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NEWS ARCHIVE - 28th AUGUST TO 2nd SEPTEMBER 2006 |
RECOMMENDED READING!
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HD NEWS
And so it begins... Fox has announced its first batch of UK Blu-ray discs! Their first batch of eight Blu-ray titles will be released in North America, Australia and Europe during November (on November the 14th in Europe). Their initial titles, aimed at the format's early adopters and Playstation 3 owners, will be presented in MPEG4 format, which will come as something of a surprise and disappointment to the format's fans, who were hoping that the apparently superior VC1 codec would be used. The discs will be in 1080p format. The use of DTS HD Lossless Master Audio is very welcome, however! The first batch is: Behind Enemy Lines, The Fantastic Four, Kingdom of Heaven - Director's Cut, Kiss of the Dragon, The Omen - 666, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Speed and The Transporter. As if to quash concerns that the format isn't currently able to cope with long movies, the press release quotes director Ridley Scott, talking about the Blu-ray version of his latest film: "I reviewed my Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven, which is 3 hrs and 8 minutes thereabouts, on Blu-ray Disc and I was astounded. It was like looking through a window of clarity. It was the most impressive thing I've ever seen.” The Kingdom of Heaven disc is likely to be the first commercially-released dual-layer Blu-ray (50Gb) disc. Spec's for the first batch, from the press release:
Behind Enemy Lines: Marked as one of the studio’s
first three BD-J releases,
The Fantastic Four: Presented with DTS HD Lossless
Master Audio, the HDMV Blu-Ray Disc of
Kingdom of Heaven - Director's Cut: To accommodate
the full 3 hour and 5 minutes run time of Ridley Scott’s Director’s cut
version of his epic masterpiece,
Kiss of the Dragon: Authored in HDMV with DTS HD
Lossless Master Audio,
The Omen - 666: Authored in HDMV with DTS HD
Lossless Master Audio,
Speed: This BD-J release boasts DTS HD Lossless
Master Audio and MPEG 4 compression. Special features include commentary
tracks and commentary chapter selections by Jan De Bont, Graham Yost, and
Mark Gordon, as well as an animated pop-up trivia track, up to 99
bookmarks, a 56-category search index (see description on
The Transporter: Authored in HDMV and presented with
DTS HD Lossless Master Audio,
It seems that the bonus features that are on the DVD equivalents, especially those exclusive to the UK editions (those on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, for example), generally won't be carried over to the Blu-ray editions. More information about the different authoring standards (HDMV and BD-J) can be found here.
The disc is authored in HDMV, and presented with DTS HD Lossless Master Audio. The bonus features - also in HD - include a new CGI short, No Time For Nuts, which was created exclusively for the DVD and Blu-ray discs; Crash and Eddie Stunts - three CGI shorts; The Animation Director's Chair; Lost Historical Films on the Ice Age Period; Scrat's Piranha Smackdown Sound Effects Lab; Crash and Eddie blooper; a director's commentary, and "much more". The press release didn't include a UK RRP for the Blu-ray titles, but the US SRP is $39.98.
DVD NEWS
Their key release is Ron Howard's recent blockbuster adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks and Amelie's Audrey Tautou. The two-disc Special Edition DVD set will be released on October the 16th. The film will be presented in anamorphic 2.40:1 ratio, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and optional English and English HoH subtitles. Bonus features include ten featurettes, including First Day on the Set With Ron Howard; A Discussion With Dan Brown; A Portrait of Langdon; Who Is Sophie Neveu; The Codes of The Da Vinci Code; The Filmmaker's Journey and "much more". The RRP is £24.99.
The film has apparently been "visually re-mastered", and the set features "brand spanking new extras", including a sneak peek at Spamalot the Musical, in A Taste of Spamalot (a medley of eleven songs from the musical); a CD of the soundtrack; a spoof trailer based on The Da Vinci Code; and a Monty Python Quiz. Each set also contains a money-off voucher for a "delicious tin of Spam!" (it says here). Hopefully the press release is just pointing out the things that are new, and the bonus features from the earlier editions (the commentary tracks, etc) will be included, too! The RRP for the set is £19.99.
The film will be presented in anamorphic widescreen format, with DolbyDigital 5.1 audio, and optional English HoH subtitles. The bonus features include a commentary track by star Mila Jovovich, a Making of... featurette and deleted scenes. The RRP is £15.99. Let's hope Wimmer has better luck with his next project! Barry Sonnenfeld's RV (now subtitled Runaway Vacation, for the hard of thinking) will be released by Sony on October the 9th. The film stars Robin Williams as an overworked executive forced to take a holiday in the Rockies, and Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines, as his long-suffering partner. The disc will feature a commentary track by Sonnenfeld; deleted scenes; six featurettes; and a "Making of Behind The Scenes Diary". The RRP is £15.99.
The
The set is highly recommended to anyone interested in the history of film animation, and, naturally, to fans of the maestro. The RRP is £19.99.
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, House of the Dead 2 and The Plague are £19.99 each. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb are £12.99 each. A box set containing the three I Know What You Did Last Summer films will also be available, also apparently with an RRP of £19.99. (There seems to be some confusion about the RRP for I'll Always Know... - some retailers are basing their price on an RRP of £12.99 (see Incoming for etailers listing it for as little as £9.74). No technical details, or information about bonus features (if, in fact, there are any) were announced for any of these titles. Artwork on House of the Dead 2, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (below) is provisional.
