PAL AND OTHER-REGION DVD ANNOUNCEMENTS & REVIEWS - Page 3

I ordered the Spanish releases of FREUD and Michael Anderson's THE NAKED EDGE and am pleased with both, despite limitations for both.

FREUD is non-anamorphic widescreen and although the cropping seems a little tight at 1.85:1 during the titles, it otherwise offers a very decent image, not pristine perhaps, but with excellent contrast and a print fairly free from scratches. This is an official release from Universal or a great and unjustly neglected movie with a sensation score by jerry Goldsmith of course. The running time is just over 134 minutes which seems correct given the 4% speedup from the original theatrical running time of 140 minutes.

NAKED EDGE, Gary Cooper's last movie, has a flamboyant visual style that makes it seems like a more restrained and more expensive version of the black and white thrillers then being made by Hammer and Mario Bava. The print is very good indeed but the DVD presentation is a little furstrating because although anamorphic it appears that the wrong flag was set so it defaults to anamorphic 2.35 when the film's aspect ratio as presented is actually closer 1.69:1 (and even says so on the back of the DVD sleeve) - if you reset the screen and zoom in it looks great but you obvipously lose the advantage of the anamorphic encoding. Both are Region 2 PAL of course and offer versions either in English or Spanish, with or without subtitles.

There are no extras on either disc.
 

Thank you posting information about these two releases Sergio. Interesting.

In view of the flag issues on The Naked Edge, it might be worth pointing out that this is also due out in the U.K next week. To begin with, as an HMV exclusive and then as a general release in November. For anyone thinking of going for the Spanish disc, it might be worth bearing this in mind, just in case the U.K. disc turns out to the better.

Thanks for the info about the UK release Dafydd - if I'd known I just might have held back a little longer on that purchase - hope some reviews appear soon!

From Fox/Impulso in August:

The Model and the Marriage Broker

Red Sky at Montana

The Visit

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef

The White Buffalo

I think the title Red Sky at Montana is wrong.  I suspect they mean Red Skies of Montana, which is a 1952 film from Fox with Richard Widmark.

Five Miles To Midnight has been released on DVD in Germany by Carol Media as Die Dritte Dimension. I bought my copy through Amazon Germany. The picture quality is quite good and you have a choice of English or German soundtracks. The sub-titles are not burnt in.

Five Miles To Midnight is not as bad as its reputation suggests. Yes, the story is implausible but I found the movie interesting. Anthony Perkins is really good as the loathsome jerk married to Sophia Loren. 

Today I received the Spanish DVD of House Of Cards with George Peppard, Inger Stevens and Orson Welles. The Spanish title is Castillo De Naipes and it's part of their Universal Cinema Classics series.

The picture quality is excellent with great clarity and very good colors. If you're a fan of this movie, I recommend this DVD.

I recently purchased the UK based Elstree Hill version of 7th CAVALARY it is absolutey horrendous!

Viewing it is rather like sitting in a seedy London fleapit (circa 1963) watching a clapped out print

that has done the rounds in every bug-hutch in the country!

Its a shame because as far as I know the film has not appeared on DVD anywhere on the Planet.

Also it is available to lease to decent labels from the Hollywood Classics roster.

With the USA and the UK in particular being a dead loss for classic re-issues these days

I have recently purchased some of these German titles from Koch and Hollywood Klassiker.

The two Audie Murphy Westerns "Ride A Crooked Trail" and "Hell Bent For Leather" are

stunning scope transfers;Ive never seen better! Also great are "Chief Crazy Horse"

"Pillars Of The Sky" and "Tomahawk"

Never bother with Elstree Hill releases. I believe they are bootlegs.

I'm not sure that Elstree Hill produces bootlegs but they are, I believe, public domain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by benbrigade 

I recently purchased the UK based Elstree Hill version of 7th CAVALARY it is absolutey horrendous!

Viewing it is rather like sitting in a seedy London fleapit (circa 1963) watching a clapped out print

that has done the rounds in every bug-hutch in the country!

 

Its a shame because as far as I know the film has not appeared on DVD anywhere on the Planet.

 

Also it is available to lease to decent labels from the Hollywood Classics roster.

 

With the USA and the UK in particular being a dead loss for classic re-issues these days . . .

Sorry you got your fingers burned. Never buy anything from Elstree Hill. Their products are consistently abysmal: the world's worst!

The U. K is not a dead loss for classic re-issues. In the past year or so Eureka have started releasing old movies, mainly from Universal/Univeral-International. and the quality is excellent. In addition there is still Optimum who have issued numerous DVDs of varying quality.

I find that the UK is far far behind what is being issued in Spain.

The problem with Optimum is that they constantly release films that have already appeared as

Region 1 issues from the USA;furthermore with Optimums high prices the Region 1 releases

are a far far better deal even with postage thrown in!

Is the forthcoming "While The City Sleeps" a Eureka release?

I understand it has been delayed with remastering problems.

I do hope that when it appears it is a Superscope transfer.

I also understand that Odeon are stepping up their roster of classic releases with some

Universal Westerns in the pipeline.Odeon I have always found to be a good quality and

reasonably priced outfit.

