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Highlander series comes to DVD The Official Highlander website has just announced an exclusive peek and announcement at the upcoming The Best Of Highlander 6-disc box set. This collection features 14 of the greatest Highland episodes: the pilot "The Gathering," "Band of Brothers," "Legacy," "The Samurai," "Methos," "Homeland," "Something Wicked," "Deliverance," "Methuselah's Gift," "Til' Death," "The End Of Innocence," "Comes A Horseman," "Revelation 6:8," and "Duende." Other features include a "Best of Highlander" photo gallery and "The Watchers Chronicles." And if you preorder the set via the website, orders will be shipped with a hardboard Highlander Companion. Retail is $129.95. Check out the site for more info. Ultimate Universal Let the branding continue. Universal has just delivered the retail specs for three more Ultimate Edition reissues of some of their more popular titles. All are two-disc sets, include Dolby Digital and DTS tracks, the usual cast bios, production notes, trailers and DVD-ROM suite including the theatrical website content and weblinks, and are due on 7/17. First up we have Notting Hill: Ultimate Edition (really, no joke) featuring on disc one a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen version, an audio commentary with director Roger Michell, writer Richard Curtis, and producer Duncan Kenworthy, the "Spotlight On Location" featurette, deleted scenes, the "Seasonal Walk On Portobello Road" featurette and a travel book. On disc two we get a full frame version, a still gallery and two Elvis Costello and Shania Twain music videos. Then we have the Patch Adams: Ultimate Collection (oh, the pain) with disc one featuring a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, an audio commentary with director Tom Shadyac, an outtake reel and a still gallery. Disc two features a 4:3 pan and scan version, the "Take 10 And Call Me In The Morning" featurette and an additional making-of, deleted scenes and a storyboard-to-screen comparison. Finally, here comes what seems like the longest movie ever made, Meet Joe Black. This Ultimate Edition. This terrifying motion picture features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, the "Death Takes A Holiday" documentary, Spotlight On Location featurette, deleted scenes, and a still gallery, though surprisingly there is no audio commentary. Retail for each of these puppies is $29.95 a pop. Finally, on 7/17 comes two new releases from Universal. The Nicholas Cage comedy drama The Family Man is presented in 2.35;1 anamorphic widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS, two audio commentaries with director Brett Ratner, producer Marc Abraham and writer David Weissman, an additional "music commentary track" with composer Danny Elfman, a Spotlight On Location featurette, deleted scenes, an outtake reel, a Seal music video, production notes, cast bios, trailers and DVD-ROM features including the theatrical website. Also coming is The Caveman's Valentine, in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with DTS and Dolby Digital tracks, production notes, cast bios, trailers and weblinks. Retail is $26.95 each.
Warner Direct has just announced some specs to retail for some of their August slate, including...The Goonies on 8/21. The disc looks pretty dang good, with a new 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English and French 5.1 Dolby surround mixes, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles, the original 1985 "The Making Of The Goonies" featurette, a new "video commentary" with director Richard Donner and all seven of the kids, deleted scenes, only part two of Cyndi Lauper's "Goonies R Good Enough For Me" music video, and the trailer. Retail is $24.95 (and now we can finally knock another one off of our "top ten most requested" list!) Also coming from Warner on 8/21 is Scooby-Doo's Spookiest Tales, containing four episodes plus a hidden "bonus episode," Scooby-Doo trivia, jukebox and promos. Each episode is presented in 4:3 full frame and 2.0 stereo. Retail is $19.95. Due on 8/7 is Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and English and Japanese 2.0 surround, the disc also includes "Inside Mishima" documentary, audio commentary with Paul Schrader, production notes and the trailer. Finally, via the HBO label, on 8/7 comes The Best Of The Chris Rock Show Volume 2, in full frame and 2.0 surround. The disc also includes the bonus "Chris Rock's: Taxi Driver Confessions," and retail is $19.95. Last but not least, there has also been a 8/21 date released for a reissue of Gremlins. Note this is the same version as previously released, and is not the Gremlins and Gremlins 2 special editions still coming sometime in the future from Warner. Unless this information changes, I can only hypothesize this reissue is a way to sell off languishing inventory? Again, like The Goonies above, there has been no official press release issued yet for these titles, so all this information has been announced only by the retail end of Warner, so stay tuned for more and possible street date/spec changes... Well, let's wrap up the week