Derrick King
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2003
- Messages
- 1,046
Yup. A lot has changed. They found the original negatives for all of the cut material, some of which wasn't even in the Cabal Cut. On this week's Clive Barker Podcast, the producer from Scream Factory said that the new scenes should end up looking even better than the footage they're using from the Theatrical version, since only an interpositive was available for that. The downside is that they don't have the budget to go though all of the audio elements for the new footage and will be forced to re-use audio from the VHS workprint. So, it will look great and sound not-so-great. Oh well, it's a miracle the thing is coming out at all.If I remember correctly, the staff said the missing footage that was found, was not in the best condition, so the director's cut blu-ray will not be as pristine as other films that Scream Factory has done in the past. Of course, this annoucement was back in November of 2013, hopefully much has changed since then.
It's not like the fans have donated $80,000, they've bought the Blu-ray. Shout would need another $100,000 or $200,000 on top of what fans have already spent. Besides the problem that most fans don't care about the audio being sourced from the Cabal cut, what kind of incentives would Shout be able to offer to get people to donate that much money on Kickstarter? The movie isn't in production so big ticket items like set visits, walk-on roles, props or premiere tickets are impossible. Shout has the Blu-ray itself (which isn't free), maybe a handful of things that Clive Barker could donate from his personal collection or some autographs. None of that is going to generate $100,000.McCrutchy said:This really, really bothers me. Shout! has audio available, but won't be using it, because of financial and time concerns. Cliff says many times that they are a small company and not a studio, and he also says that they would have loved to spend $100,000 or $200,000 on the project, but can't. Okay, fine. GO TO THE FANS.
The fans of the film have already spent over $80,000 on this release in just a few days, and surely more could have been raised to get the full audio on the release.
The point is, everyone obviously underestimated the demand for this restoration and this release. Now, we are finding out that Shout! only has the ability to bring that restoration halfway. Realistically, this could be the only time that anyone who cares will have access to the trims and audio that Shout! got, so for most people, this is a "now-or-never" situation.TravisR said:It's not like the fans have donated $80,000, they've bought the Blu-ray. Shout would need another $100,000 or $200,000 on top of what fans have already spent. Besides the problem that most fans don't care about the audio being sourced from the Cabal cut, what kind of incentives would Shout be able to offer to get people to donate that much money on Kickstarter? The movie isn't in production so big ticket items like set visits, walk-on roles, props or premiere tickets are impossible. Shout has the Blu-ray itself (which isn't free), maybe a handful of things that Clive Barker could donate from his personal collection or some autographs. None of that is going to generate $100,000.
Everyone wants a perfect product but, unfortunately, budget is a reality and adding another hundred grand to the budget would have probably been impossible.
Have to agree. I mean, lets face it...the film isn't as well known as HELLRAISER or even LORD OF ILLUSION. It's a small miracle that we're getting this at all. While I too am disappointed about the audio, I'm grateful and commend Shout for going through all the effort to find the footage. As you say, expectations were almost non-existent. But since no major deep-pocketed studio is going to take the time or expense to restore it properly, we can't realistically expect a small company to be able to. And Shout has already done more than we could have expected. I appreciate their efforts and will definitely be buying this, regardless of the audio issue. I'm confident that they will do the best job possible, given their resources. And that's more than the majors do with most of their catalog releases. .bgart13 said:And to think, just a week ago everyone still thought they'd only have the VHS-sourced footage. Then the announcement came that the original neg was found, with all of the cuts. Then less than a week later, fans went from being thrilled to wishing the release wouldn't happen because the unfinished raw audio sourced from tape won't be used. It's a no-win situation for Shout Factory. If Clive is happy with the approach they're taking, then why not fans? I think some perspective is needed here.
I would love to be able to agree on this, really I would. Nightbreed is an obscure film, and clearly, no studio wanted anything to do with a Blu-ray release. Having said that, if we are to get a release that has some scenes with VHS-sourced audio and other scenes with no audio and subtitles, then they need to show me that they have gone to the ends of the Earth at this point. That means, you have reached out to studios for assistance, you have reached out to fans for assistance, you understand the gravity of the situation and the value in the elements that you have been given access to.RJ992 said:Have to agree. I mean, lets face it...the film isn't as well known as HELLRAISER or even LORD OF ILLUSION. It's a small miracle that we're getting this at all. While I too am disappointed about the audio, I'm grateful and commend Shout for going through all the effort to find the footage. As you say, expectations were almost non-existent. But since no major deep-pocketed studio is going to take the time or expense to restore it properly, we can't realistically expect a small company to be able to. And Shout has already done more than we could have expected. I appreciate their efforts and will definitely be buying this, regardless of the audio issue. I'm confident that they will do the best job possible, given their resources. And that's more than the majors do with most of their catalog releases. .
Not every one but this one absolutely would need major incentives to come anywhere close to getting $100,000. By and large, people aren't interested in donating unless they get something in return.McCrutchy said:And to your other point, must every Kickstarter be bursting with swag for donors?
I picked up all four Alien films in a fine boxset and it was a lot cheaper than this one single film will be in it's limited edition form.Russell G said:It's pretty cool that we're going to shit all over independent Shout/Scream Factory for not being able to do a full blown, final sound mix/restoration on a alternate cut of a film that no one thought they would ever see, but nary a peep of complaint but a roar of overwhelming gratitude was laid at the feet of Fox when they announced the workprint version of Alien 3 was going to be included in the quadrilogy with unfinished audio and I if I recall, the initial DVD had subtitles.
I don't think my eyes could roll any harder.
Fair enough. Write Warners a letter. If it was up to them, it would be unrestored theatrical cut released MOD dumped to the archives.FoxyMulder said:I picked up all four Alien films in a fine boxset and it was a lot cheaper than this one single film will be in it's limited edition form.
I think that is why some of us are complaining, the fact is, this film will have one chance of release, this will be it for Nightbreed so if they don't restore the audio now then it will never get done, the high price had me hoping it would have good image and sound.
In the case of Nightbreed i don't care for the theatrical, i would be buying this strictly for the directors cut, in the case of Alien 3 i actually think the workprint is inferior and is not Fincher's original vision anyways.Russell G said:Fair enough. Write Warners a letter. If it was up to them, it would be unrestored theatrical cut released MOD dumped to the archives.
If it wasn't for Shout, the DC of Nightbreed wouldn't be revisted at all. The higher price tag is probably due as much to Warners greed for the theatrical to be included. Where is all the praise for that version being included? Usually there are complaints that the version they saw in the theater isn't included in these types of releases.