Anchor Bay's HIGHLANDER - IMMORTAL EDITION Specs and Details... (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Thorne]

Here's the final specs for the upcoming HIGHLANDER DVD's from Anchor Bay, posted by Michael Felsher over at another site just a little while ago. I can't see any mention of them here, so I thought I'd post the details. The release date for the discs is April 16th.

"There will be two editions...Both are THX approved and the extended (a.k.a director's cut) version of the film. The film's new transfer and audio restoration were supervised and approved by the film's producer William Panzer.

The first is a single disc DVD priced at $14.98 with the following features...

- Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs

- Audio Commentary with Director Russell Mulchahy and Producers Peter S. David and William Panzer

- Theatrical Trailers

- Talent Bios

- DVD ROM Link to official Highlander Web Site

Audio:

English: 6.1 DTS-ES

English: Dolby Surround EX

English: Dolby Surround 2.0

French: Dolby Surround 2.0

Close Captioned, Region 1

HIGHLANDER - THE IMMORTAL EDITION

The second edition will be a 2-disc set priced at $39.98, packaged in a silver tin slipcase. It features the same commentary and extras as the above set, with these ADDITIONAL extras featured across the two discs:

DISC ONE - As above, plus...

- HIGHLANDER Poster and Still Gallery

- Queen Music Videos: "Who Wants To Live Forever", "A Kind Of Magic", and "Princes Of The Universe"

- Queen Still Gallery

- DVD ROM Link to Queen Online

DISC TWO -

Queen companion CD featuring Princes Of The Universe, Friends Will Be Friends, and a never-before-released extended version of One Year Of Love

The two disc set will also contain a special booklet with photos and liner notes as well. "

I'll be curious to see how much of an improvement the new transfer is over the much-disliked previous DVD edition, and also how well HIGHLANDER holds up to repeat viewings after all these years.

 

[David Illingworth II]

It doesn't sound like the 2 disc set is really worth spending more than twice what it would cost for the single disc release-- not unless you're a big Queen fan.

But, hey, I'll happily pay $15 for the single disc. But I'm surprised there are not featurettes included about the phenomenon of Highland and it's unexpected popularity.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

I'm disappointed that the text-based supplements from the previous LD (and I guess DVD-- I only had the LD) aren't on there, particularly the info about the deleted scenes. I would have loved to have seen whatever they had in the vaults as opposed to just Queen stuff-- that second disc seems particularly superfluous.

And I agree about the featurettes-- there's nothing they could have come up with? Even something with editor Peter Honess would have been interesting.

This seems far from being "Immortal," though I'm sure the transfer will be amazing.

 

[Brian Kidd]

The 2-disc set is particularly disappointing. I would have expected at least a documentary of some sort. Looks like I may only get the once disc version. That is, if the new transfer is good.

 

[Robert Floto]

Well...I am a big fan of Queen, as well as Highlander...so I'm all over the Immortal Edition...

 

[Esten]

Well,it shouldn't be hard to beat the original DVD transfer.I'll pick the new version up.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I am VERY happy these music videos are on the disc. However I REALLY wish there were some featurettes. Was all the money for that spent licensing the Queen stuff? How about some clips from the Kind of Magic Tour, live versions of the songs?

 

[Will_B]

Dudes, Lambert is in the Queen videos -- it's not like it is just Freddy Mercury and his big teeth. These are music videos fans have been asking for for ages.

 

[David Lambert]

Dudes, Lambert is in the Queen videos

I am?
My wife is a GIANT fan of Queen. She'll be all over the Immortal Edition.
"Oh, Hooooneeeeey.....!!!"

 

[David Glenn]

LOL, THX Certified. I've heard that before.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Count me in on the tin, I guess. The original highlander is a great demo for how a disc can look different depending on the type of connection being used. I have seen this from hideous to fine, with a better system improving things dramatically.

My question is whether the tin is the same as the other AB tins, or another variation.

 

[Michael Allred]

As a huge Queen fan, I'll have to buy the 'Immortal Edition' tin! Can't wait! Great additions Anchor Bay!

 

[Brian Lawrence]

I'll be picking up the 14.98 version, It's sure to look better than the current dvd.

I just wish that instead of including a CD, Anchor Bay would have included the original theatrical cut of the movie. I was not overly impressed with the newer visual FX that where added to the directors cut. And I hope the hell that the English 2.0 track is the original mix, and not yet another 5.1 down-mix that Anchor bay are notorious for.

I also hope that they don't pull the same stunt they did with Heathers, and crank up the Digital Video Noise Reduction in an attempt to remove film grain, resulting in a smeary picture. I expect this film to be very grainy, I just don't want all the damn compression artifacts that plagued the hell out of the first dvd.

 

[Michael Allred]

Doesn't the '10th anniversary' DVD say:
"Original theatrical aspect ratio approximately 2.35:1"
Is that correct? If the new edition is 1.85:1, does that mean we're getting a chopped-up version?
OAR....OAR....SOS

 

[Iain Lambert]

Sorry David, you've obviously been confused by the lack of detail in that post. Its actually me that appears in the videos.

Personally, while I quite like the videos I can't see me spending an extra $25 for them, so its the $14.99 release here.

 

[David Lambert]

Michael Allred: Good catch! This needs to be looked into. Hopefully, since it's preliminary info, it's just a typo-type issue and not an OAR issue.
Iain: Me? You? Christopher? Jack? HAH! "There can be only one!"
I don't expect to pay an extra $25 for the special tin version. I'm sure Best Buy will have a great deal for launch week, just like they did with Heathers.

 

[Juan C Toro]

A couple of things:

1) Regarding the OAR, is was wrong in the packaging of the 10th Anniversary DVD. The actual aspect ratio is 1.85:1

2) For those of us who bought the 10th Anniversary Edition, I wouldn't be throwing it away. The specs for the new version do not include all the pictures of behind the scenes, production photos and text from scripts and publication. So the old version should be kept in your collections (at least I will keep mine, and obviously will buy the new single DVD for the new anamorphic transfer).

JC

 

[JasenP]

What about the 3-D model of the sword from the original LD? That was a joke!

 

[Thomas Agermose]

I'm also disappointed. I have the LD and was looking forward to upgrading to DVD, expecting to get some additional supplements including the videos.
My "immortal Edition" would include:
- commentary tracks (mulcahy, connery, lambert)
- screen play
- deleted scene stills (maybe some other deleted footage if any exists)
- documentary (Surely there must be lots to talk about. Making of, sequels, TV-series etc.)
- Queen videos
- stills
All we get, are some stills and the Queen videos which it seems we have to buy the 2-disc version to get. I would be happy to get the single disc version if it included the videos, but now I don't know. No way I'm forking out an additional 25$ to get a CD with 3 songs on it. Given the fan base this movie has this is a missed opportunity :frowning:

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

Then again, Anchor bay is the master of re-releases... I'm not sure at all this "immortal edition" is the last version of Highlander we will ever see.

Apparenty, there can't only be one S.E.