British Film Institute (BFI) Discussion Thread

[T4ffer]

Flipside, Akerman 2

Probably TwentyFourSeven... although i haven't even seen This Is England... maybe I should start with that.

[Ben_C]

Already got the German Capelight release of Brother, but will almost certainly grab the BFI release too.
Whilst it may not be very top-tier Kitano, it’s still a solid film, and has the usual added brilliance of a Joe Hisaishi score, and it’s always a good day when another Kitano film gets a UK release announcement (just a shame it’s not a 4K release )

[bleedandtrim]

Originally Posted by Ben_C

Already got the German Capelight release of Brother, but will almost certainly grab the BFI release too.
Whilst it may not be very top-tier Kitano, it’s still a solid film, and has the usual added brilliance of a Joe Hisaishi score, and it’s always a good day when another Kitano film gets a UK release announcement.

It's streaming on All4 too, for anyone who hasn't seen it.

[tomblu]

I've got the AUS release of Brother, not watched it yet as well. Will have to watch it and see how the transfer compares to the BFI. La Haine, I already have the BFI Blu-Ray which was really good so maybe can stick with that.

Throne of Blood...absolutely, yes please!

[Cremildo]

Throne of Blood on 4K is a swoon-worthy announcement. Too bad it's ridiculously expensive to import from the UK right now.

[ophone]

Will La haine have French subtitles?

[shimmy]

Extremely happy about the Throne of Blood announcement as its my favorite Kurosawa film.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by ophone

Will La haine have French subtitles?

No, just English.

[Garmonbozia_]

Originally Posted by OnlyJapantown

Good announcements. I'm hesitant to pick up High & Low on blu-ray because a 4K seems inevitable.

More Takeshi please!

I don’t understand why they didn’t release it in 4k in the first place

[Hadi2001]

Originally Posted by OnlyJapantown

Good announcements. I'm hesitant to pick up High & Low on blu-ray because a 4K seems inevitable.

More Takeshi please!

yeah we def need a HANA-BI release

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by Hadi2001

yeah we def need a HANA-BI release

We had one, from Third Window, though their Kitano releases went oop a while ago. Surprised another label hasn’t resurrected them though tbh, as there were some really amazing films there - the likes of Hana-bi, A Scene at the Sea, Kikujiro and Kids Return.

[rapta]

Yet another amazing batch of announcements! Had no idea Throne of Blood had a 4K restoration, but great that BFI managed to grab it (wonder if The Hidden Fortress is next). Anyway, pre-ordering the Blu-ray edition, and like with the other Kurosawa titles, I may get the 4K disc at a later date if I ever upgrade my system.

Brother is fantastic news, I very nearly imported the German or Aussie disc of this very recently (available on Rarewaves, for example) but glad I held out now! One of the Film4 titles I had been begging anyone with a deal to license. Never seen this one but any Kitano is a insta-buy from me. Now, who the heck is going to release Lynch's The Straight Story over here (also with Film4, but StudioCanal have a 4K restoration ready...perhaps Radiance or BFI will grant us a release?).

Lastly, TwentyFourSeven is a nice surprise! Never actually seen this one despite loving both Bob Hoskins and earlier Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes especially, which Second Sight are bringing to Blu-ray soon). Colour me intrigued, I'm keen to see what this is like.

Originally Posted by CavebobSpongeman

TWENTYFOURSEVEN AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!
Please please PLEASE let them do Romeo Brass next.

Yes please, that's one of his better films and when I've discussed Shane Meadows with friends and colleagues, they only seem to be aware of This is England (and maybe Dead Man's Shoes)! Romeo Brass should be a British classic in my book.

Originally Posted by Garmonbozia_

I don’t understand why they didn’t release it in 4k in the first place

They assessed it and decided it wasn't quite perfect for 4K, probably for one of two reasons: either the quality of the restoration didn't justify the 4K bump, or they decided it wasn't worth the time-consuming and costly exercise of producing a UHD disc comparative to sales of the disc. If it's the former, some people who've seen the restoration seem to disagree, and if it was the latter, they clearly underestimated demand for Kurosawa 4K whatever the genre.

Either way, they might reconsider, but the longer they take to do that the less likely it'd be worth doing it as people are snapping up the Blu-ray release instead. And also working against them is the probability that Criterion will release a 4K UHD in the near future, which will impact sales of their release. Not to mention the amount of grumbles they'd get from people who paid for the Blu-ray, not knowing a UHD was coming...if I were a betting man, I'd say they'll now weigh it up and won't bother right now, but possibly will upgrade it when the next batch of Kurosawa restorations are ready (probably not for another year or two). That'd be the smart move, as many people would be happy to upgrade, and there'd be a lot of focus on Kurosawa again.

Sometimes they'll decide a 4K upgrade is worth it, as proven by La Haine 4K only a couple of years since their last release of it (and I seem to remember on the Facebook group they said they probably wouldn't bother with a 4K disc, clearly have changed their minds now).

Originally Posted by Ben_C

We had one, from Third Window, though their Kitano releases went oop a while ago. Surprised another label hasn’t resurrected them though tbh, as there were some really amazing films there - the likes of Hana-bi, A Scene at the Sea, Kikujiro and Kids Return.

It'd only be worth picking them all up if a label was prepared to do new scans, and the smart move would to do a box set rather than trickle them out. I wouldn't be surprised if Arrow or BFI did this eventually, and if not then maybe Radiance (less likely though, they already have enough on their plates, and try to avoid doing titles previously available).

