WHV Announcement: The Island of Dr. Moreau Unrated Director's Cut (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Island of Dr. Moreau, The (BD) (Unrated Director's Cut)

Blu-ray | BLU-RAY SINGLE | Blue BD Case

Synopsis: Val Kilmer and Academy Award(R) winner Marlon Brando star in this fantastic sci-fi thriller. Dr. Moreau uses the key of science to turn animal life forms into human-like beasts who threaten not only Moreau's island laboratory, but ultimately all mankind! Year: 1996 Director: John Frankenheimer Starring: Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, David Thewlis

Key Order Info











Release Status: New Release
Cat#: 1000248098
UPC: 883929223039

Announce Date: 4/18/12
Order Date: 6/19/12
Street Date: 7/24/12
Official Pre-Sell Date: 4/18/12

MSRP: $19.98

Movie Details






Studio:

New Line



Label:

New Line Turner



Theatrical Release:

8/23/96



Theatrical Box Office(M):

$27.66



Genre(s):

Horror, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy



Rating:

PG-13





Director: John Frankenheimer
Actors: Val Kilmer, Marlon Brando, David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Special Effects: Stan Winston

Product Info










Special Version: BLU-RAY SINGLE
Rating: PG-13
Product Type: Sell Through
Packaging Type: Blue BD Case
Run Time: 96
Product Language: English









































Release Status: New Release
Announce Date:4/18/12
Order Date: 6/19/12
Street Date: 7/24/12

MSRP: $19.98
MAP: None
Cat#: 1000248098
UPC: 883929223039 (Print UPC)
ISBN: 0-7806-8988-7

 

[Dick]

This did better at the box office than THE TIME MACHINE did in 1960 dollars?
Other than an amazing and visceral opening title sequence, this movie sucks the big one.
Who made the decision to Blu-ray this, and why? Why of all the films you might have brought to us?

 

[cineMANIAC]

Is this Unrated version making an appearance for the first time?. Never saw the film when it came out but I might blind-buy this. Has anyone seen Val Kilmer lately? I've seen him in two direct-to-video movies (seems all he's doing these days) - he looks bloated and seems to be sleepwalking through the films. He's still too young to be a has-been, good actor also. So sad.

 

[cafink]

The Director's Cut was previously released on DVD. I'm not sure, but I think it might in fact be the *only* version of the film to have been released on DVD.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

How about MGM releasing the AIP 1977 version? Then at least we'd have all 3 available.

 

[FrancisP]

How about MGM releasing the AIP 1977 version? Then at least we'd have all 3 available.

Unfortunately the dvd is likely to be the best we will ever see. I agree that I'd love to see it on blu-ray but I won't be holding my breath waiting for it.
The interesting thing about the novelization of the film was the ending. It had Michael York spotting a ship and then turning to Barbara carrera and seeing a animal's fang in her mouth. The idea was that she was one of Moreau's perfect creations. That would have been a better ending.

 

[cafink]

There's a novelization of a film that's based on a novel?

 

[Charles Smith]

Indeed there is! I have a small collection of vintage movie tie-in paperbacks, and picked that one up a few years ago. Looking at it later, I saw that it was indeed a novelization of that screenplay.

 

[The Drifter]

Recently re-watched the '96 TIODM. My enjoyment of & appreciation for this film increases with each subsequent viewing. Some comments:

-This is an amazing horror/thriller, and extremely underrated. Top performances by Brando, David Thewlis, & Ron Perlman. Fairuza Balk as the cat/monster lady also did an amazing job playing the tortured but beautiful half human/half creature. Extremely disturbing & at times sickening sequences - The "experiments" that Dr. Moreau was conducting here were truly horrific.

-The monster prosthetics/effects were fantastic, and very convincing - which added to the horror of the movie. Hard to believe the film is over 20 years old at this point.

-In this film Brando seemed like he was almost "channeling" his Colonel Kurtz character from the iconic Apocalypse Now - i.e., in both films he played a crazed leader who had isolated himself from society, gone insane, and was victimizing innocents.

-One of the most bizarre aspects to this film was the little man that accompanied Moreau wherever he went, to the extent that they even dressed the same...quite creepy.

Spoiler: SPOILER

-Moreau (Brando) died about half-way through the film, and Montgomery (Kilmer) took over his role - very creepy, especially how Montgomery was "channeling" Moreau by talking/dressing like him - he had obviously gone crazy himself.

Spoiler: SPOILER

-The scenes of carnage at the end - with the half-men/half animals going nuts & killing each other - was obviously a negative commentary/condemnation of society. I.e., as pure animals (before Moreau's experimentation), for the most part they would only have killed other animals for food (which Moreau forbade). However, once they became half-human & had their bonds removed from them, they ended up needlessly slaughtering each other - as men would have done.

-The senseless death of the cat-woman character (Fairuza Balk) was quite sad & horrific - probably the hardest death to watch in the film, considering she was an innocent.

-The philosophical voice-over by the Thewlis character at the end was very significant, since he was basically saying that he didn't see the violence that the "animals" on Thoreau's island displayed were any worse than the violence he had seen humanity exhibit out "in the world".

Side-notes:

The original US trailer for the film said that the movie took place in 2010, so about 14 years after it came out in '96. However, I believe this was a mistake, since I don't believe this is when the movie was actually supposed to have taken place. I.e., since Moreau had been a doctor in the late 1950's (based on his degree(s) on the wall) & was the appropriate age of someone who had been living & experimenting on the island for years - I think the movie was supposed to take place in 1995/1996, when it was released.

I actually found this version far superior to the other two Island of Dr. Moreau films, i.e. the Burt Lancaster '70's version & The Island of Lost Souls (1930's b&w film).

 

[Lord Dalek]

Only one good thing came out of that production and it sure as hell wasn't the movie Frankenheimer made.

 

[battlebeast]

Is this Unrated version making an appearance for the first time?. Never saw the film when it came out but I might blind-buy this. Has anyone seen Val Kilmer lately? I've seen him in two direct-to-video movies (seems all he's doing these days) - he looks bloated and seems to be sleepwalking through the films. He's still too young to be a has-been, good actor also. So sad.

I saw him in photos and he really let himself go; although I did hear that he had to get close to a six-pack back for his role in TOP GUN 2.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Deleted.