The Gate (1987) Already on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[MikeEckman]

I was at Circuit City today and just happened to browse by the discount bin and came across a movie I had been searching for on Laserdisc for years and never really thought it had a chance to be on DVD. The Gate, from 1987. Its the movie where this kids tree gets hit by lightning and it falls over, and where it was standing is a gate to hell. Its a pretty cool movie for 80s horror and stars Stephen Dorff as a little kid.

Sadly, the DVD is full frame only, Dolby 2.0 and absolutely no extras, not even a trailer. I watched the movie, and the transfer is pretty clean with very little dirt, but the image is soft and washed out. The soundtrack is clear and mainly centered in the center channel with only slight effects bleeding to any of the other channels.

The good news is it was only $6.99, and for a good campy 80s horror movie, even if it is full frame, I think its worth it. Here is a cover scan for those of you who are interested.

 

[Greg O' Connel]

Hey, I might have to pick this up. I remember the trailers for this film that they showed on TV scaring the crap out of me when I was a little kid. It'd be nice to see what kept me up at nights with my night light on.

 

[PaulP]

It was okay, but no way would i get a pan-and-scan DVD.

 

[Drew Mertz]

yep the same company also released Trick or Treat, The Wraith and Far Out Man. It was great a couple months ago when no one knew they were available. I was getting $25 - $45 each off ebay.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Normally i dont support fullscreen, but i also picked this one up a few months back,being the 80s cult classic that it is. I picked this up because i think this will not be released on widescreen, i think out of my whole collection of dvds, the gate is the only fullscreen. Other fullscreens i own are only when its the movies intended ratio, such as high school usa.

 

[MikeEckman]

Whoa! They released Trick or Treat on DVD too?! I'll have to look for that one.

I am a big supporter of OAR as well, however, my love for a movie doesn't outweigh my preferene for OAR, and if a movie is available on DVD that I havent seen in many years for a cheap price, I have no problem picking it up, if only to see the movie itself.

I've also noticed that most of these low budget 80s films were shot open matte anyway, so in reality, you're not missing much.

Other full frame movies I own only because they were cheap and I liked the movies are Mr Mom, Warlock, Fortress, and a few others.

 

[PaulP]

If you want to see it, I'm sure it'll pop up on some cable movie channel.

 

[Eugene Esterly]

I like The Gate but I will not purchase a Pan & Scan DVD. The company who made the DVD could have easily released the movie in its OAR.

 

[Mitch Stevens]

EVERYWHERE else in the world, it's released in Widescreen. I have no idea what possessed them to give us a pan & scan transfer! It looks truly awful, and you can definitely tell that it's missing side information, as people are talking, but can't bee seen in the frame.

 

[Jodee]

I wonder why Amazon lists this with an 11/26/2003 street date if people here own it already.

 

[Steve Phillips]

The Platinum disc has been in bargain bins for months. For those that don't want to pay $5 for it, it plays 100 times a month on various cable networks like Showtime Beyond, etc.