Universal's 2-disc German release included 'This Island Earth' as an extra; can't recall for sure if it was anamorphic or not, but I seem to think that (like the current R2 UK transfer) it was.
This is very excellent news. this mean I can finally retire my "screener" VHS copy I permanently borrowed from the video store I worked at in high school.
"quick, lets escape under cover of afternoon in the biggest car in the county!"
Considering I have had no desire to watch it again in the last... three years? - too many unwatched episodes in the Rhino sets as it is, let alone the dozens of VHS tapes stashed in my closet from the original airings - I'm really glad I sold this one a while back. I think I got $200 for it or something.
This was one of the first 3 DVDs I bought (the other 2 were Artisan's The 10th Kingdom and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V). Wish there were some deleted scenes, though; that might be enought to make me pick up the new version.
I'm psyched that its finally getting reissued and they're giving it a new transfer with 5.1 but they really should include those deleted scenes. The entire shelter sequence is a blast. There's a large and ever growing following for MST3K. Someone at Universal must have finally realized this. If everyone buys this version maybe they'll be motivated to revisit it in a couple of years with extras.
Finally. Been a long wait. Both my father and I have been wanting to get this forever. We both feel so bad for not picking it up for $25 10 years ago (didnt know it would go OOP so soon). Got pretty darn close to buying it for $200 on Amazon or Ebay. Ughh...so much. This is good news, indeed.