Tender Mercies from Umbrella 1 August

[Aunt Peg]

Bruce Beresfords Tender Mercies (1983) will be released on 1 August according to EzyDVD. Here's hoping for a good transfer.

[L-Rouge]

I've just read a synopsis on this story and it reads very well. Sounds interesting.

keen!

thanx

[outrunner]

I'll probably buy this since a US or UK release doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

Hopefully Umbrella will have the song "You Are What Love Means to Me" playing over the end credits. The Swedish Blu-ray and some of the non-US DVD releases have instrumental music instead.

[MikeZ.]

I know nothing about Umbrella, I look them up on the front page, it says 241 titles, yet they only display the art for one.

Are their transfers good ?

Are their releases region A, or region free ?

I got here through a search for Tender Mercies, I'm a very big fan of Robert Duvall.

[dylserx]

I tend to like most of Umbrellas releases, definitely consider them the best of the smaller distributors in Aus, they like special features

[MikeZ.]

Australia, so they're not region A, or region free ?

[Anamnesis]

Originally Posted by MikeZ.

Australia, so they're not region A, or region free ?

Depends on the title. Australia is Region B generally, and some Umbrella content has been locked, but they have also released titles Region Free. There is also 1080i 50hz content to take into account on some releases too though.

[outrunner]

I noticed that some US retailers like Amazon and DeepDiscount have this up for pre-order. DeepDiscount has it listed as region free.

[MikeZ.]

Pre-ordered from Deep Discount, with the current $5 off $25 sale, I see my price as $12.40.

Really looking forward to being rewarded for my 35 or so years of patience in never buying a physical copy, but settling for a home taping of a cable broadcast.

From Wiki :

" Following its brief theatrical run, Universal Studios quickly sold the film's rights to cable companies, allowing Tender Mercies to be shown on television. When the film unexpectedly received five Academy Award nominations nearly a year after its original release, the studio attempted to redistribute the film to theaters; however, the cable companies began televising the film about a week before the Oscar ceremony, which essentially halted any attempts at a theatrical rerelease.[7] When the film first played on HBO in March 1984, it surpassed the three major networks in ratings for homes with cable televisions.[72] Tender Mercies was released on VHS some time later, and was first released on DVD on June 22, 1999.[73] "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tender_Mercies#Home_media

[Night Fever Music]

I notice Umbrella licensed the film from Studio Canal, a company with virtually zero presence in the US (under Lionsgate). Studio Canal at one time licensed a great amount of catalog to Criterion but over the past 15 years those have dried up and reverted back to them. Just saying, this may be one of the only editions of Tender Mercies in the marketplace for years or decades to come.

[MikeZ.]

Now shipping...

[Rizor]

Received my copy from Deep Discount. Picture quality is alright. Looks like an older DVD master that's been touched up a little with some noise reduction and sharpening, but nothing too egregious. Wasn't really expecting a new transfer so it isn't that disappointing. Quality is kinda reminiscent of a passable Universal catalog release.

[outrunner]

Originally Posted by Rizor

Received my copy from Deep Discount. Picture quality is alright. Looks like an older DVD master that's been touched up a little with some noise reduction and sharpening, but nothing too egregious. Wasn't really expecting a new transfer so it isn't that disappointing. Quality is kinda reminiscent of a passable Universal catalog release.

Can you please check to see what music is playing at the end? It should be the song "You Are What Love Means to Me" rather than instrumental music if it's the unaltered version.

[MikeZ.]

Originally Posted by outrunner

Can you please check to see what music is playing at the end? It should be the song "You Are What Love Means to Me" rather than instrumental music if it's the unaltered version.

It's there, uncredited just like IMDB says it should be.
I am so proud I held out and never bought this on home video.
Looks great, sounds great. Very happy.

[outrunner]

Originally Posted by MikeZ.

It's there, uncredited just like IMDB says it should be.
I am so proud I held out and never bought this on home video.
Looks great, sounds great. Very happy.

I just went ahead and ordered it from Deep Discount, even though it's currently out of stock.It should be a massive improvement over my old Anchor Bay DVD. This is a film I think very highly of, my favorite from 1983.

[Aunt Peg]

Just want to confirm that the disc will play on a region A player.

I did a quick chapter skip and the picture quality looked really good. Haven't compared it to the DVD though.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

The AU BD is decent, but uses an older HD master that has some NR. The upcoming US release might use a newer transfer if StudioCanal did a new 4k remaster, but I suspect they didn't do a new master and we'll be getting the current one.