"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) - Any hope for 16:9? (1 Viewer)

[Scott Temple]

Well, is it ever going to happen? I still can't believe Pioneer crapped out and released the same 1998 disc with the same non-anamorphic transfer and same extras last October. New cover art! That's all we got! New cover art! I mean, whoa daddy, that's a fountain of new features. Stand back, that's a geyser. And to top it off, the new 2003 cover art is very much inferior to the 1998 cover art. Don May, Jr. of Synapse was recently working on a new transfer of TCM (again,) but there were no immediate plans to release it publicly. And why can't we get "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth" documentary released on Region 1, NTSC DVD? Almost every other region has it except the US. That blows! It can't be that there isn't a demand for this. I think it's just laziness. Think of how cool a 2-disc set would be. Disc 1 would have the film in a new remastered 16:9 enhanced widescreen (1.85:1) transfer plus the commentary track with Tobe Hooper, Daniel Pearl, and Gunnar Hansen from the previous LD/DVDs. Disc 2 would have all of the remaining extras from the previous LD/DVDs and the "TCM: The Shocking Truth" documentary. I'd buy it for sure.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Scott, I love you sig... Sleepaway Camp rules

I agree that they dropped the ball on the TCM disc... well, at least they dropped the MSRP

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I just bought the R1 "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait", picked up one of those regular sized double amaray cases with the extra flip disc holder and turned my lackluster TCM Ltd Ed. into a still shoddy 2-disc set. This one movie I want a proper release of, new transfer and the works!

 

[Scott Temple]

Thanks.

 

[Adam Tyner]

Don finished it, and there are plans for it to be seen...just not on DVD. It was created for an HD channel.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Don May is currently working on a new 5.1 mix but he won't have anything to do with the eventual DVD release. Too bad Synapse doesn't own the rights. *However, I'd expect a new release this year or next.

We also need an new TCM 2 from MGM.



*Just my guess, no one gave me any "info" that one would be released.

 

[JeremySt]

Hopefully Ill have an HD satellite with PVR when this new transfer is broadcast.

 

[Scott Temple]

That's for sure. The current disc is pathetic including a non-anamorphic transfer, zero extras, and one horrible, piece of crap, sorry excuse for cover art. There was a rumor going around last year that MGM was working on a SE of TCM 2 and that it was going to be released on October 14, 2003. Supposedly, it was going to include a new 16:9 enhanced transfer, a commentary track with Tobe Hooper, Dennis Hopper, and Caroline Williams, all of the deleted scenes from the Elite LaserDisc and Anchor Bay VHS tape, and the original ("The Breakfast Club" type) cover art. Too bad it never happened.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Since the same crappy disc was just rerelased, I fear we won't see a new disc for some time. I would also snatch up a copy of TCM 2 SE.

 

[Brett C]

I would too.

 

[Scott Temple]

I'm still waiting for this to happen. Yeah, I know. I'll probably be waiting for a long time. Anyway, here's the message I sent (via e-mail) to Pioneer last year in regards to the TCM 30th Anniversary disc.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I was just thinking about how strange it is that such a huge classic like TCM hasn't got an anamorphic transfer.

It's a real shame the negatives were so badly stored too... the DVD isn't that great looking, with horrible lines and a lot of extra grain that doesn't appear to be from the original shooting... just ugly looking. It's still really good though, don't get me wrong. I'm just surprised it's not better.