Universal releasing Non-OAR dvds including "The Forbin Project, "Charley Varrick" (1 Viewer)

[John Hodson]

With no alternative in sight, I caved and bought Charley Varrick; zoomed to something approximating OAR it looks surprisingly good.

I promise to be a good boy, however, and stay away from Colossus: The Forbin Project...

 

[Jeff_HR]

I'd try ebay. I'll continue to keep my eBay purchased WS Laser of "The Forbin Project" until a proper WS DVD is released, if ever!

 

[Dick]

eBay sometimes lists a copy of this title, and it comes as a second feature to Douglas Trumball's SILENT RUNNING in a gorgeous gatefold jacket. Both are letterboxed and include trailers. Pretty decent picture quality. I did a laser-to-DVD transfer of COLOSSUS and that process, for whatever reason, seems to improve the image a tad. Same with ICEMAN, another DVD abortion on the part of Universal. Makes a good laser-to-DVD copy. So, yes, it is worth keeping (or acquiring) a laser disc player...

 

[Jeff_HR]

Indeed!

 

[John Hodson]

Tip from a poster at the DVD Forums.

Not the most reliable of sources I know, but a poster on IMDB says Colossus; The Forbin Project is being released in the U.K. as an OAR anamorphic 'Special Edition' with audo commentaries from director Joseph Sargent and star Eric Breaden. Now it would be easy to dismiss that without corroboration, but Amazon.co.uk has a U.K. release listed (no details) as coming from 'Fabulous Films' May 19...

 

[John Hodson]

The above rumour has (pretty much) firmed up; DVD Times has the details and art here.

 

[Steve Christou]

Colossal news John! Colossus: The Forbin Project has always been one of my favorites, I've managed to acquire various widescreen copies of the film over the years, one of them off the SF channel. But this will be my first dvd purchase, love the use of the original poster art for the cover, commentary too? Luverly!

 

[Jeff_HR]

Thankfully I have a multi-regional player.

 

[Cees Alons]

The movie is of course based on the novel Colossus by D.F. Jones, but it's not commonly recognized that the Terminator movies were heavily leaning on this novel too.
"Skynet" is Colossus. Part of the Skynet "background" story is very similar as well.

(Harlan Ellison sued the Terminator production for plagiarism, citing The Outer Limits episode "Soldier", but IMO he was totally wrong. He got paid, though. That money should have gone to D.F. Jones.)

The Forbin Project is an interesting movie, well-played.
We lose the resolution an anamorphic DVD would render. But the good news is: it's not exactly as bad as P&S, because you could put mattes on your screen yourself, if you want to.

That said: I'll order the new European anamorphic version (I hope it is) on Amazon UK!


Cees

 

[DexterPQ]

BTW, the German DVD of Charley Varrick is in 1.85:1.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Universal really took the ball dropped it then stomped the air out of it. I wonder who works their that doesn't like film? Or knows the correct way of watching them. They need replaced I'm sorry to say. If you can't do your job right you have no business there.

I really wanted these titles in WS on DVD but now they will just float to the Wal-Mart bargain bins. Good job UNIVERSAL.

They have yet to release a decent DVD of even Death Becomes Her .. I still have the WS laserdisc.

 

[Jeff Willis]

According to a poster at DVD Times UK, the Oct '08 UK release of Charley Varrick is anamorphic OAR. The distributor is "Fremantle Home Entertainment" .

Amazon UK and a couple other UK stores don't include the format info on this one but I might take the chance on that poster's info.

Amazon UK's price is £5.98 $8.40 USD at today's exchange rates.

 

[John Hodson]

Was that my post you're referring to? You don't have to take a chance, it is anamorphic OAR.

 

[Jeff Willis]

John

Yes, it was your post. I looked it up again to check the poster's name. Thanks for the confirmation. There's nothing like getting the "scoop" from an HTF member

I've been wanting this one (anamorphic) for a long time. When that 4:3 release came out in R1 I figured I would have to wait for a "Walter Matthau" R1 collection to get this one released.

Sometimes it's frustrating when these sites (Amazon UK, Play.com Sendit.com etc) don't publish the films' AR info.