The King of Kings and M: Special Edition - Criterion Collection (specs!) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

The King of Kings (Special Edition Double-Disc Set)
1931 - Cecil B. DeMille - MSRP $39.95 - Release Date: 12/7


Special Features

* New, restored digital transfers of both versions of The King of Kings: DeMille’s 155-minute roadshow version and his subsequent 112-minute general release
* New Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version), plus the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld
* Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The King of Kings
* Cast portraits by photographer W.M. Mortensen
* Production and costume sketches by renowned artist Dan Sayre Groesbeck
* Stills gallery of rare production and publicity photos
* Original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film’s gala premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and studio correspondence from DeMille
* Original theatrical trailers
* Plus: a booklet featuring a 1927 essay by DeMille, an excerpt from
* Robert S. Birchard’s new book Cecil B. DeMille’s Hollywood, production notes, and a new essay by film critic Peter Matthews

http://www.homevision.com/users/fol...=1374&id=KIN190


M (Special Edition Double-Disc Set)
1931 - Fritz Lang - MSRP $39.95 - Release Date: 12/7

Special Features

* New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* Audio commentary by German film scholar Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife, and Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M
* Conversation with Fritz Lang, an interview film by William Friedkin
* Claude Chabrol’s M le Maudit, a short film inspired by M
* Classroom tapes of M editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history
* Interview with Harold Nebenzal, the son of M producer Seymour Nebenzal
* A physical history of M
* Stills gallery, with behind-the-scenes photos, and production sketches by art director Emil Hasler
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* Plus: a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann, a 1963 interview with Lang, and the script for a missing scene

http://www.homevision.com/users/fol...=1374&id=MMM030

(This was originally posted on the DVDTalk forum by "PopcornTreeCt")

 

[Jeff_HR]

Interesting!

 

[Nick Sievers]

I was nearly going to buy M until I read months ago that a re-issue was on its way, great that its now official. I've never seen The King of Kings so i'll have to think about it.

 

[Tony Scello]

I sold off my old Criterion version of M in anticipation of this new Criterion SE. Looks like it is going to be one great set. I, also, have never seen The King of Kings although the specs for this set look very interesting.

 

[Michael Alex]

Great news regarding M. Should be a stellar presentation, not unlike Criterion's treatment of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. If only they'd acquire the rights to "Die Nibelungen"...

 

[PaulP]

M is Mine! Interesting to see two Criterions released on the same date that were released the same year (well, sorta). December will be damn painful though...

 

[Andy Sheets]

Really glad I heard about the new edition of M since I was just about to buy it a few weeks ago. I'll also be interested to hear Rentschler's bit on the commentary because I liked his book.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The Kino Nibelungen isn't bad, although if I remember aright it has some PAL conversion artifacts. It's certainly better than the old Criterion "M". I'm really looking forward to a serious upgrade of that classic.

 

[Charles H]

Kino is releasing a 5-disc Fritz Lang box set--including WOMAN IN THE MOON in December. I believe that they were also working on a restoration of the pd title SCARLET STREET.
The 1951 remake of M and directed by Joseph Losey with David Wayne in the Lorre part and relocated in Los Angeles is actually pretty good and worthy of being dvd. (columbia owns the rights.)

 

[richardWI]

And the other discs????

 

[PaulP]

 

[richardWI]

wow, thanks! I was just about to buy the Kino Die Nibelungen, but I'd rather get the box.

I take it Metropolis will still have the pal speedup? I wouldn't mind it so much, but I saw trailer for it at the "correct" speed and it was like night and day.

 

[Chris Cheese]

M is a must-buy for me. That Kino box looks really nice as well. And if they're working on restoring Scarlet Street, I'll snap that up in an instant. I have a copy of the movie now, and it's great, but the quality is probably the worst of any movie I own, so a restoration would be great, especially since it doesn't seem to have ever been released in a decent print.

 

[David_Blackwell]

M looks like a Criterion to buy (I should start buying some Criterion DVDs).

 

[Roderick Gauci]

I knew these were coming – M (1931) having already been announced for December for some time – but the sheer volume of extras (particularly three soundtracks for THE KING OF KINGS [1927] to accompany TWO versions of the film!) is pretty awesome, to say the least.

We also have to consider the fact that the supplements for M are almost entirely different from the ones included on last year’s R2 SE from Eureka, so that I’m itching to purchase both sets (after having already owned the film on two separate PAL VHS copies!). That said, M is one of my absolute favorite films, so I don’t really mind having to fork out so much dough for it!

As for THE KING OF KINGS, I’ve never watched it and I’m really curious to witness De Mille’s take on the subject, even if his approach to film-making is notoriously unsubtle, sometimes verging on the ridiculous. However, to be fair to him, I’ve still got to catch up with several of his more famous (and better appreciated) work, including THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1923), THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932), CLEOPATRA (1934) and THE CRUSADES (1935); hopefully, Criterion’s no-holds-barred DVD release will open the floodgates for moe of the same from other studios…


P.S. Paul, thanks for giving us the first glimpse of Kino's upcoming Lang Box Set. Do you also happen to know what sort of supplements will be included on the SPIES (1928) and WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929) DVDs? I already own DIE NIBELUNGEN (1924) - which I strongly recommend - and METROPOLIS (1926) - which I've yet to check out, alas! - so I'm obviously more interested in these two titles. Actually, I've been checking Kino's website daily for updates on them (as well as L' AGE D' OR [1930]) but, so far, there's nothing whatsoever in there!

 

[PaulP]

There don't seem to be details released by Kino yet, or I haven't been able to find any except individual cover art for the included discs here:

http://www.kino.com/press/video.html

 

[PaulP]

Well to swing this thread back to its topic of discussion, Criterion have released covers for the two December titles. Behold:



No large ones yet, but once they're uploaded, they'll be available here: http://www.criterionco.com/content/i...ox_348x490.jpg & http://www.criterionco.com/content/i...ox_348x490.jpg

 

[Ravi K]

Been waiting for a new M disc. The existing Criterion transfer is pretty bad.

 

[Jean-Michel]

This is a joke, right?

 

[Mark_vdH]

M's cover looks a lot like the UK special edition: