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Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

post #1 of 12
1/15/08 at 1:16pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all---

I was at Amazon.com searching for books by author Eliot Asinof, and I was surprised to see that a 20th Anniversary Edition DVD is being released on March 18, 2008:

Amazon.com: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition): DVD: Jace Alexander,Brad Armacost,Eliot Asinof,Ken Berry,David Carpenter,John Craig,Dick Cusack,John Cusack,Jim Desmond,Richard Edson,Brad Garrett,Barbara Garrick,Lee Anne Harris,Merrill Holtzman,

Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't list anything about special features. Has anyone heard anything about documentaries, commentary, etc.? And it appears that it's a single-disc standard release only. Any chance of an HD release?

Hopefully this release of a very fine baseball film---arguably THE best---will renew interest in clearing Buck Weaver's name. Speaking of which, visit the following sites if you're interested:

Clearbuck / Clear Buck

The SouthtownStar :: Sports

Regards,
mattl
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post #2 of 12
1/15/08 at 1:55pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

20 years already? Say it ain't so!
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post #3 of 12
1/15/08 at 2:33pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Yeah you beat me to it
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post #4 of 12
1/17/08 at 6:47pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Specs at DVD Active:

Eight Men Out

My favorite baseball movie. Yay!
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post #5 of 12
1/18/08 at 2:45am

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

I might have to pick this one up including Bull Durham.


DVD Times - Bull Durham, Eight Men Out and Pride of the Yankees R1 CEs in March
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post #6 of 12
1/18/08 at 6:28am
Thread Starter 

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Moroughan
Specs at DVD Active:

Eight Men Out

My favorite baseball movie. Yay!

Awesome, Ed. Thanks for sharing. I knew if the details were out there, someone would find them.

It's cool to see that Sayles did a commentary, though I was hoping that there might be one including some of today's experts on the scandal. More details have come out since Asinof wrote the book on which the film is based, and it would have been cool to have Gene Carney or someone else who's researched the subject participate in a commentary.

Still, Gene, author of BURYING THE BLACK SOX, did participate in interviews with the DVD producers, so maybe he'll turn up in the historical featurette.

I'm really looking forward to this one. If you haven't seen it, it's a really good film. A few of the facts arem't quite perfect, and some information is presented out of sequence, but, for the most part, it's quite accurate. The only thing that is maybe not quite as clear as it could have been is the fact that the trial at the end of the film takes place a whole year after the end of the 1919 World Series. Most of the players played for nearly the entire 1920 season before the trial took place. This was something I didn't realize until I decided to learn a little more about the scandal.

mattl
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post #7 of 12
3/23/08 at 11:19pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Picked this up this week. Much improved over the previous 2001 release, which I also own.

Video: The print has been cleaned up with dirt and other flaws removed, and the opening titles, fairly jittery in the earlier print, are now solid. The new video may be a tiny bit sharper, but my TV (32-inch Sony Bravia) is not reference quality so it's hard for me to judge. There's still a fair amount of film grain.

Audio: The new edition offers a new 5.1 surround track in addition to the original mono on the 2001 release. I don't have a surround system, so someone else will have to weigh in on that.

Extras: The centerpieces are two documentaries: one about the making of the movie and one about the history of the scandal itself (and Eliot Asinof's book).

The excellent retrospective documentary is presented in two parts, each about a half-hour long. Participants in interviews include John Sayles, D.B. Sweeney, David Strathairn, Gordon Clapp and Maggie Renzi, Sayles' longtime partner who also played Eddie Cicotte's wife in the film.

It includes many insights about the making of the film, both about moviemaking challenges and about the challenges of making the baseball play appear realistic. There's also some good trivia, such as the fact that the actors were not allowed to keep their white home uniforms because they were going to be used for another film: "Field of Dreams."

The "Story Behind the Movie" featurette focuses on the real-life Black Sox story. It's a little dry and meandering; it's 36 minutes long and may be a little hard to sit through for those who aren't hard-core fans of the movie or baseball history buffs. The best parts are from an interview with Eliot Asinof, who wrote the book. Also interviewed are author Gene Carney, Baseball Hall of Fame librarian Gabriel Schechter, and Sayles. It does earn points for pointing out where the movie and book don't quite square with the known factual record.

There's also a short bit about what happened when D.B. Sweeney gave his bat (not the one seen in the movie, but a similar one) to the 2005 White Sox during their World Series run.

The featurettes are all in anamorphic widescreen.

There's a new commentary from Sayles, which he did an excellent job with. He talks some about making the movie, but his real interest seems to lie in the real-life story and the real-life people behind the characters -- Ring Lardner, Arnold Rothstein, Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He really gets into relating their back stories -- and even telling baseball stories that don't have much to do with the movie. Sayles seems to be a pretty serious guy, so there's not much here that's funny or amusing, but you can tell "Eight Men Out" was a labor of love. He talks for basically the entire movie -- dead spots are few and short -- and you get the sense he could have kept going for another hour if the movie hadn't ended. Good stuff.

Definitely recommended even if you have the earlier release -- worth the double dip.
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post #8 of 12
3/24/08 at 5:15am

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Thanks.I had forgotten about this
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post #9 of 12
3/24/08 at 8:39am
Thread Starter 

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Hello all---

Casey, thanks so much for posting your review. It's the ONLY one I've found online so far. Has anyone seen any other reviews?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Casey C.
There's a new commentary from Sayles, which I haven't listened to in its entirety yet.

So, have you had a chance to listen to the entire commentary yet? *grin*

It's great to hear that they did a good job on the extras and cleaned up the film, too. Can't wait to get this one.

Thanks,
mattl
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post #10 of 12
3/24/08 at 8:09pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Lucas
So, have you had a chance to listen to the entire commentary yet? *grin*

Sorry Matt -- but the wife is working the late shift tomorrow, so you may be in luck

I've listened to about the first half-hour. Based on that, he does a pretty good job, with few dead spots. He spends a lot of time talking about what he knows about the real-life characters in the story. Interesting, but he's a pretty serious guy, so maybe not what you'd call "entertaining."
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post #11 of 12
3/24/08 at 11:09pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

A great baseball movie. I have the original release. I never double dip though. Shame as this release looks good.
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post #12 of 12
3/25/08 at 7:40pm

Re: Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)

Original post updated now that I've listened to Sayles' commentary, which was very good.

Great film, great DVD. Now we just need a new edition of "Lone Star."
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