New David Lynch 10 Disc "Lime Green" DVD Box Set (1 Viewer)

[Elijah Sullivan]

This is certainly a wonderful exclusive for Lynch fans, though. I hold Wild at Heart in very high regard. If this set were on Blu-Ray I'd sell some of my organs for it. On standard def, this gets a pass.

 

[rich_d]

Understood. But 'exclusive' in the digital age is a odd concept. How exclusive will those Wild At Heart deleted scenes be when the eventual Blu-Ray release comes out? How exclusive will it be when those deleted scenes appear all over the Internet three days after day-of-release? Or what about this "rare Lynch imagery included?" Sorry, but reproduced materials sold by the thousands doesn't qualify as rare.

These aren't all just deleted scenes, but "partial scenes, extended scenes and complete scenes" according to Lynch. Truth be told, most deleted scenes are deleted for good reason. You watch them once out of curiosity and never want to see most of that stuff ever again.

I'm a big Lynch fan and I know there are a lot of us out there. But, it seems to me that Lynch - rather than rewarding fans - tends to do the opposite. Consider the WAY overpriced Eraserhead DVD release that took forever to finally appear. Now we get a bloated expensive boxset with a tweaked Eraserhead, score, tweaked Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Short Films, Wild At Heart, new Industrial Symphony No. 1 and new Dumbland.

I think (@ $135 bucks on Amazon pre-order) Dumbland defines this 'opportunity.'

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

That didn't take long... in the Rumor Mill at The Digital Bits they are reporting that The Elephant Man arrives on Blu-Ray disc in 2009.

That's all I needed to know.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Maybe so, but I suspect that Absurda owns all the ELEPHANT MAN extras, and that Paramount's Blu-Ray disc will only contain the movie.

 

[rich_d]

Lynch was just brought in to direct. Why would his production company own rights to any The Elephant Man content?

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Possible answers:

1) Even back then, Lynch brought his own camera team to capture him making his first major-studio project;

2) Paramount only had U.S. rights to the project; the European rights are held now by StudioCanal. Lynch and StudioCanal have a cozy relationship, as they helped finance his "reshoot" of MULHOLLAND DRIVE and fully bankrolled INLAND EMPIRE, so he could have made a separate deal with them to acquire any footage they inherited from the shoot;

3) If not StudioCanal, then likely Mel Brooks and Stuart Cornfeld, who produced the film, shot behind-the-scenes footage and kept it for themselves, and Absurda made the deal to get it from them directly;

Lynch has always struck me as the kind of man who tries to own as much of a project as possible, so even on a studio gig, he would likely find a way to keep any material not immediately germane to the project for himself. This would easily explain why and how he has all the raw rejected footage from WILD AT HEART, and not MGM, who would have inherited it through their acquistion of Polygram, Propaganda, and the Samuel Goldwyn Company.
But yeah, it seems perfectly plausible that he has goodies that the studios can't, won't, or don't want for their own DVD releases of his films.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I wish his cozy relationship with Studio Canal would extend to them funding the completion of the Twin Peaks FWWM deleted scenes....

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Unfortunately, it's another French company, MK2, that has the FIRE WALK WITH ME footage.

 

[John Sullmeyer]

Lynch mentions the FWWM Deleted Scenes here:

WNYC - ART.CULT The Lime Green Set

Here is what he said (taken from a transcript snippet at Dugpa.com)

Nathan Lee: You know the question that everyone asks me when I told them I was speaking to you about this material is, When is the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me footage coming out?

David Lynch: That, you know Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is owned by a company called MK2 in France. And I spoke to them a couple of months ago, um, I've spoke to them several times about this, you know, I think it will happen, but maybe the financial crisis is you know, affecting that in some way. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm pretty sure there's 17 scenes in that at least but its been a while since we've looked into that.


Lynch also talks about the Lime Green Box Set and there is a preview of one of the WAH Deleted Scenes.

 

[Elijah Sullivan]

OK, so this box has been out for three days and no reviews? Seriously? Nobody bought this at all? Damn, I guess Lynch really miscalculated on the specs. I mean, a $150 double-dip from a cult director during an economic depression?

I'm all over The Elephant Man on Blu-Ray next year, though. Even without extras, classic Lynch in HD is pure gold.

 

[rich_d]

Looks like this release has been delayed. Amazon now shows it available at the end of this month.

Now they have an even shorter window to sell this bloated set to holiday buyers.

 

[Adam Santangelo]

There's a full review of the set here:

Dugpa.com - A David Lynch and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - Resource Site

 

[John Sullmeyer]

Thanks Adam. Excellent review! Feeling glad that I decided to pick this one up. Now if only Amazon would start shipping.

Also, I noticed on Dugpa's site that David Lynch is doing a signing over at Amoeba in Hollywood:

Amoeba Music > Home

 

[Bryan^H]

Wow....$130 from Amazon.

I just can't do it. Even though I read the contents of the "Mystery disc", and it's pretty amazing stuff. $130 is just too much for me to spend for a S-DVD set.:frowning: