Region 1 release of Prince's Sign O' The Times from Alliance: Any reviews or artwork? (1 Viewer)

[Johnny G]

As this is due out in less than 2 weeks, most distributors will be getting their stock any day now so could those interested keep any eye out for it & post their findings here when they see it?

Thanks

 

[Johnny G]

Well I guess nobody is interested in this release except me.

Distributors will have stock this week so I'll have to find someone that can lay their hands on it for specs etc

 

[Anthony Neilson]

Johnny, I don't see any listing for this on any website. There's an import version that's available in the UK, which I know is bare-bones but can be had fairly cheap. Can you provide a link for this Alliance version ?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Amazon Canada has it up:

http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/tg/...173270-1299529

 

[oscar_merkx]

I am interested in this as well.

I have browsed www.prince.org and have not found any info

 

[Kevin Davis]

Though Amazon.ca still lists this DVD as To Be Released on January 25, I got shipment confirmation from them on 12/29 and received the disc in today's mail. At long last, it's legit!

DD5.1 & 2.0 sound, anamorphic 1.78:1, no extras whatsoever. No insert, no bilingual packaging, just the film looking better than it has in ages!
I've only sampled the disc so far and can't wait to get a chance to sit down and absorb the whole thing. What I've seen looks great and, having it FINALLY in widescreen, it makes my Japanese LD obsolete.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Great news indeed

 

[Johnny G]

Hi Kevin,

I was just coming back to say CNL have it listed as Jan 25 so you can image my surprise to read you have it already.

Any chance of a scan of the front cover, or does anyone know where I can see the artwork on the net yet?

many thanks

 

[Sean A]

Try here :
http://www.prince.org/msg/7/128297

 

[Rodneyk]

I received this DVD yesterday from Amazon.Ca

It is 16:9 enhanced widescreen released. DD5.1 and DD2.0 for your choice. DD5.1 didn't sound as bad as some have said, just different than the VHS version.

Picture could be better. Very grainy. I didn't see this in the theater, but I can imagine that shooting film in low light could be part of the culprit. Compression could be a little less, especially in SOTT (1st song) with all of the smoke. Not always the cleanest and clearest picture.

Would I recommend? Absolutely! Will we see a better release in the near future? I highly doubt it, unless Prince himself pays for it to be re-mastered and he isn't known for having patience when it comes to his "children". When he is finished with something, he is done.

This is probably the best this has ever looked outside of a theater in '87. Buy it and "Play in the Sunshine" while you "Housequake", 'cause "(It's Gonna Be) A Beautiful Night"!

Rodneyk

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I bit the bullet and ordered my copy yesterday. I'll do a full review when it arrives...

 

[Johnny G]

Cheers for the help guys, be sure to let us know when the review is up Colin

 

[JimmyT]

Is this only available from Canadian retailers/sites?

 

[Johnny G]

Any sign of a review yet Colin?

 

[Derek Baker]

The screencaps & reviews over at www.prince.org look sweet. Def worth the purchase if you're a fan...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Gotta get the DVD first! It hasn't arrived - got a shipping notice a few days ago, though, so hopefully it'll show up soon...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I got this DVD the other day and my review's now online:

http://www.dvdmg.com/princesignothetimes.shtml

Short take: surprisingly good picture - much better than I expected. Decent audio but not great - I wouldn't call the sound a disappointment, since obviously they didn't have the original material to work with, but the audio's not impressive.

Anyway you look at it, this is easily the best video release we've ever gotten for Sign and I can't imagine another version improving on it by much. Well, that's not true - the audio could use an upgrade. However, this is probably as good as it'll ever look - it's a very solid visual transfer.

 

[Travis Brashear]

I think Colin's a tad harsh on the audio, but he pegs the video part of his review, especially the dramatic (but not to an unwatchable degree, lest I scare any on-the-fencers from buying this DVD) shift in image quality when "U Got the Look" starts...I never noticed this on the VHS (likely because that low-res format made the whole film look like a murky mess), so when I watched the DVD today and that part came along, for a moment I was like, "Eh?" Thanks to Colin's review and the end credit's notation that UGtL was directed by someone other than Prince, I've got a better perspective on what happened. For anyone curious if this disc is worth the effort of importing it, shut up already, damn!, and just buy it! It's awesome! And I got mine shipped from Canada to Oklahoma in literally less than a week from Amazon.ca, so you don't even have to wait long!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Please do us a favor....

Search your favorite websites
for reviews.

No need to litter this forum area
asking why reviews have not been
posted or where they can be found.

All review sites are at the mercy
of the studios who are sending screener
product out much later due to piracy
concerns.

Thanks for your cooperation.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Ron, this DVD is different than cases like the guy who wanted the Ray review. Sign is only available in Canada, so none of the websites got review copies. I had to order mine from Amazon.

This post is aimed at those of us who bought copies - it wants folks to post our thoughts about the DVD, as there was a lot of controversy initially about whether it'd be legit. I understand your desire to stamp out lots of "where's the review?" threads, but this is a title that won't be covered by many sites and didn't get sent as a screener...