Cockfighter (1974) - April 26, 2022

[Rayjg]

They own this now too, right? I guess no better elements exist to use

[dkelly26666]

I ordered it and they shipped it within hours. Really good for Shout.

I receive it Monday, according to USPS tracking.

[El Sleezo]

Think I’ll buy Friday either way, but interested in video impressions first.

[dressedtokill]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

They own this now too, right? I guess no better elements exist to use

This has nothing to do with elements or not., it simply boils down to the fact that SF released an old master. The film, much like Watchers II and Doctor Stranger, should have been given a new transfer.

[houseca]

A couple of other things about this release. There are no special features (other than a trailor), but that is somewhat expected from such a limited release. Also, the reverse art has the "born to kill" title, so if you don't care for the Cockfighter title, you can change it.

[HuggyBear73]

Huge Warren Oates fan but was never a fan of ..Cockfighter.

I want Oates in Monte Hellman's .. China 9 Liberty 37. It's one of the last great spaghetti westerns. Co-starring Jenny Agutter and Fabio Testi.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

This has nothing to do with elements or not., it simply boils down to the fact that SF released an old master. The film, much like Watchers II and Doctor Stranger, should have been given a new transfer.

I agree. This has been a long awaited title and should’ve received VIP treatment.

[Mr. Thomsen]

I ordered this (and a few other exclusives) through a re-shipper.

Never seen it, but I have friends who are outspoken fans. I am a bit hesitant due to the animal cruelty involved, but worst case, I figure I can always offload it to someone else. Some people certainly have been asking for this on BD for a long, long time.

[Rayjg]

Jonathan Rosenbaum included it in his top 1000 films of all time. Dave Kehr hates it. Hellman says in the DVD commentary that Corman walked in the room and threw the script at him after reading it. He still let him make it though.

[Jaymole]

I placed an order for this yesterday...I can now Retire my DVD

FYI:There was a porn film parody of this called Chickenfighter but it was not very good

[repulsed]

Not falling for these overpriced exclusives. Don't care what they announce.

Hope someone else announces it. I'd like to own it for Mr. Harry Dean Stanton despite the animal cruelty.

[Rayjg]

Hasn’t Shout been including Anchor Bay extras for most of their Hammer releases? I know their Shatter release has the Hellman commentary carried over in which he establishes that he directed the bulk of the film even though he received no credit.

[landow]

Kinda think Shout dropped the ball with this. I love this movie and even I am very on the fence about this. No remastering and no extras? Seriously thinking of just hanging on to my Anchor Bay dvd.

[FlyBry]

Just watched my copy, and boy does it look rough. Constant flickering, a maddening grain field, horizontal lines, print damage, etc. Just ugly. Also, watched with subtitles and noticed quite a few errors with spelling and wrong words being used. This was a blind buy for me, and I'm glad I got to see it after hearing about it for years, but the price is far too high for a transfer of this quality.

[kishiro]

Japanese Trailer (in HD 1080p)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jh_gVyBItw

US Trailer, wait a minute... wrong movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iviB-qC64RM

[darthtater]

Originally Posted by FlyBry

Just watched my copy, and boy does it look rough. Constant flickering, a maddening grain field, horizontal lines, print damage, etc. Just ugly. Also, watched with subtitles and noticed quite a few errors with spelling and wrong words being used. This was a blind buy for me, and I'm glad I got to see it after hearing about it for years, but the price is far too high for a transfer of this quality.

Watching now and completely agree with the video roughness!

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by FlyBry

Just watched my copy, and boy does it look rough. Constant flickering, a maddening grain field, horizontal lines, print damage, etc. Just ugly. Also, watched with subtitles and noticed quite a few errors with spelling and wrong words being used. This was a blind buy for me, and I'm glad I got to see it after hearing about it for years, but the price is far too high for a transfer of this quality.

Originally Posted by darthtater

Watching now and completely agree with the video roughness!

I received it earlier today... and yeah, it's definitely not a transfer that anyone is going to get excited over.

They sure didn't have anything about a "New 2K scan from -------" on the back cover, so any good vault elements for this one must be either long gone or currently lost.

[Rayjg]

Is it at least an upgrade over the Anchor Bay DVD picture-wise?

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

Is it at least an upgrade over the Anchor Bay DVD picture-wise?

I never owned that release, so really can't say...

It definitely looks "HD" on the Blu-ray, it just comes from a print source that looks rather rough sometimes. Detail is average, colors appear kind of flat. No traces of any excess DNR or anything like that was apparent to my eyes when I scanned through it earlier.

BD-25 disc. The sole extra is a "Trailer" for the film.

[Laserguy]

Originally Posted by FlyBry

Also, watched with subtitles and noticed quite a few errors with spelling and wrong words being used.

Subtitle errors are par for the course with Shout! Factory releases. I've noticed quite a few of them on their Hammer discs. These are not errors a person familiar with the story and characters of these films would make. They read more like the product of some audio transcription computer program.