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Ben_C

We had one, from Third Window, though their Kitano releases went oop a while ago. Surprised another label hasn’t resurrected them though tbh, as there were some really amazing films there - the likes of Hana-bi, A Scene at the Sea, Kikujiro and Kids Return.

Third Window also released Dolls & Getting Any?

Pity no-one has released either of Kitano's surrealist autobiographical or Outrage trilogies in the UK.

Pity no-one has released the following Kitano directed films (highlighted are Surrealist Autobiographical Trilogy & The Outrage Trilogy) in the UK:

Takeshis' (2005)
Glory to the Filmmaker! (2007)
Achilles and the Tortoise (2008)
Outrage (2010)
Beyond Outrage (2012)
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen (2015)
Outrage Coda (2017)
Kubi (2023)

Not Counting Broken Rage (2025) as that has not been released yet or One Fine Day which is his short film segment for the 2007 anthology film To Each His Own Cinema.

[Gacivory]

Chantal Akerman!!!!!!!!!! Throne of Blood 4K!!!!!!! TwentyFourSeven!!!!! Brother!!!!

[rapta]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Third Window also released Dolls & Getting Any?

Pity no-one has released either of Kitano's surrealist autobiographical or Outrage trilogies in the UK.

Pity no-one has released the following Kitano directed films (highlighted are Surrealist Autobiographical Trilogy & The Outrage Trilogy) in the UK:

Takeshis' (2005)
Glory to the Filmmaker! (2007)
Achilles and the Tortoise (2008)
Outrage (2010)
Beyond Outrage (2012)
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen (2015)
Outrage Coda (2017)
Kubi (2023)

Not Counting Broken Rage (2025) as that has not been released yet or One Fine Day which is his short film segment for the 2007 anthology film To Each His Own Cinema.

StudioCanal released Outrage on Blu-ray back in 2011, and Takeshis' was released on DVD by Artificial Eye in 2010, FWIW...

[Stanshall]

What an amazing slate. God bless the BFI.

[GreatUncleBaal]

Originally Posted by rapta

(Dead Man's Shoes especially, which Second Sight are bringing to Blu-ray soon)

Holy shit, been waiting for this to get a re-release for years as it's a film I completely missed somehow.

[CavebobSpongeman]

Originally Posted by rapta

Yet another amazing batch of announcements! Had no idea Throne of Blood had a 4K restoration, but great that BFI managed to grab it (wonder if The Hidden Fortress is next). Anyway, pre-ordering the Blu-ray edition, and like with the other Kurosawa titles, I may get the 4K disc at a later date if I ever upgrade my system.

Brother is fantastic news, I very nearly imported the German or Aussie disc of this very recently (available on Rarewaves, for example) but glad I held out now! One of the Film4 titles I had been begging anyone with a deal to license. Never seen this one but any Kitano is a insta-buy from me. Now, who the heck is going to release Lynch's The Straight Story over here (also with Film4, but StudioCanal have a 4K restoration ready...perhaps Radiance or BFI will grant us a release?).

Lastly, TwentyFourSeven is a nice surprise! Never actually seen this one despite loving both Bob Hoskins and earlier Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes especially, which Second Sight are bringing to Blu-ray soon). Colour me intrigued, I'm keen to see what this is like.



Yes please, that's one of his better films and when I've discussed Shane Meadows with friends and colleagues, they only seem to be aware of This is England (and maybe Dead Man's Shoes)! Romeo Brass should be a British classic in my book.



They assessed it and decided it wasn't quite perfect for 4K, probably for one of two reasons: either the quality of the restoration didn't justify the 4K bump, or they decided it wasn't worth the time-consuming and costly exercise of producing a UHD disc comparative to sales of the disc. If it's the former, some people who've seen the restoration seem to disagree, and if it was the latter, they clearly underestimated demand for Kurosawa 4K whatever the genre.

Either way, they might reconsider, but the longer they take to do that the less likely it'd be worth doing it as people are snapping up the Blu-ray release instead. And also working against them is the probability that Criterion will release a 4K UHD in the near future, which will impact sales of their release. Not to mention the amount of grumbles they'd get from people who paid for the Blu-ray, not knowing a UHD was coming...if I were a betting man, I'd say they'll now weigh it up and won't bother right now, but possibly will upgrade it when the next batch of Kurosawa restorations are ready (probably not for another year or two). That'd be the smart move, as many people would be happy to upgrade, and there'd be a lot of focus on Kurosawa again.

Sometimes they'll decide a 4K upgrade is worth it, as proven by La Haine 4K only a couple of years since their last release of it (and I seem to remember on the Facebook group they said they probably wouldn't bother with a 4K disc, clearly have changed their minds now).



It'd only be worth picking them all up if a label was prepared to do new scans, and the smart move would to do a box set rather than trickle them out. I wouldn't be surprised if Arrow or BFI did this eventually, and if not then maybe Radiance (less likely though, they already have enough on their plates, and try to avoid doing titles previously available).

Romeo Brass is my 2nd favourite film of his.

[OceanBlue]

Out of the Q2 physical media announcements from the BFI earlier today, I wasn't sure if I was going to be interested in anything. That was until reading the post at the top of this thread page (interested in Eclipse).

[grahams76]

Forgive the possibly ignorant question, but do you have to be a fan of Slade to enjoy Slade In Flame? In other words, it's not about their music?