Kamikaze 89 (Wolf Gremm/Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

[pro-bassoonist]

Kamikaze 89 Blu-ray PRE-ORDER



NEWS
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=19391

U.S. label Film Movement has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray releases of Wolf Gremm's Kamikaze 89 and Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors (1994).

Kamikaze 89

In his last acting role, legendary director Rainer Werner Fassbinder plays Jansen, an expert cop living in a dystopic future (and clad in a sharp leopard skin jacket) where a mysterious organization known as The Combine controls all media. After The Combine's headquarters receives several bomb threats, Jansen is tasked with infiltrating the nefarious conglomerate.

This cult classic features a soundtrack by Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream and an array of New German Cinema stars, including Brigitte Mira (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul), Frank Ripploh (Taxi Zum Klo), and Gunter Kaufmann (The Marriage of Maria Braun).

Special Features and Specs:

NEW 4K restoration
60-minute documentary
Rainer Werner Fassbinder The Last Year
Audio Commentary by Producer Regina Ziegler
John Cassavetes Kamikaze '89 radio spots
Kamikaze 89 trailer
Original stills
Collector's booklet

STREET DATE: SEPTEMBER 27.

KAMIKAZE '89 - OFFICIAL US Trailer (4K RESTORATION) - YouTube

Pro-B

[SpiderBaby]

Anyone else super excited to own this? Just got my copy in today and about to watch it. Fassbinder!

[fdm]

I'm very glad to see this get a release. Thanks Film Movement!

Just waiting for the right time to order it (since I don't do many online orders any more), probably somewhere towards the end of this month. That and need to figure out where I'll be getting it from. Top of my procurement list.

(Oh it looks like amazon just undercut deep discount's price by a whole penny.)

[serya]

Just noticed this today. The music is one of my favorite soundtrack albums of all time, by Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream. I remember the old VHS in a rental place and I never watched it. Very very hard to find, so happy I will finally be able to.

[ikms]

As a photographer watching this release today, PQ-wise I gotta think that the characteristic static "blobs" on parts of the frame are dust/debris on the scanning sensor. Never seen anything like it before on a home video release, the closest would be old prints "telecined" off a dirty wall or surface, but the pattern is always much finer. No, this looks like somebody neglected to clean the scanner.

[Stanis]

Originally Posted by ikms

As a photographer watching this release today, PQ-wise I gotta think that the characteristic static "blobs" on parts of the frame are dust/debris on the scanning sensor. Never seen anything like it before on a home video release, the closest would be old prints "telecined" off a dirty wall or surface, but the pattern is always much finer. No, this looks like somebody neglected to clean the scanner.

This was bothering me too. I came here to check the screen shots and yep they are present. I cant believe a professional cameraman would leave a lens dirty for every shot, but it looks that way. Perhaps you are right and its the scanner, but it sucks!

[Shaw24]

I just got this off Amazon. Is it normal for Film movement Classics Blurays & DVDs to be BD-R and DVD-R? Both of the ones I got were. I know some studios do this, and this film only got a physical release because it was crowd-funded, but I'm curious.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Shaw24

I just got this off Amazon. Is it normal for Film movement Classics Blurays & DVDs to be BD-R and DVD-R? Both of the ones I got were. I know some studios do this, and this film only got a physical release because it was crowd-funded, but I'm curious.

No, I'm pretty sure they were originally pressed. I wonder if that changed in later prints or you somehow got a resealed copy where someone put burned discs in there. Does it have disc art?

[Shaw24]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

No, I'm pretty sure they were originally pressed. I wonder if that changed in later prints or you somehow got a resealed copy where someone put burned discs in there. Does it have disc art?

Yes, it has disc art, but it's a slightly different color than others I've seen. The case for the bluray is also a generic blue case, whereas most others I've seen are clear. The DVD with the documentary is also a bit shit. Shows up as just "Title 1" with no menus and starts playing instantly. Maybe the original didn't have menus either, but I don't know.

I did email the studio asking if they ever released burned copies, but haven't heard back yet. Might just return it.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Shaw24

Yes, it has disc art, but it's a slightly different color than others I've seen. The case for the bluray is also a generic blue case, whereas most others I've seen are clear. The DVD with the documentary is also a bit shit. Shows up as just "Title 1" with no menus and starts playing instantly. Maybe the original didn't have menus either, but I don't know.

I did email the studio asking if they ever released burned copies, but haven't heard back yet. Might just return it.

Yeah all of that sounds suspect to me

[Shaw24]

They got back to me and said that they are about to lose their license for the film, so they printed one last, quick, batch using BD-R and DVD-R. So it is, in fact, real.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Shaw24

They got back to me and said that they are about to lose their license for the film, so they printed one last, quick, batch using BD-R and DVD-R. So it is, in fact, real.

Wow, that's surprising and unfortunate. I'm glad you got a response from them though.

[MifuneFan]

Kamikaze '89 is now back in print, and now released as a Partner Label release from Film Movement

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collecti...aze-89-reissue

Region Free Blu-ray
New 4K Restoration
Rainer Werner Fassbinder: The LAST YEAR documentary by Wolf Gremm
Commentary by producer Regina Ziegler
John Cassevetes KAMIKAZE '89 TV spots
New essays by Nick Pinkerton and Samuel B. Prime
English subtitles

[Stanis]

I hope this versions cleans up the issues in the previous release

[Scott321]

Dr. Svet's original post from 2016 says it's a "new 4K restoration", so it the upcoming release the same 'new 4K restoration' (copying the advertising), or is it a NEW 'new 4K restoration', i.e., a second 4K restoration, completed sometime after 2016?

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Scott321

Dr. Svet's original post from 2016 says it's a "new 4K restoration", so it the upcoming release the same 'new 4K restoration' (copying the advertising), or is it a NEW 'new 4K restoration', i.e., a second 4K restoration, completed sometime after 2016?

It’s the same disc as before with a new slip cover.

[MifuneFan]

The main thing that appears to be missing is the bonus DVD that included a documentary:

Wolf at the Door - an incredibly moving documentary about the life and career of director Wolf Gremm. It was made in 2015, while the director was fighting cancer and knew that he had little time left to live. In English and German, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (76 min).

[Stanis]

Was thinking of buying, but the previous disk had a video flaw (dirt or something that came from the scanner since it was in every shot) and if its the same dirty transfer Im going to hold off . Love the film tho, soundtrack is killer

[KrugerIndustrial]

Did anyone contact Film Movement regarding the scanner problems?

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by KrugerIndustrial

Did anyone contact Film Movement regarding the scanner problems?

Film Movement sadly is one of the worst labels right now when it comes to the technical side of things. I’ve seldom seen such pervasive encoding artifacts no matter the film’s length, AR or visual appearance. Whatever film they put out right now via VS is affected by this. Their authoring house also messes with audio mixes, particularly some of the films with surround mixes didn’t sound right to me. Unfortunately Film Movement are unwilling to listen to feedback in that regard and as VS only distribute these releases, they can’t do anything either.

Films they released previously, such as Kamikaze 81 were encoded by another facility and, while still imperfect, look quite a bit better than the newly released titles, so I’m actually rather grateful that the film looks as "good" as it does here when I know it could’ve turned out a lot worse. A hypothetical scenario: Should FM improve the master, they’d have to do the encode again and it’d likely go to the team they hire at the moment.