Richard III (1995) Ian McKellen

[James Luckard]

This is completely different from last year's American disc, which used an old HD transfer and only had an isolated score track and a trailer.

It's a special edition with a new 2K restoration that played in UK cinemas in April, followed by a simulcast chat with Ian McKellen and director Richard Loncraine, which is included on the BD.

Restoration trailer:

YouTube

Special features
- Newly remastered and presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- New commentary by Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine
- New trailer (2016)
- Play the Devil - Making Richard III (2016, 6 mins)
- Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen (2016, 79 mins)
- Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine in Conversation (2016, 21 mins)
- Complete annotated screenplay with full credits (Downloadable PDF - DVD only)
- Illustrated booklet with an extensive essay by Ian McKellen

UK / 1995 / colour / 104 mins / English language, with optional hard of hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 2.35:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, 5.1 DTS-HD master audio (48kHz/24 bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, 5.1 Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (320 kbps)

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org....2016-05-31.pdf

[Blu MacReady]

Haven't seen the first two, but this does look good.

[HotRats]

Originally Posted by Blu MacReady

Haven't seen the first two, but this does look good.

You can get David Tennant's Richard II on blu and Ben Whishaw was excellent in The Hollow Crown and there's some fun with the McKellan version in the Dylan Moran/Michael Caine comedy The Actors.

[Wernski]

Nice! Didn't even know this was coming.

[Sky_Captain]

Up yer bum, Twilight Time.

[IanSchultz23]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Up yer bum, Twilight Time.

I've only ever bought Alfredo Garcia from them, I have a few other but all from 3rd party sellers on ebay, haven't paid more than £15 for any of them as well.

[Andrew354]

So does this release definitely have a superior transfer to the Twilight Time ?

I bought the TT release last year so I wasn't going to bother with this. I might reconsider if it's a better release.

[rip63]

Originally Posted by Andrew354

So does this release definitely have a superior transfer to the Twilight Time ?

I bought the TT release last year so I wasn't going to bother with this. I might reconsider if it's a better release.

It's better by a long shot...

A new 2K restoration that played in UK cinemas in April, followed by a simulcast chat with Ian McKellen and director Richard Loncraine, which is included on the BD.

BFI release specs:

Special features
- Newly remastered and presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
- New commentary by Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine
- New trailer (2016)
- Play the Devil - Making Richard III (2016, 6 mins)
- Shakespeare on Stage, Screen and Elsewhere with Ian McKellen (2016, 79 mins)
- Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine in Conversation (2016, 21 mins)
- Complete annotated screenplay with full credits (Downloadable PDF - DVD only)
- Illustrated booklet with an extensive essay by Ian McKellen

UK / 1995 / colour / 104 mins / English language, with optional hard of hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 2.35:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, 5.1 DTS-HD master audio (48kHz/24 bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, 5.1 Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (320 kbps)

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org....2016-05-31.pdf

Can't wait!

[Andrew354]

Nice !
Looks like I'll be double-dipping on this one. I'll probably wait a while though.

[manicsounds]

Reviews:

TheaterByte

Rewind

[derek_1999]

Richard i i i

There is some talking in it... but mainly, there's loads and loads of killings...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3v53uv

Skip to 10:13

[lolwut]

Glad I didn't watch my Twilight Time edition yet.

[Erasmus Craven]

Had the old R1 DVD for ages, never got to finish watching it cause of the lack of English subs (the Bard can be a real chore if English is not your first language...). Absolutely love this new BFI disc. Bonus content is excellent, too. BTW, it's not a real Dual Format edition - the DVD has all the extras, but not the movie itself (it uses the same main menu as the Blu-ray, but the play movie option takes you right back to the menu).

[oddbox83]

That sounds like a fault.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

BTW, it's not a real Dual Format edition - the DVD has all the extras, but not the movie itself (it uses the same main menu as the Blu-ray, but the play movie option takes you right back to the menu).

WHAT?!
Going to order this but right now I don't have a working region-free BD player.

[Andrew354]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

BTW, it's not a real Dual Format edition - the DVD has all the extras, but not the movie itself (it uses the same main menu as the Blu-ray, but the play movie option takes you right back to the menu).

That can't be right. Surely it must be an error with the disc.
Hope BFI correct it.

[chaika]

I've just checked the DVD on both a Sony and Toshiba player and it worked fine - feature and extras.

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by chaika

I've just checked the DVD on both a Sony and Toshiba player and it worked fine - feature and extras.

Now, this is a strange one... I tried it on my laptop (VLC media player) last night cos I wanted to make a screenshot and it really does pop back to the main menu, I triple checked. Even loaded it into CloneDVD and the data for the film does not show up. However, trying on my Oppo and Sony players just now, the feature film DOES play.
CloneDVD tells me there are 27 files on the disc, file No. 11 lists 34 chapters, but 0:00 running time. Could you check if you too encounter this strange phenomenon on a computer drive? Really got me scratching my head...

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

Now, this is a strange one... I tried it on my laptop (VLC media player) last night cos I wanted to make a screenshot and it really does pop back to the main menu, I triple checked. Even loaded it into CloneDVD and the data for the film does not show up. However, trying on my Oppo and Sony players just now, the feature film DOES play.
CloneDVD tells me there are 27 files on the disc, file No. 11 lists 34 chapters, but 0:00 running time. Could you check if you too encounter this strange phenomenon on a computer drive? Really got me scratching my head...

Complicated disc mastering like that could be to make ripping a disc difficult. Side effect is it may cause issue with legitimate playback like what you've experienced.

[James Luckard]

My copy arrived today. I can confirm it's Region B-locked, but also that it plays with the "Stop, Top Menu" method on my Panasonic.

The transfer looks gorgeous, as good as this forgotten minor classic is ever going to look on home video. This is a Criterion-level package.

Going to explore the bonus features tonight.

BTW, in case anyone is wondering, the lengthy introduction from Ian McKellen in the booklet is not new, it's reprinted from the published screenplay in 1995. It looks like the entire book is included as a PDF extra on the DVD disc.