The Long Good Friday & Mona Lisa (Remastered) Arrow Video

[filmmusic]

I have never seen The Long Good Friday.
I wonder if I should blind buy it.
(I loved the Thief if it's like this)

[AlexIlDottore]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I have never seen The Long Good Friday.
I wonder if I should blind buy it.
(I loved the Thief if it's like this)

The Long Good Friday is nothing like Thief.

The Long Good Friday is the best UK gangster film ever, IMO, and finally, Arrow will do it justice. I picked up the Bob box for the exclusive extras, and of course, Mona Lisa.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

The Long Good Friday is nothing like Thief.

The Long Good Friday is the best UK gangster film ever, IMO, and finally, Arrow will do it justice. I picked up the Bob box for the exclusive extras, and of course, Mona Lisa.

Seconded. TLGF is a very different thing, and I think it's a much finer film than Thief.

[AlexIlDottore]

I just noticed that Mona Lisa is from a new restoration too. I look forward to seeing a snarling Michael Caine get the Arrow HD treatment

[tama]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

Arrow's new transfer was framed and graded by the film's original cinematographer Phil Meheux - who in the sad absence of director John Mackenzie is now the absolute authority on what the film should look like.

He explained that one reason for all the aspect ratio confusion/controversy over the years is that the film has two "official" ratios - it was always intended to be projected in 1.85:1 (Meheux was very firm about this), but because of the very real possibility that the film might go straight to television (which remained a threat right through post-production and was only banished when HandMade Films bought it off ITC) he shot it in open-matte 4:3, protecting the image so that there were no irritants such as extraneous microphones.

The problem with previous releases is that the HD master seems to have been cropped, possibly at the telecine stage. To be fair to Anchor Bay, they were fully aware of the problem, and issued a statement a few years ago:



The bit in bold is what Arrow did - and they're right: it is extremely costly! But well worth doing: the new master vastly improves upon previous releases, and Meheux's input proved absolutely invaluable. He was a joy to work with - so precise and definite about what he wanted that the restoration team was able to have a complete runthrough and final tweak at the end of the session, which is normally a luxury.

Basically, if you're happy with Arrow's other HandMade restorations - Time Bandits, Withnail & I, How To Get Ahead in Advertising - you'll be happy with this one. And indeed with Mona Lisa, which underwent the same treatment, this time with Neil Jordan and cinematographer Roger Pratt in attendance.

I can't wait. I have picked up Withnail and Time Bandits and look forward to these films as well.

[bladelia]

I think that these are my most eagerly awaited blus this year. Two of the best British gangster films ever.

[charnier]

I'm seriously amazed about how little has been said on this thread that Apaches is included on HD, no less.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by tama

I can't wait. I have picked up Withnail and Time Bandits and look forward to these films as well.

I asked Arrow if they were considering doing The Missionary...they said they haven't got any plans but was a good suggestion. Fingers crossed!

[navydavey]

Originally Posted by charnier

I'm seriously amazed about how little has been said on this thread that Apaches is included on HD, no less.

Never seen Apaches - I'm happy for it to be included on the set but I fail to see what it has to do with Long good Friday specifically. Hope the rest of the unannounced extras have something to do with the movie in some way.

[charnier]

Originally Posted by navydavey

Never seen Apaches - I'm happy for it to be included on the set but I fail to see what it has to do with Long good Friday specifically. Hope the rest of the unannounced extras have something to do with the movie in some way.

Because it's a short film by John Mackenzie - the director of the Long Good Friday. Kids vs farm machinery - very powerful.

[ambient_indie]

Had I known years ago Arrow Video was going to pull out all the stops on the Handmade Films library I would've never bought Anchor Bay's The Long Good Friday or Image Entertainment's Withnail and I US blu-ray.

[navydavey]

Originally Posted by charnier

Because it's a short film by John Mackenzie - the director of the Long Good Friday. Kids vs farm machinery - very powerful.

Interested to see it, sounds unusual.

I wonder what other extras Arrow have planned for the boxset? Maybe a Bob Hoskins tribute?

Looks like the boxset is the way to go for me, will probably order it after payday

[T.C.S.]

