tHe mAsTeR aPpRoVeS oF tHiS nEwS! Manos the "Hands" of fate comes to Blu! (1 Viewer)

[SilverWook]

Do we know for sure they haven't been interviewed for the new documentary?

 

[Tony J Case]

Do we know for sure they haven't been interviewed for the new documentary?

Not that I've heard of - and I cant imagine that they would have put together the disc without saying "Hey! Look who we got!" at some point.


In other news: BEHOLD! The Discs of Fate!

So any day now!

 

[SilverWook]

Manos will be most pleased!

 

[Brian Kidd]

Got around to watching the MST3K episode (It's on their official YouTube channel!) and I must say... um... it was an experience. You know a film is especially terrible when even Joel and the Bots are left almost speechless. I can't say as I could sit through the un-riffed film but it would still be interesting to see it in as good a presentation as is possible to see if it is possible, at all, to improve it. Torgo was hilarious. It was like the actor was trying soooo hard to act, but lacked any actual talent or, for that matter, a script. I'd also like to know where he purchased his inflatable knees.

 

[Lord Dalek]

It would be fun if Joel, Trace, and Kevin reunited to do a "25 years later" reriff on Manos, but we'd probably end up with Josh instead and that's just not the same.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

If not Joel and Trace, at least this track — with Mike, Kevin and Bill Corbett — should do the trick for you:


http://www.rifftrax.com/manos-the-hands-of-fate

It would be fun if Joel, Trace, and Kevin reunited to do a "25 years later" reriff on Manos, but we'd probably end up with Josh instead and that's just not the same.

 

[SilverWook]

Got around to watching the MST3K episode (It's on their official YouTube channel!) and I must say... um... it was an experience. You know a film is especially terrible when even Joel and the Bots are left almost speechless. I can't say as I could sit through the un-riffed film but it would still be interesting to see it in as good a presentation as is possible to see if it is possible, at all, to improve it. Torgo was hilarious. It was like the actor was trying soooo hard to act, but lacked any actual talent or, for that matter, a script. I'd also like to know where he purchased his inflatable knees.

It's been argued that John Reynolds' performance can't be fully appreciated, as he was dubbed by someone else. (The whole movie was shot with a wind up silent camera.) It's alleged he was on LSD at the time. His knees were designed by Tom Neyman, who played the Master, and created the portrait and sculptures seen in the film.


When I found out Reynolds committed suicide the day I was born, I was a little creeped out. It's too bad he didn't live to see Torgo become an icon.

 

[SilverWook]

There's an article in the current issue of Playboy about the battle between various parties over who really owns Manos.


I won't link to it, so as not to get in trouble, but it's out there if you don't want to buy the magazine just for the article.

 

[Tony J Case]

Well, my Google Fu is weak - I couldn't turn up an online copy. I might actually have to go buy a Playboy!


Where the hell does one get Playboy? The only place I ever found my copies were traded to me for baseball cards and bubblegum.

 

[SilverWook]

Try the MST3K discussion board.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

If not Joel and Trace, at least this track — with Mike, Kevin and Bill Corbett — should do the trick for you:


http://www.rifftrax.com/manos-the-hands-of-fate

Now that's the riff I would have expected to see on the Manos blu, especially since the blu-ray of The Incredible 2 Headed Transplant from Kino is coming with the riff as a bonus feature.

 

[Gromilini]

Well, my Google Fu is weak - I couldn't turn up an online copy. I might actually have to go buy a Playboy!


Where the hell does one get Playboy? The only place I ever found my copies were traded to me for baseball cards and bubblegum.

Also, if you're on the Facebooks, the Manos: The Restoration page (a couple posts down from the top)...

 

[Brian Kidd]

That Playboy article was a really great read! So much drama over such a terrible film. If there's a buck to be made, you can be sure that people will come out of the woodwork to get their share. The part about the guy who pretends to be Torgo was creepy.

 

[SilverWook]

Warren's son seems to have only become concerned about his father's legacy in recent years. MST3K dug up the movie over two decades ago. Thankfully, the Blu Ray release hasn't fallen victim to some silly legal tug of war that would take years to settle.


The Master's robe and portrait are probably worth something. Jackey and her dad deserve to get them back.


It wouldn't surprise me if we get a movie about the making of Manos someday.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Warren's son seems to have only become concerned about his father's legacy in recent years. MST3K dug up the movie over two decades ago. Thankfully, the Blu Ray release hasn't fallen victim to some silly legal tug of war that would take years to settle.


The Master's robe and portrait are probably worth something. Jackey and her dad deserve to get them back.


It wouldn't surprise me if we get a movie about the making of Manos someday.

As long as every frame of the movie looks like someone's last known photograph, it'll be fine.

