Escape from New York (1981) (Collector's Edition)

[Oscar Rothman]

Unless MGM provide them a 4K transfer, it's just a pipe dream. Let's be realistic....2K transfer supervised by Cundy and I'm set.

[DetroitSportsFan]

I'm expecting the same transfer as the previous BD.

[BladeRunner2007]

Originally Posted by Oscar Rothman

Unless MGM provide them a 4K transfer, it's just a pipe dream. Let's be realistic....2K transfer supervised by Cundy and I'm set.

+1

Cundey's involvement in this release is the most important aspect for me right now!

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

4K transfer, added prologue, documentaries and... I'm in.

You can see a few posts up, where I mention unreasonable expectations.
We all want the world, but you have to realize you're not always going to get it.

[The Fallen Deity]

This is excellent news as Scream have been excellent with their John Carpenter BD's for the most part (yes I know They Live has issues with the transfer).

If they can get Dean Cundey to do a new transfer of The Fog then they should be able to get him to do a new transfer of Escape From New York.

Hopefully Scream will give us some more info at some point regarding the transfer for this release.

Oh and I'll echo what others have said.

Load this baby with lots of extras.

[Dickieduvet]

MGM disc was BD50 with a decent bitrate, are SF still using BD25's??

[Bruisermoore]

One of my favorite films of all time, I can't wait for next year!

[alexpeden2000]

If they could brighten up the MGM transfer a little and add the extras from the SE DVD we're sorted...

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

MGM disc was BD50 with a decent bitrate, are SF still using BD25's??

They've always used 50s for their Collector's Editions.

With Scream releasing this, they will solve some complaints about the previous releases:

1. Extras!
2. Original poster art on the reverse side!
3. They'll hopefully do some work on the transfer. I know some people said that other releases looked too dark. Hopefully Scream can get Dean Cundey in and do the color timing on it.

Was this filmed with 2.0 audio? The previous releases had 5.1 and lossy 3.0. If so, that'll probably be included as well.

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by Blu-21

But why? The Thing as a transfer actually has room for improvement.

Again, this is one that Universal ought to just fix themselves.

I look at labels like Shout! and Criterion as special. If a film goes to them, it should be a case of the studio not seeing the appeal. We're at a point in Blu-ray's lifecycle where, unfortunately, we have to concede on some level that studios may see the value in a title like The Thing, but are just too lazy or uninterested in doing it themselves. Still, this strikes me as a waste. Shout! could be centering their efforts on films that have not been released on home video in a special edition, in OAR, since VHS, or released on home video at all. Those are the films where I'm pleased to see them doing the work. A movie like The Thing has a great documentary and a great commentary and I don't need them to spend money to sit Carpenter down and have him talk about the same things. Night of the Comet was never gonna get a Blu-ray without Shout. Prince of Darkness and They Live, probably not either. Halloween II did, but there was enough room for improvement that they could really go the extra mile. EFNY and Mad Max, comparatively, come off as less exciting.

In the case of EFNY, I admit I don't remember the documentary. However, it did have one, the film's major deleted scene, and two commentaries. I want to do more than just buy the same movies over and over again, I want to see movies making their Blu-ray debut, at least, and hopefully getting a freshening up that was long overdue.

Originally Posted by Oscar Rothman

Unless MGM provide them a 4K transfer, it's just a pipe dream. Let's be realistic....2K transfer supervised by Cundy and I'm set.

Kinda doubt it will get a new transfer at all. Best case scenario, they tweak the existing one.

[Kill Bren]

[rickah88]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Again, this is one that Universal ought to just fix themselves.

