Friday The 13th SEs/Box Set Info Coming on September 19th!? - Page 10

I agree. A few years ago I said Paramount should just do a 2-disc set worth of extras, which could feature a documentary, interviews, deleted scenes, alternate TV scenes and perhaps a few other goodies. As someone else said, I think the V/A is excellent on the current discs so there's not much of a need to upgrade there. I know I'm in the minority but I really don't want to see any of this stuff just thrown back into the film so that they can be called "director's cut". If the stuff was cut because of the MPAA then I wouldn't mind it being put back. If the director didn't like the scene and then cut it out, I don't want this back in just to have a "uncut" label on the release.

I'd much rather pay $30 for a 2-disc set of extras over $150 for the same transfers with a few extras on each. However, no one really knows what's going to be on the set so we're just having fun with gossip. I love Paramount and I'm sure they are going to do something nice with the set and I think we should be grateful that they are doing anything.

Michael,

I completely agree with you 100% and I know exactly what you mean.

Scenes cut on purpose (like those melo-dramatic tv scenes from Part 4) should not be put back into the film. They should be included as only extras if available.

Stuff cut by the MPAA and originally intended scenes everyone (such as directors and wriers) wanted to remain in the film (the cut deaths, the original violent ending of Part 3) I would like to see put back if at all possible.

Matt,

That is a very good idea you have there. It would be reasonable.

:: Some of this footage must be in horrible shape and extensive, painstaking, and costly work would have to be done to make it match.

Why would you assume this? If the footage is in the form of negative trims that have been boxed and stored in a warehouse in the years since the films were cut, it would be in absolutely pristine shape (THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU'VE NEVER SEEN or APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX anyone?). All you'd have to do is telecine it in High-Definition, marry it to an exiting HD transfer of the main feature, and color correct the new additions to match the footage where it's being inserted in High-Def. Aside from possible frame-jumps at the points where footage was trimmed from shots*, it could match just fine.

Vincent

* Even this could be corrected by having a computer "create" the missing frame by "averaging" the before-and-after frames together.

Except that's one very big "if"...

DJ

I said this I believe in the early days of this thread though, but if Anchor Bay had the kind of thinking of 'matching quality' than we never would have gotten almost a single film from them uncut.

While I understand that Paramount would like to be someone constant on the picture quality and such, still seperating what should have been the deaths in the film, instead of the MPAA approved cuts, still is cheapening the directors work and ultimately hurting the value of the film.

It would be very easy to present in this set the original cuts of the film, but along side of them, via seamless brancing, the either workprinter footage or the lesser quality actual scenes the way that the movie was intended. If they were to do this, I am very sure that the real people that are concerned and adore these films would not feel at all neglected or taken advantage of.

While I applaud Paramount's efforts so far, they still are not giving the diehard fans of this series what we have been asking for for nearly 25 years.

As it turns out, Tom McLoughlin is in fact recording a commentary for the film, perhaps as I write this. This comes from a post on the F13 forum by Peter Bracke, who apparently is working with Paramount on the set in some capacity.

Will,
Where is the F13 forum with Peter Bracke?

Count me in for wanting the theatrical versions with outtakes, deleted scenes and trims as extras.

Due to finances a year or so ago I was forced to sell some of my cds and dvds. I havent bothered to rebuy F13 series because of this box set coming out.

Matt: http://www.fridaythe13thforum.com/sh...440#post535440

Thanks Adam!

The MPAA is Evil!!!

That's a little too graphic for the internet. Cut that or we're giving you an R rating...

You can show him mutilate the girl in the next scene, just only show .5 seconds of blood hitting the wall, not .9 seconds. If you do that, we'll let you release the movie in which he kills forty five people with a PG-13 rating... it's the amount of blood on screen that matters, not the content.

Okay, next up. Almost Famous... great inspiring movie that would be great for teenagers to see. There's a swear in here. R rating.

