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Columbia
Perhaps one of the most dependable studios, Columbia has
been doing hi-def and anamorphic from the start almost unfailingly,
introduced their first DTS title a few months back with Men
In Black, push the envelope in terms of features and offer
consumer-friendly pricing. Sort of like that old dramatic
standby, the faithful friend. Usually when you buy a Columbia
disc, you know you are not gonna be let down. (As for rental
pricing, what else? "No comment.")
Alright, let's start by talking Spielberg. Good news for
fans of the megabucks director out there...Close Encounters
is (tentatively, as always) set for a May berth, and will
feature only the most recent cut of the film that appeared
on the recent special edition laserdisc (you know, with the
extra scenes but without that lame "inside the UFO"
ending.) Other than that, no more details. Also watch for
a Mask Of Zorro special edition will should arrive
in the spring, and feature the same extras as the already-released
Region 2 version (commentary, making of, etc.)
As in 2000, Columbia is going to once again release plenty
of great catalog titles, that seem to fall into three catalogs:
standard "movie-only" editions, special editions
and reissues of past releases. In terms of "standard"
releases with (relatively) few features, watch for some good
stuff including: The Age Of Innocence, Shadow Of
Doubt, Postcards From The Edge, True Believer,
Used Cars, Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams and
Things Are Tough All Over, The 5,000 Fingers of
Dr. T, Indian In The Cupboard, My Life,
Threesome, Suspect, The Beast, Safe,
The Karate Kid sequels, Casualties of War, The
Celluloid Closet, 1776, the Three Ninjas
series, Slackers, Gas Food Lodging, Ishtar,
Hanover Street , Short Circuit 2, the 1988 version
of The Blob (sweet!) and The Bride. Also, watch
for Muppet movies, and more collections of Three
Stooges episodes, Cirque de Soleil and the Batman
& Robin serial, though strangely (especially since
the big-screen version is such a hit) no more Charlie's
Angels episodes at this time...
As for true full-featured special editions, some great titles
are in production, though as always schedules can change and
it wouldn't be DVD without a few delays: Avalon, A
Passage to India, Krull, Lawrence of Arabia
(due in the first quarter of 2001 and a 2-disc set with new
Laurent Bouzereau documentary and more.) a Luc Besson 5-Pack
including Subway along with the existing versions of
The Messenger, Big Blue, Leon and The
Fifth Element, Kramer Vs. Kramer, The Natural,
The Prince of Tides, Ice Castles, Tootsie
(with new documentary that we hear is supposed to be great),
Funny Girl, From Here to Eternity (finally!),
Gandhi , On the Waterfront and possibly Shampoo.
Also, that long-in-gestation Obsession special edition
is still MIA...
Finally, Columbia will be issuing some new editions of past
titles, including some pretty great titles: Dogma,
Dr. Strangelove (yep, you heard that right), In
the Line of Fire, Absence of Malice, A Few Good
Men, My Best Friend's Wedding, Fly Away Home,
Remains of the Day, Anaconda(!) Bram Stoker's
Dracula (in late 2001) and Monty Python and the Holy
Grail (yep, new transfer and extras). Finally, special
mention must be made of Glory, which is now going to
be a two-disc set and feature no less than three transfers
of the film. In addition to the full frame and widescreen
versions, Columbia is pushing the envelope yet again with
what may best be described as a "mosaic" video commentary.
Watching the widescreen transfer, video boxes with each participants
commentary will appear onscreen, which should be interesting
to watch to say the least! Certainly, this should be a groundbreaking
set, can't wait!
Lastly, a few titles we asked about that aren't slotted at
this time include Real Genius, St. Elmo's Fire
nor one of the greatest movies of all time, The Legend
Of Billie Jean. Also MIA are Karate Kid, Hook,
Starman, Christine, A League Of Their Own
or Groundhog Day special editions (still pending).
Oh, well...
New Line
When you hear the words "New Line" or "Platinum
Series," what do you think? Maybe I'm weird, but I always
think of anamorphic trailers and deleted scenes. Why? Because
the extras on New Line titles often look better than
some of the other studios' movies! While I still get annoyed
by that damn snapper case, at least New Line is doing more
and more two-disc sets, so the packaging is getting better.
As for rental pricing, that is a "talk to Warner"
question (New Line product is distributed by their parent
company, Time-Warner)...
As for catalog titles, New Line has been very aggressive
the last couple of years, so there will be a more limited
slate in 2001 as they focus more and more on new releases
and select reissues. Though Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With
Me was expected in December, New Line is working with
David Lynch to prepare the best version possible, including
some hoped-for deleted scenes. Watch for the disc sometime
in 2001. And you John Waters fans should be excited
by three successive 2-packs of Waters work on DVD, which will
then be available as a box set once all three waves are released.
The films include Pecker, Pink Flamingos, Female
Trouble, Desperate Living, Hairspray and
Polyester (complete with, yes, scratch and sniff card.)
All these titles are being remastered (except for the already
released Pecker), so Divine will look and sound better than
ever!
Now on to the bad news. Sorry, turtle fans, there are still
no plans to bring more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
adventures to a DVD near you. However, don't be surprised
to see Jason Goes To Hell just in time for the release
of his latest adventure, Jason X. There also is no word on
any reissues of older New Line catalog titles, like say Long
Kiss Goodnight or The Mask, with extra features
or DTS. But with New Line, never say never...
