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Hammer Films Blu Ray in the U.S. (1 Viewer)

dana martin

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Lots of great releases in the UK, unfortunately for those of us on this side of the pond, well the releases are few and far between. Hopes that WB will get around to releasing the “Big” three (Dracula aka Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy).

But along with that there are a lot of other great titles I would like to see a US release of that have been released in the UK Quatermass and the Pit aka Five Million Years to Earth, which was originally released in the US via Fox, MGM has the first two Quatermass films, would make for nice box set Halloween release, so the question is could this be a release from Fox, or Twilight Time or Shout! Factory
 

bgart13

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Hammer is working with Millennium in the US to release many of the former Anchor Bay released titles. Chances are Q&TP and Q2 will be released by them, as well as many of the StudioCanal UK bd titles. Millennium just released a three-title dvd set too. Bds are in the works, they say, and will be limited editions. No timeframe given.
 

dana martin

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i thought that MGM still had the "controlling" rights for US release of Q1 and Q2, and Fox still had Q& the pit, actually Q1 was on MGM HD not to long ago and looked pretty good, but with MGM letting a lot go to Shout i was seeing in anyone had any more info, i had read about alot of the old Anchor Bay titles going to a different distribution so maybe we can finish the Karnstein trilogy in HD.
 

bgart13

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LUST FOR A VAMPIRE would have to come from Lionsgate in the US. As far as I know, MGM only controls THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT in the US, and not Q2.
 

Professor Echo

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Limited Edition Blu Rays are getting a little too close to the old Laserdisc days for me. While I loved the Laser format I don't particularly relish having sold them for pennies on the dollar or having to donate/discard them. I'm staying away from the Limited Edition Blus as much as I can and hope it does not become a prevailing trend.
 

bgart13

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Bob - the only way a widescreen version QX will get released is if MGM has decided there was enough evidence for it being projected that way. They did their transfer in 4:3. According the Glenn Erickson's article a few years back, they tried matting it to 1.85 and weren't happy with it how it looked. Which is ironic, since it clearly looks well composed when matted at home with something like VLC. Know anyone there at MGM? Maybe you can see what's up.
 

Bob Furmanek

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New research and recently discovered UK documents indicate it was probably intended for 1.65:1 with loose coverage so it will also work at 1.85:1 in the U.S.

Exclusive/Hammer went widescreen in late July 1953 with production of FACE THE MUSIC/THE BLACK GLOVE.

This is from Kine Weekly, 7/8/54, three months before production commenced.

UK-July-8-1954_zps31d4c4b5.jpg


Creeping Unknown.JPG
 

Bob Furmanek

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It's worth noting that by the fall of 1955, 1.75:1 would be the new UK standard for non-anamorphic widescreen.

Films were still protected for either 1.37 or hard-matted for 1.66, but 1.75:1 was considered the ideal projection ratio.

From Kinematograph Weekly: 7/14/55

UK175-71455_zpsbd34bc79.jpg
 

Wade Sowers

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I received the 3 HORROR CLASSICS set today (I wanted to see how these would look, the price was right) and the big news for me is that DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS is in anamorphic scope which is a big improvement over the old Anchor Bay pressing which was 2.35:1 but not anamorphic. Anyway, these are fine, but I am much more excited over the prospect of getting these in Blu-ray pretty soon (I don't have a Region Free player).
 

Richard--W

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When the time comes for MGM to release Quatermass and the Pit (1967) in the USA, I hope they access the same transfer StudioCanal made for Optimum in the U.K. It is a perfect transfer. Absolutely flawless. To see it is to experiene the film for the first time. The transfer is everything it should be, and everything that the Dracula | Horror of Dracula transfer is not.

I haven't seen them, but I'm hearing excellent reports from people I trust on the U.K. blu-rays of the John Gilling films The Reptile (1965), Plague of the Zombies (1966) and The Mummy's Shroud (1967) which are also StudioCanal transfers. Let's hope the USA gets to see those transfers on blu-ray without further delay.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quatermass-And-The-Pit-Blu-ray/dp/B00525QJYO/ref=pd_sim_d_h__10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plague-The-Zombies-Blu-ray-DVD/dp/B006C19NQI/ref=pd_sim_d_h__8
 

Wade Sowers

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I watched the new standard DVD of DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS released by Millennium and it did open with the StudioCanal logo so I imagine these will be the recent restorations - the transfer looked very good and will tide me over until the much anticipated Blu-ray appears in Region A one of these days (hopefully).
 

TheSteig

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I asked Shout if they had plans for Quatermass Xperiement and they said no...to my chagrin :D
 

dana martin

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David Steigman said:
I asked Shout if they had plans for Quatermass Xperiement and they said no...to my chagrin :D
hope that changes, but that got me thinking, don't know if it would be Scream or Shout as Scream seems to be more compartmentalized towards 70's thru 90's films. But since Shout is releasing MGM /AIP Vincent Price ( cant wait for this to go up on pre-order), I was wondering if the good people at Shout who seem to have a pretty good relationship of releasing titles controlled by Universal, were looking at the prospect of releasing Uni's Hammer titles as a box set or as individual releases. or Universal surprises us and releases it themselves or at least some selected titles

Brides Of Dracula
Phantom Of The Opera
The Curse Of The Werewolf
The Evil Of Frankenstein
 

Alan Tully

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I'm still waiting for a really good looking Blu-ray from the golden years of Hammer (Dracula is too damn cold!). I think for that, Universal & Sony will have to release some of their films.Brides Of Dracula & The Evil Of Frankenstein are due for release in the UK soon. I'm a bit wary of how Brides will look, as the single DVD release didn't look anywhere near as good as the one in the box set. The Evil Of Frankenstein is second rate Hammer, but I enjoyed it at the cinema, & if it looks good I'll buy it, if not, why bother, I'll stick with the DVD set.
 

dana martin

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I know from the good many chats that the good folks from WB do pay attention to what is discussed on the forum, and for those of us who have yet to go region free on our blu ray players, I was wondering when the time for Horror of Dracula (aka Dracula) to get released stateside if we are going to get both versions the BFI restoration and the Hammer restoration.

Just wondering what others think, would you want both versions?

personally I do.
 

WadeM

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** Hammer's DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS: Millennium Entertainment has revealed the final artwork and details for their upcoming high-definition Blu-ray release of the classic 1966 Hammer Film on September 3rd. Directed by Terence Fisher and starring the iconic Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley and Andrew Keir, Millennium's Collector's Edition of Dracula: Prince of Darkness marks the first time that horror fans in the US will be able to enjoy the film on Blu-ray.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary with Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Suzan Farmer and Francis Matthews
- Exclusive still gallery (NEVER BEFORE RELEASED!)
- Restored original trailer
- Dracula: Prince of Darkness restoration comparison
- Super 8MM behind-the-scenes footage
- Brand new documentary- "Back to Black"
- World of Hammer Episode: "Hammer Stars: Christopher Lee"
- Printed Memorabilia perfect for every classic Hammer fan out there

dracula-blu.jpg
 

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