Any Reviews Yet - ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_A]

My pre-order was shipped yesterday. Surprisingly, I've seen no early previews. Anyone have anything? Thanks.
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The Dark Tower

Roman Polanski's - The Fearless Vampire Killers?

 

[Craig]

For the price (@$11), I'm expecting the same transfer as the earlier version. I'd be satisified if the music during the concert scenes were LOUDER, the sound on the DVD is just a little too soft. The Ramones sure weren't no trumpet playing band, so turn it up!!
One of my friends who plays in a band always ends "Sedated" by saying 'God Bless Joey Ramone', and that's a pretty good ending when talking about "Rock N Roll High School" also.

 

[David Lambert]

I just picked my copy up today...3 days prior to street date, natch...and I hope I have time to view it tomorrow. I've got a full day planned, so I might not get to it.
My main confusion is that the features on the back of the box list "Theatrical Trailer", but the only trailer I can find in the menus are for Battle Beyond the Stars, Saturday the 14th, & Eat My Dust (whatever that one is) in the "Preview Attractions" area of the menu.
In the "R&R High School Locker" there's radio ads to play, but that's a far cry from theatrical trailers.
I wonder did they Easter Egg it, and I'm just too stupid to find it (I've tried), or is it just that the Trailers the box refers to is for other films? Heck, Col/Tri-Star does this all the time!
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DAVE/Memphis

 

[Shane Gralaw]

This has one of the more entertaining commentary tracks that I've heard in a while. Lots of funny stories on how amazingly cheap Roger Corman is and the eccentricities of the Ramones. The supplements were ok, with the actual live audio of the Rmaones concert being a big plus for old diehard fans. Overall a nice treatment of a childhood fave.

 

[David Lambert]

I did get to watch it, although I wasn't able to find time to re-view it with commentary, or explore much of the other supplements.
I've never seen the original issue of the disc, so I can't compare it.
I have a 4:3 ratio TV, Panasonic 32" stereo, so I can't give a "home theatre" perspective until I upgrade!
But the music is loud (someone said the old version it was soft; no complaints here...the volume cranked itself during any and all music scenes!).
The picture is great-looking. I don't think it's anamorphic, but then I've got a 4:3 as I said. Artifacts crop up from time to time in the way of deterioration-type scratches, etc. Not enough to distract, and certainly less than on Battle Beyond the Stars.
Basically, R&RHS and BBtS are extremely comparable releases. Which means they are both good enough for the money and for essentially "B" films, but they could be better. But it actually fits, considering the "Corman" budget M.O.!!
All-in-all, a recommend as long as you're not looking for "reference material".
And my 3-year-old loved The Ramones. Whenever the music would crank, he'd run in and dance his pants off! When it would fade, he go "Awwwww...my rock and roll!" and pout. I might have a little punker on my hands...that's Daddy's boy!
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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[Duane M Davis]

God Bless Joey Ramone.
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"Would you like to play spider with me?" ~Spider Baby

 

[Keith Mickunas]

The original issue was one of my first 5 DVDs, I got no idea what the others were, and I really don't care.

I'm just glad I got this one. Its been awhile since I've watched it, but as I recall it was pretty good. Heck, its Corman, so you can't expect too much. BTW, Ramones lovers need to keep an eye out, dvdempire and dvdplanet have both listed some upcoming DVDs about the Ramones, but no specifics yet.

 

[Frank_S]

Sounds like a keeper, anyone verify whether it's anamorphic?

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

Is it anamorphic? HA HA HA HA HA HA...
Naw, it's from New Concorde/Horizons/World/Whatever Corman's calling it these days. They'll adopt 16x9 transfers when hell freezes over.
As far as I can tell, it's a direct copy of the old Lumivision DVD, which was a port from the Lumivision LD that I own. Good supplements, but you wish Anchor Bay or someone else would get hold of a title such as this and really do a job on it.

