Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1002 Post by dwk » Mon Mar 05, 2018 5:22 pm

Scream Factory is double dipping on Ninja III: The Domination
"Only a Ninja…can destroy a Ninja” ***SURPRISE ANNOUNCMENT***

1984’s NINJA III: THE DOMINATION from Cannon Pictures is one of the most bonkers and wtf films we’ve ever put on Blu-ray. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a wild concoction of police shootouts, martial arts, golfing, The Exorcist, sex, hot tubs, Flashdance and video games. (Even V-8 makes a memorable appearance.) Although we knew the film had a vocal following when we released it 2013 we didn’t quite know what to expect or how big it would be. The sales numbers surprised us and it over-performed.

What’s always bugged us though was that our release was a little on the “barebones” side, save for a commentary. Today, we correct that. We are re-releasing NINJA III again on June 12th as a “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray with a serious upgrade in picture and extras. Some confirmed details as follows:

• The newly-commissioned artwork pictured comes to us from artist Joel Robinson (Silent Night Deadly Night, Misery, Tales from the Hood). This art will be front-facing and the reverse side of the wrap will be the original theatrical poster art.

• Release will come with a slipcover (guaranteed for three months after its original release date).

• We are doing a new 4K scan of the film from original film elements.

- Red Shirt Pictures is handling the bonus features on this and have come up with some kick-ass new stuff:
- NEW 4K Scan From The Original Film Elements
- NEW interview with Actress Lucinda Dickey
- NEW interview with Actor Jordan Bennett
- NEW interview with Producer and Stuntman Alan Amiel
- NEW audio Interviews with Production Designer Elliot Ellentuck and Co-Composer Misha Segal featuring isolated tracks from the Original Score
- Theatrical Trailer (in HD) with optional Trailers From Hell commentary with Screenwriter Josh Olson
- Audio Commentary by Director Sam Firstenberg and Stunt Coordinator Steve Lambert (ported over from the prior DVD & Blu-ray release)

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1003 Post by Robespierre » Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:01 pm

What has been universally slammed as being one of the worst movies ever made is getting a tricked out, 4k restoration...while true lies languishes on non anamorphic DVD. There's just no justice.

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Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1004 Post by Big Ben » Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:27 pm

Robespierre wrote:What has been universally slammed as being one of the worst movies ever made is getting a tricked out, 4k restoration...while true lies languishes on non anamorphic DVD. There's just no justice.
You act as if I'm totally not going to buy this ridiculous piece of trash.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1005 Post by Robespierre » Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:11 pm

I mean I'm happy for fans of the film and would even consider buying this (after I've seen it, of course). I love my own fair share of trash too but True Lies and The Abyss were basically made for blu ray and yet that POS James Cameron is locking them down for whatever reason. The list of poor, undeserving films to have amazing blu ray releases while those two classics rot with crappy DVDs is a joke.

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furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1006 Post by furbicide » Tue Mar 06, 2018 1:11 am

Uh guys I'd be happy for just a low-grade DVD (or, hell, passable VHS) with English subtitles of the films of Jean Eustache, Rivette's L'Amour Fou, Chantal Akerman's '80s work, etc. etc. ... in that context, I hardly think an old DVD release counts as 'rotting'! The market's kind of a reverse-meritocracy and has ever been so (and perhaps needs to be, on some level). I don't begrudge this release one bit.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1007 Post by Robespierre » Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:07 am

Point taken, though those two are major studio films and not obscure, hard to licence, or older films where the elements may not be in passable condition without the need for expensive restoration. Not that any of the above films wouldn't benefit from an HD release but True Lies and The Abyss are dying for one. It'd be like not releasing Jurassic Park, the transformers films, Indiana Jones, most of Spielberg films, etc. etc.

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Professor Wagstaff
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:27 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1008 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Tue Mar 06, 2018 2:30 am

James Cameron has stated that True Lies and The Abyss haven't received their proper 4K/blu-ray releases because the multiple Avatar sequels are his main priority.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1009 Post by Robespierre » Wed Mar 07, 2018 2:51 am

Realistically, why has it taken so long for him to give these films a go ahead? It's a joke at this point but all he has to do is watch them and approve how they look. The problem is he doesn't want them out and that's what is so frustrating.

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CSM126
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:22 am
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Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1010 Post by CSM126 » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:01 am

Robespierre wrote:Realistically, why has it taken so long for him to give these films a go ahead? It's a joke at this point but all he has to do is watch them and approve how they look. The problem is he doesn't want them out and that's what is so frustrating.
Based on how he handled T2’s transition to 4K, I’m going to assume he’s waiting for someone to invent Mega-DNR so he can reduce all the rest of his films to abstract puddles of amorphous color.

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1011 Post by tenia » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:09 am

I don’t understand why people are so easily laying the blame of the DNRed look of Terminator 2 restoration on Cameron (or the 3D conversion).
It probably is mostly coming from Studio Canal. I’m not even sure how involved Cameron has been in the restoration process, except for the few corrections he requested. I doubt he would have agreed to have such an approximative color grading (in terms of consistency within all the shots), for instance.

Aliens and Titanic were lavishly restored, while SC has been recurringly filtering their releases.
furbicide wrote:The market's kind of a reverse-meritocracy and has ever been so (and perhaps needs to be, on some level). I don't begrudge this release one bit.
Hasn't it just something to do with right holders being more difficult for "higher" movies than crap like Ninja III ?

