Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition in June (1 Viewer)

[John Hodson]

From DVD Times here:

Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of Jaws 30th Anniversary Edition for 14th June 2005 priced at $22.98 SRP. Steven Spielberg's monster classic resurfaces on DVD to celebrate its 30th Anniversary coming to us as a two-disc set packaged with a Commemorative Photo Journal.

Exact details on what additional bonus features we can expect over the current release are yet to be revealed, though it seems like wishful thinking that we'll finally see the full-length making of documentary from the Laserdisc edition on the bonus disc. Arriving in separate Widescreen and Full Screen editions, both are packed with language options which include English 2.0 Mono, 5.1 Surround and 5.1 DTS Surround alongside French and Spanish 5.1 Surround tracks. The standard subtitle options of English, French and Spanish languages will also be available.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I wouldn't buy it again just for the photo book, but I'll be staying tuned to this thread to find out any further details.

 

[Shane_Anthony]

Is it the same transfer??

If so then my reaction is similiar to the towns people when Robert Shaw grates his nails on the chalkboard

Still one of my all time favorite movies though!

 

[Justin Bauer]

maybe they will finally get it right.

 

[GlennWD]

This is great news, I can't wait to get it.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Seems like the original mono track will be included this time around. Thank God!

Chris

 

[PaulP]

DTS 5.1 and DD 5.1, that's good. What's bad is that they'll probably just move all the current extras onto the second disc, and that will be it. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

The original MONO soundtrack mix is a MUST. The new digital foley effects are just too jaring for me. The original mix is a masterpiece of mono magic.

 

[Jason Hughes]

Maybe they will have the full 2 hour documentary from the old LD.

 

[BrettB]

This is Universal, don't hold your breath.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

YEAH!

I'm so glad I decided to sell my 25th Ann. Ed.


The scoring for this film is so brilliant, it really deserves to be offered in it's original mono mix to full appreciate the rich layers on each track. I'll be so happy to upgrade, and suggest that everyone do the same if not just for the original mono mix alone!

Btw, I wouldn't mind at all if Universal ported over the current transfer. I'd love to see the full documentary, but regardless of what else is added, it's definitely one step ahead of the current release we have!

 

[JeremySt]

A new transfer with less digital noise, the original theatrical audio mix, and the full LD documentary on the 2nd disc, otherwise no sale here.

 

[Jeff D Han]

Yeah, no sale here either if the full length
documentary from the laserdisc is not one of
the features. We all know we won't be getting
a commentary track with the film, so the other
bells and whistles had better be an improvement
over the original DVD. It's nice to hear that the
original mono track is included though.

 

[Patrick H.]

Ditto. The spontaneity of this announcement probably isn't a great sign, but Universal does have the materials available to make this a worthwhile upgrade if they care to, even utilizing the same master. I agree with Jeremy; re-authoring, original mono soundtrack, full-legth documentary...that's the MINIMUM requirement to make this thing worthwhile. And it'd be REALLY easy to do. But...could be just another no-effort cash-in. We'll see.

While they're at it, though, I wish they'd go back and put 'E.T.' in a real box, with some indication of what's actually inside it!

 

[TravisR]

I can't wait to pick this up. Hopefully some more specifics will be coming soon.

And am I the only one who can't believe it's already been five years since the first release of Jaws came out?

 

[Tom Brennan]

This movie is so great they could release a barebones disc with no menu and just the 16x9 picture transfer and the mono track and I'd be satisfied.

 

[RonWilson]

I'm gonna hold out for the 35th anniversary edition or maybe the 40th?

What a joke!!!

 

[Robert Harris]

Within the following six months, there is no reason why a High Definition version would not be available. This seems like another wasted "anniversary" effort.

RAH

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Judging by the laziness that has been applied to the upcoming "Special" Edition of Casino, I'm not going to get excited about this just yet. Casino won't even be a 2-disc - it will be a DVD-14 and the extras don't look too applealing.

I also have the nagging feeling that this new edition of Jaws won't have the original 1975 mono mix. Recent theatrical prints have been Dolby 5.1 and even TV broadcasts are stereo with the new foley effects from the 5.1 mix. However, the UK release of the old DVD had mono dub mixes in French, German, Italian and Spanish. The French and German tracks sound very good and must have been made from the original tracks recently. The Spanish has the least fidelity and was probably made from an older source (optical print?) than the other three. There really is no reason not to include the original mix. The same goes for Vertigo. I don't care if the track has major flaws; it has to preserved for posterity.

There is indeed a lot of archive material for Jaws, for instance, New England Our Way, an excellent 1974 TV documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew.

Jaws, taken as a yarn, is not a great film, I feel, although it is the best 'trash movie' ever made. But it is, without a doubt, a true 'lesson in filmmaking' - a masterclass in film-editing and a prime example of how music can elevate suspense to unbearable, giddy heights.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I disagree with your "wasted" assertion because I don't see myself upgrading to high definition dvd for at least the next three years and it may be longer than that depending if a prolonged format war emerges from both camps.





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