with some random odds and ends... First up are some price drops. Columbia has just announced reductions to $19.95 for Stripes and the special edition of Bad Boys, while Fox has lowered the list prices of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Polish Wedding and Great Expectations to $24.95. On the press release front, Warner has issued the announcements for the upcoming Proof Of Life special edition as well as Sean Penn's The Pledge, both due 6/19. In other Warner news, on the sales side they have issued a 8/21 date for the upcoming DVD release of The Goonies, which should start showing up on retailer preorder lists soon. However, no specs nor an official press release have been announced... (Well, scratch that...see the latest update above!) Finally, we received a confirm from MGM on the specs for The Silence Of The Lambs special edition due 8/21. The contents include a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 Dolby surround mix, English Closed Captions and French and Spanish subtitles, a new 95-minute documentary "Inside The Labyrinth: The Making Of The Silence Of The Lambs," (by producer Jeffrey Schwarz who did such recent special editions as Charlie's Angels and Hollow Man, as well as MGM's own upcoming RoboCop reissue,) nearly 20 minutes of deleted scenes, trailers, teasers and TV spots and a collectible booklet. Note the Criterion commentary as well as all the text on serial killers, etc., will not be included on this version. No retail price is yet available, but expect it soon...
Though it has been available on DVD overseas for a while now, Columbia has finally set a 6/15 release date for the special edition of The Mask Of Zorro. The previous movie-only DVD release here in Region 1 is being discontinued, and will be replaced by this more feature-loaded version. The disc features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 Dolby surround and French, Spanish and Portuguese 2.0 surround and subtitle tracks, an audio commentary with director Martin Campbell, the "Unmasking Zorro" documentary, deleted scenes, two still galleries with Costume Designs and Advertising materials, a Marc Anthony and Tina Arena music video, talent files, production notes and trailers. Retail is $27.95. (Oddly, I remember the previous DVD release as being THX-certified, but this new special edition does not seem to be indicated as such anywhere on the packaging. You can check out the full back cover here. Also, the 6/15 date above comes directly from the Columbia press site. However, 6/15 is a Friday, so we feel it is most likely a misprint, and the real date is 6/12. Watch for the press release very soon.) In more disappointing news, it looks like Columbia bowed to the wishes of Disney and removed the "In Defense Of Dogma" documentary from the upcoming Dogma 2-disc special edition, due 6/26. You can check out the full press release here, and though this still looks like quite a feature-loaded set, what I've seen of the documentary was excellent, so it is really a shame consumers are going to miss out. However, according to View Askew director Kevin Smith is hoping to still get the documentary seen, so hopefully, eventually, it will be released in some form or another.
"No more wire hangers...ever!" Paramount has just announced some new titles for summer, featuring the biggest mother of them all, Mommie Dearest. What can you say about this camp classic, other than that who can resist the site of Faye Dunaway chewing the scenery, axe in hand? Can't wait until 7/17 for this one, which includes a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, new 5.1 Dolby surround mix as well as English and French 2.0 mono tracks, a photo gallery and the trailer. Also coming on 7/17 is the Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth "Gladiator!!" Taylor drama A Place In The Sun. Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio along with an English 2.0 surround mix and a French mono track, this special edition also features an audio commentary with George Stevens, Jr. (son of late director George Stevens, Sr.), and new interviews with Taylor, Stevens, Jr., Shelley Winters, and associate producer Ivan Moffat. Retail is $29.95 each. Paramount will also release two more volumes of Star Trek: The Original
Series. Volume 27 features episode 53 "The Ultimate Computer"
and episode 54 "The Omega Glory," while Volume 28 features
episode 55 "Assignment: Earth" and episode 56 "Spectre
Of The Gun." As usual, the are presented in 4:3 full frame with new
5.1 Dolby surround mixes and TV spots. Retail is $19.95 each, and street
date 7/10. Lee-tastic! Hey, remember that Bruce Lee: The Master Collection box set Fox released a while back? Well, now they are making all the discs in the set available separately on 7/3. (Note there was a fifth disc in the box set with documentary on Lee, which remains only available in the box set.) Watch for The Chinese Connection, Game Of Death, Return Of The Dragon and Fists Of Fury, and all are sparse discs and the same as in the box set - 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfers and trailers are all you're gonna get. Retail is $19.95 each.
