15th December 2005

DVD NEWS

Sony will release a Region 2 edition of the marvellous three-disc Hellboy - Director's Cut set on January the 9th.

The set features an extended version of Guillermo del Toro's film (which is about ten minutes longer than the theatrical edit).

Bonus features are bountiful, spearheaded by a two-hour documentary chronicling the making of the movie, titled Hellboy: The Seeds of Creation.

Other bonus material includes: video introductions to each disc by del Toro and stars Ron Perlman and Selma Blair; a new commentary track by del Toro; Marco Beltrami composer commentary with isolated score; branching DVD comics drawn by Mike Mignola, with all-new expanded text by del Toro; storyboard track with hundreds of new images; printable version of the original screenplay, script supervisor's book and director's notebook (DVD-Rom feature); maquette 3D character sculptures gallery; three deleted scenes with optional director's commentary; five Board-a-Matics (side-by-side comparisons of scenes with the animated storyboards); four computer-generated animated scene breakdowns; cast video commentary (with Perlman, Blair, Jeffrey Tambor and Rupert Evans); production workshops and make-up and lighting tests; Q&A archive: Comic-Con 2002, and A Quick Guide To Understanding Comics, with Scott McCloud; Mike Mignola pre-production art; conceptual art galleries and comic book artists pin-ups; trailers, TV spots and Poster Explorations.

Anyone who's seen the Region 1 edition will tell you that the set is one of the most comprehensive examinations of a single film ever committed to disc. A website promoting the release can be found here.

Tartan Video will release the satirical black comedy Guy X on DVD on March the 27th.

The film, which stars American Pie's Jason Biggs, is about a soldier posted by mistake to a covert military base in Greenland. The film also features Jeremy Northam, Natascha McElhone and cult icon Michael Ironside.

The movie will be presented in anamorphic widescreen format, with a choice of DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks, and English HoH subtitles. Bonus features include exclusive interviews with Biggs and British director Saul Metzstein. The RRP is £19.99.

Other Tartan titles due in March are Calvaire, Begman's Saraband and After The Rehearsal; Ab-Normal Beauty; and the Battle Royale II: Revenge two-disc tin box set.

A little-seen 2000 British comedy titled The Jolly Boys Last Stand (sic) will be released on DVD by a company called Spirit Level Film, on February the 6th.

The film chronicles the drunken antics of a group of lads, who are having one last hurrah before one of them gets married. It stars King Kong's Andy Serkis, Ali G's Sacha Baron Cohen, Band of Brothers' Milo Twomey and Casualty's Rebecca Craig. The DVD will feature footage from the original casting sessions, and an audio commentary by director Chris Payne, Serkis, Twomey and Craig.

The film will be a Region 0 title, in "16:9" ratio, with Dolby Digital audio.  The RRP is £14.99.

13th December 2005

DVD NEWS

Warner Home Video will release the first season of Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman on February the 6th.

The five-disc set will feature all twenty-one episodes of the 1993/94 series, which starred Dean Cain, as the Man of Steel, and Teri Hatcher, as Lois Lane. This includes the 'two-hour' Pilot episode.

According to the press release the episodes will be presented in 16:9 format. This seems unlikely, however: the Region 1 version is 4:3.

The set will feature an introduction to the Pilot episode by series creator / Executive Producer Deborah Joy Levin, and a commentary track on the Pilot by Levin, Dean Cain and director Robert Butler.

Unfortunately, it seems that several features that are on the Region 1 set will be missing from the UK release. The US version has a retrospective documentary (From Rivals to Romance: The Making of Lois & Clark), a behind-the-scenes featurette (Taking Flight: The Visual Effects of Lois & Clark), and video interviews with Cain and Hatcher. Some copies of the Region 1 set also featured a bonus disc containing an episode of Smallville (the first episode of the fourth season, Crusade), as part of a series commemorating Warner Bros. Television's 50th anniversary.

RRP for the UK set is £39.99. The Region 1 set is available from Amazon for about £12 (click here !)

Mosaic Entertainment will unleash The Beast of Bray Road on DVD on May the 15th (it will be available to rent from the 6th of March).

The film, which is based on the real-life stories of werewolf sightings in Walworth County, Wisconsin, stars Tom Downey, Jeff Denton and Sarah Lieving.

Extras for the retail release, and technical specifications are TBC.

RRP will be a suitably humble £9.99.

12th December 2005

ZETA MINOR NEWS

Ceri has been busy this week - he's updated the Incoming list, with details of lots of recently-announced and unannounced titles (including the first hint that the American Gothic TV series and The Harry Hill Show are getting a UK DVD release).

He's also updated the Offers page with new bargains and special offers from the online DVD retailers. There's loads of new offers listed, including offers on the re-mastered Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes discs; a half-price offer on the first two seasons of Heimat; and pre-order deals on the Doctor Who - The Beginning box set.