Heavy Traffic (1973)

[Akijama]

Heavy Traffic Blu-ray

Heavy Traffic is a 1973 American animated film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi. The film, which begins, ends, and occasionally combines with live-action, explores the often surreal fantasies of a young New York cartoonist named Michael Corleone, using pinball imagery as a metaphor for inner-city life. Heavy Traffic was Bakshi and producer Steve Krantz's follow-up to the successful and cooly controversial film Fritz the Cat, the first animated feature to receive an X rating. Though producer Krantz made varied attempts to produce an R-rated film, Heavy Traffic was given an X-rating by the MPAA. The film received positive reviews and is widely considered to be Bakshi's biggest critical success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vraUu632PIY

[MJW]

Good to see another Ralph Bakshi film headed to Blu-ray. I already have Wizards, The Lord of the Rings, and Fire and Ice, so I'll probably add this to my collection eventually as well.

[Arkadin]

never seen this one, but I have seen the title many times on greatest animated films ever lists.

[BadWolf91]

Wow, I never thought this would actually happen! This has been a personal favorite of mine for years. Truly excited.

[TheManInBlu]

Okay, I think it's safe to say that Shout Factory/Scream Factory are slowly taking over the world. With all their awesome horror catalog releases and cult classics lineup this year, they've become THE distributor/studio to look out for

[BrentLW]

I was thinking the other day about how I'd love to get this on BD. Color me very excited. I just wish we could get American Pop on BD.

[bigshot]

I know they did a hidef transfer of Coonskin too. If that comes out on blu, I'll be doubly ecstatic.

[Cat III]

Good news. Like all the Bakshi films I've seen, this one is spotty in terms of quality, but intriguing nonetheless. Personally, I think Heavy Traffic is his best. Definitely prefer his gritty stuff to his fantasy works.

[Dubstar]

well now I can sell of my DVD copy of the movie.

[postmodel]

any word on special features?

[jah13]

Wow! Very exciting and unexpected.

[jah13]

Originally Posted by bigshot

I know they did a hidef transfer of Coonskin too. If that comes out on blu, I'll be doubly ecstatic.

Seems Xenon has the rights for COONSKIN and they ultimately released a DVD. If you recall, Shout's edition was unfortunately cancelled prior to that due to the rights situation. It's too bad, as the Xenon edition has no special features to provide some of the context, which a film like COONSKIN cries out for.

[Cat III]

Originally Posted by jah13

Seems Xenon has the rights for COONSKIN and they ultimately released a DVD. If you recall, Shout's edition was unfortunately cancelled prior to that due to the rights situation. It's too bad, as the Xenon edition has no special features to provide some of the context, which a film like COONSKIN cries out for.

Considering the nature of that movie, I'm happy to see any release. It easily could've ended up in movie limbo like Song of the South. Still, it's unfortunate that a Blu-ray release is a long ways off, if ever.

[jah13]

Originally Posted by Cat III

Considering the nature of that movie, I'm happy to see any release. It easily could've ended up in movie limbo like Song of the South. Still, it's unfortunate that a Blu-ray release is a long ways off, if ever.

Absolutely. And, given Xenon's inconsistent track record with regards to a/v quality, it's a sigh of relief that the DVD actually looks very good. It's just that if Shout's deal to distribute the film had held up, there likely would have been some supplemental features. This film has quite a history and it's a film that can very easily be misunderstood (Exhibit A: Al Sharpton), particularly because of Bakshi's envelope-pushing ways with regards to the portrayal of race, class, sex, and sexual orientation.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by TheManInBlu

Okay, I think it's safe to say that Shout Factory/Scream Factory are slowly taking over the world. With all their awesome horror catalog releases and cult classics lineup this year, they've become THE distributor/studio to look out for

Definitely. In the space of a week or two I've gone from looking at them as some Blue Undergroundish ultra-niche cult label to seeing them as a serious player.

The Howling, The Producers and now this?

Very cool.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by brentlw

i was thinking the other day about how i'd love to get this on bd. Color me very excited. i just wish we could get american pop on bd.

+1

[bigshot]

Coonskin is not necessarily a long way off. The rights for home video have been cleared up. All it takes is SF to put it back on the schedule.

[jah13]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Coonskin is not necessarily a long way off. The rights for home video have been cleared up. All it takes is SF to put it back on the schedule.

So, Xenon no longer has the rights?

[bigshot]

I don't know the length of the license, but I know that Ruddy did a hidef transfer of the film with the intent of releasing it to bluray. Eventually, that will happen.

[Fritz]