When one thinks of "80's movies," one invariably cannot forget the Karate Kid saga. Starring Ralph Macchio and Yoda before he turned green, the first film was a huge hit and spawned three sequels (though the current Columbia DVD release is rather anemic, if you ask me.) Columbia has just announced a 6/13 arrival for the first two follow-ups, The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III. For the sequels, Columbia is presenting them both with anamorphic widescreen and fullscreen transfers, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese 2.0 surround and subtitle tracks, talent files and trailers, while Part II also includes the original making-of featurette. Retail is $24.95 each. (By the way, the Hilary Swank-starring The Next Karate Kid will be out later this summer, while still no word on any special edition - or at least a widescreen version - of the first Karate Kid being reissued any time soon.) More on Inifinifilm Following up on yesterday's post, New Line has issued the full press releases for some of their summer titles, including State And Main, Sugar And Spice, Thirteen Days, and the full briefing on their new Infinifilm DVD line. I really like the release for the latter, as it clearly defines just what an Infinifilm title is, and makes real distinctions between them, their Platinum Series and their standard line of DVDs. Check out the releases for the full details. Dogma Redux We got a few emails today about just what is up with the Dogma Special Edition, now due 6/26 from Columbia. There is much concern that the very comprehensive "In Defense Of Dogma" documentary will no longer be included on the disc. Last we checked in with View Askew, the documentary was still to be included on the 2-disc set, despite being the subject of much concern from Disney (long story, check out the previous post for the full details.) The retail information we received two days ago still lists the documentary as being on the release, but we contacted Columbia TriStar and we're told to expect a press release very soon, so hopefully that will be the final word. However, and this is not to be cynical, the title was already officially announced with a press release and still delayed after that, so at this point, until I have this disc in my hot little hands, I'll only believe it when I see it! Since it would be a shame for such a substantial documentary not to be included on the disc, perhaps we should all join hands and pray to the Buddy Christ for help?
Hot on the heels of New Line announcing their new souped-up "Infinifilm" line of DVDs (see below for more) comes word from Buena Vista of their own new special edition label, the Vista Series. Just what, pray tell, is a "Vista Series" title? According to Buena Vista's announcement, these are select titles "Celebrating the filmmaker's vision with imagination and content." The first Vista Series title will be the Unbreakable 2-disc set, arriving on 6/19. (Check out the April 6 update for the full specs, and click on the box for a larger image of the new label.) The full release for the Vista Series label is not yet available, nor just what content is required to earn the Vista Series label. But stay tuned...and I just know you're on the edge of your seat with anticipation. "Beauty" gets a makeover In other Disney news, the house that Walt built has announced that their much-beloved animated classic Beauty And The Beast will get a new IMAX re-release starting January 1, 2002 (read the release here.) In addition to the usual spiffed up image and soundtrack, the film will get some new animation and even a new song, "Human Again,'' by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. Little else is known about the new release, as this announcement was meant as just a teaser. As for the DVD, Beauty And The Beast is a part of the ten Platinum Disney classics being released once a year over the next decade. We did contact Buena Vista after this announcement, and they did confirm that Beauty is scheduled to be the next Platinum classic released to DVD in 2002 (Snow White is the first, due this fall.) Like Fantasia 2000 before it, I'd venture a guess we'll see Beauty And The Beast play on select IMAX screens throughout the early part of 2002 and then arrive on DVD in the fall. Hmmmm...if this release platform is a success, I wonder if we'll start seeing more IMAX re-releases of other Disney Platinum titles followed by a subsequent DVD release? Oh, the mind reels at the possibilities. And that's what little girls are made of... Poor New Line. While I must admit I love their DVDs, to be diplomatic about it, they've had a pretty rough year at the box office. Their latest disappointment was Sugar And Spice, which will make its DVD debut on 7/17 after a very short theatrical run. The disc includes 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers, English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, deleted scenes, cast and crew biographies and theatrical trailers. Retail is $24.95. Inside TRL How many times has this happened to you? Your lying on the