Starz Home Entertainment (Anchor Bay) Goes Blu (2 Viewers)

[Paul_Scott]

I have my doubts- but if they do release Halloween and Dawn of the Dead by the end of this October, I'll consider my recent Bd player purchase justified...no matter what Fox does or doesn't accomplish in the next 6 months.
I couldn't care less about the summer blockbusters- but titles like these are cornerstones for me- even if they don't get watched all that often anymore.

I'm shocked at how much artifacting is in the Halloween divi-max release. The scene where the teacher is discussing Fate and Laurie looks out the window to see the shape standing by the car- the detail of the figure is so unstable it looks like hes doing jumping jacks. Medium and close shots all look fine, but small background details are very poorly resolved and unstable throughout.
Dawn of the Dead is a much better job all around.

 

[Dave_P.]

Excellent news!

 

[ReggieW]

Well, this would certainly contradict Starz's own press release from 3 weeks ago - IF true. Honestly, I think I'll wait till I see a press release from Starz on this one, especially considering that DVD Review gave us no source for this info.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I have to admit, I have my doubts as well. All we have right now our two sources, neither of which provide any corroboration at all. I would be excited to see any one of those title hit Blu-ray Disc this year, let alone all four.

 

[ChadMcCallum]

If we're getting Dawn, Day, Halloween and Evil Dead 2 this halloween I will be buying my PS3 earlier than I expected I would. Those are 4 huge titles for me and ones that I would gladly rebuy numerous times.

 

[Jim_K]

I'm not doubtful but I am quietly reserved until there's an official announcement. When/if there is one............. then............. it's time....................... to.......................

Not until then.

Excellent news if we do get Halloween, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead (never could get into the ED series, sorry). The later plays on MonstersHD all the time and looks great.

BTW - Love the sig Paul, I can make out the halos and ringing perfectly. Why don't you go post something over in the "Why I'm sitting out the format war because I can't tell the difference" thread over in the SD software area?

 

[MattFini]

Kinda disappointed that so much horror is available on Blu-Ray when it was Sony that rejected Synapse's plans to bring "Thriller: A Cruel Picture" to their format.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Interesting. I did not know this. Was this to be released by Sony or Synapse?

I wonder if it was because of the "money shot(s)"? Perhaps they would have allowed the They Call Her One Eye cut.

 

[MattFini]

^ Yeah. Sony objected to the "hard" content of it.


That's a direct quote from Don May Jr.

There's a link to that post here:

http://z8.invisionfree.com/MHVF/inde...&#entry9144438

 

[Jeff Adkins]

The only thing I'll add to this is that DVD Review has always had the inside scoop in regards to Anchor Bay (now Starz) going back 10 years. Does anyone else remember their Halloween Production Diary from 1999 which had page after page of info regarding the first 2-disc Halloween set? I'd trust anything they posted in regards to Anchor Bay.

Anchor Bay's first DVD titles were pretty much the same titles rumored for this fall. The precedent seems to be there. If I were a betting man, I'd plunk down some cash that at least 2 or 3 of those will be out by fall.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I guess what I'm not understanding was whether or not Synapse wanted to release these films on BD under their own label or Sony's. If it was under Sony's label, then, yes, I can understand their objection. If not, I'm a bit confused by this as isn't there porn on BD already?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Yes, but they had to wait until someone other than Sony was doing replication. I've heard Sony's the only ones who can do a BD-50, and if Synapse is looking for >25GB discs, they'd kind of be out of luck.

 

[BrettGallman]

I know this is going to sound sketchy, but a guy who posts at another message board that I frequent is apparently working on the Halloween remake in an editing capacity. He claims that they're cutting the film near one of AB's offices, and the guys he's talked to have confirmed that they're working on Halloween for BD. Furthermore, he also claims that they are working on correcting the color timing mistakes found in the Divimax version, which is great news. He posted all of this before the official announcement from AB as well.

Again, I know this sounds like the usual internet gossip, but this guy has been straight all this time with his info, so I don't think he'd be screwing around with us on this.

 

[Dave Mack]

Thanks Brett!
Awesome news!

 

[Nick Graham]

Huzzah for the color correction corrections! That as my biggest concern when I heard this rumor.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Well, apart from the whole thing being utter BS, yes, I agree.

 

[BrettGallman]

I honestly don't think it's BS. I'd be the last person to post something like that unless I was absolutely sure about this guy. Believe me, I'm always skeptical of such message board rumors, but this guy has given me no reason to believe that he's screwing around, as he's been dead on with everything surrounding the Halloween remake (his name is also listed as part of the crew for the film on IMDB), and, as I said before, he was telling us about AB going Blu weeks ahead of the official announcement. Also, it's not as if this guy just showed up out of the blue on that message board; he's been there for years and is a pretty well-respected member who we know has worked on some smaller film projects before.

Halloween being released on BD isn't guaranteed at all, but I do think it's looking very likely. Given that the original film is being remade, it makes sense as a tie-in release on BD; also, there's another SD version of the film coming out this fall as well, so I wouldn't be that surprised to see it.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to say it was BS, I was saying that it being BS was my greatest concern and then the color timing was my second greatest. By all accounts this is starting to get some legs, where originally it didn't sound like much more than wishful thinking, which is when I was most concerned about it being BS. The whole Starz thing developed so fast that it definitely had that too good to be true vibe.

 

[BrettB]

LINK

 

[Dave Mack]

How fabulously awesome!

"I'll, have a blue.... Halloween, this Halloween....."

and yes, make sure the creepy blue light is back where it belongs!