Arrow Video / Arrow Academy USA Discussion Thread

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by Nori

So Mann considers the Director’s cut the definitive version and now views the theatrical as an “aberration”, yet Arrow opts to make the director’s cut blu ray only although it has a 4k scan? This kind of feels like a move Shout would pull off.

I love Arrow and really like Blackhat but this is just an absurd half assed of a decision imo.

Shout would put it on a UHD but it’d be scratched to hell.

[rickmiddlebrooks]

Originally Posted by Nori

So Mann considers the Director’s cut the definitive version and now views the theatrical as an “aberration”, yet Arrow opts to make the director’s cut blu ray only although it has a 4k scan? This kind of feels like a move Shout would pull off.

I love Arrow and really like Blackhat but this is just an absurd half assed of a decision imo.

If it helps any, here's an explanation from the KL Studio Classics thread about the costs of 4K scans and 4K UHD releases.

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

1. 4K restoration does not mean, there's an actual HDR or even an SDR master. The cost of producing those would be exorbitant.

2. The authoring and replication costs of 4K releases are 6 to 7 times more than a regular Blu-ray release.

3. We have the sales history of this title, since my boss released it on Blu-ray years ago, the film is not close to being big enough to be released on the 4K format.

4. These restorations look amazing on 4K TVs.

Hope that makes it easier to see why they'd make that decision.

Rick

[koberulz]

Point 2 is less relevant here, as they've already committed to doing a 4K disc. 4K directors/BD theatrical would cost them the same as what their current plan is costing them.

Point 1 is likely the stickier one.

[NeilZ]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

Since it premiered on TV I wonder if there's no 4K master. And we know Mann is busy right now...

There is a 4K master on hand for the DC. Was even quoted by someone who worked on the restoration that it was coming out on 4k. It's only after someone informed him the announcement was for a blu ray only after which he said something along the lines of "he didn't know what format it was settled on but that must be correct".

[rickmiddlebrooks]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Point 2 is less relevant here, as they've already committed to doing a 4K disc. 4K directors/BD theatrical would cost them the same as what their current plan is costing them.

Point 1 is likely the stickier one.

I think you're referring to the 4K scan used to make a Blu-ray.

Point 2 is referring to authoring and replicating a 4K UHD Blu-ray from either a 4K HDR or SDR master. That's why it is comes after point 1.

After a 4K scan comes an HDR or SDR pass (point 1). Then comes the authoring and replication (point 2). The costs are cumulative.

Yours,
Rick

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by rickmiddlebrooks

I think you're referring to the 4K scan used to make a Blu-ray.

No, I'm not. I'm referring to the 4K disc they're doing. Switching which cut is BD and which cut is 4K does not add replicating costs to the project.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by koberulz

No, I'm not. I'm referring to the 4K disc they're doing. Switching which cut is BD and which cut is 4K does not add replicating costs to the project.

The 4K disc with theatrical/international cut is fully-authored, and almost certainly all printed up already considering it was originally planned for a May release. It would for sure be more costly to put it on 4K, than adding it to a new BD.

[ravenus]

Some days ago I finished with the last entry in Arrow's Gothico Fantastico set, which is Damiano Damiani's The Witch (the Italian title La Strega In Amore transliterates as The Witch in Love). The title may be regarded as a bit of a spoiler (the original idea was to call it Aura, like the source novel).

Richard Johnson (known to horror fans as the driven doctor in Fulci's Zombi 2) is a dashing writer in urban Rome that leads a colorful lifestyle, shifting between girlfriends and shying away from any long term commitments. Intrigued by an old woman he thinks is stalking him, he follows her to her address, a labyrinthine mansion that seems a world away from its urban neighborhood. He thinks she is looking for a toy boy, but she claims to only want to hire him as a librarian to catalog her husband's writings, especially a series of erotic memoirs. Richard is about to walk away when the woman drinks a strange brew and falls comatose. From the shadows emerges a young beautiful woman (Rosanna Schiaffino), who claims to be the old lady's daughter and calls herself Aura. Johnson is instantly smitten by the girl's beauty and her utterly uninhibited manner with him, and agrees to stay on as the new librarian. The only hitch in the ointment is that the previous librarian is still in the house (a young Gian Maria Volonte), and not willing to leave. In an impressive performance Volonte is a curious mixture of bravado and pitiable despair, and Aura seems to keep shifting sides between him and Johnson in a manner that should ring warning bells. But Johnson is determined to stay in Aura's company, even if it means grappling with increasingly strange situations.

