Altered States (1980) coming from Criterion

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by captainron_howdy

Tiny Furniture, Armageddon, Bull Durham, The Breakfast Club & you're questioning whether or not Altered States is a good fit for Criterion. very

I've never seen the film, and am asking a simple question. No need to be condescending. You could make the case for Tiny Furniture and Armageddon, but I'd say TBC, and Bull Durham fit perfectly fine with Criterion's mission statement. The former being one of the most iconic films from the 80's, and the latter considered one of the best sports films of all-time

[captainron_howdy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I've never seen the film, and am asking a simple question. No need to be condescending. You could make the case for Tiny Furniture and Armageddon, but I'd say TBC, and Bull Durham fit perfectly fine with Criterion's mission statement.

Ohh, well okay then. To answer your question, Altered States is a perfect film & more than Criterion worthy IMO, even tho the Warner Blu is just fine.

[MifuneFan]

I think it's possible the leak was just meant to be an addition to Criterion's Filmstruck channel. It is now on there:

https://www.filmstruck.com/us/watch/detail/1300012092

Criterion gets streaming rights to a lot of films that never make it to BD, so there's no indication right now that a BD is indeed coming.

[splintersan]

great news

[Thomas Veil]

ugh so possibly a jumped the gun post...grrr...first title in a while from Criterion that excited me.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I think it's possible the leak was just meant to be an addition to Criterion's Filmstruck channel. It is now on there:

https://www.filmstruck.com/us/watch/detail/1300012092

Criterion gets streaming rights to a lot of films that never make it to BD, so there's no indication right now that a BD is indeed coming.

Is there a precedent where this has been the case in the past? Or at least an announcement from Criterion stating that they'll start listing Filmstruck only titles on their main site?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I hope this doesn't come off as snobbish, but is this a "Criterion-esque" title?

Yes it is. It's audacious in concept and the theatrical cut at least holds together better than some of Ken Russell's other flicks. The Warner blu has been on my wishlist since long but I was hoping for some good supplements and would be glad if Criterion or even Warner Archive can stack some interesting and meaningful extras to this crazy SF movie.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Is there a precedent where this has been the case in the past? Or at least an announcement from Criterion stating that they'll start listing Filmstruck only titles on their main site?

Before the site revamp, they started adding a lot of cast / crew phantom pages for Filmstruck only titles. The page for Altered States at the main site was deleted, so it was either done in error, and meant just for Filmstruck, or it was truly a leak of an upcoming title, and they deleted that for now. Only time will tell.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

The fact that WB gave permission to the BFI to release The Devils on dvd, and dvd only tells me that it's not going to happen.

Still, I dream of a release too.

The fact that WB themselves but the remastered DVD master up on iTunes for a bit (and the fact that they did a remaster the film the first place) doesn't rule anything out.

Originally Posted by willtopower

Not sure if it's still there, but Shudder recently had it too. If it can pop up there, I'm sure we can expect it from someone in the future.

Yes, but it was not the uncut version, even though Shudder advertised it as such.

[willtopower]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Yes, but it was not the uncut version, even though Shudder advertised it as such.

Damn, bummer. That was the big draw about it being up there. Shame.

[AlexIlDottore]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

The fact that WB themselves but the remastered DVD master up on iTunes for a bit (and the fact that they did a remaster the film the first place) doesn't rule anything out.

True. True. But why did they stop at dvd?

[JohnCarpenterFan]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

True. True. But why did they stop at dvd?

Wasn't it because there was no master that was 1080p or higher? I believe that was the case with two Warner Scorsese films that BFI announced Blu-rays of that ended up being DVD-only.

[AlexIlDottore]

I thought that Warner's forbade the BFI from doing a HD release.

[Richard Graham]

I watched this on DVD last night. Just an amazing experience. The cast is firing on all cylinders. Can't wait for the Criterion release.

The dialogue is just so natural. Everyone yelling and talking over each other, like geniuses would. Not many actors would allow their lines to be stepped on. Not to mention all the blatant nudity.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by captainron_howdy

Tiny Furniture, Armageddon, Bull Durham, The Breakfast Club & you're questioning whether or not Altered States is a good fit for Criterion. very

you forgot 'Life During Wartime'

[HeavyHitter]

Looking forward to this. The current transfer is crap.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

The fact that WB themselves but the remastered DVD master up on iTunes for a bit (and the fact that they did a remaster the film the first place) doesn't rule anything out.



Yes, but it was not the uncut version, even though Shudder advertised it as such.

Wasn't it the uncut UK theatrical version as released on DVD by the BFI?

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

In 1980, the studio screened a preview of Altered States at Cinema 21 in San Diego, CA. It had not yet been finalized. It was longer than the version that was released, with several important dramatic scenes that made Dr. Jessup's "change" more gradual. His wife was having an affair, too. They argue about it. It had more explicit nudity and longer sex scenes. As I recall it also put the crucifix into more provocative imagery. I couldn't wait to see it again, and I remember thinking the released version had been thoroughly pruned, as in stridently edited. Whew! That was a long time ago. I'd love to see the preview again. I think it was a better film, but I love the film that came out in any case.

A Criterion edition is good news.

Interesting it tested there, because it wound up playing across the street at the Town&Country theater instead of at that bloc of Centurys. T&C had a helluva sound system, but that movie gave it a workout.

I wish I'd seen the preview; have read alot about the longer cut, when the dream imagery runs for minutes instead of fractions of seconds. CINEFANTASTIQUE did a wonderful issue on it, and CINEFEX had a good piece on it as well. They'd do well to include a warts&all doc on the Criterion, or to reprint the CFQ issue (which I've rebought about 5 times over the years.) Will double dip w/o a moment's hesitation for this, and that's with having rewatched the blu- in the last six weeks.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by trevanian

Interesting it tested there, because it wound up playing across the street at the Town&Country theater instead of at that bloc of Centurys. T&C had a helluva sound system, but that movie gave it a workout.

I wish I'd seen the preview; have read alot about the longer cut, when the dream imagery runs for minutes instead of fractions of seconds. CINEFANTASTIQUE did a wonderful issue on it, and CINEFEX had a good piece on it as well. They'd do well to include a warts&all doc on the Criterion, or to reprint the CFQ issue (which I've rebought about 5 times over the years.) Will double dip w/o a moment's hesitation for this, and that's with having rewatched the blu- in the last six weeks.

this was one of Warner's 'MegaSound encoded' movie releases and the sound, notably the bass had significant more kick.

[FragnitoM]

Is this really happening ever?