The Swimmer (1968)

[Jobla]

It may not be a grindhouse film, but Burt Lancaster does spend most of the film half naked.

[jah13]

This--SWIMMER, BIG GUNDOWN, CORRUPTION--has actually been in the works for several years, pre-dating Sage's death. Those titles have been listed under "Box Office Spectactulars" within the Grindhouse Wiki for the last few years, at least.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grindhouse_Releasing

I couldn't say why it took so long for these restorations to come to fruition, but I couldn't be more excited for THE SWIMMER. One of my all-time favorites. It may not be "grindhouse" in the most literal sense, but it is akin to a TWILIGHT ZONE episode in feature-length form, so it may be closer in spirit than the uninitiated may think.

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

There was no change of ownership, rather one of the co-founders (Sage Stallone) died. Oddly enough, perhaps in honor of his memory, this seems to have caused Grindhouse Releasing to kick it into high gear and really start doing a lot of consecutive releases, as in years past they would take forever to put out a film.

The other co-founder, Bob Murawski, is a pretty big-time film editor, doing most if not all of Sam Raimi's films since Army of Darkness, and was largely responsible for the awesome Evil Dead Blu-ray transfer a few years back. Grindhouse do technically masterful HD transfers, so anything they put out catches my interest.

That said, knowing nothing about The Swimmer, it does look a little out of place for a label focusing primarily on exploitation and B-movie horror. I'll have to check out some trailers and see if it's something I'd wanna pick up, but I've been very impressed with GR's Blu-rays so far.

[PaddyMcAloon]

Perhaps we can expect some more Frank Perry, like 'David and Lisa' and "Ladybug, Ladybug"?

[hustlermane]

Awesome news, one of my top 20 films of all time. Almost surely a day 1 for me, which I never do.

[duggie walker]

I was very impressed by THE BIG GUNDOWN and this release sounds excellent also. These guys could give Criterion and Shout a run for their money one day. If they had enough money.

[Spiderwalk]

Love this movie, nothing else quite like it. Back cover states region ABC so that's a pre-order for me.

[hypnohighball]

I'm really looking forward to it as well, just wish I could find a better preorder price.

[Spiderwalk]

Originally Posted by hypnohighball

I'm really looking forward to it as well, just wish I could find a better preorder price.

Not sure of your location, but you can get it for £16.99 here:

http://dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=113184

[Dene]

Originally Posted by Spiderwalk

Not sure of your location, but you can get it for £16.99 here:

http://dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=113184

Thanks for that, and the confirmation of Region ABC.

[nymets138]

Family Video just recently added this to their site. The pre-order price is $16.99, which is the best I've seen. I had previous seen this on DVDPlanet for $19.79.

[NoirFan]

Thanks nymets. Now if only they'd send me a free shipping code.

[HyperRealist]

Nothing in this thread about it being pushed back to the 25th?

[Member-222782]

Originally Posted by HyperRealist

Nothing in this thread about it being pushed back to the 25th?

.What?! I've got a pending order on Diabolik for this and several other titles and they're not gonna ship until copies of The Swimmer come in. Jeez, when was this delay announced?

[Jobla]

I don't know when it was delayed, but the consensus is that the street date is now March 25th.

[hustlermane]

Oh well. Hopefully we see some reviews or screens up in the next little while though...

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by duggie walker

I was very impressed by THE BIG GUNDOWN and this release sounds excellent also. These guys could give Criterion and Shout a run for their money one day. If they had enough money.

They've already given Shout a run for their money. The Big Gundown was better than any of their releases to date and Grindhouses upcoming blu ray releases of their back catalog are going to be incredible as well.
Speaking of which, they also stated on a facebook comment that they're currently shooting interviews for their edition of The Beyond

[cash_black]

Special Features:

2 DISC SET - Deluxe Dual Layer Blu-ray Edition + DVD combo
Spectacular new digital restoration created from 4K scans for optimal picture quality
The Story of THE SWIMMER - brand new, five-part, 2-1/2 hour documentary by Oscar-winner Chris Innis featuring in-depth interviews with stars Janet Landgard, Joan Rivers and Marge Champion, composer Marvin Hamlisch, film editor Sidney Katz, assistant directors Michael Hertzberg and Ted Zachary, UCLA Olympic swim coach Bob Horn, and Joanna Lancaster
The original NEW YORKER short story read by author John Cheever
12 page booklet with liner notes by legendary director Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR)
Rare production stills from the lost alternate scenes
Extensive still galleries, trailers and TV spots
AND OTHER SURPRISES!


sounds great to me, i have it pre-ordered, hoping the price will dip a couple of dollars before release day

[oscarmerkx]

Originally Posted by cash_black

Special Features:

2 DISC SET - Deluxe Dual Layer Blu-ray Edition + DVD combo
Spectacular new digital restoration created from 4K scans for optimal picture quality
The Story of THE SWIMMER - brand new, five-part, 2-1/2 hour documentary by Oscar-winner Chris Innis featuring in-depth interviews with stars Janet Landgard, Joan Rivers and Marge Champion, composer Marvin Hamlisch, film editor Sidney Katz, assistant directors Michael Hertzberg and Ted Zachary, UCLA Olympic swim coach Bob Horn, and Joanna Lancaster
The original NEW YORKER short story read by author John Cheever
12 page booklet with liner notes by legendary director Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR)
Rare production stills from the lost alternate scenes
Extensive still galleries, trailers and TV spots
AND OTHER SURPRISES!


sounds great to me, i have it pre-ordered, hoping the price will dip a couple of dollars before release day

Sold

[hypnohighball]

Originally Posted by cash_black

sounds great to me, i have it pre-ordered, hoping the price will dip a couple of dollars before release day

$19.99 at DVD Planet and Deep Discount DVD.

[jah13]

Originally Posted by hypnohighball

$19.99 at DVD Planet and Deep Discount DVD.

Thanks for the tip.