New Warner SEs Coming in May! (2 Viewers)

[GarySchrock]

Heh, I'll stick with the 1956 one. Personally I find the idea of Jackie Chan doing Verne criminal. Maybe it'll surprise me, but I've been cringing ever since I heard about that one.

 

[PaulP]

That Around the World in 80 Days set looks totally awesome. Can't wait!

 

[Drew Reiber]

After waiting so long for the DVD release, I'm disappointed that Wyatt Earp isn't listing more supplements. I would have liked a commentary along with the promotional material (trailers, etc). For a 2 disc set, it sounds kind of lame. I guess we'll see how the documentary turns out...

 

[Jason Hughes]

I'm disappointed that Wyatt Earp is not listed as being the directors cut. Since I was never able to get ahold of the LD, I will have to hang on to my (gasp) VHS of the directors cut (at least it's in widescreen).

 

[Brett C]

Likewise, I'm glad Wyatt Earp is finally coming out, but very annoyed its not the longer cut of the film.

 

[Ray_R]

I'm immediately buying HEAT and Wyatt Earp Special Edition 2-Disc since I already own the 2-Discs of The Right Stuff, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, True Romance, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (did I spell Sierra right in the title?) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Planning on buying the 2-Discs of: Casablanca, Amadeus, Once Upon a Time in America, The Adventures of Robin Hood, JFK, The Mission and Goodfellas.
Just thought I'd let everyone know!

 

[Dane Marvin]

I'm drooling at the Around the World in 80 Days information. Yes!!!!!! Warner kicks my ass. And now we're getting a 2-disc SE of Enter the Dragon? With over 5 hours of bonus material?? Score! Another release-day purchase. Still can't wait to finally see the press release for Blazing Saddles. Guess it will be a summer release after all, huh?

I'll bet Warner will start releasing these SE's almost monthly before too long. More power to them!

 

[Ray_R]

This is a HUGE long shot for a Special Edition 2-Disc:
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

What more can I say? I love everything about this film, it just seems so 'right' to me.

 

[oscar_merkx]

Ray

I second that as well, fantastic film indeed

 

[Paul_Scott]

no its not. wasn't this mentioned in last yrs chat?
or maybe it was from a region 2 source.
in any case i do remember hearing it was coming.

 

[TedD]

It was filmed twice, however both versions were filmed in 70mm, one at the then standard Todd AO speed of 30 FPS, and the other at the standard 24 FPS.

There was no 35mm camera negative of this film.

And the reason it was filmed twice was solely because of the fact that the 30 FPS speed in the original Todd AO spec couldn't be converted to 24 FPS for 35mm projection.

Ted

 

[Joe_Pinney]

Finally Around the World in Eighty Days comes to us in widescreen (as it should be) in a terrific 2-disc set!

Finally Dennis Quaid's greatest performance EVER, in one of my favorites, Wyatt Earp, comes to DVD, also in a 2-disc set! (I like Tombstone quite a bit but Wyatt Earp is SO much more fully satisfying overall, as well as being more historically accurate.)

And to top off that sumptuous May DVD cake, I get a fantastic 2-disc of Enter the Dragon (saw the 1998 25th Anniversary theatrical re-release!) with FIVE HOURS of extras! WOO-HOOOOO!!! (and I'm not one for "woo-hoo"-ing it up much, but this time there's darn good reason to do so!)

Add to that MGM's SE of Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and May is gonna be one wing-ding of a month!

 

[Dan Rudolph]

The new Enter the Dragon seems to carry over everything from the previous release. Excellent.

 

[Brian W.]

I think I said earlier that I work in home video production here in L.A. Can't say where or doing what exactly, but I know a little about both of these titles:

1. I did get a glimpse of the Around the World master a long time ago. It is NOT the 30fps version, it is 24fps. How do I know? I had the opportunity to frame-by-frame advance it, and could see there was 3:2 pulldown. I'm flabbergasted as to why this print was used, unless they couldn't find a 30fps print good shape. However, it's my impression that most of Around the World in 80 Days was shot SIMULTANEOUSLY, i.e., two cameras at once. From widescreen museum:



2. I don't remember the sound mix, but Around the World does have the roadshow intermission.

3. I can verify that Wyatt Earp is the theaterical version, not the extended cut. Why, I don't know.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's possible that only the 24fps 65mm elements held up enough... since they were probably utilized only once to make the 35mm scope reduction.

The 30fps 65mm negative would have been used for each print, so it probably had more damage.

However, Warner did have the 65mm 30fps negative and had CFI make a new 65mm interpositive from it. In fact, they had one reel repaired of lacquer coating...

 

[Brian W.]

Well, I hope I'm wrong. Now, this wasn't the actual original master tape I looked at, it was a copy. But every fourth frame was repeated, so I assumed that they did not use the 30fps print. I was specifically looking for that.

 

[Oleg]

Whoohoo. What a pleasant pleasant surprise to see Blazing Saddles and Around the World in 80 Days on the release list in special edition format after being too busy to read dvd news for a while. Any idea if they'll follow "the night at the movies" format with this batch? It would be nice to get some contemporary 'news reels' with the dvd releases, even though those and cartoons disappeared from the theaters by the time any of these films came out (and I could certainly go with Golden Age Warner Bros. cartoons as extras).

I think the "night at the movies" format is great. I am a modern history/pop culture/film geek while my girlfriend is mostly interested in 'new stuff', yet she really enjoyed watching Yankee Doodle Dandy and Robin Hood. She was even asking me about some of the background history.

I'll probably pick up Heat as well, it isn't bad for a what it is.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I, too, absolutely love the inclusion of the "Night at the Movies" option. What a terrific idea. I just purchased "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and watched it for the first time last night. Wow! Warner is one of the few studios who actually puts to use the vast majority of materials they have at their disposal to come up with a truly authentic viewing experience.

Too many times studios will label a DVD as a "collector's edition" or "special edition" and I have trouble believing that -- given the presentation of their discs -- they know what a DVD collector is. In most cases, it's hard to tell they are targeting collectors. Warner avoids this by producing SE's that really are special and are actually geared toward the serious film fan and DVD purist alike.

 

[Ray_R]

Dane,
I couldn't have said it better! Agreed not 100% but 200%!
Ray

P.S. Any official news for Greystoke 2-Disc yet?

 

[Anthony Neilson]

Greystoke is out on 6/8 - no word of extras but it isn't a two-disc.