I look at labels like Shout! and Criterion as special. If a film goes to them, it should be a case of the studio not seeing the appeal. We're at a point in Blu-ray's lifecycle where, unfortunately, we have to concede on some level that studios may see the value in a title like The Thing, but are just too lazy or uninterested in doing it themselves. Still, this strikes me as a waste. Shout! could be centering their efforts on films that have not been released on home video in a special edition, in OAR, since VHS, or released on home video at all. Those are the films where I'm pleased to see them doing the work. A movie like The Thing has a great documentary and a great commentary and I don't need them to spend money to sit Carpenter down and have him talk about the same things. Night of the Comet was never gonna get a Blu-ray without Shout. Prince of Darkness and They Live, probably not either. Halloween II did, but there was enough room for improvement that they could really go the extra mile. EFNY and Mad Max, comparatively, come off as less exciting.

In the case of EFNY, I admit I don't remember the documentary. However, it did have one, the film's major deleted scene, and two commentaries. I want to do more than just buy the same movies over and over again, I want to see movies making their Blu-ray debut, at least, and hopefully getting a freshening up that was long overdue.

Well said, Tyler...and for the most I agree with everything you've said.
I can't be certain, but isn't the bulk of Scream's BD new-to-format? And of the re-releases, most can be argued that they really are the best overall package, in terms of: PQ, AQ, extras and packaging.
But I have to wonder if SF only did new-to-format releases, could they really get by? I think they need a few of these bigger films to help fill the coffers, and ultimately, help them acquire more new-to-format releases.
All speculation on my part, but one fact is this: What they've been doing, so far, seems to be working....and I'm happy for that.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Again, this is one that Universal ought to just fix themselves.

The problem is it will never happen with Universal.

The most realistic potential scenario: I would like to see Scream Factory be able to get The Thing transfer before Universal added additional DNR and EE to the Blu-ray (as the HD DVD version is notably better in this regard) and encode it to a higher bit AVC. This would be a worthwhile upgrade IMO even if it is not the ideal outcome which would be a new scan, of course.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by rickah88

That's because some just have unreasonable expectations concerning any particular release.
I get that we, as enthusiasts, want it all...but you have to be reasonable. In SF's case, the very backbone of their existance is about giving the fans those releases that the big studios pass over. I'm sure they would love to make every release a suped up 4-disc Ultimate Extended Directors Theatrical Cut, but time/money/availabiliy might prohibit some things.

But in this case, we are dealing with a film that's been released MANY times on home video, and also already multiple times on blu-ray.

I'm sure this will be the release to get based on extras, but this should be a bigger seller for them, so it would be a bit of a shame if nobody invests in a definitive (and likely final) restoration.

I agree that most likely it will be based on a pre-existing transfer, since that's what most of Screams "double dips" have been. Also if it was a 4K remaster, surely they would have mentioned that. Hopefully it is at least an upgrade in some way - in terms of less DNR or whatever other niggling issues the previous release had. If it's literally the same exact transfer from a 2010 disc I'd find that more than just slightly annoying.

[L'armée des ombres]

MGM seems to be licencing everything out now....they really are broke

[CobraVerde]

Originally Posted by DenOfEarth

I'm sure they might do a new 2K scan of the original negative with Carpenter supervising it, it worked for The Fog you know.

Wait, you're "sure" they "might"?

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

Kinda doubt it will get a new transfer at all. Best case scenario, they tweak the existing one.

The existing one looks good anyway. Some color tweaks and they're gold.

Include the old DVD features, make some new ones, pretty cover art and they'll get my money.

[Youre My Boy Blu!]

Since I never added any of the previous iterations of EFNY to my collection, the Scream Factory CE will be a no brainer.
It certainly does appear that Carpenter's films will remain a priority with Scream Factory.

[Monroville]

Anyone who has ever seen screen capture comparisons between the MGM blu-ray and the HDNET release, they will know that all Scream! has to do is license the HDNET transfer, as it is much better than the kind of dull looking MGM blu release.

Add some HD extras and cover art that is not a floating pile of heads and you got my money, Cliff! Hell, add an HD version of the prologue?

[Batmon77]

What more could they add. on top of the SE DVD extras?

I dont need another commentary.