Highlander On Blu-Ray

[ImmortalJedi]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

Yes, it's in the works, and the official Highlander people behind-the-scenes are involved and also producing a few new special features, apparently. They've also claimed that the aspect ratio will be correct(ed). My guess is sometime in the fall or early next year. The cover art was designed by a longtime fan!

Looking forward to this! I have the series on DVD, but passed up the Blu-ray sets because if the aspect ratio. I hope they put out HL3, Endgame, & even The Source on Blu-ray, too. What can I say? I'm a complete-ist

[jmspls72]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

There's no such thing as too many Highlander threads.

There can be only one

I’m sorry I couldn’t resist

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by ImmortalJedi

Looking forward to this! I have the series on DVD, but passed up the Blu-ray sets because if the aspect ratio. I hope they put out HL3, Endgame, & even The Source on Blu-ray, too. What can I say? I'm a complete-ist

Yeah, I bought all the original bulky, but charming DVD sets of the TV series from Best Buy, and I never picked up any of the subsequent releases for the same reasons. So I hope this one's a nice upgrade! They were special feature-kings, too, so many extensive interviews to preserve how this show was made; it's a great archive.

Peter Davis (one of the original film's producers) has retained ownership over the TV series. which I think is why it's been made more easily available online over the last few years. He's taking more of a backseat lately, but he has a younger crew working on this that care and are trying to do it right, from my understanding. This series has never quite gotten its full due as that rare kind of TV spin-off that successfully established itself as its own thing, and in many ways, is seen to have bettered its film counterparts (well, at least the sequels) with even more memorable characters and mythology.

I, too, would like to see some nice upgrades of the rest of the movies! But those are up to their respective content owners/distributors (Miramax [now Paramount] for HIII and IV in the US, and Lionsgate/Studio Canal for everything from The Source on)... One can dream...

[The Fallen Deity]

download.jpg

Does anyone know anything about this release of 2?

According to Amazon, it appears to be the U.S. theatrical cut.

[willbfree]

Do you, ShellBeacher, know where the story started that the film elements of Highlander: The Series had been lost in a fire? Was that something Davis/Panzer told the public, or told an insurance adjuster, or what?

What are the chances that the film elements still exist somewhere? Maybe Gaumont saved them and the series could be rebuilt if the Highlander franchise ever makes money again.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by willbfree

Do you, ShellBeacher, know where the story started that the film elements of Highlander: The Series had been lost in a fire? Was that something Davis/Panzer told the public, or told an insurance adjuster, or what?

What are the chances that the film elements still exist somewhere? Maybe Gaumont saved them and the series could be rebuilt if the Highlander franchise ever makes money again.

The rumor mill gets in a vicious circle with itself sometimes, or the idea of "You tell the same story through five different people, and it will end up a completely different story."

The rumor filtered out somewhere (origin unknown) over the years that certain materials/footage from the original HIGHLANDER film -- including unused scenes, extra stuff that had not made it into the released cuts, like Connor, Kastagir and Bedsoe at a bar, a fight that Kurgan had with another immortal (stills exist of these scenes and a couple of others) -- the rumor was that this footage was lost in a fire in a vault at an unspecified place (see how vague it is already?). I asked an even more knowledgeable friend with more direct connections about this recently, and he replied:

"My contact does not believe that any such fire occurred, but instead that the footage still exists and has just been put in a vault somewhere in Hollywood and forgotten about."

He added that he does not know who started the rumor of a fire having destroyed some of the film footage.

Highlander is a pretty small operation these days (at least on the end of preserving the classic franchise, not the new projects that Lionsgate are developing), and I'm pretty sure I know who this contact is, and have actually met them, too. This person would know anything there is to know, at this point. It may simply be a case of the original American distributor misplacing/losing the footage...which we've heard many times before.

If you haven't already, you should also check out the official Highlander Instagram page, which lately has been publishing a lot of great classic stills, from all the films and the TV series, and there are some real nice nuggets in there of some shots or moments that I've never actually seen before (or at least hadn't seen in years), and I'm a pretty big fan, so they are letting a few more things loose from whatever archive they maintain under the sole remaining Producer, Peter Davis.

These are all the same folks that are working on the new Blu-ray set of the TV series. My understanding is that whatever original elements that still exist of the TV series are in Peter Davis'/the company's hands now, though Gaumont may still hold some, perhaps...

Although in the back of my mind, I will continue to have my Film Historian mindset that there is always hope: Even though Highlander began with American writers and producers, it was a very Euro-centric production, and so was the TV series, filmed half in Vancouver and half in France (and co-produced by a television arm of Gaumont, one of France's oldest and most famous film studios). There is always the possibility, however remote, that long-thought "lost" footage might be found...such as the more complete print of Metropolis that was discovered in Argentina...coincidentally enough, the primary filming location of Highlander II...which has its own crazy set of stories!

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by willbfree

Do you, ShellBeacher, know where the story started that the film elements of Highlander: The Series had been lost in a fire? Was that something Davis/Panzer told the public, or told an insurance adjuster, or what?

What are the chances that the film elements still exist somewhere? Maybe Gaumont saved them and the series could be rebuilt if the Highlander franchise ever makes money again.

Back when they were working on the series' DVD releases one person in the crew asked Panzer about scanning the prints and Panzer told him that they had been damaged in a fire. Not everything, mind you, but a considerable amount of it. That was straight from the person involved.