Requiem for a dream? huh... well, the graphic nature of the drug use in the film might steer the younger crowd away from drugs. But this is just too much! R.

edit

Here is an article according to the official Friday the 13th site. It comes from a member who was involved with working on this this set.

Flippers and No Uncut equals much disappointment.

95% of the budget seems to have gone to interviews and commentaries. None of which interest me. This might come as good news to Hardcore fans.

***There will be no uncut films made available. Not even Part 1 which is easily found***

This set has let loose not a golden egg, but a sour turd.

Here is the article posted today.


Hi All

Peter Bracke here. We recorded the Part 3 commentary today and it went great (or so they tell me in the control booth). Reuniting for the first time in twenty-two years were Richard Brooker, Paul Kratka, Larry Zerner and Dana Kimmell. It was quite the thrill and I think you will all really enjoy the commentary. Unfortunately, Tracie Savage really wanted to be there also but had a prior commitment and the schedule for the DVD set is so tight this was the only day to do it. Also, I believe Larry will be sending along a little reunion pic from the commentary to Blake soon.

Also got some info on the box set as well. While the set is planned for a fall release, due to post-production time required, legal clearances, replication, etc., the set is being finished as we speak and there will be no further interviews/commentaries, etc. There will be the four commentaries already mentioned here.

And this info I'll let you assess as you will. There will be no uncut versions of any of the films on the set, which will be five discs - two flicks per movie and a bonus disc of supplements. There will be side-by-side comparisons of uncut footage on 1, 6 and 7, as well as the TV scenes for 4. Total supplements will run over 200 minutes and include new featurettes with interviews with all of the attendees to the Fango convention earlier this year, plus Sean Cunningham, Joseph Zito, Tom McLoughlin, John Carl Buechler, Rob Hedden and Tom Savini.

That is all I know, but hopefully this will give you something to anticipate come fall.

Best,

__________________



Sorry Paramount. The only thing I will be anticipating is that you just saved me $100. Thanks.

What a letdown and disappointment after so much anticipation created by Paramount last fall. For future reference Paramount, dont create hype and frenzy over false hope. It will only hurt sales.

I say cancel this soured box and sell the series right to Fox/MGM/New Line/or Anchor Bay so they can give us a real box set.


www.fridaythe13hfilms.com
http://www.campcrystallake.com

I don't think any of these would give us a real box set or anything better than what Paramount is rumored to be giving. Fox has a couple horror titles that are just as big as F13 yet I doubt they even know they own them. MGM has been outdone on R2 releases several times plus their rep isn't the best. New Line is one of the greatest studios out there when it comes to V/A but let's not forget that they too released NOES5 in its R-rated form after the VHS got unrated. Not too many extras on that set either. As for Anchor Bay, they've released several titles "uncut" only to turn out they were actually cut.

The only thing that bothered me about the current rumor is that the films would be spread over on a flipper. This "could" be the Universal route to keep the price low, which would be fine yet I'd rather have 8 slim cases. The uncut matter doesn't bother me but since the extras are the only new thing, price will be the selling point. As I've said countless times, I'm very happy with the current releases so if the price is high then it won't be worth the upgrade. $60-$80 then I'll buy it. If it's higher then I'll just settle with what I've got.

However, I'm giving this a grain of salt as well. BTW, what is this official site? Is this the main fan site or is the webmaster connected to the films somehow?

Actually,

It would have been better if Paramount just worked on two films a year again before as special editions. It's what should have been done to begin with from 99-03.

That way they could put time into each one without rushing out a whole entire lackluster set that is sure to disappoint.

Sure, the 4 year wait would suck for the films, but at least they would probably be done better. There would be no excuse against restoring the films then. You would have plenty of time and only two to worry about a year which would stretch out the budget.

Well, that's shitty news. Even at $60, I'm not sure I'd pick it up. While the Nightmare set isn't uber-loaded, the AV quality is top notch and the extras that exist are really good...and I only payed $53 for that new. There's no way I'm paying more than $10 per disc, even if they do go the cheap-ass flipper route.

