Videodrome (1983) coming from Arrow Video

[NLScavenger]

Now £25.25 @ Amazon.co.uk

[ToBeTrusted]

I preorder from Amazon for 2 reasons.
Firstly they don't take the money when you order . I hate paying for something I might not have for 3 months.

And more often than not somewhere during the pre-order period the Amazon price will beat the Arrow price - just as it has today ( although chances are the Arrow price will beat Amazon on release day).

For quite a while the combination of lowest prices and the Reward Points made the Arrow store the place to order Arrow titles.

Higher prices , less value of points in sales and taking the money up front are more than enough to use Amazon instead

[EddieLarkin]

Arrow have commented on Yami's Facebook post and it turns out there's a chance they might actually be able to get these deleted scenes! Wasn't expecting that. Always worth asking, you see.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Arrow have commented on Yami's Facebook post and it turns out there's a chance they might actually be able to get these deleted scenes! Wasn't expecting that. Always worth asking, you see.

That's very exciting news if it works out. I would buy this in a second if it contained the deleted scenes as an extra feature. Even better if the deleted scenes were scanned in HD like the mediabook of Re-Animator but I'd be happy with whatever they have access to.

Originally Posted by bobkind4

Yes that is the reason because Cronenberg blocked inclusion himself despite admiting he had softened his stance to deleted material when he released a deleted scene on the History of Violence home release (also some deleted scenes are on The Fly package). The truth is the A&E version is an abomination assembled without his input simply to pad out the length of a censored TV broadcast. While some of the scene are very interesting, they were ultimately jettisoned because the final cut evolved in post-production (shooting began with no final script) with reshoots used to craft the eventual ending. Cronenberg created lots of coverage giving him a range of choices for the final film. Also there were some questions about Debbie Harry's performance in earlier scenes. The result is that a lot of unused material exists but it was never intended to be included in the final film. If you look at any of the still sets released to promote the film you'll notice the majority are from discarded scenes. There are also images of Max on his rampage wearing the Accumlucon Helmet and the flesh gun and images of Harlan with a gunshot wound in the hand, not The "hand grenade". Maybe Arrow could do an image gallery devoted to the deleted scenes. I'm sure Tim Lucas will have a lot to say about the deleted scenes as will the feature on how the script was adapted for a tie-in novel.

Thanks for the info. I agree that the broadcast version is not authorized by Cronenberg, as many of these "tv broadcast" versions aren't authorized by the directors. Still, the footage is indeed fascinating and would be a very welcome and unique addition to the Arrow release.

[mar3o]

Well, I decided it wouldn't hurt to pre-order it on Amazon. I still have plenty of time to see what happens with the extras before release date. I might end up cancelling if the deleted scenes aren't included because honestly, I'm a bit bummed they dropped the galleries and commentaries, and I don't have any interest in the early works disc - that's just stuff I'm paying for that I don't want. All I want is Videodrome. But I love the sound of that 100-page illustrated book, which I'm assuming wouldn't be included in any other release.

Here's how Amazon's price broke down for me in case others are on the fence:

£21.04
Postage & Packing: £3.08
VAT: £0.00
Order Total: £24.12

Promotions applied:

AIV £1.00 credit
Pre-order Guarantee
Promotion Applied

$36.79 including standard shipping to the US! Not bad considering the starting price.

As far as the transfer, at first I was disappointed that they are including the Criterion master, because it contains a lot less information than the Universal transfer. But after some explanations being posted and comparison screenshots, I do see the theory that the Criterion is centered properly, whereas the Universal contains more information but is off-center in framing throughout the film (plus the Universal looks like crap).

[HotRats]

Obviously the deleted footage itself would be the best option but the box set's book contains a section on the alternate versions written by Brad Stevens (I assume it's the Brad Stevens who did rather good books on Monte Hellman and Abel Ferrara). It would be nice if Centipede could be persuaded to reprint Tim Lucas' book as it's pretty much definitive, Lucas was on set for most of the filming and the book has many interesting photos.

[HornyRhino"]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Now £25.25 @ Amazon.co.uk

with a hardback book thats a steal

hope its drops again

[Dr. Feelgood]

Originally Posted by HornyRhino"

with a hardback book thats a steal

hope its drops again

Yeah I went with Amazon for this one. The price seems fair enough!

[Lutz]

I ordered from Amazon because they remove VAT where the Arrow store doesn't seem to.

