The Natural Blu-ray Announced - April 6, 2010

[Brad1963]

DVD AFFICIANADO is it listed for Blu ray Apr. 6 from Sony

Natural, The - Director's Cut (1984) -- Blu-ray
Release date: 2010-04-06





The Natural Blu-ray

The Natural Blu-ray Review

[repete66211]

Egad, yet another DVD I will have to replace. I wasn't aware there's a director's cut of The Natural. Any idea what the differences are between it and the theatrical cut?

[jamal2]

Also getting The Basketball Diaries on 4/20

[Moefiz]

Originally Posted by repete66211

Egad, yet another DVD I will have to replace. I wasn't aware there's a director's cut of The Natural. Any idea what the differences are between it and the theatrical cut?

Never know there was a directors cut either BUT getting this for sure..one of my favorite movies of all time.

[jharv]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced 'The Natural' for release on Blu-ray on April 6. This baseball movie, starring Robert Redford, was initially slated to come out three years ago, simultaneously with the director's cut DVD, but was pulled from the schedule. The 138-minute running time listed for the BD corresponds to the theatrical cut of the movie.

Special features include:

* When Lightning Strikes: Creating the Natural:
o Part 1
o Part 2, The Line-Up: Assembling the Moviemaking Team
o Part 3, Let's Play Ball: Filming the Show
* For the Love of the movie... and the Game
* A Natural Gunned Down: The Stalking of Eddie Waitkus
* Knights in Shining Armor: The Mythology of "The Natural"
* The Heart of The Natural
* BD-Live
o movieIQ

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4076

One of the best baseball movies, and one of my favorite movies of all time. Since it's from Sony pictures it's going to be nice to finally get a great quality baseball movie on Blu-ray. And it's just in time for Opening Day!

[Deciazulado]

The Natural Blu-ray preorder is up after a few years

[ifireun]

In Canada this is being released by Columbia/TriStar, not Sony. I'm not sure what that might mean in terms of PQ/AQ and extras.

I am considering getting the Sony release from AMZ and canceling my AMZ CA pre-order... any suggestions or advice?

[varmintx]

Columbia/TriStar is Sony.

[Clark Kent]

I really hope the theatrical version comes out on Blu-ray. The Natural is a film I have been anticipating in 1080p since Blu-ray was first released. I would not mind seamless branching, but the press materials appear to indicate only one cut of the movie will be included. The film should not end up like Amadeus, where only one cut of the movie is available in the best quality possible.

[spidy]

I loved this movie when I was younger. Hopefully Sony gave it a good restoration. I'll probably wait til it's about $10 before I pick this one up though.

[ifireun]

Originally Posted by varmintx

Columbia/TriStar is Sony.

Thanks - one needs a scorecard to track which owns what in Hollywood!

[Joe Bond]

I prefer the directors cut of the film but I understand people who like the theatrical cut but I find this whole announcement very confusing. First, there was no press release and just a news article on this site stating it would just be the theatrical cut only (DigitalBits said the same and got confirmation from Sony). So one would assume at this point that the Blu-ray would be the theatrical cut. Then shortly after this announcement the Blu-ray went on pre-order on different online stores but what made it confusing for me is that some online retailers used Blu-ray artwork that clearly had director's cut on it while others had similar artwork that did not have the red directors cut top border. A perfect example of this is how the artwork on this site does not have the top red border and the back cover art clearly states the theatrical cut run time and does not have the intro by Barry Levisiton about the director's cut but when you go to Amazon the cover art has the red border and the item title says "The Natural (Director's Cut) Blu-ray". So the question is whether or not the Blu-ray release is the director's cut or the theatrical cut or is it both separately available by different retailers. I emailed Amazon and they did not know but they gave me Sony's Home Entertainment email address so I asked this question and here is the response I got from Sony:

Dear Joe,

Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your interest in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment products.

It will be the director's cut.

Thank you for your continued patronage and for taking the time to contact us.

Regards,

David Griffin
SPHE Consumer Affairs Team

What I plan to do is respond to this email to make sure he is correct. I think Sony has really dropped the ball in this situation since a press release would have solved this problem.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by Joe Bond

I prefer the directors cut of the film but I understand people who like the theatrical cut but I find this whole announcement very confusing. First, there was no press release and just a news article on this site stating it would just be the theatrical cut only (DigitalBits said the same and got confirmation from Sony). So one would assume at this point that the Blu-ray would be the theatrical cut. Then shortly after this announcement the Blu-ray went on pre-order on different online stores but what made it confusing for me is that some online retailers used Blu-ray artwork that clearly had director's cut on it while others had similar artwork that did not have the red directors cut top border. A perfect example of this is how the artwork on this site does not have the top red border and the back cover art clearly states the theatrical cut run time and does not have the intro by Barry Levisiton about the director's cut but when you go to Amazon the cover art has the red border and the item title says "The Natural (Director's Cut) Blu-ray". So the question is whether or not the Blu-ray release is the director's cut or the theatrical cut or is it both separately available by different retailers. I emailed Amazon and they did not know but they gave me Sony's Home Entertainment email address so I asked this question and here is the response I got from Sony:

Dear Joe,

Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate your interest in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment products.

It will be the director's cut.

Thank you for your continued patronage and for taking the time to contact us.

Regards,

David Griffin
SPHE Consumer Affairs Team

What I plan to do is respond to this email to make sure he is correct. I think Sony has really dropped the ball in this situation since a press release would have solved this problem.

If this is really to be the "Director's Cut," why doesn't it say so on the case, and why is the running time on the back the theatrical release running time? Does anyone know for sure?

[Joe Bond]

Originally Posted by kdo

If this is really to be the "Director's Cut," why doesn't it say so on the case, and why is the running time on the back the theatrical release running time? Does anyone know for sure?

My gut tells me its going to be the theatrical cut due to the back cover art I have seen. However, since a Blu-ray release was originally planned back when the directors cut was released some retailers could be confusing this new release to that one that was pulled or different retailers could be offering different cuts. I don't think we will know for sure until it gets reviewed.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by Joe Bond

My gut tells me its going to be the theatrical cut due to the back cover art I have seen. However, since a Blu-ray release was originally planned back when the directors cut was released some retailers could be confusing this new release to that one that was pulled or different retailers could be offering different cuts. I don't think we will know for sure until it gets reviewed.

I think you're right...I too have a hunch it will be the theatrical cut, which I personally prefer by a long shot over the Director's Cut, which I didn't like at all...you'd think Sony would've come out with some sort of 'official' statement by this point to clear this up, especially considering the disc is going to be released in just a few weeks, and this is "the Natural" we're talking about here, not just some unknown or obscure catalogue title.

[varmintx]

Surprised no one else posted this yet, but DVDBeaver says it's the Theatrical Cut.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by varmintx

Surprised no one else posted this yet, but DVDBeaver says it's the Theatrical Cut.

Wow, thanks for the heads up on that! That review must just've been posted recently. It is in fact, the theatrical cut, which I think is great, as I didn't at all care for the DC. Screenshots look really good too!

[draejr]

Originally Posted by varmintx

Surprised no one else posted this yet, but DVDBeaver says it's the Theatrical Cut.

Looks good to me, I'm really looking forward to picking this up!

[QuasidodoJr]

I would've liked to have this in a digibook.

[Moefiz]

Doesn't matter the whats its release in..this is one of my favorite movies and I will be getting it on day one...never saw the Directors cut, looking forward to it...