Off to pick up 1-4 in the current format

Ryan, as a horror fan I've often joked the past four years that Paramount should do this when it comes to releasing F13 on DVD:

1st release: R-rated, no extras (already out)
2nd release: R-rated, w/extras
3rd release: uncut, with more extras

Of course, this was just a joke "in case" any of the uncut footage was found. Perhaps Paramount will set the truth free within a month or two and tell us what the real extras are. Either way, I still think this was a lose/lose situation for Paramount. I said earlier I thought they couldn't please the fan and I'm certainly not meaning to be mean by saying that. Fans expect a lot from their films and (rumor) has it that there are four commentary tracks plus 200 minutes worth of extras. Even if that's not enough, that's still a lot more than any other Paramount film.

Michael,

I really dont think you understand.

For the last 20 years, all that was ever asked for was the uncut films. Thats what all the petitions, letters, sites, etc. were for. It was the number 1 thing. It's the whole reason these re-issues were suppose to be done to begin with.

There was none of this done for commentaries and interviews. Many people (especially casual fans) could really care less about such material. It's the movies that really matter.

Paramount comes along and provides false hope into this series being released uncut last fall by making an official announcement.

Now, if they never intended on following through, they should have never provided false hope to begin with.

Paramount created the frenzy themselves be making an uncut announcement. No one else did.

Sales will hurt due to this issue. I really believe that. Why? Casual fans like myself will not buy the set now.

Hardcore fans will buy it anyways. You could put the worst discs ever into a hockey puck shaped box and they would buy it. Paramount knows this.

Paramount will make their money back. I dont see how they spent much of anything. It's all the same tranfers and cuts from the last discs.

P.S. The Specs are real. They were provided by Peter Bracke. He not only has done work on the box set, but he is writing the book on the series as well.

Unfortuanately, these specs are real. The only way they arent is if Paramount provided false specs purposely.

P.S. Anchor Bay and MGM might not provide every single cut there is, but it's no question that they do try to restore what they do have for certain horror releases. The Burning (Amazon VHS), Silent Night Deadly Night, etc. were all from the same time frame and were provided uncut or at least as uncut as possible.

Comparing Paramount to New Line/Anchor Bay when it comes to horror is just silly, especially nowadays.

Both examples above were virtually extra free, but no one really complained. Why? It's all anyone really ever wanted. Uncut and a cheap price. They put their budgets into the most important thing (restoring as best as could be done off of a budget and materials available). Not 200 minutes of silly chatter.

Paramount hates horror. Fine. But, I dont understand why they just dont let someone else buy their horror films. Well, money of course. If they wanted to distance themselves you would think they should just sell off the series then. That way they wouldnt be involved.

If the Elm Street box came out now from New Line, it would be even better. DVD was fairly new when it came out. For 1999, it was a fantastic set. One of the best. It would be average now to me. This set coming out now would be even better. New Line has improved since then and they were good to begin with.

The Alien box set. Now, thats how you do a set. If only everything could be done in such a way.

Colour me deeply unsurprised with Paramount.
You guys know exactly what F13th fans wanted, if the news above IS true then you've made it painfully obvious you don't have the vision to develope F13th 'Special Editions' that fans have been writing & asking you for, over the years.

No uncut versions = no sale

That'll teach Paramount to not archive the trims.
And what a sad day for 'North American slasher' fans.

The very fact this set will be flippers speaks volumes on Paramount cutting their losses, what a cheap trick.
It all makes sense now with what I was told last year, that Paramount weren't willing to pull out all the stops due to budgetery issues.

I guess I'm one of the few who are still looking forward to this release.

I love the F13 series. Like many of you, I was practically raised on the sick twisted flicks. Presently I own only the original movie on DVD, because I suspected that eventually we'd get something a bit swankier.

Am I a bit disappointed that the uncut versions are not included? Sure, I'd love to see nasty extra gore reinstated; looks like it's not gonna happen. I'll get over it.