Warner
Considered by many to be the "granddaddy" of DVD,
Warner has been perhaps the most vocal pusher of the format
since its inception. I'm sure any self-respecting DVD enthusiast
knows the name "Warren Lieberfarb," who has been
the most well-known industry cheerleader for DVD. Warner has
probably put out the most DVD titles in terms of sheer numbers
of any major studios, though they have not always been in
critical and consumer favor with some of their choices. Aside
from the snapper case issue, rumblings continue to be felt
that Warner may help usher in the era of rental pricing, especially
with recent moves to introduce revenue sharing to the DVD
market. But at Studio Day, no sales or marketing reps were
in attendance, so it was all about the titles.
But, hey, Warner has a great catalog, and lately their commitment
to anamorphic has been strong and they've put out some beautiful
pieces of work, like the North By Northwest special
edition and The Perfect Storm. And this year at Studio
Day, Warner was particularly open and friendly about their
future plans, and are looking ahead at the next two years,
so some of their upcoming titles may not arrive in 2001. But
the following should give you a good idea about what to expect,
though due to my limited knowledge of films made before like
1965 (hey, I grew up in the 80's, okay?) I apologize up front
to those readers interested in cinema classics that I didn't
ask about! I think I need to go study up on film history,
but in the meantime, here's a taste of what to look for from
Warner in the coming months...
First off, Superman will arrive in May, though now
a theatrical release remains in question. Only the first disc
will be a special edition (and 2-disc set at that), though
the three sequels will be remastered. Expect this to be a
big seller, and it will be great to finally see a restored
print that Warner promises will blow everyone away. Also,
that "when is it gonna show up" Oliver Stone
box set is still a bit in flux. However, the new extended
version of JFK (nearly four hours) and Natural Born
Killers are set for February, so I'd guess we'll see the
whole set around then as well. (And though it is only the
theatrical cut, Natural Born Killers will feature deleted
scenes as a supplement, and will be a new anamorphic transfer.)
Another huge request title is Babylon 5...my, does
this series have its fans! Warner again swears it is coming,
and they are taking a season-by-season approach, so don't
expect just a "best of" collection. No word on aspect
ratio or arrival date, but it would be in late 2001 at the
earliest. Speaking of 2001, yes, there will be theatrical
release of the epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. But just
how extensive it is is up to the Kubrick estate, so no word
at all on any DVD. However, there is still very good news
for Stanley Kubrick fans. The Warner rep confirmed
that they are revisiting Kubrick's films on DVD, though most
likely these new versions still won't have much in the way
of supplemental features per the directive of the Kubrick
estate. But just the chance to have real remastered versions
will be great. (And all I gotta say is that The Shining
better be in widescreen, or I'm gonna have to get seriously
redrum on their ass!)
Spielberg and Amblin titles are other big ones readers always
ask about, and finally Warner has the go-ahead to do special
editions of The Goonies and Gremlins and Gremlins
2: The New Batch. The goal is to release them in the second
half of 2001, and all will be remastered though no word on
features. (Warner is aware of the deleted scenes often shown
in TV versions of The Goonies, so let's hope they can get
'em on the disc.) However, no other Amblin titles have yet
been approved for DVD release, so titles like Empire Of
The Sun, a reissue of The Color Purple, Innerspace
and Joe Versus The Volcano will eventually show up,
but when remains a mystery...
Other big films making their way to DVD included the Dirty
Harry series, currently being rehabbed, that new version
of Blade Runner (though no plans as of now for Ridley
Scott's first film, The Duelists), Dr. Zhivago,
a 30th Anniversary Edition of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate
Factory ( a new commentary has already been recorded with
all five of the children, and Gene Wilder has contributed
to a new documentary produced by JM Kenny) and a special edition
of what many consider to be the greatest movie of all time,
Citizen Kane. Warner is pulling out all the stops with
that one, and is currently researching the film and preparing
it for eventual DVD release. I was excited by Warner's commitment
to really doing this one right, and with such a classic, I'm
happy for it to take all the time it needs...
Other titles fans will probably be excited to hear about
are Victor Victoria, Mel Gibson's The Man Without
A Face, Albert Brooks' Lost In America and Defending
Your Life, special editions of Waiting For Guffman
and Best Of Show (Christopher Guest apparently has
loads of extra footage and behind-the-scenes material, and
will be personally involved with these DVDs) and even (yes,
no joke) V and V: The Final Battle, both due
later this year. Warner is also working on a possible Stephen
King box set to include new versions (sigh) of Shawshank
Redemption, amongst others, a Looney Toons collection,
a Chariots Of Fire remastered special edition, as well
as a collection of Tim Burton films including a special
edition of Batman and Beetlejuice (arrival date,
though, will be 2002 at the earliest if it comes to fruition.)
Finally, there are a number of titles asked about still not
on the way. No plans at the moment for such gems as the original
version of The Haunting, Wait Until Dark, King
Kong, The Accidental Tourist, Klute, Greystoke,
A Star Is Born (Barbra Streisand version) nor any Poltergeist
or Vacation special editions. Still, never say
never, and combined with all the day & date titles coming,
Warner's slate is pretty exciting.
But, I'll save what some of you may consider bad news for
last...Warner has no plans to do any more DTS titles
at this time. According to the Warner rep we spoke to, they
weren't motivated by the sales of their first set of DTS titles
to do more, so will assess consumer interest for the format
on a title-by-title basis only in the future...
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