Escape to Athena / March or Die (1977-1979) (Shout! Factory Store Exclusive)

[MifuneFan]

Shout! Factory has added a new store exclusiev. A double-feature set including Escape to Athena (1979) and March or Die (1977). The release is limited to 1,500 copies. While March or Die is barebones, Escape to Athena has a bunch of interviews included.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product...roduct_id=8012

Synopsis

ADVENTURE AND ALL-STAR CASTS AWAIT YOU IN THIS ACTION-PACKED DOUBLE FEATURE!

ESCAPE TO ATHENA

In Escape To Athena, a German-occupied Greek island in 1944 is the setting for adventure and comedy as a group of Allied prisoners strike back against their captors — and try to get rich in the process! Roger Moore, Telly Savalas, David Niven, Stefanie Powers, Richard Roundtree, and Elliott Gould lead an impressive and eclectic cast.

MARCH OR DIE

Join the French Foreign Legion in March Or Die, in which a troubled American commander is sent on a dual mission: to reestablish the Legion's authority in Morocco, and to escort a group of archaeologists in search of an ancient city buried by a sandstorm thousands of years prior. Gene Hackman, Max von Sydow, Ian Holm, and Catherine Deneuve star.

Bonus Features

ESCAPE TO ATHENA (1979)

• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• Roger Moore Interview
• Telly Savalas Interview
• Stefanie Powers Interview
• Claudia Cardinale Interview
• Sonny Bono Interview
• Elliott Gould Interview
• Anthony Valentine Interview
• George P. Cosmatos Interview
• Jack Wiener And David Niven Jr. Interview
• Theatrical Trailer

MARCH OR DIE (1977)

• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
• Trailer

[DukeTogo84]

Thanks for posting this. March or Die is a great one and stars the always great Gene Hackman. Never watched Escape to Athena, but I guess I now will since I placed an order for this. Glad Shout keeps giving us these new to Blu-ray releases, even if they are double packs.

[By_His_Strypes]

Super tempting as I really like Escape to Athena, as Stefanie Powers looks quite lovely I must say. But, I dislike double packs...

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by By_His_Strypes

Super tempting as I really like Escape to Athena, as Stefanie Powers looks quite lovely I must say. But, I dislike double packs...

As do I, but I'll take them over never owning the film. I will say that the Shout factory ones are usually pretty nice with compression and menu's, so I don't mind as much.

[By_His_Strypes]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

As do I, but I'll take them over never owning the film. I will say that the Shout factory ones are usually pretty nice with compression and menu's, so I don't mind as much.

That's good to know, why do I feel like I'm going to cave and order this one.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by By_His_Strypes

Super tempting as I really like Escape to Athena, as Stefanie Powers looks quite lovely I must say. But, I dislike double packs...

You can get the UK release, which is region free, and relatively inexpensive.



https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/escape...4fce08d720f5f3

https://smile.amazon.com/Escape-Athe...s%2C247&sr=8-1 (ships from Amazon.com)

[Member-222782]

These both sound very entertaining. I kinda like my war movies more on the serious side so the comedic aspects of 'Athena' may push me to watch March or Die first which, to me, sounds like a rousing good time. The problem with these double feature blind buys is if any of the films turn out to blow my mind, I'm going to want fully restored packed Collector's Editions. That's a good problem to have, though

And shipped!

[larrys]

There are also German and French blu rays of March or Die but both appear to be no longer available. I have both the British blu of Athena and the German blu of March or Die and I still preordered the Shout release yesterday. I can't justify the double dip except that I prefer to support American releases and the PQ on the German remastered blu of March or Die is not that great.

[DukeTogo84]

Well, mine just shipped. Hope this goes up on the database soon.

[snipemonkey]

March or Die is an underappreciated gem, IMO. Very very happy to see it getting a Region A release!

[By_His_Strypes]

wow! sounds like these shipped immediately after you guys ordered. I'm still trying to make up my mind but leaning towards ordering.

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by By_His_Strypes

wow! sounds like these shipped immediately after you guys ordered. I'm still trying to make up my mind but leaning towards ordering.

The exclusives always ship a day or so after you order. They're practically the ONLY New Release Blu-rays that are readily available to ship as soon as they're announced.

[DukeTogo84]

Watched March or Die LATE last night and man what a movie. This one was really overdue on Blu-ray and this is truly an epic film with a great cast. Gene Hackman stole the show, and this is one of his most unrecognized performances. The PQ was old and beat up, but it sufficed. I haven't watched Escape to Athena yet, but did scan through it and the PQ is very nice overall, and much better than March or Die, but again March or Die still wasn't horrible with the picture.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You can get the UK release, which is region free, and relatively inexpensive.



https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/escape...4fce08d720f5f3

https://smile.amazon.com/Escape-Athe...s%2C247&sr=8-1 (ships from Amazon.com)

Worth noting Shout's ESCAPE TO ATHENA comes from the same source but is a superior transfer than the 2008 ITV disc. Shout's is an AVC encode with DTS MA audio while the ITV is bit-starved VC-1 with lossy Dolby Digital. It also has a higher bit rate too, even though it's been paired on a BD-50 (the ITV disc was BD-25).

It looks good, whereas MARCH OR DIE comes from what looks like a battered source, maybe a print. Probably why it's popped up so few times on Blu-Ray or anywhere else before. Not bad to throw on there as a "secondary feature" but it's in dire need of remastering, which for such an obscure movie, probably wasn't going to happen.