Based on what I've read so far, I actually like the path that Paramount is taking. Yeah, there are lots of things left out that have me scratching my head (i.e. does Steve Miner want NOTHING to do with this set??) but as a lifelong Voorhees fan, I'm absolutely looking forward to seeing what this set has to offer.

I completely understand the displeasure being expressed here, but let's be realistic about this: the F13 flicks are not exactly Paramount's "crown jewels" - at least as far as the executives are concerned. Frankly I'm pleasantly stunned that they're even producing this set at all.

In order to please ALL of the Jason Junkies out there, Paramount would have to include EVERY deleted scene known to man, along with TWO separate versions of each film, multiple commentaries for each entry, retrospectives, interviews, lobby cards, text-based novelization transcripts, etc., etc. I know this because I'm one of those Jason Junkies.

Perhaps I'm just fortunate to look at this issue as a Glass Half Full proposition. I'm not at all saying that the disgruntled should just Shut Up and Buy What's Offered, but based on Peter Bracke's comments...this sounds like a set I'll quite enjoy.

And if Paramount was inspired by Universal's "multi-packs" then that's just fine by me. I think those Uni sets are freakin' great!

I gave myself about fifteen minutes before I indulged in any written reaction. Well, I'm glad I didn't get my hopes up. If I'm to accept this as the specs in a nutshell, color me underwhelmed.

So I take it the well-regarded Part 2, of all the sequels, gets no special features? Huh? It's guess it's not the DVD producers' fault, but I can only theorize that 23 years ago, some idiot at Paramount threw out the excised footage. I take it they couldn't find the alternate ending and the snipped gore footage for Part 3, either. I'm just disgusted footage can be lost forever like that.

Obviously, some people thought Paramount might actually take the plunge with uncut releases. Sorry, but FAT CHANCE has been up in neon lights from the get-go, at least from my perspective. I'll be glad to see the what footage will be on there, but as I said way back near the beginning of the thread, what will truly excite us and what the studio thinks will excite us are two totally different things.

For the time being, I guess the thing to do is wait for the official specs. They could always surprise us with more, but it's just not Paramount's style.

Ryan, I know fans want uncut films. I've been a fan for the past 20 years when I first started watching these yet I think fans should at least be understandable if uncut versions are not an option. As of today, only one of the eight has been released uncut and that was the first film. However, that report mentions that this will be released R-rated but the original DVD was pretty much a new version because Annie's death was uncut while the ending was cut from the R-rated version. With the new disc, will it be the same transfer? Will Annie's death be cut? Will the ending be shown as it originally was? Only time will tell here.

From this report, clips from 1, 6 and 7 will have uncut footage. Now, perhaps the quality of this wasn't good enough to be included in the film or perhaps Paramount was working with a budget. Either one is understandable. Once again it is my opinion that Paramount was losing either way. They could have released these uncut and with no extras yet fans would have still been upset. Rumor has it that we're getting R-rated cuts with extras. We are getting some deleted scenes but we're not sure of the quality. I know AB added poor "uncut" footage to their SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT disc, which I thought should have been an extra due to the poor condition. If the F13 footage looks great then I'll bash Paramount for not adding it. If it looks poor, I vote to keep it as an extra.

Paramount said they would "try" to release them uncut but the chances were slim and they would have to try and locate this footage. Apparently they were only able to find footage from 3 films, with only 1 of them being something new so that tells me that the others might be lost. It could always be found but perhaps in 2004 it's simply lost. Again, this is nothing new because I'd say 98% of older movies are released to DVD without deleted scenes. As I mentioned before, Paramount's OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN disc features a commentary with the director where he states the "X-rated" cut of the film was thrown out. What was cut was thrown in the trash can. If this happened with a film like that then there's reason to believe that the same happened with F13.