 

[Jeff_A]

I watched the film and for the most part I am very happy to have this release. I felt the video quality was excellent considering its age and the fact that this was a B-movie with a B-budget. Sure a few artifacts popped up on occasion, but overall a very clean image. It is widescreen, but not anamorphic BTW.
I did have a problem with the audio, however. Too often I found the volume uneven and extremely harsh. It was actually distorting during the music scenes - at least to my ears. I certainly wish more attention could have been paid to these audio deficiencies.
All things considered, I would still recommend this release to fans of the film.
------------------
The Dark Tower

Roman Polanski's - The Fearless Vampire Killers?

 

[Felix Martinez]

So is the "Rock On" Edition coming out tomorrow recycling the same 'ol non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer used on the last DVD releases ...?

 

[Gabe D]

So is the "Rock On" Edition coming out tomorrow recycling the same 'ol non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer used on the last DVD releases ...?

According to the back cover, which I just saw at DVD Empire, it is "Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions." So is Death Race 2000 (which is even more exciting to me). However, the new Big Bad Mama is fullscreen.

 

[TravisR]

I saw about a dozen copies at Best Buy this morning and it lists a commentary and 16 x 9 enhancement. I'll probably run back and pick it up.

 

[Jay Gregory]

RE: Back cover scan at DVD Empire

I guess the memories of Johnny and Dee Dee aren't characterized as "loving."

I would be interested in impressions from those who've seen both the older versions and the new one.

 

[Porfirio]

Picked it up this morning... 16x9, alright! BTW, "Dinocroc" is 16x9 too!

 

[Felix Martinez]

Hope DVDBeaver has got this one on their plate

 

[Jean Paul Villeneuve]

Rock 'n' Roll High School isn't anamorphic, exact same transfer as the previous release.
Buena Vista screws up once again with the incorrect specs on the cover.

 

[PaulaJ]

>According to the back cover, which I just saw at DVD Empire, it is "Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions." So is Death Race 2000
I'll believe it ONLY when I see it -- the press release said Death Race 2000 is fullscreen.
If Disney/Corman couldn't be bothered to upgrade the Rock and Roll High School transfer (despite whatever the packaging says), I have a hard time believing they'd do a widescreen version of Death Race 2000.
Hope I'm wrong.

 

[AndrewR]

From another board:

If enough of us complain to B/V, we may get our RnR H/S 16x9 DVD eventually. Us consumers need to teach B/V that we are educated and want what were paying for. I hope they dont treat all of Corman's Catalog with this respect. There are a few others out of this deal Im hoping on eventually getting 16x9. B/V has a big opportunity to come out winners on this deal, but the consumers will ultimately decide.

 

[CraigF]

Jean Paul Villeneuve: It's really exactly the same as the previous RnRHS SE transfer?

Not that it was awful, I've seen it on film plenty of times, at late-night rep houses too, and it sometimes looked worse than the last DVD.

What the heck does "not encoded correctly" mean? Is all the "anamorphic info" there, or is it not? If it's not, then how is it just "not encoded correctly"? Sounds to me more like the "wrong" transfer was used, nothing to do with encoding. If it was the encoding I should be able to adjust manually, shouldn't I? What do you think?

BV is good for fixing problems, IME. I like talking to their tech people. They may not always have the exact correct answer, but at least they say "yes, we know something's wrong". Don't just blow you off like some do.

Edit: Oh yeah, the commentary (on the old) about Corman's cheapness. Everybody seems to like to talk about that. Even Corman seems to hold it up as a badge of honor, as some great personality characteristic. He's proud of it! (Hmmm, maybe I should adopt him as a role model.) I'm sure we'll find out some of the *real* stories of his cheapness once he's gone. I watched a movie last night where Corman said "that's it" and the movie stopped shooting, well before it was "finished". So we go from a scene to roll credits, like right in the middle of something "big" happening...pretty funny actually.