Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

Being fair, two or three days into the sale, I posted a message on their Facebook site asking about low quantities, and their response was:
"the only title with very low quantity is Mysterious Island."

That was 2 or 3 days before it was officially sold out, so they did get word out with time to buy.

BTW, I have seen a few references that the Zardoz UK disc is better, but I have never picked up the reason. What is better about it? Just curious; if the Twilight Time disc goes out of print, and there's a better one out there, I might sell it and use the money to pay for an upgrade.

The Arrow version has a lot more extras and the encoding is better. You probably won't notice the pq difference unless you're a real stickler. The TT release has two commentary tracks, and this one is exclusive:

Audio Commentary with Film Historians Jeff Bond, Joe Fordham and Nick Redman

The also have an exclusive pamphlet as usual.

The Arrow has all this exclusive:

Brand new interviews with Boorman, actor Sara Kestelman, production designer Anthony Pratt, special effects creator Gerry Johnston, camera operator Peter MacDonald, assistant director Simon Relph, hair stylist Colin Jamison, production manager Seamus Byrne, and assistant editor Alan Jones

Newly filmed appreciation with director Ben Wheately (Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England)

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin

Collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by Julian Upton and Adrian Smith, plus archive interviews, illustrated by original production stills.

Obviously the artwork isn't a huge deal, the TT has nice non-reversible artwork. But the booklet is a lot better than the pamphlet and those are a lot of interviews if you care about those kinds of things.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

Glad I grabbed it. How is it that Zardoz has gone through two sales and that number hasn't been adjusted? For that matter, the Twilight Time website actually sold out of Zardoz during the last sale,

Generally speaking, a title doesn't get on the LQA list until it drops to 500 copies. I was actually surprised that TT ever mentioned Zardoz and Vampires, both of which (at the time) 1000+. I've no doubt they -- or at least Zardoz -- have dropped below 1000, but maybe not enough to be worth noting.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by oildude

There is a new entry......Glad to see Major Dundee finally make the list. Great Peckinpah western that I really enjoyed.

I like Westerns but usually only great ones, and not older ones. 1965 is borderline. Can you recommend it to someone who loves stuff like Fistful of Dollars but finds stuff like Wild Bunch a little overrated?

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I like Westerns but usually only great ones, and not older ones. 1965 is borderline. Can you recommend it to someone who loves stuff like Fistful of Dollars but finds stuff like Wild Bunch a little overrated?

In its restored form, Major Dundee is really neither better nor worse than it was before: but since it was always a pretty good and always interesting epic failure, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The structural flaws are still there, with the additions more filling in details like Tyreen's recapture, Dundee's drunken sojourn in Durango, the fate of the Apache scout Riago and Dundee's decision to stop fighting on the enemy's terms rather than adding insight or filling holes, but its still an interesting take on flawed men trying to find some kind of personal vindication in an illegal incursion into a foreign country (Mexico at a time when it was flooded with French troops and renegade Apaches) while their own country is caught up in a bloody civil war of its own. Where most Civil War films opt for either tragedy or a sense of a nation healing itself, this picks at the scabs instead, offering inadequate men barely able to believe in their own delusions any more but still determined to follow them through to the bloody end. And this being Peckinpah, even in 1965, there is plenty of blood and grit on offer - it's a sweaty, dirty looking movie that's under no romantic illusions (well, aside from Richard Harris' tendency to overdo the eyeliner). Unlike The Wild Bunch, it's not a film that gets better every time you see it, but it's still pretty impressive.

The new score by Christopher Caliendo is also quite impressive, for the most part pastiching a 60s score convincingly enough for it not to seem out of place. That said, there is something disappointing in the striving but unfulfilled main title: it matches the character perfectly (Dundee is constantly revealed as a very hollow man), but the lack of musical resolution is somewhat unsatisfying. Still, it's certainly less grating for most viewers than Daniele Amfitheatrof's original score or Mitch Miller and his Singalong Gang's jaunty can't-get-it-out-of-your-head-dammit title number, Fall in Behind the Major. Unlike the DVD release, Twilight Time's Bluray release only includes Caliendo's score (the DVD included a cut-and-paste of Amfitheatrof's score as an option), but it does include both cuts of the film, with the 122-minute theatrical release not only retaining Amfitheatrof's contentious score but also treating it to an isolated score track (Caliendo's score also gets one on the restored version). The picture quality on the theatrical version, only previously released panned and scanned on VHS, isn't as good as the restored version in some of the darker scenes, but both cuts look better than they ever have on the small screen.

There's also a very respectable extras package including an audio commentary by Peckinpah historians Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons, David Weddle and Nick Redman, 2 incomplete deleted scenes and silent outtakes, extract from a Columbia exhibitors promo reel, 2005 reissue trailer and original theatrical trailer (as well as trailer graphics footage) and a booklet with notes by Julie Kirgo on the film's troubled production and release. Spread across two Blu-ray discs, it's an excellent release that's well worth the upgrade.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by xxnomad

I was like you 6 months ago. 3 sales and 12 titles later...

Originally Posted by RalphoR

Forget it.....you're done. Better to just accept your fate and watch your wallet shrivel

Oh, great. Thanks guys. You're really helping me out here, haha

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Aclea

In its restored form, Major Dundee is really neither better nor worse than it was before: but since it was always a pretty good and always interesting epic failure, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The structural flaws are still there, with the additions more filling in details like Tyreen's recapture, Dundee's drunken sojourn in Durango, the fate of the Apache scout Riago and Dundee's decision to stop fighting on the enemy's terms rather than adding insight or filling holes, but its still an interesting take on flawed men trying to find some kind of personal vindication in an illegal incursion into a foreign country (Mexico at a time when it was flooded with French troops and renegade Apaches) while their own country is caught up in a bloody civil war of its own. Where most Civil War films opt for either tragedy or a sense of a nation healing itself, this picks at the scabs instead, offering inadequate men barely able to believe in their own delusions any more but still determined to follow them through to the bloody end. And this being Peckinpah, even in 1965, there is plenty of blood and grit on offer - it's a sweaty, dirty looking movie that's under no romantic illusions (well, aside from Richard Harris' tendency to overdo the eyeliner). Unlike The Wild Bunch, it's not a film that gets better every time you see it, but it's still pretty impressive.

