Love at First Bite - Soundtrack Restored? (1 Viewer)

[Kenny Neal]

Just a guess but I'm thinking maybe MGM had permission to use the song in the movie and trailer but didn't have home video distribution rights that included the song, so they re-scored for VHS...

But maybe they acquired the rights to use the song for broadcast and that's what was shown on HBO...

But when they put together the DVD they just used the altered version, either because they still don't have home video rights, or they do now and the DVD features an unnecessarily re-scored version by mistake.

I'd imagine if they didn't have the rights, the trailer would not have been included (at least as is) without the discs being pulled. Unless there are different rules for the brief inclusion in the trailer...

So basically I have no insight.

 

[Mark Oates]

I'm not sure how cable companies in the US operate, but the tv companies on this side of the puddle always do their own transfers from what are obviously release prints of movies, rather than be provided with studio-produced video masters. It becomes obvious when you get altered lines or included scenes that aren't on the DVD because of our weird censorship laws.

According to user comments on the IMDb, the song was replaced for the original video release, so it may be that the "official" version of the picture is now the revised one. It's likely that the print including the song that's doing the rounds is a theatrical print that could date back to the original release.

Whatever shape LAFB is in, it has a special place in the hearts of my family. We first encountered the picture as an edited Super8 digest print bought in 1981. It was shortly after the death of my grandfather and my mother credits the movie as helping her to come to terms with it. After seeing the movie, she had a dream where she was caught up in the action and at one point she found herself next to the coffin which opened slowly and the occupant sat up. It was my grandfather, and he told her he was fine and happy to be where he was. She cheered up significantly after that, and only told me the story a couple of years later when we finally encountered the full movie on video. For that, I won't hear a word said against it, and I'm looking forward to my copy arriving in the next few days.

 

[Paul_Scott]

popped mine in last night to check out the transfer, trailer and hear what the new song sounded like.
its a real shame that the disc is compromised like it is by that one little thing, because otherwise the transfer looks fantastic. very sharp, very colorful.
the new song isn't terrible(in a disco fashion), and the lyrics aren't incongruous with the intent of providing humourous counterpoint to the situation, but ILTNL was far superior in both respects and provided a more driving beat that really got you perked up at that point in the film.
and the lyrics did come across as much funnier.
thats the thing- there is no dialogue at this point so the song vocals are moved up to be the 'text' (rather than background sub text).
thats why its a big deal.

luckily i have to dvd decks in my rack and because the song is isolated fore and aft from any dialogue (a couple of seconds of general background noise before it starts and then it fades off to a silent seguae to the next scene) it should be relatively easy to synch up a copy of the song when i do sit down to watch it. just have to practice seemlessly switching inputs with the remote, and then switching back.

seems like a silly length to go to, but dammit- if i ever put together a highlight reel of some of my favorite movie moments, the original version of that scene would be a likely candidate.
i hate the thought of it being compromised.

 

[Hank E]

Yikes, I missed that. I didn't anticipate people getting copies early. Well that really sucks. I'm glad I recorded it off HBO a few months back. I was willing to spend the money and get the official DVD... not any more. :frowning:

 

[Jean-Michel]

Might be wrong, but my understanding is that the studios have a blanket agreement with the major music publishers that covers the use of their songs in trailers, whereas music used in the actual film has to be negotiated on a per-song basis.