As it unfolds The Witch reveals itself as a brilliant modern take on a dark fairy tale of seduction. The film's impact heavily relies on the chemistry between Feretti's domineering old woman and Schiaffino's Aura and they are in gorgeous sync (echoes of Ingmar Bergman's Persona by way of Mario Bava's florid Gothic style). Some parts of this film would seem to foreshadow Anna Biller's IMO underrated 2016 horror-satire Love Witch. The climax is jarring, coming across as a sudden and crude closure to the otherwise sophisticated and sinuous turns the plot took until then. But The Witch still comes recommended as a fine watch for fans looking for a stylish modern take on the Gothic tale.

Video-wise, I think this was my personal favorite in the whole set, the image revealing fine texture and a nuanced contrast. The Italian mono audio is fine (taking into account dubbing in post) - the film has an excellent score that underlines its strangeness and this comes across strongly. The extras show clips of the English version, and I personally thought the English dub sounds very awkward compared to the Italian.

Extras include a short introduction and 2 video pieces - one that focuses on the history of witches from a feminist perspective, and another that looks at the film and its place in Damiani's career. There's also a Kat Ellinger commentary I haven't yet checked.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by ianungstad

A UK only Child's Play release is certainly possible. The only argument I would make against it is that Arrow hasn't released a big MGM title in the US or UK in a long time. Their current deal seems to be focused on these more "minor" former Shout! titles.

The Porky's films are independent Canadian films. If Fox let the rights lapse and they are with this TVA Films it would seem the more likely candidate to me. It was already an Arrow release (OOP) and they have supplements created. TVA Films aren't going to release anything themselves and look to license them to another label for physical media.

It's really between these two, IMO.

Just noticed on a Canadian distribution site that TVA will be doing a direct release of Porky's in July. I think this is the first time it's coming out on BD in Canada. Not really sure why they didn't do one untl now since they did put out a DVD release ages ago. I think you might be right that Arrow have gotten rights to it for the US and/or UK.

[Show spoiler]

https://yes.b2bwave.com/products/view/160935

[ianungstad]

https://www.screendaily.com/news/arr...182328.article

Press release out of Cannes today. Arrow has picked up US/CA/UK/IRE rights to the new restoration of the cult classic Mute Witness. Shudder picked up the SVOD rights.

[latehong]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTZFUA1K4_s

A big typo at 00:53.

[ianungstad]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Just noticed on a Canadian distribution site that TVA will be doing a direct release of Porky's in July. I think this is the first time it's coming out on BD in Canada. Not really sure why they didn't do one untl now since they did put out a DVD release ages ago. I think you might be right that Arrow have gotten rights to it for the US and/or UK.

[Show spoiler]

https://yes.b2bwave.com/products/view/160935

If Arrow do end up reissuing Porky's I would also keep an eye on the original When A Stranger Calls.

Same thing seems to have happened. Studio (Sony/Columbia) lost the rights and they reverted back to whoever currently owns the "Melvin Simon Productions" library? (MSP owns the non-Canadian rigts to Porky's based off the info in the 4k thread?)

[BarnDoor]

From Facebook:

***NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE COMING!***

Join us this Friday (May 26th) at 3.00pm BST / 7.00am PT / 10.00am ET for our August new title reveals!

[Darth Marcus]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

From Facebook:

[Show spoiler]

We see home twice.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on 4K

[RevolverOcelScott]

House 4K Box Set!

[MifuneFan]

My initial thought was House 4K. Perhaps just the first two films if it's dual-territory. I know Diabolik DVD had stated that Part II was going OOP recently, and wondered what that was about.

[RevolverOcelScott]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

My initial thought was House 4K. Perhaps the first two films even. I know Diabolik DVD had stated that Part II was going OOP recently, and wondered what that was about.

I'd hope since another company is doing a 4K Set of all 4, that they'd maybe do a US 1 & 2 and a UK 1-4. Doubtful I know, as I'm probably the only person that likes 4 haha.

The 4 separate blocks for 4 films?

Hmmmm....

(i know it won't be)

[DR Herbert West]

Would be nice to get the correct framing for them.

[jcole8882]

I'm going to stick with my guess of Home Sweet Home (1981)

[BarnDoor]

Originally Posted by jcole8882

I'm going to stick with my guess of Home Sweet Home (1981)

That'd be nice. We also know from Don May that a couple of labels were bidding for Funeral Home, though this would be a very strange hint for that. Also, it's probably more likely to arrive later in the year.