Zulu SE in US (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

I checked around a bit and it seems Europe has a nice SE of Zulu. In the US, we have a nice-looking, but barebones edition. Any chance of the US getting the SE? Since the current version just came out, would it be correct to assume any SEs are a long way off?

 

[rutger_s]

Not unless Paramount International Home Video wants to license the materials to MGM Home Entertainment.

 

[John Hodson]

Reviving this thread because Sheldon Hall, author of Zulu: With Some Guts Behind It, The Making of the Epic Movie says that Paramount now holds worldwide home video rights to Zulu, and it's likely that this new Special Edition will make it to R1.

My copy has just arrived. It beggars belief when Paramount actually splash the cash on something like this, yet it isn't mentioned in any of their publicity; even on a quick run through it's obvious this is an entirely new transfer of Stanley Baker's Zulu and it is night and day better than the previous R2 - brighter, cleaner, sharper, with colours that are bold and true.

Until I watched it again recently, I used to think the old R2 was reasonable. This absolutely blows it out of the water.

The sound is the same stereo mix taken from a 35mm print. Sheldon Hall put out a call for the whereabouts of a 70mm print and it's six-track mix, but obviously nothing turned up. Hall believes the original magnetic stereo masters to be lost. The new extras - over and above what was on the old R2 disc - amount to some 18 minutes, but there looks to be some excellent behind the scenes footage included.

What's the betting they turn up a six-track mix for the R1 and I'll have to buy it all over again...

 

[Charles H]

It would be great if Paramount licensed this title to Criterion. They might have the good taste to restore Stanley Baker's name to the cover. I'd love to get an R1 dvd release of THE SANDS OF THE KALAHARI.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Since MGM has the R1 rights (via StudioCanal) and they're licensing films to Criterion along with Paramount, it would be wise to team up for an ultimate edition. While the mono sound doesn't cut it, the transfer on MGM's disc is excellent. Even better than Paramount's R2.

 

[John Hodson]

Patrick, MGM no longer has the R1 rights - see my post above. Sheldon Hall says the new R2 restoration / transfer - which is truly gorgeous - was created specifically with a Paramount R1 release in mind.

 

[Patrick McCart]

MGM's DVD isn't out of print yet, though.

 

[John Hodson]

No, Patrick, it isn't. I suppose that like the Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come, I'm only offering news of things that may happen...

Call it scuttlebutt gleaned from what I consider to be an informed source (who adds that the MGM disc will 'soon be OOP'.)

 

[Charles H]

Criterion once did a CAV letterboxed ZULU. That John Barry score is magnificent!

 

[Jeffrey:K]

I remember that LD release. It came out in the 1980s, during the height of the anti-apartheid sanctions campaign, and some politically conscious souls at Criterion felt the need to include a wimpy disclaimer on the disc sleeve: "We at Criterion do not support or endorse the apartheid policies of the South African government," or words to that effect.

 

[RolandL]

I have the old Paramount R2 DVD and I thought I read somewhere that the sound (DD 2.0 stereo) came from a mono track with Chace making fake stereo out of it. Your saying the new dvd with a DD 5.1 track listed on the dvdtimes web site sounds the same?

 

[John Hodson]

It sounds exactly the same; it's not 5.1, it's still DD 2.0.

 

[CraigF]

Talk about a movie that could have a massive amount of extras, for those interested in the historical aspects. I'm a sucker for that sort of thing for movies like this.

All I have is the last MGM disc. It could use some improvement for sure, but is really not that bad at all. I've seen it for very cheap. I hope anyone reading this thread who hasn't seen this movie will pick up this disc, and become a fan.

 

[Neal K]

And this WAS in beautiful stereo, which was why I was unpleasantly surprised by the lack thereof on the R1 MGM.

(BTW, does anyone knows who has the rights to those wonderful stereo tracks for the Bernard Herrmann Harryhausen films, or why Col.TriStar didn't include them? --Mysterious Island, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts-- foolishly I rented and did not buy those LDs on Pioneer Special Editions, I believe, and have always been disappointed that the DVDs didn't contain those tracks. Would new DVDs be from Sony at this point?)

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I have the UK R2 SE of Zulu - it's awesome. I also have the French edition of Zulu Dawn which has a stunning 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer - all other DVDs around the world are either not OAR or are not anamorphic. Audio is French 5.1 and English mono, which is a pity, as this was a Dolby stereo release back in 1979, but it sounds good. Well worth acquiring until something better comes along - and that may be a long, long time.

EDIT: It's THIS EDITION, and as you'll see, it may be OOP. :frowning:

 

[Maggi Magg]

I recently bought the new Zulu 2 disc special edition and i'll have to say extra wise it doesn't add that much.
Of course it's always good to let the movie be on one disc and extras on another, but for the life of me i don't understand why on earth Paramount did not make these new featurettes 16:9.
The two from the old disc are but not THESE and the trailer is also letterboxed non anamorphic.
On the budget MGM R1 edition the trailer on that one is Anamorphic!!!!!

Speaking of 16:9 featurettes,the new R1 of Chinatown is also a mess.
The new featurettes on this disc are NOT 16:9.
COME ON PARAMOUNT try to do this right for once.

Cheers
Maggi

 

[mike--]

I just got my copy of this SE...........and this transfer blows away previous issues! It rivals the R1 MGM transfer.......but with much better sound. ( the R1 MGM's Mono sound is just dreadful. ) A job well done by Paramount UK!

 

[Jeff_HR]

I agree the sound is MUCH better.

 

[CraigF]

^ Nice. I rewatched Zulu (R1 MGM) just after my last post in this thread, and the sound was still my only real complaint. I'll have to check the pricing on the SE, but I'd probably get it just for the SQ improvement.

 

[Maggi Magg]

What the F...
Has anyone seen this:
http://www.virginmegastores.co.uk/product/794838/Zulu_[Xmas_Edition]/s.jsf
(you'll have to copy the whole url, sorry)
They release the 2 disc version with extras and Dolby surround and few weeks later this.
According to the picture of the back cover of this version it has no extras but 5.1 SOUND

What is Paramount UK playing at.

I've bought my last version of this film on DVD.

Cheers
Maggi