Hmmm I like the sound of a lot of that. I'm getting a couple of new month's new releases so maybe I'll throw this on top.

[Dirk Pitt]

When was the encore edition of Journey to center of the earth release date?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Dirk Pitt

When was the encore edition of Journey to center of the earth release date?

If you click on it in the OP it takes you to the blu-ray.com page for it and it says it right there in the top left under the title. Alternatively, search for it in the search bar!

Mar 10, 2015

[Dirk Pitt]

Okay, I knew that. My bad. I guess I meant what was the sell out date. There's a list of all of TT's sold out titles and how long it took to sell out but the encore release of Journey to the center of the earth wasn't on it.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Dirk Pitt

Okay, I knew that. My bad. I guess I meant what was the sell out date. There's a list of all of TT's sold out titles and how long it took to sell out but the encore release of Journey to the center of the earth wasn't on it.

There's this Wikipedia page:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._Time_releases

Don't know how up-to-date it is.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Dirk Pitt

Okay, I knew that. My bad. I guess I meant what was the sell out date. There's a list of all of TT's sold out titles and how long it took to sell out but the encore release of Journey to the center of the earth wasn't on it.

Check out the link in my .sig "List of Twilight Time Out of Print titles, with dates they went OOP". I just made sure it's up to date.

[Dirk Pitt]

thanks guys!

[Doc Moonlight]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I like Westerns but usually only great ones, and not older ones. 1965 is borderline. Can you recommend it to someone who loves stuff like Fistful of Dollars but finds stuff like Wild Bunch a little overrated?

If you think THE WILD BUNCH is overrated, then I can't recommend any film to you.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Doc Moonlight

If you think THE WILD BUNCH is overrated, then I can't recommend any film to you.

Yeah, I dunno why he'd like one of Peckinpah's worst films when he doesn't even like the one generally considered his BEST :P Major Dundee should definitely come after "Ride the High Country," "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Straw Dogs" at the very least! If you dislike Peckinpah AND westerns, that's a weird thing to go for. It's kinda like saying "well, I haven't seen any Spielberg besides Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I thought sucked...I THINK I'LL WATCH "ALWAYS"!!!"

[Martin_31]

The Wild Bunch overrated! Psh, I cannot believe it.

[bubuwest]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I like Westerns but usually only great ones, and not older ones. 1965 is borderline. Can you recommend it to someone who loves stuff like Fistful of Dollars but finds stuff like Wild Bunch a little overrated?

If you consider 1965 as your borderline year for great westerns, I'm afraid I can't recommend anything to you either. Also, if you rate A Fistful of Dollars higher than The Wild Bunch, then I guess you should look out for Italian spaghetti westerns rather than American westerns. And I'm telling you this as an Italian who gets repeatedly frustrated at noticing that the average filmgoer in my country thinks "Western" is synonymous with Leone and his Dollar Trilogy...

[Iamspartacus]

Two words on why you should get it: Senta Berger

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Yeah, I dunno why he'd like one of Peckinpah's worst films when he doesn't even like the one generally considered his BEST :P Major Dundee should definitely come after "Ride the High Country," "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Straw Dogs" at the very least! If you dislike Peckinpah AND westerns, that's a weird thing to go for. It's kinda like saying "well, I haven't seen any Spielberg besides Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I thought sucked...I THINK I'LL WATCH "ALWAYS"!!!"

As someone who really enjoys The Wild Bunch, the first time I saw Major Dundee I was pretty pumped at checking out a new Peckinpah film that many said was another masterpiece hacked up by the studio. I was pretty disappointed in it afterwards and found it quite middling. I ended up buying the blu-ray and re-watching it with tempered expectations. I found it a decent watch this time, but it certainly didn't get my juices flowing like other Peckinpah westerns. Plus, I would say its style is a lot more old-fashioned than something like the Wild Bunch so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like pre-1965 style westerns.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Yeah, I dunno why he'd like one of Peckinpah's worst films when he doesn't even like the one generally considered his BEST :P Major Dundee should definitely come after "Ride the High Country," "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Straw Dogs" at the very least! If you dislike Peckinpah AND westerns, that's a weird thing to go for. It's kinda like saying "well, I haven't seen any Spielberg besides Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I thought sucked...I THINK I'LL WATCH "ALWAYS"!!!"

To you and the more elitist commenters: I did not say I don't like The Wild Bunch. I did not say The Wild Bunch is a bad movie. In fact, if you click the numbers under my stunning picture you will discover I own The Wild Bunch on blu-ray. What I said was, I find it overrated, by which I mean it's not AMAZING to me or a SUPER CLASSIC to me, it's just good. So yes, my question was, would that mean I would completely dislike Dundee or is it worth a shot?

[jetthead]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I like Westerns but usually only great ones, and not older ones. 1965 is borderline. Can you recommend it to someone who loves stuff like Fistful of Dollars but finds stuff like Wild Bunch a little overrated?

Call me elitist if you want to, but I have to ask: What's the deal with not liking the pre-'60s westerns? Ignoring the great westerns of the '40s and '50s means missing out on all of John Ford's and Howard Hawks' films. We're talking about some of the greatest westerns ever filmed. A great movie is a great movie regardless of when it was filmed.