Other October Sony titles include The Hunt For Eagle One: Crash Point (2/10, £19.99), a five-disc Hart To Hart - The Complete Second Season box set (9/10, £34.99), and two Bob Hope films: The Lemon Drop Kid and Son of Paleface (30/10, £12.99 each). Sony are also re-packaging twelve films in new packaging to make The Reel Collection. These two-disc sets will be housed in tin packaging, and offered with four glossy film stills with film facts on the back. The films are: Black Hawk Down, Boyz 'n' the Hood, Bridge on the River Kwai, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, Das Boot, Desperado ( and El Mariachi), Dr Strangelove, Hellboy, Jerry Maguire, Lawrence of Arabia, Layer Cake and Snatch. Menu screens for the next Doctor Who DVD, Mark of the Rani, can be seen here.
ZETA MINOR NEWS Please remember to visit the Incoming page regularly. There are dozens of new titles, additions and corrections every week! DVD NEWS
In addition to the twenty-four fifty-odd minute episodes, which star Roger Moore and Tony Curtis (not to mention all the stalwart ITC guest stars like Patrick Troughton, Joan Collins, Ian Hendry and Terry-Thomas), the set boasts a wealth of bonus material, including new, exclusive interviews with the two stars. The bonus features, quoted directly from the press release (with minor formatting changes), are: • The Morning After – Remembering The Persuaders! - Documentary featuring Roger Moore (Lord Brett Sinclair), Tony Curtis (Danny Wilde) and crew members: Robert S Baker (producer), Johnny Goodman (executive in charge of production), Malcolm Christopher (production manager), Ken Baker (assistant director), Brian Clemens (writer), Roy Ward Baker (director) and Tony Spratling (director of photography) and others • Commentaries on three episodes featuring contributions from Sir Roger Moore, Tony Curtis, Robert S Baker, Johnny Goodman, Roy Ward Baker, Brian Clemens, Malcolm Christopher, Ken Baker and others… • Interview with Tony Curtis on The Russell Harty Show (1974) • Mute news footage of Tony Curtis ordering a Lagonda from Aston Martin (1974) • News footage of Roger Moore and his design consultancy for a Bradford clothing manufacturer (1970) • Dutch AVRO skoop documentary, made during filming of The Persuaders! • Top of the Pops promotional film for John Barry’s single of The Persuaders! featuring Pan’s People • All four feature-film versions and trailers • Stills gallery containing over a thousand images • Ad bumpers • The Saint – The Ex-King of Diamonds (with commentary) • Ten promotional spots – five foreign, five mute UK • Trailer and opening sequence for unreleased feature version of The Persuaders! film • Mute textless main and end titles RRP for the set is £59.99.
The award-winning documentary has been "lovingly restored", and given a new Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix. It's presented in 4:3 ratio. It will be packaged in a special slip-case. The disc features three songs "never before seen" (Mercy Mercy, Stray Cat Blues and No Expectations); an episode of World of Action which features an interview with Jagger, who talks about his drugs arrest; and additional features that are "TBC". The RRP is £14.99.
The film, which features Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine in a bloodthirsty coast-to-coast car race, has been available before. There's nothing in the press release to indicate whether this new version will improve on the rather shabby old version (last year's Region 1 version - from Buena Vista - had a commentary track, a ten-minute featurette and a trailer). Neither is there anything to indicate the technical specifications (the R1 version is 1.78:1). Hopefully Universal didn't blow their entire budget on the swanky new sleeve design (left). RRP is £19.99.
The film will be presented in anamorphic 2.35:1 format, with Dolby Digital audio, and optional English HoH subtitles. The bonus features are a commentary by Paul Newman, the director's daughter, Carol Rossen, and other cast and crew members; five Trick Shot Analysis by World Champion trick shot artist, Mike Massey; five featurettes; five How To Make A Shot; a stills gallery (nine images); and a theatrical trailer.
EVENT NEWS Kaleidoscope has announced that acclaimed writer / producer Robert Banks Stewart will be attending their September 2nd gathering, which will take place at the Amblecote Room, Stourbridge Town Hall, Stourbridge, West Midlands. Attendees to he event, which runs from noon to 7pm, will be treated to a wide array of archive television material, including the pilot of ABC's science fiction series Undermind, and an episode of Callan (both of which were written by Robert Banks Stewart). Entrace to the event is free (donations to Kaleidoscope's charity of choice - the RNLI - are encouraged! More details here: http://www.kaleidoscope.org.uk Last week's Zeta Minor News can be viewed here. Previous Zeta Minor News entries can viewed here. |
COMPETITION
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The
studio has also announced its first day-and-date DVD / Blu-ray release:
Ice Age: The Meltdown. This will be released on November the 13th.
Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment has formally announced their October releases.
The
West End arrival of the Monty Python musical Spamalot has spurred
yet another release of
Director
Kurt Wimmer's follow-up to the impressive Equilibrium, the curdled
futuristic action film
A
fabulous collection of bits and pieces created by the master of
stop-motion animation is offered by
A
healthy batch of horror titles is on Sony's slate for October the 23rd,
headed by the straight-to-DVD franchise sequel
Network
has officially announced the release of a new nine-disc Special Edition
box set of the popular ITC action-adventure series
Network
has also officially announced the details of its re-mastered, limited
edition
Univeral
Pictures will re-release Roger Corman's 1975 cult favourite
Yet
another edition of
