Dead Ringers - 15th Anniversary Edition Question (1 Viewer)

[Tom Tsai]

http://www.dvdsoon.com/product-image...80&quality=0.8

I'm thinking about buying this dvd, which is supposed to come out on December 28th. However, knowing TVA International's history, I'm a little wary of the quality of the release. DVDsoon doesn't list it as being anamorphically enhanced. Future Shop, CNL, and Amazon.ca made no mention of it either. Anyone know?

 

[Craig Beam]

Post Deleted

 

[jason:g]

yeah, of course it is not anamorphically enhanced. Cronenberg did not and does not intend for it to be anamorphically enhanced. I'm buying this one because I missed out on the Criterion release.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I have been asking myself the same question since I heard about this release last month. Could it be that Criterion also provided the transfer as well as the extras? Although non-anamorphic, the Criterion transfer is stunning; far better than the R2 transfers in Britain, Germany and Holland.

I think it's a great modern film. It certainly contains one of the greatest performance(s) in the history of Cinema.

I really hope that this new edition is anamorphic.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Eh? Where did you gleam that from? The reason the Criterion DVD of the film was not anamorphic was because it was spine number 21 and Criterion didn't start to create anamorphic transfers until spine 47 (Insomnia). If Criterion did the transfer today, it would be anamorphic, as the SE of Videodrome was.

 

[PaulP]

I'd love to order it as well. Is that a site for TVA?

 

[WarrenM]

I'd be wary of TVA.. hopefully someone posts a review, because even if it lists widescreen on the back, it could be a P&S transfer ala "Saddest Music in the World".

It DOES say "supplements produced by the criterion collection" along the top, so maybe that is a good sign...

 

[CraigF]

I'd be VERY wary of TVA... My thoughts FWIW: we'd have heard if there was a new transfer, DC is quite forthcoming, so it's not. It's already a good transfer. Lots of 1.66 films are still released/only available non-anamorphic, which is not to say they should be, so it's not just because it's an old Criterion release, to some 1.66 is borderline as to whether it should be anamorphic (the arguments rage here too). DR was filmed 1.33 and designed to be masked to various ARs, DC's preferred AR is 1.66. The Criterion DVD is still easily available new even though it's been OOP for years, for less than many have paid on eBay, but double the TVA price. If the TVA transfer is the same as the Criterion transfer, and they haven't messed it up by doing some of the weird video stuff they've done in the past, then this is a must for any Cronenberg fan who doesn't have it yet.

My main point of wariness is that this will be the "European" PAL transfer converted to NTSC, a TVA specialty...

 

[Damin J Toell]

FWIW, Cronenberg told me a while back that while he usually prefers 1.66:1, he's also very happy with how 1.78:1 transfers (filling out an entire 16x9 frame) look and has no problem with studios choosing that AR.

DJ

 

[Jamie Cole]

Would love to know if anyone picked this up and what the verdict is (anamorphic? as good or better than Criterion?) ... I only ask because I picked up a sealed copy of the Criterion at a little-used B&M here in B'ham this weekend for full retail ($40), and I would gladly return it and import the Canadian version for an anamorphic transfer and better price.

It's hard to imagine Criterion licensing their supplements to anyone else, although I'm sure there's at least one (Halloween) precedent for this.

 

[Al Stuart]

The 2 disc of Monty Python and the Holy Grail also retained the Criterion LD commentary (though not the Japanese track).

 

[Damin J Toell]

In addition to the two mentioned so far, in the U.S., there has also been Once Were Warriors, Bodies, Rest & Motion, Trainspotting, and reportedly the forthcoming Raging Bull SE from MGM. For the UK, they've licensed out even more supplements, including Time Bandits, Mona Lisa, Repulsion, and The Long Good Friday. It's not a stretch anymore that Criterion would license out their supplements for another territory.

As far as the Japanese audio track on the Holy Grail LD, while clips do show up on the DVD, I'm pretty sure the Japanese dub isn't actually Criterion's to license out in the first place. I doubt they were involved when it was dubbed for Japanese theatrical release in the 70s.

DJ

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Jamie, if you are planning to return this disc, I would gladly take it off your hands or even go so far as to pick up a copy of the TVA release (I am in Montreal and there's an abundance of them at my local retailer) to save you the import costs and trade the DVD with you along with monetary compensation for the price difference, ie - toss in an extra $15-20 or whatever the additional sums of the Criterion disc ammounts to. Please let me know if you'd be open to this as I've been trying to own a copy of Dead Ringers for quite some time and as a collector of Criterion discs (but skeptical of purchasing them via Ebay) and fan of Cronenberg, I'd much prefer to own the original issue rather than the TVA transfer, eben though it's the exact same material. I'm just nit-picky. :}

I'm gonna send you a p.m. right now, just in case you don't check this post and hopefully I'm not too late. I really hope we can work something out!

 

[Jamie Cole]

Mmmmkay. So I guess since it's a direct port, no anamorphic. Oh well. I'll hang on to the Criterion. A bird in the hand and all.

Forgot about Trainspotting supplements. Didn't know about the others.

Read somewhere this was a Warner/Morgan Creek property now. Can that be right? It doesn't seem right. After waiting YEARS for the rumored Nightbreed Directors Cut, I'm not holding my breath for a Dead Ringers re-release. Horror properties don't seem high priority.

 

[Damin J Toell]

What seems so wrong about it? It was a Morgan Creek co-production. Check out the end credits sometime. It reads: "Produced in association with Morgan Creek Productions, Inc."

DJ

 

[PaulP]

So it's non-anamorphic? The "Yep" kinda didn't mean anything.

 

[John Hodson]

The 'Yep' is a link to this post on another forum:

"I can confirm everything about this disc is fine. It is an EXACT port of the Criterion DVD. Their logo even appear on the back cover and the disc itself inside (but not the spine). It does not have a booklet however. The menus are actually the exact same as Criterions as well, with their logo/ name prominantly featured at the top of the screen, and obviously have all the same bonus stuff (inlcuding the commentary). I previewed the credits and a random chapter, and it looked fantastic, just as the Criterion did - at 1.66:1.

"So if you're having trouble finding the out of print Criterion DVD or don't want to pay the high price it currently attracts, this "15th Anniversary" edition from TVA (who essentially just re-pressed the Criterion DVD and removed the Criterion name from the spine and front cover) should serve anyone (inlcuding myself) just fine."

 

[Jamie Cole]

Checked that last night... of course you're right. It seems wrong because it's the kind of movie a big studio wouldn't touch.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Just as a note of clarification, the Criterion is actually a barebones disc (it has two trailers, and nothing else) whereas the Anchor Bay UK disc created new supplements especially for their homegrown release.

(To add to the above list, The English Patient also has the Criterion commentary and deleted scenes featurette from the LD.)

 

[Damin J Toell]

Well, the big studio in question, Warner, didn't touch it until after the fact. Morgan Creek is an independent production company and Dead Ringers was one of its first productions (along with Young Guns). Warner now has a distribution deal with Morgan Creek, so they've presumably inherited video rights to Dead Ringers.

DJ