The Card Player 4K UHD (2003)

[brainofj72]

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collecti...he-card-player

This special limited edition spot gloss slipcover (designed by Suspiria Vilchez) is limited to 6,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.

In Rome, Inspector Anna Mari receives a macabre surprise for her birthday when an email lands in her inbox from someone calling themself “The Card Player”, and claiming to be the one responsible for the recent kidnapping of a British tourist. In a sadistic twist, the kidnapper challenges the authorities to a game of online poker to determine whether the young woman lives or dies. When the Police Commissioner forbids his team to go through with the game, the maniac brutally slaughters the tourist before their very eyes via webcam, later dumping the body in a river. As more and more women are abducted from the streets of the Italian capital and subjected to the same treatment, Anna Mari joins forces with Irish policeman John Brennan and young poker whizz-kid Remo in an attempt to beat The Card Player at their own deadly game.

A later giallo offering from the master of the form, Dario Argento’s (Deep Red, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) THE CARD PLAYER takes all the familiar trappings of the genre and plants them firmly in an early 2000s milieu, complete with a fittingly pulsing, contemporary electronic score by Claudio Simonetti (Suspiria, Tenebrae). Co-scripted by regular Argento collaborator Franco Ferrini (Phenomena, Demons) and featuring gruesome corpse special effects from Sergio Stivaletti (Cemetery Man), Vinegar Syndrome is delighted to present THE CARD PLAYER in its world UHD debut, newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative and loaded with a full deck of both new and archival extras.

directed by: Dario Argento
starring: Stefania Rocca, Liam Cunningham, Silvio Muccino, Adalberto Maria Merli, Claudio Santamaria, Fiore Argento
2003 / 103 min / 1.85:1 / English, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Additional info:

2-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray
4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
Presented in its original English language 5.1 surround soundtrack, as well as its Italian language 5.1 surround soundtrack with newly translated English subtitles
Commentary track with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
Playing the Game (27 min) - a brand new interview with actress Stefania Rocca
Digital Nightmare (19 min) - a brand new interview with composer Claudio Simonetti
Like in War (10 min) - a brand new interview with make-up artist Sergio Stivaletti
Sharp Cuts (20 min) - a brand new interview with editor Walter Fasano
Watch Me When I Kill (18 min) - an archival interview with director/screenwriter Dario Argento
Taking Risks (9 min) - an archival interview with screenwriter Franco Ferrini
A Chip and a Chair (12 min) - an archival interview with set designer Antonello Geleng
Game Over (8 min) - an archival interview with actress Fiore Argento
Archival behind-the-scenes featurette (9 min)
Reversible sleeve artwork
English SDH subtitles

[dallywhitty]

Haven't seen a great deal of later Argento aside from Mother of Tears and Dark Glasses, but I feel compelled to blind-buy this one.

Wonder what the October Argento is...

[dwk]

I would assume Sleepless. Doesn't Severin have a couple more Argento titles too?

The Card Player is by far the best of post-Stendhal Argento, due in large part to Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham.

[jcs913]

Yeah, Sleepless should be next from VS. They raided the Scorpion cuphoard, Would be nice to see some unreleased Argento on HD, but that requires work from these companies. Oh well, any Argento is better than none.

[fattyjoe37]

Card Player is pretty bottom of the barrel Argento for me. Same league as Phantom of the Opera and Dracula. Haven't seen Sleepless, so may be interested if that is announced for October.

[Surge92]

I would have preferred Sleepless, but I remember liking The Card Player enough, even though I haven't seen it since the DVD era.

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Wonder what the October Argento is...

I'll pray to Isis that it's Sleepless.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by fattyjoe37

Card Player is pretty bottom of the barrel Argento for me. Same league as Phantom of the Opera and Dracula. Haven't seen Sleepless, so may be interested if that is announced for October.

I think that Card Player is very well shot, the cinematography is excellent. To be fair, I also think Phantom looks very good. I'm up for upgrading either of those two films, pre-ordered the 4K UHD of Card Player almost immediately.

(Maybe this is a bad time to mention that I also picked up the Italian 4K of Dracula? ) I thoroughly enjoy upgrading my Dario Argento films.

[Guillaume P]

I might be interested in this new Blu-ray but I imagine it's "Region A locked" and not "Region B" or "All Regions"?

