Houdini (Adrien Brody) - Blu-ray Forum

pro-bassoonist · 09-04-2014, 08:35 AM

NEWS/EXTENDED RELEASE TRAILER
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=14904

Quote:

Lionsgate Films has sent us a brand new trailer for Houdini, the scripted four-hour event which chronicles Houdini's extraordinary life as he finds fame while defying death with his incredible stunts and illusions. The release will be available for purchase on October 7th.

Synopsis: His ability to escape from handcuffs, strait-jackets and water tanks is legendary - breaking the shackles of his past proved more challenging. HISTORY's Houdini follows the world-renowned master of escape's transformation from immigrant into the world's first superstar. Driven, disciplined and actively chasing the American Dream, Houdini constantly pushed his physical limits to accomplish feats of strength that amazed audiences in an age of spectacle. And though they saw what he wanted them to see, his reality was more elusive than his escapes. Houdini boasts an all-star cast, including Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (Best Actor in a Leading Role, The Pianist, 2002) as The Great Harry Houdini, Kristen Connolly (House of Cards) and Evan Jones (Gangster Squad).

The Houdini two-disc Blu-ray features both the original HISTORY televised version as well as a brand-new extended edition with over 20 minutes of additional film footage of the captivating series.

Special Features:

"The Great Escapes" Featurette
"The Real Houdini " Featurette
"Cheating Death" Featurette
"Houdini the Greatest" Featurette

Pro-B

EVERYONE LIES · 09-04-2014, 05:41 PM

I watched this on TV, it was decent but probably not worth a purchase.

rickah88 · 09-04-2014, 06:56 PM

I was going to watch it OTA, but saw Netflix had the BD for rental so I just added it to my queue. Looking forward to seeing this, the previews looked pretty good.

sancho · 09-05-2014, 06:19 AM

I have this recorded on the DVR. I will watch it eventually.

JMK · 10-01-2014, 01:12 AM

Houdini Blu-ray Review

Guydowood · 10-01-2014, 01:16 AM

This could have been so much better then it turned out to be. The plot is rushed and choppy in its narrative. I'd rent first before dropping the money to own it.

ZoetMB · 10-01-2014, 02:27 AM

I actually thought it was pretty good and I'm really looking forward to seeing the extended version.

I thought the reviewer was totally wrong in stating that this wasn't much different than the Tony Curtis movie. The Hollywood studio movie was a total fantasy in which almost every incident was made up, including Houdini's death. According to several biographies, the Adrien Brody version was fairly accurate.

While they've credited the Meyer book as the source for the film, I found most of it to have been almost exactly as described in the more recent book, "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero" by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. While I haven't read the Meyer book, I was under the impression that "Secret Life..." was the first bio of Houdini to contend that he acted as a spy for the U.S. and England.

If there was one thing in this TV movie that I think they might not have gotten right, it was that Houdini was reputed to of had a much bigger ego than portrayed in the movie. Also, even though Houdini was only 52 when he died and he was incredibly strong, he looked old at a very young age and turned prematurely grey. If you look at photos of Houdini in the last ten years of his life, he looks at least 10-15 years older than his age, in spite of his muscular body.

And Brody is quite tall and Houdini was quite short.

I don't think it was unfair to analyze Houdini's psychology. There was a 1976 TV movie with Paul Michael Glaser (and Sally Struthers as Bess!) that pushed the Harry loves his Mom psychology to the breaking point. But there's other psychological factors: the relationship with his father, the fact that he was an immigrant and poor as a youth, Jewish background, his ability (or need) to deal with excessive pain, etc.

As all film bios do, the movie left quite a bit out, but that's par for the course unless they had made a longer mini-series out of it.

I also think the reviewer's "extras" rating was unfair considering the presence of the much longer version.

IMDB claims there's a "Secret Life of Houdini" movie in development potentially starring Johnny Depp. Don't know how I feel about that.

09-04-2014, 05:41 PM	#2
EVERYONE LIES Special Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Pennsylvania 4K collection:17 Blu-ray collection:329 DVD collection:4 Digital collection:31 iTunes collection:2030 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:330	I watched this on TV, it was decent but probably not worth a purchase.

09-04-2014, 06:56 PM	#3
rickah88 Blu-ray Grand Duke Top contributor Member since:May 2010 Location:Columbia, MD 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:93	I was going to watch it OTA, but saw Netflix had the BD for rental so I just added it to my queue. Looking forward to seeing this, the previews looked pretty good.

09-05-2014, 06:19 AM	#4
sancho Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Aug 2010 4K collection:74 Blu-ray collection:909	I have this recorded on the DVR. I will watch it eventually.

10-01-2014, 01:12 AM	#5
JMK Blu-ray reviewer Top contributor Member since:Aug 2009 Blu-ray collection:- Trading Score:3	Houdini Blu-ray Review

10-01-2014, 01:16 AM	#6
Guydowood Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2008 Location:Guydowood 4K collection:1432 Blu-ray collection:3248 DVD collection:74 MA collection:1255 Digital collection:1620 iTunes collection:1512 Prime collection:1266 Blu-ray reviews: 4281 Trading Score:53	This could have been so much better then it turned out to be. The plot is rushed and choppy in its narrative. I'd rent first before dropping the money to own it.

10-01-2014, 02:27 AM	#7
ZoetMB Blu-ray Ninja Member since:May 2009 Location:New York Blu-ray collection:172 DVD collection:27 Blu-ray reviews: 3	I actually thought it was pretty good and I'm really looking forward to seeing the extended version. I thought the reviewer was totally wrong in stating that this wasn't much different than the Tony Curtis movie. The Hollywood studio movie was a total fantasy in which almost every incident was made up, including Houdini's death. According to several biographies, the Adrien Brody version was fairly accurate. While they've credited the Meyer book as the source for the film, I found most of it to have been almost exactly as described in the more recent book, "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero" by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. While I haven't read the Meyer book, I was under the impression that "Secret Life..." was the first bio of Houdini to contend that he acted as a spy for the U.S. and England. If there was one thing in this TV movie that I think they might not have gotten right, it was that Houdini was reputed to of had a much bigger ego than portrayed in the movie. Also, even though Houdini was only 52 when he died and he was incredibly strong, he looked old at a very young age and turned prematurely grey. If you look at photos of Houdini in the last ten years of his life, he looks at least 10-15 years older than his age, in spite of his muscular body. And Brody is quite tall and Houdini was quite short. I don't think it was unfair to analyze Houdini's psychology. There was a 1976 TV movie with Paul Michael Glaser (and Sally Struthers as Bess!) that pushed the Harry loves his Mom psychology to the breaking point. But there's other psychological factors: the relationship with his father, the fact that he was an immigrant and poor as a youth, Jewish background, his ability (or need) to deal with excessive pain, etc. As all film bios do, the movie left quite a bit out, but that's par for the course unless they had made a longer mini-series out of it. I also think the reviewer's "extras" rating was unfair considering the presence of the much longer version. IMDB claims there's a "Secret Life of Houdini" movie in development potentially starring Johnny Depp. Don't know how I feel about that.

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