International Murder, She Wrote coming to Blu-ray in 2018 (1 Viewer)

[McCrutchy]

https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B077GHB8YP/

Elephant Films will release the first season of Murder, She Wrote (Arabesque) (1984-1996) on Blu-ray in France on February 28th, 2018. It is currently available for €40,13 (€33,14 without VAT) on Amazon.fr.

 

[jcroy]

Do we know whether this will be regionB locked, or region-free?

 

[McCrutchy]

Do we know whether this will be regionB locked, or region-free?

No, but the Elephant Films releases of Universal Studios films on Blu-ray which were reviewed at DVD Beaver have generally (all?) been region free, so that is a positive indicator.

There is also a concern about whether English audio will be present. I didn't realize when I posted that Elephant Films seems to have dropped English audio from their recent DVDs of Universal's Charles in Charge after the first season. However, those DVD editions are sold for relatively low prices, and DVDs, with their ubiquity, are obviously a different matter. Happily, it seems most if not all of the company's Blu-ray releases (including English-language TV shows, which so far have all been from the UK/Canada) do contain the original audio tracks with optional French subtitles.

The same company is also releasing Magnum, P.I. on Blu-ray in France beginning in March 2018, and it will be interesting to see if they are the first to release any other Universal shows.

 

[Bryan^H]

I'm hoping Mill Creek will acquire and release the complete series on BD in the U.S. as the entire series is already in HD.
1 season at a time for series this massive, and an extremely niche market is a one way ticket to abandonment/stalled series.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Interesting! If this is indeed region free, I'm all in. I'm interested to see what this looks like on Blu...

 

[revgen]

I'll pass. I've been burned on 1st season and 2nd season blu-ray releases before (Columbo Australian sets, and German Crossing Jordan sets) to do it again.

 

[MatthewA]

Are you sure there won't be a Mill Creek Blu-ray set down the line like other Universal shows have gotten?

 

[McCrutchy]

Are you sure there won't be a Mill Creek Blu-ray set down the line like other Universal shows have gotten?

No, of course not. But the point is that the series is being released somewhere. You could just as well ask where The A-Team, The Incredible Hulk and Magnum, P.I. are, because the answer to all three is the UK (through Fabulous Films) and not the USA. The same goes for Columbo in Japan, and various modern shows. Logically, tiny Mill Creek Entertainment is not going to be able to release every remastered TV series available, and some series are bound to be more popular overseas than domestically.

Some specs have been added to the Amazon listing, and though Amazon are never that trustworthy, it looks like this should have both English and French audio. More surprising is that despite the fact that the season is over 1100 minutes long, it's listed as being on just four discs, which is a bit bothersome. The single-sided DVD editions were six discs, and while that would be ideal, hopefully the disc count gets expanded by at least one, otherwise we're potentially looking at almost five hours per disc, and a lot of compression being necessary, for material that was shot on film and not digitally.

Still there's a long way to go yet, between now at the end of February, so who knows, maybe a US or UK release will be announced in the meantime. At least we know someone wants to put the show out, though.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

The cover art has been revealed. Hopefully they fix the typo in Dame Angela Lansbury's surname prior to it hitting shelves...

 

[Ron1973]

No, of course not. But the point is that the series is being released somewhere. You could just as well ask where The A-Team, The Incredible Hulk and Magnum, P.I. are, because the answer to all three is the UK (through Fabulous Films) and not the USA. The same goes for Columbo in Japan, and various modern shows. Logically, tiny Mill Creek Entertainment is not going to be able to release every remastered TV series available, and some series are bound to be more popular overseas than domestically.

Some specs have been added to the Amazon listing, and though Amazon are never that trustworthy, it looks like this should have both English and French audio. More surprising is that despite the fact that the season is over 1100 minutes long, it's listed as being on just four discs, which is a bit bothersome. The single-sided DVD editions were six discs, and while that would be ideal, hopefully the disc count gets expanded by at least one, otherwise we're potentially looking at almost five hours per disc, and a lot of compression being necessary, for material that was shot on film and not digitally.

Still there's a long way to go yet, between now at the end of February, so who knows, maybe a US or UK release will be announced in the meantime. At least we know someone wants to put the show out, though.

I hate to hijack the thread, but speaking of the mean green dude, I noticed it has been airing on some satellite channel (my brother in law records it on the DVR). Have new transfers been struck since the DVD releases? It looked head and shoulders above the DVD's.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

Hopefully the show gets an official Blu release in the US. I'd love to own it on Blu!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Just received this and sampled a few scenes from the first episode. It looks fabulous!

Edit: I initially thought that the subtitles were forced, but that's not the case. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[smithbrad]

Just received this and sampled a few scenes from the first episode.

The good news is it looks fabulous. The bad news is that the English language track has forced subtitles. I know Season Two is already up for pre-order, but I'll probably end up waiting for it to be released without forced subtitles before purchasing anymore seasons.

Can they not be turned off from the remote?

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Can they not be turned off from the remote?

They can! You're a lifesaver!

 

[Ethan Riley]

The cover art has been revealed. Hopefully they fix the typo in Dame Angela Lansbury's surname prior to it hitting shelves...

Is "Arabesque" really the name for Murder She Wrote in France....Or is that the name of the font they used for the logo??

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Is "Arabesque" really the name for Murder She Wrote in France....Or is that the name of the font they used for the logo??

It really is the French title. I just watched watched the feature length pilot. It looks wonderful, however, the opening and closing credits are in French (i.e. "Avec Angela Lansbury"), so that's something that might turn off some potential buyers of this release. It doesn't really bother me.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

So jealous! MSW is one of my absolute favorites. I'd love to have it on Blu. Maybe it'll be released in the states!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

So jealous! MSW is one of my absolute favorites. I'd love to have it on Blu. Maybe it'll be released in the states!

The second season is already up for pre-order, but I'm undecided as to whether I'll get it or hold out for a North American release. I'd prefer to buy the entire series in one collection rather than piecemeal, if I can.

 

[Matt Hough]

Same here. I'll play the waiting game for the time being.

But thanks, Andy, for the report and updates.

 

[revgen]

I received Murder She Wrote - Season 1 release by Fabulous Films in the UK for Christmas. The video looks exactly the same as the video masters used on Netflix a few years back, so it looks very good. It's Region B locked, but other than that, it's English friendly. Price is a bit high, but worth it if you're willing to pay it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-She-Wrote-Blu-ray/dp/B07GRBP5HF