[Todd Stout]

I first saw Lifeforce when it hit VHS in the mid '80s. I was probably 15 or 16 at the time and I was quite impressed with the movie (and Mathilda May's nakedness). A few years later I recorded it from cable and watched that tape over and over again. I then saw a VHS copy of it for about $6 at Wal Mart a few years later so I picked that up. Lifeforce was one of the first DVDs I bought when I bought my first player in late 1998. The picture isn't all that great but the 5.1 channel sound is pretty impressive for a movie from that era.

I would certainly pick up a new DVD of Lifeforce if it had a new 16:9 transfer. I'd also really like to see both the US theatrical as well as the longer cut available if a new SE were to be released.

I do have a question about the sound of the movie to toss out there:

During the scene where the shriveled up guard is in the cell and takes a run at the bars and explodes into dust seems to have different sound effects on different versions. The old VHS recording I have has a really high pitched scream as he runs at the cell bars. It's really quite humorous (just ask my friends who I subjected to repeated plays of just that one scene over and over again). The VHS copy I bought a few years later has a different sound in place. It's a much more subdued and definitely not humorous sound. The 5.1 channel audio on the DVD has the same sound effect as the store bought VHS copy. Has anyone else ever noticed this?

 

[Dave Mack]

[url=http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6816/matmay0gp.jpg] [/url]

 

[Mark_TS]

WOW-This thread has legs-who would have thought...
If memory serves me-when Fallada pokes at the Guards decayed corpse with a bar, he mutters-"God-dear God-if this spreads..." not sure if that is in the Intl version, but IS in the theatrical.
also, in the theatrical-as they watch the dead girl come back to 'life' on the OR table-Fallada VOs: "In a matter of days-we could all be doomed" (not in the Intl version) which adds more ominousity to the proceedings...

A trainwreck of a movie-but one of my favorites-though Ill never understand why Hooper chose Railsback-he seems out of place amongst the Brit Thespians and over acts.

 

[Steve Christou]

"Don't worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex!"

My favorite quote from Lifeforce. One of the best bad films ever made and one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

Tobe Hooper directed this after Poltergeist, a big hit in 1982, which fueled suspicion that producer Steven Spielberg was on the Poltergeist set a lot more than first suspected,


Ironic considering Steve Railsback does most of the overacting. An offbeat, intense actor, check out The Stuntman (1980) to see Railsback at his twitchy, nervy best, he'll always remind me of Charles Manson though, Railsback effectively played Manson in Helter-Skelter (1976) ,his most famous role.

 

[Alex-C]

Hey Look, it's two o'clock in that screen cap ! huh.

 

[Brett_M]

Railsback was awesome as Agent Coppinger in In The Line of Fire, as well.

 

[Dave Mack]

That screencap had to be altered by me to be included here. If anyone needs the full version, PM me! I remember being in the theatre (with my leg in a Full cast!) and watching every males' jaw drop open somewhat during that scene!

I LOVED the first 1/2, then it became like a Godzilla movie IMHO. Still a great "movie" watching experience though. Would be fun to see this again.

 

[johnbr]

I would love to see a HD-dvd sp/se of this movie.I would love it to have the USA cut the International cut a 7.1 sound cut scenes.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Yep, this thread has legs. It keeps spreading.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Wow. I had no idea the this thread would take off like it has.


Sigh. I don't think so. I'd hardly call those two links "tribute pages". Those mugs must be Mike Nelson disciples.

Railsback's performance is a little shaky in spots, but everyone else, especially the great Frank Finlay, aquits himself admirably. And I think Hooper's direction is just fine. My only beef with it is a few holes in the script, but it's still such a great sci-fi/horror film overall that I don't care. You can tell the people who made that film were really passionate about classic horror/sci-fi films. And they came within millimeters of making one. A shade more work on the script, and it would have been.

They dubbed over Finlay's frightened "God...dear God" reading in the international with a much more ineffective reading in the American theatrical. And I thought the "within days, we could all be doomed" line, dubbed by a different actor, was completely redundant. The uncut international version is SO much better. The original majestic opening credits sequence, flying over the comet, was hacked completely out of the American theatrical. An entire scene explaining vital plot points, including what the nature of the "crystal" cases are, was dumped. Many of the references to vampires were also cut, and some dialogue was Americanized so it no longer made any since, i.e. during a British TV broadcast the announcer has an American voice and says "the British government" instead of having a British accent and saying "Her Majesty's Government", like any sane person would expect. During another British broadcast, describing the devastation of London, the announcer ridiculously has an American accent in the theatrical. Finally, one of the best lines in the whole film was cut, from the main male vampire: "It'll be much less terrifying if you just come to me..."

I'd really like to know what is contained in the footage that's still missing, if any.

 

[David_Blackwell]

Lifeforce scholars unite.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The image in that Japanese poster that Steve posted looks exactly like the cover of an album by this metal band. . .I can't remember the name though. The singer went by some goofy stage name like "Nightmare" (or something like that).

 

[Aaron Silverman]

AHA! Crimson Glory: Transcendence. (The singer's called "Midnight.")

Here's info on the album.

Thank you, Google!

 

[Bob Partovi]

I'm so glad to see others love this movie as much as I do. The last time I saw this was when it was on TV in the 80's when I was a kid. Definetly some awesome twists to vampires I'd never seen before. Anbody ever read the book "The Space Vampires"?

 

[Mark_TS]

its odd-in the USA and EU-they use the Eye/Earth cover. In Japan they have always used that Crimson Glory cover-for tape, LD, LP, CD and DVD.

But-since SONY/Clueless Inc. is in charge of it, we can count on not seeing it, or them waiting until blue ray to release it.

Which is kind of ironic, it being the INTERNATIONAL VERSION...

 

[Aaron Silverman]

How long do we have to wait for Blu-Ray, again? Oh, yeah -- three more weeks!

 

[GregK]

LIFEFORCE recently ran on HDNet.

...Wish I could have checked that out!

 

[Bob Partovi]

anyother tv listings? I can't find any in the near future.

 

[Mark_TS]

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