The Exorcist on Blu-Ray? (1 Viewer)

[zackscott5]

I just screened this as my usual easter Sunday Tradition (I either watch The Last Temptation of Christ or The Exorcist every year on Easter Sunday , depending on the year) and I was noticing how well the print of this film has held up over the years. Does anyone know if there are any plans for this to be released on Blu-Ray?

 

[Paul Arnette]

I have no idea if a future release is in the cards; all I ask, no beg, is for Warner Bros. to include both cuts and not just The Version You've Never Seen (And Probably Wished You Hadn't Now that You Did).

 

[Derek M Germano]

Considering the number of times this title has been trotted out on DVD, THE EXORCIST on Blu-ray is almost a given. Would love to see both cuts on Blu-ray, in a full blow special edition that would include THE FEAR OF GOD: THE MAKING OF THE EXORCIST documentary.

I'm also a fan of THE EXORCIST III and hoping that it too will someday appear on Blu-ray.

 

[Travis Brashear]

Fixed.

 

[Vincent_P]

I think you should re-fix it- William Peter Blatty directed THE EXORCIST III, not William Friedkin

But yeah, your sentiment is correct. I'd love to see Blatty's original cut of THE EXORCIST III (preferably with the more appropriate LEGION title) without the tacked-on, out of place Priest footage and special-effects laden exorcism climax.

Vincent

 

[Travis Brashear]

LOL! Whoops! Righty-oh...

 

[Jim_K]

No matter how much I despise "the version I wish I'd never seen" I wont stop "banging my drum" for studios to always include all cuts on the BD's.

The studios seem to struggling with finding "added value" aspects for this next gen format, well here it is right in front of their noses.

 

[Travis Brashear]

If they'd left the spider-walk in, but left out the cheezy little "Pazuzu-face" single-frame inserts and retained the original theatrical ending, TVYHNS would have been perfection.

 

[zackscott5]

I didn't mind "the version that you never seen" but I wouldn't mind having both cuts on the same disc. I think that The potential of Bluray being an archival format preserving all versions of the same film is one of the reasons why I invested in it. CEOT3K and Blade runner are prime examples of that and I hope for more like this.

 

[willyTass]

totally agree

 

[Paul_Scott]

LOL (not at you though). That was the exact same reason I spent so much money on Laserdiscs back in the day- that was the 'archival format' at the time. But boy do times change, rather quickly too.
Still, it's hard to imagine that 15-20 years from now (if I should live so long) that I wouldn't still be happy watching my movie collection on a 10' wide screen. 1080p media like Bd can easily support screen sizes that large now and any further improvments can always come on the display side which doesn't have to negate the value of the media. A 2K source should still look great on a 4K display as long as there is a good scaler somewhere in the chain. Of course, there is always the possibility that another form factor (not disc based) comes along and catches fire causing a migration away from optical disc drives. A situation like that I can easily envision. And while the media itself would remain highly watchable, not having cheap, inexpensive access to replacement hardware or seeing new releases phased out in favor of a new format would put my Bd collection on par with my Hd DVD collection today. I guess I should just hope to get at best 20 years of use out of any 'archival' format. Any more than that seems like a bonus.

 

[Kyle_D]

With all the controversy over the revisionist color timing on The French Connection, and Friedkin's acknowledgment that he's now prepping The Exorcist for Blu-ray, I thought I'd resurrect this thread.

Personally, I don't care if Friedkin wants to go back and recolor the film AS LONG AS THE ORIGINAL 1973 VERSION IS INCLUDED as well.

If Warner is reading this, I'd ask that they treat this release similarly to their wonderful How The West Was Won set, with separate versions on separate discs.

Disc 1: The Version You've Never Seen (re-colored if Friedkin so desires)
Disc 2: The Original 1973 cut (retaining the original color timing)

The Exorcist is one of my favorite films, but I will refrain from buying it if the 1973 version is not included. As one of the highest grossing films of all-time adjusted for inflation, I would think the film justifies a 2-disc release. I would gladly pay an extra $5-10 for such a set and, if necessary, wait an extra year for the original cut to be remastered.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Well, if Warner is going to release these then hopefully all versions are included but more than that I'd like to see them and MGM settle the whole ABBY lawsuit. Including it or giving it some sort of release would be the best way to complete any collection.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

ABBY is an awful film!

Regarding THE EXORCIST --- I'd think the way to go is to include both versions, but if I could only have one it would be THE ORIGINAL THEATRICAL VERSION. I probably wouldn't buy it if it was only "The Version You Never Saw".

 

[Geoff_D]

Seconded. With TFC I can grudgingly admit that two different copies of the exact same cut of the film would be a hard sell to the money men (no matter how f'ed up the film might look).

But with The Exorcist having two distinctly different incarnations, there's no better reason to put that extra disc on there. Allow Friedkin to indulge his revisionist ways with one disc, and give us a pristine version of the original on another.

I'm kinda hoping against hope that this sort of thinking is applied to the Blu of Apocalypse Now: one disc for the theatrical version in the 2.35 theatrical aspect ratio (hell, I'd take 2.20), and another platter for the Redux edit in whatever cock-eyed ratio Storaro insists upon.

 

[Kyle_D]

In the case of Apocalypse Now, I think the various forums should start a petition that we will not buy another compromised 2.00:1 release in HD.

 

[Brian Borst]

I agree on both cases, I really hope Warner and Paramount will do this. They could even add the original version as a third disc, for the collectors, with a standard special edition containing only the revised film and the bonus features. Like they did with Blade Runner.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

We're not getting rid of the revisionist "TE".
Friedkin freakin proud of it (them?)!
So the only hope is for multiple versions (otherwise I'm screwed; cause I have too have the original). Agree it's got too be 'bladeriunnerish' (I don't think it will be anywhere near that elaborate) w/lossless audio for "ALL" versions as well as an isolated score track. If they wanted it too be REALLY cool it would have an isolated effects track as well!!!

Warners and lossless?!?!
Friedkin and the original?!?!
I am NOT holding my breath!

 

[Brian Borst]

Well, Warner's doing lossless audio now, so it can't be impossible. If they just made a decent 1080p transfer with lossless audio for the original, and let Friedkin do whatever he wants with the new version, we'd all be happy. Port the audio commentaries from the previous dvd's, add the Fear Of God documentary and the trailers, and put some new featurettes in HD about the SFX or something, and you'd have a very good release I think.

 

[zackscott5]

well, since that WArner's has total Control of the film itself (unlike Amadeus where they just have distribution rights) as well as being a very popular film as well as being the primo studio when it comes to classic film releases I feel that they will do a great job with the releasing of this on Blu as soon as they get around to it.

I say this because we don't have this on Blu yet (as opposed to other films that have less of a fan base from the Warner cannon that were released already) also this title was one of the first that warner released on DVD way back when so Meybe we will have a super duper edition...someday.

All that I'm saying is that it's almost easter again and still no Exorcist on Blu. I guess that I'll be watching Last Temptation this year.

BUt maybe it will come out in time for next year...when I will probably be able to afford it