couch, flipping channels, and you end up vegging out to MTV's mega-successful mega-successful TRL (Total Request Live.) Then you think to yourself, "Gee, what would it really be like to go inside Carson Daly's head?" (Yeah, me too!) Since I know you are all devoted fans of TRL, well, now your prayers have been answered. On 7/25, Sony Music will be released Inside Total Request Live, where you get to "slip through the MTV Times Square studio doors and experience all of the excitement, drama and hysteria that is "Total Request Live"! The disc includes VJ profiles(!), artist interview clips(!!), an MTV studio photo tour(!!!), and TRL trivia(!!!!), as well as performances by N*Sync, Limp Bizkit, The Backdoor Boys, Five, 98 Degrees, Christine Aguilera and Stone Temple Pilots(!!!!!). The disc is presented in full frame and 2.0 stereo, and retail goes for $19.95. Dogma returns Well, finally, that long-delayed Dogma Special Edition originally announced for earlier this year has been given a new street date of 6/26. The 2-disc set features these final specs: audio commentary with Director Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Producer Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira; an additional technical audio commentary with Smith, Mosier and Pereira, the full "The Judge Not: In Defense of Dogma" documentary by JM Kenny; storyboards for three scenes; 100 minutes of deleted scenes with View Askew crew intros, and outtakes reel, "Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Spot," "Saints and Sinners" talent files, "Follow the Buddy Christ" feature, trailers, and finally, a weblink to The Official View Askew Site. Yikes! On the technical side, the presentation features an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks, French and Spanish 2.0 stereo tracks, English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions. Retail for this puppy is $29.95.
Finally today, a sour note for you House and House II: The Second Story fans. Originally, when we got Anchor Bay's 6/12 titles, House and House II were listed. But, we didn't post 'em because they were quickly removed from the Anchor Bay website. They will be released and the delay will apparently be short. The only specs known are that House will be released as a single disc for $24.95, and there will also be a limited edition set with House and House II for $39.95 (the latter of which will not be available separately at this time.) Both will feature new anamorphic widescreen transfers and the first a 5.1 surround mix, though any further features are TBA. Stay tuned for a final date and the full specs. And the nation held its breath... Coming to DVD on 7/10, Thirteen Days didn't garner the box office or awards New Line probably had hoped it would, but it is a complex, adult examination of the Cuban Missile Crisis and features a noteworthy performance by Bruce Greenwood as JFK. The disc, the first in New Line's Infinifilm line (read all about it here) comes quite feature loaded, with a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, an "filmmaker commentary" with director Roger Donaldson, producer, actor Kevin Costner, writer David Self and executive producer Michael DeLuca) and an additional "Historical commentary" with John F. Kennedy, Sergei Kruschchev, Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow and Pierre Salinger (can't wait to hear how New Line pulls this one off), deleted scenes with commentary, two documentaries "Roots Of The Cuban Missile Crisis" and "Bringing History To The Silver Screen," a "Visual effects scene deconstructions" featurette and a multi-angle "Infinifilm" feature explained as "Computer generated photo-realistic flight integration of archival footage into final film," the complete script with scene access available to DVD-ROM users and the complete theatrical website, and finally the original theatrical trailer. This 2-disc set can be yours for $26.95.
Warner makes a Pledge Though it didn't make too many waves at the box office, The Pledge was directed by Sean Penn and stars Jack Nicholson and recent Academy Award winner Benecio Del Toro, so it can't be all bad, right? Well, decide for yourself when Warner releases the DVD on 6/19. The disc is pretty straightforward, with a 2.35;1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and English 5.1 Dolby surround mix, along with cast biographies and the trailer. Retail is $24.95. Traffik school So, have you seen the movie Traffic? Did you like it? Well, now you can see the original, highly-acclaimed Channel 4 miniseries that inspired the Academy Award-winning Steven Soderbergh film this June when Acorn Media releases Traffik on 6/26. The 2-disc DVD set includes the complete 325-minute miniseries in full frame and 2.0 stereo, along with additional footage not seen in the original U.S. PBS broadcast, behind-the-scenes interview with producer Brian Eastman and writer Simon more, cast biographies and production notes. Retail is $39.95.
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Warner
August titles
Swash
and buckle
Wax
on, wax off
No
'House' just yet