Been waiting for TLGF in SteelBook for a long time now and will lap this up. But just like Thief they've found a way to screw me by only bundling the extra discs in a boxset with Mona Lisa! Ideally, I would've liked a 4 disc SteelBook of TLGF and a separate SteelBook for Mona Lisa but hey ho.

I thoroughly recommend Mona Lisa for anyone who enjoyed The Crying Game. Both Hoskins and Cathy Tyson are fantastic in it, not to mention the terrifying Michael Caine. Neil Jordan is very good at taking love stories and twisting them inside out.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by T.C.S.

Been waiting for TLGF in SteelBook for a long time now and will lap this up. But just like Thief they've found a way to screw me by only bundling the extra discs in a boxset with Mona Lisa! Ideally, I would've liked a 4 disc SteelBook of TLGF and a separate SteelBook for Mona Lisa but hey ho.

If it's any consolation, Arrow have never done a 4 disc steelbook. Would be extremely difficult trying to put in 4 discs along with the booklet...with Battle Royale the booklet it flapping about inside (not clipped in) and that's just with 3 discs!

In all honesty the double set looks well worth the double price. 4 extra discs, a much thicker booklet and presumably excellent packaging. I prefer box sets and digipacks to steelbooks personally.

[DJ KNIGHT XIII]

Do Arrow always take money in advance for preorders ? seems slightly strange.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by DJ KNIGHT XIII

Do Arrow always take money in advance for preorders ? seems slightly strange.

Yeah they do. It's not that strange, a lot of mail order places do it (like MovieMail, who do with PayPal orders but not with card). Just something you have to consider when you order from them. I only generally order with Arrow direct when they have a sale, so it's not much of a problem.

[bladelia]

I bought this from Arrow's website and obviously paid with PayPal, but apparently PayPal don't take my money for 14 days. A question though, Did PayPal pay Arrow already? I have never heard of PayPal doing this before.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by bladelia

I bought this from Arrow's website and obviously paid with PayPal, but apparently PayPal don't take my money for 14 days. A question though, Did PayPal pay Arrow already? I have never heard of PayPal doing this before.

14 days...hmm, does it say Pending on the payment then? Is your account fully verified, with at least one card and bank account added and checked? I've only heard of it taking that long if you pay via 'eCheque', and that's generally with newer accounts that haven't have the full verification procedure or people simply paying by card through PayPal (i.e. without an actual PayPal account).

[bladelia]

Originally Posted by rapta

14 days...hmm, does it say Pending on the payment then? Is your account fully verified, with at least one card and bank account added and checked? I've only heard of it taking that long if you pay via 'eCheque', and that's generally with newer accounts that haven't have the full verification procedure or people simply paying by card through PayPal (i.e. without an actual PayPal account).

My account is fine, this is what PayPal says

You purchased an item from ARROW FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD. for 30.41 GBP and chose to pay after delivery. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your PayPal account.
What happens next?

PayPal debits the money from your bank account on 1 Mar 2015, 14 days after your purchase (most items are received within this time frame).
We'll send you a reminder email before we debit the money. Or you can pay for your purchase now by logging in to PayPal and selecting your transaction.
If the item doesn't arrive or it's significantly not as described, you have 180 days from the date you placed the order to report a problem. See full details.
The payment will appear on your bank statement as a PayPal purchase.

You can change how you want to pay by selecting My Money from your Profile page.

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.

It gives me the option to pay now as well.
I appreciate that it isn't released for a while, but I thought I would try this as I get paid twice before the 14 days is up.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by bladelia

My account is fine, this is what PayPal says

You purchased an item from ARROW FILM DISTRIBUTORS LTD. for 30.41 GBP and chose to pay after delivery. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your PayPal account.
What happens next?

PayPal debits the money from your bank account on 1 Mar 2015, 14 days after your purchase (most items are received within this time frame).
We'll send you a reminder email before we debit the money. Or you can pay for your purchase now by logging in to PayPal and selecting your transaction.
If the item doesn't arrive or it's significantly not as described, you have 180 days from the date you placed the order to report a problem. See full details.
The payment will appear on your bank statement as a PayPal purchase.

You can change how you want to pay by selecting My Money from your Profile page.

It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.

It gives me the option to pay now as well.
I appreciate that it isn't released for a while, but I thought I would try this as I get paid twice before the 14 days is up.

Oh fair enough! I didn't realise that...that's cool. Yeah go for it!