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willoneill
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1012 Post by willoneill » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:09 am

Robespierre wrote:Realistically, why has it taken so long for him to give these films a go ahead? It's a joke at this point but all he has to do is watch them and approve how they look. The problem is he doesn't want them out and that's what is so frustrating.
I think you're being a little hysterical. Nowhere have I ever read that Cameron doesn't want to see these films released on blu or 4K (and in fact, I've read the opposite). Cameron is a known perfectionist, and probably wants to go over each film frame by frame when approving the transfer. And at the moment, he's busy filming 4 Avatar films back-to-back(to-back-to-back?). So these releases have obviously taken a back seat. Either way, it's definitely not as simple as just watching them once and approving how they look.

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JamesF
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:36 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1013 Post by JamesF » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:25 am

Indeed, the same is also true of Peter Jackson and his first three films (though God knows what his excuse is now the Hobbit films are all wrapped up).

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1014 Post by tenia » Wed Mar 07, 2018 9:31 am

I think the issue here is that he's a control freak. Many labs can do very good restorations, he could just let it go for the sake of the viewers and leave the labs doing the work, just approving the final result or whatever.

But it's incredible to believe he hasn't been free for a single month in more than 10 years to do what's being done routinely for many many movies.
On top of that, these are recent big productions that should be very quick to restore. It's not like the Apu Trilogy which required tons of working hours.

So yeah, I understand some of the frustration here and how it can be perceived that Cameron just doesn’t care that much about these 2 movies. At some point, Cameron has to realise that the viewers are waiting and that by being such a control freak unable to delegate and trust other people, it’s the viewers who are getting the hard end of the stick.

This is a silly situation.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1015 Post by dwk » Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:19 pm

Scream just tweeted that they are releasing Curse of the Cat People on Blu-ray on June 12th.

And Night of the Lepus Blu-ray is coming out on June 5th.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1016 Post by Ribs » Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:24 pm

Oh! Huh. I... was not expecting them to be going back into the Warner archive in the classic period.

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Cinephrenic
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:58 pm
Location: Paris, Texas

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1017 Post by Cinephrenic » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:33 pm

I was hoping that Criterion would release a Val Lewton set.

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Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1018 Post by Big Ben » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:39 pm

The only things I remember from Curse of the Cat People is a really dated line about hitting children and it having almost nothing to do with the plot of the original.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1019 Post by Ribs » Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:51 pm

It's kind of brilliant; it's a Christmas movie, for one. Like the first one and most of the Lewton films, it's not really a horror film either, but this especially so, this one mostly just a childhood fable that happens to feature characters from the first film in prominent roles. I'm a fan, possibly even more than the first one.

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whaleallright
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:56 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1020 Post by whaleallright » Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:05 pm

Big Ben wrote:The only things I remember from Curse of the Cat People is a really dated line about hitting children and it having almost nothing to do with the plot of the original.

Funny you should remember that, since among other things it's a plea for a gentle and tolerant variety of parenting. It's an extraordinary film. It's also interesting in that somewhat like the first film (but in a very different register) it sustains an ambiguity that, unlike most Hollywood films then and now, it never really resolves.

But yeah it would have made sense for Criterion to just release all the Lewton "horror" films as one set—Cat People is obviously the crown jewel, but Curse and I Walked with a Zombie are scarcely any lesser, and the remaining ones are excellent too. You can't lose... or so I would have thought.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1021 Post by domino harvey » Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:09 pm

I don't like it at all, but it came in at number two on our forum's Youth Films List, so I'd say it has its share of fans here

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kcota17
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:05 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1022 Post by kcota17 » Wed Mar 07, 2018 11:23 pm

I imagine Criterion still doing I Walked with a Zombie, though.

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soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1023 Post by soundchaser » Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:36 pm

Extras for the Wild at Heart release have been announced:
  • NEW Interview With Novelist Barry Gifford
    Extended And Deleted Scenes (76 Minutes)
    Love, Death, Elvis And Oz: The Making Of Wild At Heart
    Dell's Lunch Counter: Extended Interviews
    Specific Spontaneity: Focus On David Lynch
    Lynch On The DVD Process
    Original 1990 Making Of EPK
    Original Theatrical Trailer
    TV Spots
    Image Gallery
RIP to the Lime Green Box Set's secondhand price.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1024 Post by dwk » Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:04 pm

So, Wild at Heart isn't getting a new transfer.
This is the same transfer that was previously approved by David Lynch.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Shout! Factory / Scream Factory

#1025 Post by Adam X » Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:21 am

soundchaser wrote:NEW Interview With Novelist Barry Gifford
Extended And Deleted Scenes (76 Minutes)
dwk wrote: So, Wild at Heart isn't getting a new transfer.
So it's a win some/lose some kind of release? Very happy for the former, disappointed by the latter - though it's not unexpected. Apparently, Shout! have said on facebook that the long absent uncensored death of Bobby Peru'll be included as a extra, but I dearly wish it could be incorporated back into the actual film. One of the worst side effects of international use of digital masters has been the proliferation of MPAA-censored versions of films that were once seen uncut outside of the US; until DVD came about and now generally seem lost.

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