Originally Posted by dwk

The Card Player is by far the best of post-Stendhal Argento, due in large part to Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham.

I agree about the solid acting, i love Stefania Rocca in this film and Liam Cunningham is very good too, but I would say that DARK GLASSES/OCCHIALI NERI is as good or even better than THE CARD PLAYER.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by fattyjoe37

Card Player is pretty bottom of the barrel Argento for me. Same league as Phantom of the Opera and Dracula. Haven't seen Sleepless, so may be interested if that is announced for October.

Sleepless is considerably better than all the films you’ve mentioned….

It’s actually the last really good film that Argento has made….

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Guillaume P

I might be interested in this new Blu-ray but I imagine it's "Region A locked" and not "Region B" or "All Regions"?

Unfortunately the item description says that the 1080p disc is A locked. Stick with the (excellent looking) French blu-ray.

[dickdarlington]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

Sleepless is considerably better than all the films you’ve mentioned….

It’s actually the last really good film that Argento has made….

Sleepless is Argento’s last great film.

The Card Player is Argento’s last watchable film.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by dickdarlington

Sleepless is Argento’s last great film.

The Card Player is Argento’s last watchable film.

Did you really find Dark Glasses to be unwatchable?

[Guillaume P]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Unfortunately the item description says that the 1080p disc is A locked. Stick with the (excellent looking) French blu-ray.

I already have the french Blu-ray and it is very good, indeed! But it's not 4K! and the new interviews look interesting, maybe they will be present in another upcoming release (a UK Blu Ray for example..Arrow?...an australian Blu Ray...Imprint?)

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Did you really find Dark Glasses to be unwatchable?

I actually liked it quite a bit until the rather clumsy climax.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Guillaume P

I already have the french Blu-ray and it is very good, indeed! But it's not 4K! and the new interviews look interesting, maybe they will be present in another upcoming release (a UK Blu Ray for example..Arrow?...an australian Blu Ray...Imprint?)

I assumed that you could currently only watch 1080p discs. The 4K UHD in this set is stated as being region friendly.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Surge92

I actually liked it quite a bit until the rather clumsy climax.

I've read that the original Dark Glasses script featured a boat chase at the end. I think it was supposed to take place in Venice. Presumably that was re-written due to the ultra low budget.

btw dallywhitty, Card Player is good but be warned that it is quite bloodless. That made Alan Jones see it as a failed attempt to tap into the American market, much like Trauma. The Claudio Simonetti Card Player soundtrack is excellent and in the film, there is a great home invasion sequence.

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

I've read that the original Dark Glasses script featured a boat chase at the end. I think it was supposed to take place in Venice. Presumably that was re-written due to the ultra low budget.

I haven't seen the movie in a couple of years, but from what I remember, they try to copy the climax of a beloved Argento classic, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but the sloppy editing made the result lame instead of effective.

[stigdu]

I quite like The Card Player. I'd put it below Mother of Tears (which I like) and Sleepless (which I think is very good).

They can keep Dracula, Giallo and Dark Glasses, mind. All crap.

[SymbioticFunction]

I was messaging with a friend on Facebook about how Vinegar Syndrome would probably release a 4K UHD of Sleepless next.

He reminded me that if you want to include both English and Italian audio, Sleepless is a problematic release as the English and Italian versions of the film have different running times. The differences occur during the reading of the nursery rhyme scene.

The Scorpion bd was reported to have a missing line of dialogue and my French bd has brief shots of von Sydow talking out of sync (with the English audio selected during that one scene).

I'm curious as to how Vinegar Syndrome will approach this issue. Branching maybe?

[dwk]

Originally Posted by Guillaume P

I might be interested in this new Blu-ray but I imagine it's "Region A locked" and not "Region B" or "All Regions"?





I agree about the solid acting, i love Stefania Rocca in this film and Liam Cunningham is very good too, but I would say that DARK GLASSES/OCCHIALI NERI is as good or even better than THE CARD PLAYER.

I picked up the Dark Glasses Blu-ray last year, but I haven't gotten to it.

I probably should do a Argento night for a couple of months, because I haven't watched any of the Argento UHDs I've upgraded. For the last few years I have been real bad at actually getting around to watching the discs I buy.