The Paper (1994) (Mill Creek Retro VHS line) - October 4th, 2022

[MifuneFan]

Mill Creek will be doing a new release of Ron Howard's The Paper (1994) on October 4th, under their Retro VHS-styled line. I figured this would just be another mostly pointless re-release, but this actually has new extras! The new disc will include interviews with Ron Howard, and writers David, and Stephen Koep. Extras are very likely from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, who tends to do many of the supplements for MC.

Back cover:

[Show spoiler]

Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton) is an editor at the New York Sun, a tabloid paper facing financial cuts. His pregnant wife, Martha (Marisa Tomei), pleads with him to get a more respectable job so he can spend more time with his family. Hackett is considering an offer from another paper, with fewer hours and higher pay, when he gets his hottest story in years. When this scoop leads to a burst of violence and a conflict with his new boss, Alicia (Glenn Close), he faces a startling moment of truth.

[drush9999]

Might be a chance it fixes the audio issue where it drops in volume briefly

[Monterey Jack]

I don't know who's in charge at Mill Creek, but kudos into putting actual EFFORT into these reissues of previously-barebones Universal titles.

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

I don't know who's in charge at Mill Creek, but kudos into putting actual EFFORT into these reissues of previously-barebones Universal titles.

are there others?

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

are there others?

Heart & Souls was recently reissued with new interviews and a documentary that includes clips from a deleted scene.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by IndyMLVC

are there others?

There are probably more than you think there would be. Seems like it’s mostly more recent releases, but I really only know the ones I own. Rad is one of those exceptions.

[IndyMLVC]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Heart & Souls was recently reissued with new interviews and a documentary that includes clips from a deleted scene.

Originally Posted by jkoffman

There are probably more than you think there would be. Seems like it’s mostly more recent releases, but I really only know the ones I own. Rad is one of those exceptions.

I honestly had no idea. Strange...

Thanks for the heads up.

[Fat Phil]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Might be a chance it fixes the audio issue where it drops in volume briefly

Yup, that was my first thought too. Fingers crossed.

[Guy LeDouche]

Absolutely stoked for this!

Love the retro VHS line, love Keaton, love new bonus features!

Thanks for the heads-up, MifuneFan.

[SGFfilmfan]

I'll be getting it for the special features!!! Day 1!!!!!

[MifuneFan]

$9.99 at BB and Amazon has matched

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/the-pap...skuId=35634651

https://www.amazon.com/The-Paper-Blu...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[SGFfilmfan]

Ordered!!!!

[MifuneFan]

Just got my copy in from Amazon. Some minor bruising on the slip because it was shipped in a bubble mailer, but not bad. Unfortunately, Mill Creek printed the new extras "sticker" on the slipcover and on the case insert as well. It doesn't look horribly out of place on the VHS cover, and even has some faux weathering on it, but it's very noticeable on the insert.

[noirjunkie]

Any thoughts on the PQ?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by noirjunkie

Any thoughts on the PQ?

I'm not the best when it comes to assessing picture quality, but I think it looks pretty good. It looks to be an older master, not sure if it's the same one from the DVD-era, or streaming, but it could certainly benefit from a newer scan. Good colors though. I imagine it's the more or less the same as Universal BD's PQ. Bitrate seemed to hover in the mid 30's while I was playing.

Unfortunately, it suffers from the same audio issue as the Universal BD. From around the 30:57 mark to about 32:34 there is a noticeable drop in volume. Someone in the other thread described it as a pillow being put over the speaker, and I'd say that's a how it sounds. It's like all the ambient background noise is muted out and the sound is just low. This is clearly an issue with Universal's HD master for the film, as the DVD did not have this.

The BD does come with a fair amount of extras, all produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures. The first is called Behind the Lines: Inside the Paper and runs 25:26. It has an interview with Ron Howard in it. I've only skimmed it, but it loosk good. The other two videos have voiceover interviews with Stephen Koepp, which runs 8:10, and David Koepp which runs 9:50.

[Fat Phil]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Unfortunately, it suffers from the same audio issue as the Universal BD. From around the 30:57 mark to about 32:34 there is a noticeable drop in volume. Someone in the other thread described it as a pillow being put over the speaker, and I'd say that's a how it sounds.

Yup, that was me. Four years ago

Damn, was really hoping that would've been fixed. I don't think Mill Creek have ever actually QC'd anything in their lives though, so it was always going to be a long shot. Thanks for confirming anyway. You just saved me $10.

[SeanJoyce]

Like most of Ron Howard's movies, this was good, solid entertainment. I'm impressed by the cast he was able to assemble here.

I would have excised the subplots with Tomei and Duvall's daughter. I get what they were trying to do, but they weighed the movie down and inflated the runtime to an unnecessary 2 hours. Close's

[Show spoiler]adultery

was fairly extraneous as well. Keeping a lean focus on a disreputable newspaper's fight to gain integrity via a murder case would have resulted in a much stronger movie IMO.

As is though, would make a nice double feature with Spotlight.

[Nazim]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Just got my copy in from Amazon.

Hello! Can you match these screenshots? These are from German Blu-ray:

https://www.imagebam.com/image/f065f11288355724
https://www.imagebam.com/image/7afde51288355704
https://www.imagebam.com/image/7682b31288355614