USHE Announcement: Halloween II 30th Anniversary (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

Promotion: Halloween II 30th Anniversary Blu-ray

Headline Date: TBA
Release Date: 9/13/2011 HALLOWEEN II Product Source: Theatrical
Theatrical Studio: Universal
Theatrical Release: 10/30/1981 Synopsis: Picking up precisely where its predecessor left off, Halloween II follows the same ill-fated characters as they encounter the knife-wielding maniac they left for dead in the first Halloween. It seems the inhuman Michael Myers is still very much alive and out for more revenge as he stalks the deserted halls of the hospital where his sister (Jamie Lee Curtis) lays waiting. As he gets closer and closer to his terrified target, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) discovers the chilling mystery behind the crazed psychopath's savage actions. Written by horror masters John Carpenter (The Thing) and Debra Hill (Escape from New York), Halloween II is a spine-tingling dark ride into the scariest night of the year. Blu-ray Widescreen 30th Anniversary Edition(61120119) : Disc 1 (Side A)
Format: Blu-ray UPC: 0-2519-21175-5-8 Unit Type: Standard Number of Media: 1 Street Date: 9/13/2011 PreOrder Date: Run Time (HH:MM): 1 Hour 33 Minutes Language: English Disc Type: BD-50 (Single Sided) Packaging: Snap Case Layers: Single Audio: English DTS 5.1 Processed Surround
English DTS 2.0 Surround
Subtitles: English SDH
French
Spanish
Edition: 30th Anniversary Edition Picture: Widescreen Version: - Color/B&W COLOR Rating: R CARA Rating: - Bonus Features: • Alternate Ending
• Terror In the Aisles Documentary
• My Scenes
• Pocket BLU App
DVD Widescreen (61021427) : Disc 1 (Side A)
Format: DVD UPC: 0-2519-21427-2-7 Unit Type: Standard Number of Media: - Street Date: 2/1/2005 PreOrder Date: Run Time (HH:MM): 1 Hour 33 Minutes Language: English Disc Type: DVD-5 (Single Sided) Packaging: Snap Case Layers: Single Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH
Spanish
French
Edition: - Picture: Anamorphic Widescreen Version: - Color/B&W COLOR Rating: R CARA Rating: - Bonus Features: • Theatrical Trailer
• Production Notes
• Cast and Filmmakers
• Recommendations

Kinda disappointing looking. Not sure if I'll bite.

There were additional extras listed for this on another forum - I guess they were dropped. This is still good and I will definitely purchase. Wasn't Halloween III also listed as getiing a Blu-ray?

There were additional extras listed for this on another forum - I guess they were dropped

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Such as?

WillG said:

There were additional extras listed for this on another forum - I guess they were dropped

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Such as?

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There was a list on horrordvds.com don't remember everything but, besides the alternate ending, there were going to be deleted scenes included.

I know! And the worse part; the DVD release isn't going to be the same. It's basically a re-release of the 2001 Universal DVD.

Has anyone taken a look at this? As bad as I want it, it is from Universal and I am always leery of their Blu-ray releases. I passed on several of their Blu-ray titles due to poor feedback.

I'd expect it to be on par with other Universal releases. My copy is coming today but I had no major problems with the criticized Fast Times At Ridgemont High or American Graffiti discs so I wouldn't pay attention to anything I say. The reality is that Halloween II will probably never be released on a disc again so I'm stuck with what they give me. And for a mere $13, I expect to be relatively happy with the disc anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the deleted scenes are on the disc. There's 7 scenes running 8:06 and they're only presented in 1.33:1. The scenes are: 1. the nurses starting to undress Laurie in the ER 2. Jimmy asking Janet about Laurie in a hallway 3. Dr. Mixter somewhat drunkenly talking to Mrs. Alves about Laurie's prognosis 4. Mrs. Alves not being able to get a hold of Laruie's parents 5. Laurie freaking & getting sedated and the power getting shut down 6. Loomis and Hunt talking in the morgue hallway 7. Janet telling Karen that the store room was broken into It's been a long time since I've watched it but there are a couple scenes that are in the TV version and not on this disc. Off the top of my head, the MIA scenes/extensions are Mr. Garrett blaming teenagers on drugs for the murders and a drugged Laurie picking up the phone and trying to talk to her mother. The alternate ending runs 1:29 and is 1.33:1 also. Terror In The Aisles is 1.78:1 and runs 1:22:36 but I'm not digging out my VHS copy to see if it runs the same length. The trailer (which was on the DVD) is missing here and, unsurprisingly, the production notes aren't ported over either.

