_Koyaanisqatsi_ and _Powaqqatsi_ coming in Fall 2002? (1 Viewer)

[Douglas Bailey]

I'm one of the few suckers charitable souls who actually got the limited-edition not-for-sale-to-the-public DVD of Koyaanisqatsi (which required making a not-inconsiderable donation to the filmmakers' fund trying to straighten out the rights, but I thought it was a good cause).
Today I received the following e-mail:

Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 13:06:44 -0700
Subject: KOYAANISQATSI Update
Dear Douglas,
I am pleased to let you know that in late January IRE and MGM reached an amicable accommodation that will allow the re-release of KOYAANISQATSI and POWAQQATSI on DVD to occur as early as the Fall of 2002, hopefully coordinated with the release of NAQOYQATSI by Miramax. This is an exciting time for us as the release of NAQOYQATSI will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the premiere of KOYAANISQATSI.
Know that the monetary support that you provided allowed the Institute to remain in position to allow it to be able to look eye to eye with our counterparts at MGM and be able to work out a reasonable and fair resolution of the issues between our respective organizations. We hope that in the next couple of months, we will be able to upgrade our website and integrate information about NAQOYQATSI and be more interactive with our fans around the world.
Once again, thanks for your support and kindest regards.
Godfrey Reggio, Director and Producer
Larry Taub, Producer

So that's all good news as far as I'm concerned. Weren't Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi on several HTF members' "wanted in 2002" lists?
Edit: the filmmakers and I both forgot to mention the URL of the website. It's http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

It will be great to have this on DVD, assuming they take extreme care in its presentation. Hell, it will be great anyway, but I hope they make sure the source they use is the best possible.

How did the DVD by donation look? Features?

 

[John Berggren]

SWEET! I'd love to get these. I can't wait for the announcement.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Wow. Wow. WOW.

Please, Warner Bros. don't buy MGM!

I would absolutely kill -- er, except perhaps pay close to $200 -- for these titles on DVD. If they look anything like the remastered version of Baraka, I'm completely there.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

How did the DVD by donation look? Features?

It's unmatted to 1.33:1 (I believe the film was shown at 1.85:1 in the cinemas). The source material looks very good, I think, though there are a few compression artifacts here and there. The soundtrack is in stereo.

I assume MGM will do a new transfer, hopefully in anamorphic widescreen: the 1.33:1 isn't bad at all, but I'd rather have the theatrical presentation. I wonder about the possibilities of adding a 5.1-channel mix, too: it would suit the film. (But I hope they preserve the stereo mix in any event.)

No special features, sadly. Not a one. But that's about what I'd expected for a privately-produced charity disc.

It comes in a paper sleeve, not a case: I'd have been annoyed, but the sleeve is signed by Godfrey Reggio, which makes it all better again.

 

[Michael Cucka]

An informative thread on the Koyaanisqatsi.org site contains some info about these issues:
http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/communi...?f=4&i=17&t=17
To sum: the "charity" DVD is 1.33:1, which is OAR, contains a 5.1 mix (which is awesome), and no extras except the signature (cool!).
I have this disc and made a jewel case cover for it based on the VHS release - when IRE first started sending out the DVD's, the initial pressing contained some synch errors and was recalled. They sent VHS copies to all who received the disc to keep us covered while they swaped out the recall.
HTH -

 

[Rain]

...the "charity" DVD is 1.33:1, which is OAR

Nope, I'm pretty sure the OAR is 1.85:1, at least that's how I saw it in a theatre.

 

[Tom Oh]

Mark, I would prefer WB handling these titles than MGM since video quality of WB titles are consistently good to excellent.

Since Koyaanisqatsi is already available, I'm not sure that they will be remastered. I was very fortunate to see this film in Ann Arbor with live performance by Phillip Glass. That was incredible.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

The thread mentioned says the charity DVD was the full negative frame. It also says the film was matted for theatrical presentation. I hope the commercial release will offer both open matte and anamorphic widescreen options.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

To sum: the "charity" DVD... contains a 5.1 mix (which is awesome)

Hmmm. I have it down in my database as just being stereo. Unfortunately, the DVD itself is still packed away in one of my boxes -- I'm still unpacking after my move -- so I can't double-check it right now.

In any event, I thought the music was great regardless of channel configuration.

 

[Kurt N]

GREAT NEWS!!! I'd been toying with making a donation out of my tax refund to get Koyaanisqatsi.

By fall, the new Best Buy 5 miles away will be open. Late 2002 is starting to look pretty sweet.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Tom Oh,

If Warners buys MGM, movies like this will show up on DVD sometime around the year 2050. MGM has turned their act around nearly 180-degrees in the last 12 months and I would be shocked to see this project treated in a less-than-stellar fashion (particularly as Reggio himself seems to be getting involved).

 

[NickT]

Now this is a movie that really needs a dvd release.I'm happy to hear that it is finally coming out on dvd. It's a beautiful movie that will be a pleasure to play in my dvd player. My vhs copy is one of the reasons I haven't retired my vcr yet.