 

[Tony J Case]

Looks like one last update before the disc finally drops

Disc Status
I've been shipping out roughly 75 discs per day since Monday, with the exception of international shipments (those will require special customs forms and a bit of extra care). For the sake of speed, shipments have been grouped by a number of factors including postal printing (i.e. alphabetical) order and Blu-ray / DVD preference. The "Sponsor" and greater level backers went out first, not because of favoritism, but because they represented a very small cross section of the total compared to "Donor" backers.
Long story short, North American backers can expect their discs to arrive over the next two weeks depending on how far you are from New Orleans, my current location. I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments once you've had a chance to watch them.

If you've been following our Facebook page, you'll have seen that Playboy magazine published an article on the film, for which I, Jackey, and Hal Warren's son were interviewed. It can be read here (safe for work) or at the Playboy website here.
Aside from a few inconsequential inaccuracies (I don't own a 35mm projector, for instance), it paints a pretty concise picture of the parties that have helped and hindered this film over the past few years- even attorney Ian Friedman, our most significant ally during the copyright dispute, gets quoted.
Speaking of which...
The Certificate
For the film's backers, I have something significant to share:

This is the Certificate of Copyright Registration for the Restoration itself. In addition to placing copyright protections on the work we've done to the original footage, it ensures that no third party is allowed to chop your credits off and sell the work as their own. The restoration is now legally distinct as an independent work derived from a public domain original.
In addition, this certificate lends further strength to the the underlying film's public domain status. This helps our friends who have done their own "Manos" work (such as our fundraising shirts, the stage play, the "Hands of Felt" puppet show, and the video game) protect themselves in turn from outside interference.
It's been a busy week for me, and I hope a satisfying one for you.

That Playboy article was a really great read! So much drama over such a terrible film. If there's a buck to be made, you can be sure that people will come out of the woodwork to get their share. The part about the guy who pretends to be Torgo was creepy.

Yeah, it's a really great read. I might still go pick up a copy, just to keep the article for the archives.


As for the copyright, I'm on the fence. Clearly the movie had been abandoned and was public domain, but if I were running the restoration, I might have kicked the son a couple of bucks. Not necessarily shut up money, but more of a "Hey, your dad did us a solid by giving us a great and terrible movie, here's something for all his hard work."

 

[SilverWook]

Warren's son's association with the Torgo guy probably didn't help things.


I wonder if the footage from the now abandoned sequel will ever surface?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Got around to watching the MST3K episode (It's on their official YouTube channel!) and I must say... um... it was an experience. You know a film is especially terrible when even Joel and the Bots are left almost speechless. I can't say as I could sit through the un-riffed film but it would still be interesting to see it in as good a presentation as is possible to see if it is possible, at all, to improve it. Torgo was hilarious. It was like the actor was trying soooo hard to act, but lacked any actual talent or, for that matter, a script. I'd also like to know where he purchased his inflatable knees.

Curiosity got the better of me this weekend, so I checked out the MST3K version, too. I thought Plan 9 From Outer Space was bad, but that is Citizen Kane when compared to Manos. All I can say is "wow".

 

[Tony J Case]

And so, nearly 5 years in the making, long after I had given up hope on seeing anything from the Kickstarter - BEHOLD! Manos, the Blu Ray of Fate!

I've not actually put it in yet (irony of irony, after waiting this long, I have to wait until Wednesday and the Halloween Challenge before watching!), but the back of the box says that it's in 1.33:1 and 74 mins long. No slipcover or anything and the only insert is a catalog of 2015 Synapse releases. And it doesn't look like we got anything from the Big Brains people. Ah well. . . .


***EDIT***

So, watched just a few moments of the film, just to see the restoration work. And yes, the video looks really rough, like the 16mm print that it is, but it's much, MUCH better than any other copy out there. There's print damage they couldn't work around (or at least not on their budget), and there's LOADS of artifacts - hairs in the film gate and the like - that they left untouched. The goal was not to eliminate all defects, but to make the movie as close to the original theatrical version as possible, warts and all.


As far as extras go, the Grindhouse version is simply the un-restored version (and what a difference scanning and cleaning did - night and day), a half-hour making of that's pretty frank ("I've never actually made it all the way though the movie" says one of the actors), a 10 or so minute long bit about the restoration work (they could have done a 4K scan, but the gains would have been negligible with a 16mm film stock), a short segment about the puppet show (but not the actual puppet show itself) and a commentary that I've not listened to yet.


It's a pity they couldn't cut a trailer for the thing, and I wish they had an audio channel with the rifftrax version - but it's still pretty comprehensive package for a no-budget film.

 

[SilverWook]

Tony, I believe you mean Best Brains.