Any word on Ken Russell's THE RAINBOW coming to DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Ulmer]

Title says it all. There is a PAL version, but I can't find any real info other than an Amazon.uk listing for it. Teaming Lair of the White Worm's Sammi Davis and Amanda Donohoe in a Russell style D.H. Lawrence sequel to Women in Love sounds pretty intriguing...

As an update, the UK version is a 4:3 transfer, which sounds open matte to me.

 

[Bob Pierce]

Thank you, Jeff! This one's been on my wish list for a long time. I enjoyed the film the few times I could catch it, but have yet to hear anything about it on DVD. Hope we won't have to wait five more years for it to be released.

BTW, regarding your sig', I saw on the Coming Soon web site that Alec Baldwin is set to star in a remake of the film, which it targeted to start production in the spring or summer of next year. You can find the whole article here . Enjoy!

- Bob P.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Ugh. Baldwin has got a tough job ahead of him. I doubt it will have the same aura as the original, but hopefully will spark more interest in it.

 

[Greg Krewet]

I also would like The Rainbow, by the way, another Ken
Russell, DE. Lawrence pairing is Lady Chatterly just released on Acorn DVD.
Best
Greg

 

[Will_B]

I've been wanting to see this Ken Russel flick since the vhs days. I've been hoping for a dvd.

Donohoe is great. I'd also like to get that short film she was in where she plays a paranoid blind date person.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

another Ken Russell, DE. Lawrence pairing is Lady Chatterly just released on Acorn DVD.

How is the quality of this? Does anyone have it?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I ordered the R4 DVD of The Rainbow for $9AU ($6US) from Ezydvd.com.au where it's on sale. This looks to be the same PAL transfer as the full screen (hopefully open matte) R2 version, only a third the price. I'll post a quality review when I get it.

Lady Chatterly is pretty cheap up here, so that may make the order list as well.

 

[Bob Pierce]

Thanks, Jeff. I have an all-region PAL/NTSC player, so I'd be interested in knowing how it looks.

- Bob

 

[Will_B]

I just checked to see if Acorn would be releasing The Rainbow and here's their reply:

Actually, the only Ken Russell work we've released is Lady Chatterley -- we do also carry the MGM disc of Women In Love, I believe, in our catalog and on our website, but his theatrical works are generally off-limits to us at this time. I believe that The Rainbow was one of the few theatrical motion pictures produced and distributed by Vestron Pictures -- who also owned the video label Vestron Video. Their theatrical arm went under, and I think that the film rights ended up with somebody like Artisan or Lion's Gate (I know Artisan owns the rights to at least two other Russell films from the late '80s). Possibly MGM, but I'm less sure of that. At any rate, the rights to his later theatrical works are pretty much out of our jurisdiction and held by other parties.

So it appears safe to go ahead and order the import if you can play it. I just did myself. And with the Australian dollar being so bad (even compared to ours!) it is still very cheap.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Well, if Artisan owns it, it isn't going to look any better than what is currently available I wouldn't think. It's not like they'll strike a new anamorphic transfer.

I have no idea how long my order will take to get here, but I'll post as soon as I've had a chance to evaluate it. For now it seems the only option.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

The disc arrived today, which was pretty fast, and was also properly declared to avoid taxes. It also looks like the store rewraps the discs after inserting a couple of peanuts to make sure the discs don't become loose in transit. That may be factory too, but it's a nice touch if it isn't.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Okay, the image quality is pretty decent. The print is clean, and colors are good. There is a bit of mosaiking which looks like they upconverted the resolution, but it isn't that bad. Well worth the $6.

 

[Bob Pierce]

Mine's on the way! Thanks, Jeff.

- Bob P.