Casual fans have already bought the single disc releases so I'm rather curious how many will upgrade. The die-hards are who this set was made for so if they don't buy it then that's there lost. If it's really about the "films" then I don't see why people boycotted the first release. Yes, I really understand people want these uncut but it might not be possible. We're getting the extras so what else should those fans do? Boycott this release in hopes that something better will come along? How long do those fans boycott until they finally realize that uncut versions might not be possible?

As for creating false hope, I think a lot of this is nothing more than internet rumors. If these specs are real then we now know what to do with our previous editions (if anyone wants to trade---e-mail me ). However, there have been a lot of rumors out there that turned out to be false (if this recent news is 100% fact). A few months back I believe it was Cunningham who said he had recorded a commentary track. At first it was reported that Dana Kimmell would not be a part of the set since she had turned religious and wanted nothing to do with her fame from this film. It now appears that was false because she's listed as being on the commentary. The Cunningham rumor appears to be false because he's not listed. It also appears that it was true when reports got out that Miner wanted nothing to do with the set, which I find shocking. Oh well......




I personally think this would have been the best move if uncut versions weren't possible. I think most are happy with the current editions, V/A wise so the extras are all that we really needed. I could do without the commentary tracks but who am I kidding? As with the Universal monsters, I'll be buying this set even though I own the current releases. I'm the type of fan that studios can release multiple versions to.

Disappointing. The news is not very promising if true (and I believe it is, because some of it comes from the reliable person who's doing the F13 book). Paramount set a pretty juicy bait out there and promised all sorts of things, but now we're just getting gore footage from 3 of 8 films, and not even reinstated into the kill scenes, but added as an extra "comparison" montage!?!?

Look -- I'll certainly take whatever I can get, but Paramount was talking big and based on the news of this set, it's not that great.

Michael,

You are right. If the uncut films dont exist any longer, then nothing can be done. You cant fix what you dont have.

I understand.

Paramounts best bet would have never been to make an announcement at all. They should have just said nothing.

They should have just completed the set and then released the specs. That way there would have been no hope for anything. No one would have known about the set until the specs were released and the set was done.

I just think having people wait an entire year off of even some false hope was a mistake.

Making an uncut announcement of any kind or even bringing hope to it (before actually even having footage available) was just dumb.

It's like your parents telling you they are buying you a car for Christmas. You then go in the driveway and find a bicycle with 2 flat tires.

Remember, Paramount was asking fans for uncut footage so that was a pretty good sign of what was coming.

I'm just curious about those who didn't buy the original releases in hopes of an uncut version. If you don't care about extras, are you going to wait for the box set or buy the current releases, which are all under $10? I'm sure prices on Ebay will be cheaper when word gets out about the box.

My last post came before your post so I guess we're posting at the same time but.... this here gave me my biggest laugh of the day. I too am disappointed but from the start I thought it would be very hard to see this uncut.

I'm also curious about the alternate ending to part 3, which was rumored to have been located.

I'd like to know why Part 7, perhaps the most diced and sliced of all the films, isn't getting a Director's Cut. I thought John Carl Buechler was ready, willing and able and just needed Paramount's green light? This chapter suffers the most from MPAA tinkering.

Joe,

Supposedly due to bad material. I dont believe it though. I just think it's called cheap.

Disc flippers? Thats just a horrible gimmick to save money.

The least Paramount could have done is work on Parts 6 and 7 if thats what they found. Fix up the material the best they can. Offer seemless branching. Done.

Directors on both 6 and 7 were willing to re-cut the films as well.

They arent even going to try and do that. And thats only 2 out of 8 movies.

Part 7 is the most requested. I mean come on. They cant even try to restore 1 out of 8 movies?

Obviously, they have rights to the uncut material from Part 1 according to the footage that will be in this.

Why no Part 1 uncut? Quality is not even an issue about that. The uncut print is very easy to get.

Part 2 with no extra footage sucks. I was highly anticipating something for it. It's one of my favorites.

Paramount didn't have time to find that print. They were too busy recording commentaries of no-name actors discussing what they ate off the craft service table on certain days of shooting. At least they have their priorities in order.