New 2-Disc Region 1 NTSC DVD of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) in the works! (1 Viewer)

[Scott Temple]

From here



Finally! Chainsaw '74 in 16x9! Plus, we'll also finally be getting that awesome documentary, "The Shocking Truth!" And that new commentary track sounds awesome too. Can't wait for this!

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, it does sound pretty cool. And I'm a sucker so I'll buy it again

 

[JonZ]

"Finally! Chainsaw '74 in 16x9!"


I just got the Pioneer disc at BestBuy for $6

To tell you the truth I didnt even notice if it was 16x9 or not.

 

[Jesse Blough]

Yes, I must have this.

 

[Ken Groulx]

That's very cool news. I was a little surprised that a special edition of the original TCM wasn't prepared to coincide with the release of the remake, but better late than never I guess. The Digital Bits had a quite revealing interview in their review about the problems that were incurred on the transfer for the original Pioneer DVD release. This new version sounds very promising, however, and I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Justin_S]

I'm definitely double dipping on both The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Two great classics here, and it'll be great seeing better pic quality for both of them, not to mention going through the new features. The Henry disc out now is pretty crappy all around, so its especially nice to hear that its getting fixed up.

As far as the Blue Underground news go, I can't wait for that Blind Dead box set. It'll be great to finally watch the films in that series that I have yet to see. There's also no way I'll pass up their Giallo Collection #2.

 

[SteveGon]

Might just have to pick up Henry.

BTW, didn't I read somewhere the BU had acquired the rights to The Quiet Earth? Excitin' news if it's true.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Tremendous news, Scott - well spotted!

Texas Chainsaw Massacre just seems to get better with age, if you ask me. I hope that this new transfer is truly as good as possible: new print from 16mm negative; high-def 16x9 anamorphic transfer; digitally repaired frame-by-frame.

Great news about the Tombs of the Blind Dead boxed set. I have always worried about the elements to Night of the Seagulls; the negative is lost, apparently and the only good prints have various subtitles on buried into them.

Yes, great news, indeed!

 

[AlexHL]

Wow, excellent news. I'll be picking up both TCM and Henry for sure.

 

[Steve_Knutzen]

And to think, I just purchased TCM: The Shocking Truth last week. Oh well. Definitely will be picking up TCM and Henry too.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Interesting! Right now the two best versions of Texas & Henry are probably the UK versions. I upgraded to them from the current US versions a while ago, and the jump was definitely worthwhile in both cases.

The old US Texas disc looked like crap on my 53" set through a progressive scan player. The transfer is similar, but free from artifacting on the Universal UK disc, and it includes the SHOCKING TRUTH documentary.

Henry from Optimum in the UK is markedly better looking than the poor MPI disc here.

Both are often cheap from UK vendors...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...969567-3900411

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...969567-3900411

so you might want to take a look, unless you're happy to simply wait for these new versions, which will probably trump them.

 

[Rolando]

wasn't there a re-release of this already? with like a black shiny cover?

is it the same as the Elite edition I have? am I missing anything?

 

[TravisR]

The shiny black cover one is the same disc as the original release with the movie poster as the cover art. The only difference between those two releases is the cover.

 

[Scott Temple]

Yes, as TravisR said, the contents of Pioneer's 2003 re-release disc are exactly the same as their original 1998 disc. Same non-anamorphic botched transfer, same extras. The only difference is the cover art. What a sorry excuse for a re-release that was. With the exception of the film transfer, both Pioneer DVDs (1998 and 2003) are direct ports of Elite Entertainment's 1996 LaserDisc. While the LD's transfer greatly benefited from digital line removal, etc., the transfer that ended up on Pioneer's 1998 and 2003 DVDs was the incorrect one; the one without any cleanup. The extras on the LD are the same extras found on both DVDs.

What I'm wondering is....

In addition to all of the new additions ("The Shocking Truth" documentary, the new commentary track with David Gregory, Paul Partain, Marilyn Burns, Robert Burns, and Allen Danziger, etc.) will all of the extras on the 1998/2003 disc (commentary track with Tobe Hooper, Daniel Pearl, and Gunnar Hansen, Deleted Scenes and Alternate Footage, Blooper Reel, Trailers and Televison Spots, Still Photos, and Posters and Collectibles) be ported over to this new 2-Disc DVD Set? If not, I'll have to keep my 1998 disc. Also, I hope this new release uses the 1998 art (or something just as cool) and not that lame 2003 art.

1998 art

2003 art 2003 alternate "limited" art - Almost forgot about that awful cover - LOL!

The menus on the current Pioneer disc are pretty cool.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I guess my wait will soon pay off!

I wonder if we'll be lucky enough to see "A Family Portrait" included on disc two as an extra...

All I can say is - it's about damn time that this movie finally gets a proper release!

 

[Mitch Stevens]

We shouldn't get our hopes up! Pioneer had a perfectly good and proper transfer that had been digitally clean-up to use on the Region 1 release, and yet they purposely chose to use the non-fixed one. We can't trust them!

With that said, I have both, the Region 1, original Pionner release as well as the UK Region 2 PAL release that contains that documentary "The Shocking Truth."

When I carefully compared both versions, it was very clear (no pun intended) that the Region 2 DVD was far superior to the Region 1 release. The image was a hell of a lot sharper, and far more detailed than the Region 1 DVD. A lot of people have said that the region 2 DVD also used the wrong transfer, but I think they are wrong, as the difference between the two DVDs is night and day.

 

[Scott Temple]

I thought I'd re-post that message from Don May, Jr. The link's no longer active, but here's a transcript. From November 4, 2003.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

It's a funny thing with me and TCM -- I think it's one of the few films that works better when it actually looks a little raw and like someone's sick home movie. Cleaning it up and enhancing it too much ruins the effect, IMO.

 

[MichaelSloan]

Dammit! I'll miss you Paul. I'm sure many other fans of the TRUE Texas Chainsaw Massacre will as well. I realise Franklin wasn't neccesarily a sympathetic character but I always felt sorry for him anyway, considering how badly everyone treated him (except maybe Pam and Sally) on August 18, 1973( I think that's the right date). I can't wait for the new DVD

 

[Ruz-El]

Put me down for the new TCM and Henry as well.

What's the blind Dead all about? People seem pretty excited by this one, but I'm not familier.