Unreleased Hitchcocks - R2 April 28th ??!! (1 Viewer)

[Brendon]

Flicking through the forthcoming releases over the coming weeks, I've just been gobsmacked to find a couple of Hitchcocks previously unreleased on DVD (in R1/Universal anyhow.)

Two of them happen to be favourite films of mine: Foreign Correspondant & Suspicion!

They're being released by Universal in the UK.

Question is; does anyone know anything about the quality of the transfers/prints ? Having only bought region 1 Hitchcocks before (Universal, Criterion and NbNW/SoaT Warner Bros) I've no idea what the Universal R2 Hitchcocks were like. As far as Foreign Correspondant and Suspicion go, I may just have to throw caution to the wind and buy them. If they're not so hot, they'll tide me over until a (hopefull) good R1 release.

Bren

 

[John Hodson]

AFAIK there are no details as yet as to the quality of the transfers, but I too would be interested to hear from anyone that has any. BTW, Universal are producing the re-releases and the new disks in a 17 disk boxset, available from play.com and amazon.co.uk for around £130 Sterling.

However, I have heard that the R2 Psycho now boasts the extras of the R1 AND an anamorphic transfer.

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Sean Campbell]

Is The Birds being re-released and will it be 16x9 this time?

 

[Sam Owens]

Psycho and the Birds are both going to be the original releases (no extras on Psycho, no widescreen on the Birds).

I might get Foreign Correspondent (the Brazilian version was pretty ratty) but I'm happy with the French Suspicion.

More can be found on www.r2-dvd.org

 

[Jonathan White]

Psyco does have extras -

"'The Making Of Psycho': an original documentary featuring new interviews with Hitchcock's daughter Patricia, star Janet Leigh, screenwriter Joseph Stefano and others
Censored scene
Production photographs
Production drawings
The shower scene with or without Bernard Herrmann's score
Additional newsreel footage
Theatrical trailers
Interactive menu
Scene access"

This was copied from play's website.

The new release of birds is only 4:3, but does have the following extras

'All About The Birds' featurette
The film's original ending
Storyboard sequence
Tippi Hedren screentest
'The Birds Is Coming' and 'National Press Club Hears Hitchcock': Universal International newsreel footage
Production photographs
Production notes
Theatrical trailer
Universal web links
Interactive menu
Scene access

 

[John Hodson]

The Birds is open matte, so it's not really that much of a problem.

BTW only play.com in R2 land seems to be listing the disk as having the extras mentioned. I picked up a copy of Psycho in MVC this morning, and no extras, save a trailer and cast and crew details were mentioned. Hmmm...

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Jonathan White]

According to play, Psycho is not released until the 28th April. Have you bought an old copy or is it the new one with the red box?

 

[Jean-Michel]

The Birds is open matte, so it's not really that much of a problem.

I think he meant "4:3" as in nonanamorphic widescreen.

And open matte or not, MAR is still MAR.

 

[John Hodson]

According to play, Psycho is not released until the 28th April. Have you bought an old copy or is it the new one with the red box?

It was the new re-release (seems to be generally available now on the high street). Sorry, I picked it up...then I put it down! I'm not buying until the extras are confirmed (or otherwise).

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Jay E]

I'm dying to get Foreign Correspondent & Suspicion as soon as I see a review (unless Warner mentions these as possible releases in the chat tonight).

 

[Sergio Angelini]

I have bought FOREIGN, SUSPICION and MR AND MRS SMITH - the best transfer is FOREIGN which is not on par with the Criterion REBECCA, but is otherwise excellent.

SMITH is really washed out and a major disappointment - it's acceptable, but is no better than a cheap VHS.

I got the fright of my life when I first played the SUSPICION disc as it was the (horror of horrors) COLOURIZED version.

However, this is an optional extra as a perfectly serviceable Black and White version has been included - not as good as FOREIGN, but much better than SMITH.

Otherwise, I found no extras at all on the discs.

I hope you're wrong about the PSYCHO disc as I've already put an order in - I'll send it back if none of the extras materialise.

Incidentally, in case no one has mentioned it before, UNDER CAPRICORN is being released on Region 1 in June!

 

[Jay E]

Warner mentioned in the chat that they will be coming out with Hitchcock titles in 2004. I think I'll wait and see what they offer before buying the region 2 releases of FC and Suspicion.

 

[Derek_McL]

I'm certainly interested in Foreign Correspondent and Suspicion as I have most of the other great Hitchcocks. The transfers sound fine. I'm not too bothered about the lack of extras or for that matter the design of the boxes which is absolutely hideous. Why couldn't they have maintained the original R2 Hitchcock black and white design or the even better designs on the R1 releases ?
I feel I need to know a little more about Foreign Correspondent before I take the plunge. Halliwell rates it highly but all I seem to remember about it is the final scene about keeping the lights burning in America. Its probably worth it for just that one scene! Saw parts of Suspicion recently and it looked like a typical Hitchcock so that will be almost a certain purchase.

Classic Films on DVD

 

[Sergio Angelini]

I can confirm that the new Region 2 release of PSYCHO has none of the extra features advertised by some web retailers.

This is a major disappointment - I am trying to return my DVD to PLAY at the moment...

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the update about Psycho, will get the r1 instead