Picked this up for $15.99 at Hastings today. Holy crap, Universal put some genuine effort into this! It has all the deleted/TV scenes, and the deleted ending (in 4:3, which I assume were the best quality versions they could find), and they even have subtitles. Terror In The Aisles is the full doc, and not just some ported over video transfer either, but a full, very nice looking new HD transfer, with a Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack. The movie itself looks and sounds better than it ever has (there is the original stereo track in 768k DTS 2.0, and a 5.1 "Processed" track in 768k DTS - no lossless, which is a shame, but this is still much better than it has ever sounded before. I would suspect even those who own a 35mm print of this movie from it's original run will be watching the Blu version from now on. It's all on one disc, but the disc is a BD-50, so everything fits nicely without any compromise in quality. Sure, they could have possibly fit in a lossless 5.1 DTS-MA audio track if they had yanked Terror In The Aisles, but in a day and age where studios don't bother releasing catalog movies on BD, and when they do, they are barebones with ancient made for HDTV broadcast transfers, this disc is a steal. The fact that they spent time and money making a new HD transfer of Terror In The Aisles alone deserves your meager $13-15. At $12.99 on Amazon, and $15 at Best Buy, this is a steal.

Originally Posted by TravisR

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Damn, when I asked about the film, I had forgotten about Terror In The Aisles. This was to be a no-brainier to pick up. The running time was 1 hr. 24 min. but that approximately so if anything was cut it was minimal.

I just watched the movie and an oddity that I noticed is that the first title card in the opening credits is changed from 'Moustapha Akkad Presents' to 'Universal An MCA Company Presents'. Since they're citing MCA, I assume that's the way it was back in 1981 (and the Akkad card was added for video?).

TravisR said:

I just watched the movie and an oddity that I noticed is that the first title card in the opening credits is changed from 'Moustapha Akkad Presents' to 'Universal An MCA Company Presents'. Since they're citing MCA, I assume that's the way it was back in 1981 (and the Akkad card was added for video?).

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It's a new title card. The background of the title sequence is slightly grey but for that one title (Universal Presents) it goes completely black and then back to a slight grey after it ends. I don't know what Universal has against Moustapha Akkad.

^ Thanks for the info. What's even weirder about is that MCA was bought around 2 decades ago so why are they crediting them at all? In Terror In The Aisles, the clip of Chrissy swimming at the beginning of Jaws is bright enough that you can see nudity that would have garnered an X rating back in 1975.

Sounds pretty good. Glad they got most of the significant deleted scenes in there (although the TV cut included a myriad of scene extensions, alternate takes, alternate music cues and scene re-sequencing. If you've never seen the TV cut, it really is quite a different version of the film) Too bad the deleted scenes seem to be P&S, but yeah, the chances of going back to the original elements for that stuff (if they even still exist) were practically nil. Yeah, that is also weird about the title card. Why change it after all these years? Unless, as someone suggested, that was how it originally appeared in theaters, but isn't Akkad's name on all the other films (that were made while he was alive). Does Dino de Laurentiis's name still appear on the film?

WillG said:

Yeah, that is also weird about the title card. Why change it after all these years? Unless, as someone suggested, that was how it originally appeared in theaters, but isn't Akkad's name on all the other films (that were made while he was alive). Does Dino de Laurentiis's name still appear on the film?

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Yep. After the new Uni card, it then says Dino De Laurentis Presents (or something along those lines) as it always has.

ahollis said:

...Terror In The Aisles... The running time was 1 hr. 24 min. but that approximately so if anything was cut it was minimal.

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Looking at the end credits, they list Dawn Of The Dead but I don't recall seeing any clips from it so MAYBE that's been edited. Since I'm a huge nerd, I'll probably go back through it and report back later today.

Thanks for commenting on this one guys, I'll be sure to snatch it up the next time I'm in the shops. I loved Terror In Aisles when I was a kid.


Anyone have an idea of a decent version of the first film on Blu? I never did buy a DVD copy since it seemed that every version had some other issue with it between colours or framing. I've been holding onto a VHS limited edition thing from Anchor Bay.

TravisR said:

Looking at the end credits, they list Dawn Of The Dead but I don't recall seeing any clips from it so MAYBE that's been edited. Since I'm a huge nerd, I'll probably go back through it and report back later today.

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I took a look and Dawn Of The Dead is not in Terror In The Aisles on this Blu-ray. The other 61 movies listed in the end credits are all featured so I assume that the only edit is the Dawn clips.

Another weird thing is that the credits on the back of the case credits Akkad.