Tartan offically picks Blu-ray (July 2007)

[Jeff®]

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=65295
Tartan go Blu-ray

Tartan Video will make the move into High Definition later this summer and have today announced their decision to go with the Blu-ray Disc format. Arriving on 27th August 2007 is Paul Verhoven’s war epic, Black Book and a special 50th Anniversary Edition of Ingmar Bergman’s classic, The Seventh Seal. A month later on 24th September 2007 fans of Asian cinema can pick up Park Chan-Wook’s revenge thriller Oldboy.

All titles are making their worldwide Blu-ray Disc debut and in an interesting move will come packaged with the DVD edition of each film to “allow consumers who have yet to invest in Blu-ray technology the opportunity to enjoy the films on existing players at no additional cost as they invest for the future. “

Retail is £29.99 each.

Final disc specs are still being ironed out, but Tartan have told us that all titles will be encoded using the AVC video codec and to expect DTS Master Audio and Dolby Digital on Black Book and Oldboy. Extras from the DVD releases of Black Book and the 50th Anniversary Edition of The Seventh Seal should find their way onto the respective Blu-ray Disc editions, while Oldboy on Blu-ray Disc will have the commentary tracks and possibly the deleted scenes with optional commentary carried over.

Once again, all these specs are subject to change.

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The full press release follows…

As the home entertainment industry prepares to enter a new world of technology, Tartan Video announces the release of its first High Definition titles. Tartan has chosen three of its most enduring and popular titles to demonstrate the full power of the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format: Paul Verhoeven’s stunning war epic, Black Book; the cult Asia Extreme revenge thriller, Oldboy; and a special 50th Anniversary edition of Ingmar Bergman’s all-time classic, The Seventh Seal.

All three releases are worldwide Blu-ray premieres, the format with broader industry support, a picture quality six times that of current DVDs, and fully uncompressed audio all set to increase consumers’ viewing pleasure beyond their wildest expectations.

Tartan Video’s owner and self-professed early adopter, Hamish McAlpine, says, “To go with Blu-ray was a no-brainer for Tartan. Not only is the format superior to HD-DVD, but also the fact that 7 out of 8 studios have chosen to release their films on Blu-ray means that this so-called ‘format war’ is over before it has really begun.”

In an exciting move, Tartan Video’s Blu-ray releases will be uniquely packaged with the DVD edition of each film to allow consumers who have yet to invest in Blu-ray technology the opportunity to enjoy the films on existing players at no additional cost as they invest for the future.

Both Oldboy and The Seventh Seal contain original English-dubbed soundtracks. All three titles receive their fist appearance on Blu-ray anywhere in the word!

BLACK BOOK
Paul Verhoeven’s epic World War Two drama about a young Jewish woman who joins the Dutch Resistance and gets entangled in a deadly web of double-dealing, betrayal and romance with a Nazi general. This is a stunning, sexy thriller from the internationally acclaimed director of Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, and Total Recall, featuring Sebastian Koch (The Lives Of Others) and a star-making debut from Carice Van Houten.

THE SEVENTH SEAL – 50th anniversary remastered edition
One the most influential movies of all time by one of the greatest directors of world cinema, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal is a timeless classic and this newly remastered version is an ideal way of celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary. A battle-weary knight (played by Max Von Sydow) returns from the Crusades to find a land ravaged by plague. When Death appears and challenges him to a game of chess, it becomes a fight for survival and a search for the meaning of life.

Release date for both films: 27 August

OLDBOY
Park Chan-Wook’s classic genre-defining revenge tale of a man who’s wrongly been imprisoned for 15 years and is then suddenly released. Given money and a mobile phone, he’s challenged to discover who incarcerated him in the first place, but he only has five days to uncover the truth. Even with a mysterious young girl to help him, his tortures have just begun. Cannes-winner championed by Tarantino, Oldboy has become a cult favourite, regularly appearing in top ten best movie polls. Brutal but imaginative story-telling.

Release date: 24 September


Black Book (BD/DVD) and The Seventh Seal: 50th Anniversary Edition (BD/DVD) are released on 27 August, whilst Oldboy (BD/DVD) is released on 24 September, 2007. All three titles retail at £29.99 each.