However the WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS remain the best source for classic movie

fanatics;and I must say that the forthcoming release of "The Rawhide Years" looks

mighty impressive going by the screencaps on the MundoDVD website!

While The City Sleeps comes from a company called Exposure. I know nothing about them. Does anyone?

It is true that Optimum often release DVDs already available in USA but they also provide DVDs not available in Region 1. The Western Backlash is a good example.

I spoke to the Exposure guys last month regarding the OAR of While the City Sleeps and here's their response:

Anyone bemoaning the lack of classic films released in the UK would to well to check out the

Hollywood Classics website a UK based company that has the Worldwide rights (excluding the USA)

to loads of classic films and a truckload of Universal stuff in particular.

This is where the likes of Optimum and Bounty lease their films.

There are lots of films that have yet to be released on DVD anywhere on the planet.

Two films I am really interested in are:

THE FIEND THAT WALKED THE WEST (Gordon Douglas 1958)

THE SWORD IN THE DESERT (George Sherman 1949)

The latter title is of particular interest because it has never been shown commercially in England.

The government at the time objected to the way British Armed Servicemen were portrayed.

The film did surface in a "banned" season at the NFT about 20 years ago. Oddly enough

according to the NFT programme notes a left-wing cinema in Londons West End did attempt

to screen the film and riots took place! I also find it hard to believe that London had a left-wing

cinema in 1949!

In todays more enlightened times it is hard to see what all the fuss was about;and having

said that the film is a decent political thriller starring Dana Andrews and new Universal contract

players Jeff Chandler and Stephen McNally.

Some upcoming UK releases from Odeon include:

Rachel and the Stranger

Berlin Express

Fallen Sparrow

Three Cases of Murder

The Saint's Double Trouble

Sealed Cargo

The Master Race

The Mad Miss Manton

The Falcon's Brother

The Falcon Takes Over

Thank you, Livius.

Has anyone ever bought an Odeon DVD? Can anyone comment on their quality? In other words, is/are Odeon another Elstree Hill or another Eureka? 

Got their Scarlet Street DVD. As one can see here it's probably the best DVD available worldwide: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare2/scralettstreet.htm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcel H. 

Got their Scarlet Street DVD. As one can see here it's probably the best DVD available worldwide: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare2/scralettstreet.htm

I agree, it's the best DVD of the three releases I have of Scarlet Street, but I'm not sure it's a night and day difference.

Crawdaddy

Quality is variable; Scarlet Street isn't typical. They aren't the worst purveyors out there, and it has to be said that they have improved over the years (they aren't either Elstree Hill or Eureka). I'd still be slightly wary.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

Quality is variable; Scarlet Street isn't typical. They aren't the worst purveyors out there, and it has to be said that they have improved over the years (they aren't either Elstree Hill or Eureka). I'd still be slightly wary.

I have three of those titles from the Warner Archive Collection so even though I want Rachel and the Stranger, I just might wait to see if Warner does something with that title first.

Crawdaddy

You can check out a raft of screengrabs from various Odeon titles here. As I say, not the best, not the worst. Fingers crossed, eh?

With Odeon it all comes down to where they're getting their source materials. In the UK the rights to the RKO library reside with Universal, and Odeon seem to have struck a deal with them. Universal's past RKO releases tended to be hit and miss - if the elements were ok the disc was ok, if not they just tossed it out as is. Anyway, Odeon aren't a cheap bootleg outfit.

I was aware of Elstree Hill's reputation but I hadn't realized that Eureka were also considered to be a shady outfit. The only release I have from them (as far as I'm aware) is The Clouded Yellow...a personal favourite. While it's true that they made a blunder last year and released a version that was cut, they did then re-release it with the cut material restored. At the time, I thought this showed at least some merit on their part...even if I did have to shell out twice. The picture and sound quality on both releases are perfectly acceptable. But then, I'm judging just on the basis of this release. Perhaps it's the exception to the rule.

No, no - Elstree Hill are quoted here as purveyors of mainly rubbish, while Eureka - particularly their Masters of Cinema line - are invoked as quite the opposite end of the scale, a British Criterion if you will.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

No, no - Elstree Hill are quoted here as purveyors of mainly rubbish, while Eureka - particularly their Masters of Cinema line - are invoked as quite the opposite end of the scale, a British Criterion if you will.

Of course...sorry for misunderstanding. I've just re-read Robin's comment that prompted my post, and now I see what he meant "another Elstree Hill OR another Eureka" ...opposite ends of the spectrum, so to speak. Got it! 

Are any European companies doing on-demand programs like here in the States? Thinking England, France, Germany, Spain...Italy too I guess.

Nothing like it in the UK; haven't spotted one elsewhere in Europe either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hodson 

Quality is variable; Scarlet Street isn't typical. They aren't the worst purveyors out there, and it has to be said that they have improved over the years (they aren't either Elstree Hill or Eureka). I'd still be slightly wary.

Thank you. Yes, I will be wary. I'll order The Fallen Sparrow and see what that is like before ordering any other titles.

Heads up from another forum. The Locket and North West Mounted Police are also due from Odeon, although apparently they're MovieMail exclusives for the time being.