£21.04 yay!

[DaveSimonH]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Now £25.25 @ Amazon.co.uk

That price is pretty good. My birthday is in August, so I'll maybe ask my family to pick this up for me.

[I KEEL YOU]

Pre-ordered. I have the Criterion as well as the cut Universal with significantly different framing, but I'm just a complete sucker for nice custom digipak packaging. The packaging is way too nice to ignore, the exclusive extras sound nice and I know that the transfer will be as good as it can be. Plus you know that this release will be selling for at least 3 times its initial price within a year after its release.

I know that many don't like this, but I love that when you pre-order, Arrow immediately withdraw the money from your account so you don't have to worry about the money being there on the release date. I wish Zavii did the same.

[CastrosfriendChe]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

I know that many don't like this, but I love that when you pre-order, Arrow immediately withdraw the money from your account so you don't have to worry about the money being there on the release date. I wish Zavii did the same.

I wish it was an option. Instead it's Arrow for sales, and pre-orders at Amazon. Which solves the dilemma somewhat, but Arrow must be losing some good coin by not giving both options to begin with. Heck, give it a go Arrow for 6 months and see what the figures come back as...

[Ste7en]

Hmm... I dunno. I tend to use PayPal and at the moment their Pay After Delivery option (by default) is doing my head in!

I'm off to switch it off.

[I KEEL YOU]

For me, personally I feel best just to get the payment out of the way so that I don't have to think about it. But yeah, an option would be best so that all sides are happy.

[Cevolution]

I don't care one way or another, there is always plenty of money in my bank account, so I don't have to think or worry about it either

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by BluRay84

I've never seen Videodrome before but it certainly looks interesting. Will Arrow likely release this as a standard amary Blu Ray release? I'm not bothered about limited editions anymore unless they come with rare/exclusive content on disc.

I'm pretty sure Arrow said they'll reissue it in a standard edition at some point. Even if I'm mistaken, it's inevitable. They did it with Dr. Phibes and they're doing it with Nekromantik and Society. I can't see the box set lasting very long so maybe the reissue will come sooner rather than later?

Cool avatar, by the way. Downpour is an underrated game.

[007Fanatic]

Got my "Videodrome" set ordered along with "The Long Good Friday/ Mona Lisa" set. Now I play (in the case of "Videodrome", the longer) waiting game.

[DaveSimonH]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

I'm pretty sure Arrow said they'll reissue it in a standard edition at some point. Even if I'm mistaken, it's inevitable. They did it with Dr. Phibes and they're doing it with Nekromantik and Society. I can't see the box set lasting very long so maybe the reissue will come sooner rather than later?

Cool avatar, by the way. Downpour is an underrated game.

If you're only after the film, then you may as well wait on the standard edition. But the disc(s) "David Cronenberg's Early Works" and the "Collector's Booklet" (a 100 page hardback book) are exclusive to the limited set;

DAVID CRONENBERG’S EARLY WORKS: BLU-RAY DISC 3 AND DVD DISC 4 [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of four Cronenberg films
Transfer (1966) & From the Drain (1967), Cronenberg’s previously unavailable short films newly restored by the Toronto International Film Festival [7 & 12 mins]
Stereo (1969) & Crimes of the Future (1970): Cronenberg’s early amateur feature films, shot in and around his university campus, prefigure his later work’s concerns with strange institutions (much like Videodrome’s Spectacular Optical) as well as male/female separation (Dead Ringers) and ESP (Scanners). Newly restored from original lab elements [65 & 70 mins]
Transfer the Future – Author and critic Kim Newman discusses Cronenberg’s early works

COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
An illustrated 100-page hardback book featuring new writing including Justin Humphreys on Videodrome in a modern context, Brad Stevens on the alternate versions, Caelum Vatnsdal on Cronenberg’s early works, extracts from Cronenberg on Cronenberg featuring Cronenberg’s reminiscences of getting started in filmmaking and shooting all the films in this collection, plus more, illustrated with original archive stills

[HornyRhino"]

its a bargain @£25 with that hard back illustrated book

its bound to sell out...so getting 2 1 for me and 1 for when it's gone and fleabay prices soar

[bobkind4]

Reposted my own "vintage" article on the Videodrome deleted scenes on my Blogger site with rare images to illustrate if anyone is interested:

http://cronendrome.blogspot.co.uk/se...&max-results=1