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The Final Countdown SE due 3/30 (1 Viewer)

dpippel

Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems
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I watched my copy yesterday (I got the 2 disc SE) and all I can say is THANK YOU Blue Underground! Once again you've done a marvelous job in bringing an obscure film to DVD. The transfer looks excellent considering the source and it was a treat to watch the film in it's OAR for the very first time. The restored soundtrack is more than adequate (I listened to the DTS track). Only the extras were lacking in my opinion. The two featurettes were certainly entertaining and offered some interesting background on the making of the film, but it would have been great if BU could have dug up more behind the scenes material.

But what am I complaining about? The lack of extras is a minor nitpick at best. What counts is the quality of the feature presentation, and BU has delivered a fantastic DVD edition of this classic film. It has *finally* received the treatment it deserves. THANKS BU! You folks rock.
 

James St

Supporting Actor
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May 8, 1999
Messages
959
I watched this yesterday along with some of the extras. I agree with everyone else on the quality of the presentation. The 30 minute story on disc 2 about the Jolly Rogers pilots who shot the movie was well worth the extra $$ over the single disc.
 

Eric Paddon

Screenwriter
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Mar 17, 2001
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1,166
"Good Lord! You really are digging for anything to pick apart on this DVD aren't you. You are the first person I have ever heard who critiques the lettering on the opening credits!"

Don't get so hypersensitive. It just seemed like the credits were a little out of focus, and I had to squint a couple times, that's all. I was not trying to "dig" for anything. I said apart from that a "great transfer."
 

Jon Martin

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Sep 19, 2002
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How did that happen? Gibson didn't have anything to do with it.

I'm looking forward to the DVD, the first Blue Underground DVD I will pick up. I've heard nothing but great things about them, but to be honest, this is the first title of theirs that I'm interested in (I'm not a horror fan).
 

Randy A Salas

Screenwriter
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Apr 25, 2002
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Blue Underground also has put out some great spaghetti westerns and is working on a release of Ralph Bakshi's animated film Fire & Ice.
 

Paul_Nyman

Second Unit
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Sep 20, 2002
Messages
304
Picked up my copy today. All I can say is a big thank you to Blue Underground for an excellent job on the picture,sound and packaging!
 

Ray McCalla

Auditioning
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Sep 5, 1999
Messages
11
Has this been slightly edited? Admittedly, I haven't seen this in over 10 years, but I could have sworn that when the ship went "back," there was a brief shot of teletypes stopping, and then another one of them restarting when the ship "returned." I did not see these shots on the DVD.

Is my mind playing tricks on me by inserting clips from some other film into my memory, or what?
 

Haden

Supporting Actor
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Dec 4, 2001
Messages
783
On the DVD, we see the shot of the teletypes going back on when they return to present day. I don't know if there was ever a shot of them turning off though.
 

Ray McCalla

Auditioning
Joined
Sep 5, 1999
Messages
11
Hmm, maybe I just blinked and missed it. I'll have to look for it again when I listen to the commentary. Thanks.
 

Roger J

Stunt Coordinator
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Jan 11, 2004
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Wow, no shit? I thought that film dropped off the Earth. It will be great to get a nice widescreen transfer.

Any info on a timetable for release?
 

Jon Martin

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Sep 19, 2002
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I realize that, but Icon is basically just a vanity production company for Gibson. He doesn't even have his own video arm. So, I'm curious as to why it would acquire other films.

It makes sense if he wants to go beyond producing his own films and build up a library. But I didn't think that is what he was doing.
 

Ron-P

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Jul 25, 2000
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Ron
Wow, wow and wow. Blue Underground did an awesome restoration job. I watched it last night and was amazed at the PQ. It's a tad soft in some scenes with some grain here and there but over-all, excellent. The dts track is nice and enveloping as well.

What a treat to finally see this movie done right.
 

Randy A Salas

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 25, 2002
Messages
1,348

So Gibson was just buying back the rights to Icon's own films, most of which were distributed internationally and co-financed by Majestic. They included Gibson's directorial debut, The Man Without a Face. The Final Countdown was simply a tag-along title, just part of the library that included the films he really wanted. That partly explains why Gibson so readily gave Blue Undergound the rights to release The Final Countdown; he really doesn't care about it.
 

Orlando

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Aug 1, 2000
Messages
210
All I can add is my Thank You to BU. I got the 2-Disc set, great cover, great sound and outstanding picture considering. What a treat it was to sit down with my son and watch those F-14's buzz by the Zero's.

As a side note when I first saw this movie back in the 80's it inspired me to build a 1/32 model of the F-14 in the Jolly Roger CAG Color sceme. It looked so real by many accounts that I still have the model in a glass case in my home office.
 

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