[Mikezilla3k]

Just curious, which cuts of 3 and Endgame are airing on Cinemax?

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Just curious, which cuts of 3 and Endgame are airing on Cinemax?

Been a while since I've seen these on Pay TV, but I think 3 is the "director's cut" but without the added CG (certainly no "glowing quickening"), and I think Endgame is the theatrical cut (awkwardly morphing Connor face in the final quickening, and all).

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

Back when they were working on the series' DVD releases one person in the crew asked Panzer about scanning the prints and Panzer told him that they had been damaged in a fire. Not everything, mind you, but a considerable amount of it. That was straight from the person involved.

Panzer/Davis (someone in the company) said they had no idea where the film materials were, but wanted to figure it out to explore the possibility of a proper re-mastering, ala TNG's Blu-Ray releases, as the show had been edited and finished entirely on video. This was long after the DVDs were said and done and shortly after the bonked and maligned Blu-Ray release of the first season happened. It is generally believed at this point, that Gaumont retains all the production materials and Panzer/Davis merely had master tapes and such to use.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Ever since the previous releases of BDs Davis/Panzer tend to have a different story regarding the negatives whenever you ask them and/or whoever you ask so I take whatever they say with a pinch of salt. At this point in time I have no illusions of the series ever getting a true high def treatment.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

American Version: Released on 2014 Spain and 2019 "Science Fiction 6-Film Collection" Blu-Rays
European Version: Released on 2008 Germany Blu-Ray

Should probably swap out "European Version" with something else since the predominantly released version in Europe was the US cut.

[ShellBeacher]

As I just said in the H2 thread...

Highlander III and IV were distributed/co-funded by Miramax/Dimension, and that catalogue has been going through numerous shifts of ownership over the last few years both in the US and globally. But now Paramount in the US has licensed what appears to be most of the Miramax catalogue for the time being... So I'm hoping we could get a Blu-ray of each.

What would be even better is if they licensed them out to SHOUT or ARROW so that we could conceivably get a few cuts of each!

I have RUSSIAN DVDs of both ENDGAME (US Theatrical cut!) and THE SOURCE. I should get photos of them for the site -- I had dubbed this "The Moscow Cut" back on the old Highlander BB forums, as it was the first place "The Source" was released in disc. It contains the original, superior cut with actual professional title cards, a longer edit...and without the Anna narration, etc.

[The Fallen Deity]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

Should probably swap out "European Version" with something else since the predominantly released version in Europe was the US cut.

Technically it should say "The Moscow Cut" no?

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

Attachment 240320

Does anyone know anything about this release of 2?

According to Amazon, it appears to be the U.S. theatrical cut.

There was a 2-disc Japanese release that had a Blu-ray of the 2004 version, and a DVD of the US theatrical cut. That may be the DVD from that set by itself.

If so, it's non-anamorphic letterbox with 2.0 sound; probably taken from the same source as the Japanese laserdisc. It seems like they just used the entire exposed picture area, as you can see the camera matte box in quite a few shots.

That said, I think it's currently the only official NTSC DVD of the US cut anywhere in the world.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Deity

Technically it should say "The Moscow Cut" no?

Meh... It would give the Russian's more credit than they deserve, it's not like they edited it. Paradise Group just happened to release the early cut of the film before D&P/Lionsgate chose to re-cut the film.

P.S. Does anyone from the HL board recall what the Russian webstore was that we used back then. I probably still have the e-mail confirmation of my order. D.S.

P.S.S. Ozon.ru rings a bell... D.S.S.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

Meh... It would give the Russian's more credit than they deserve, it's not like they edited it. Paradise Group just happened to release the early cut of the film before D&P/Lionsgate chose to re-cut the film.

P.S. Does anyone from the HL board recall what the Russian webstore was that we used back then. I probably still have the e-mail confirmation of my order. D.S.

P.S.S. Ozon.ru rings a bell... D.S.S.

http://www.dvdigitall.com/

This was where I got them. The discs came inside a paper sleeve within the DVD cases! I still have all the contents. 'The Source' release is nice, in see-through plastic with a double-sided sleeve and character images inside.

Don't understand what Lionsgate/DP were doing recutting this...the original cut is infinitely better/at least more tolerable than the US cut, which I don't think I've ever watched more than once...but what else is new? Highlander films have a history of this, of course...

[Lionel Horsepackage]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

Meh... It would give the Russian's more credit than they deserve, it's not like they edited it. Paradise Group just happened to release the early cut of the film before D&P/Lionsgate chose to re-cut the film.

P.S. Does anyone from the HL board recall what the Russian webstore was that we used back then. I probably still have the e-mail confirmation of my order. D.S.

Can't recall what the Russian webstore was (hey, TOWTP -- it's "Leto II" from the HL.com message-boards ), but I definitely used it to order my own copy back in the day.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

http://www.dvdigitall.com/

This was where I got them. The discs came inside a paper sleeve within the DVD cases! I still have all the contents. 'The Source' release is nice, in see-through plastic with a double-sided sleeve and character images inside.

Don't understand what Lionsgate/DP were doing recutting this...the original cut is infinitely better/at least more tolerable than the US cut, which I don't think I've ever watched more than once...but what else is new? Highlander films have a history of this, of course...

Ah yes, dvdigitall. Found a registration e-mail for the website but strangely no order confirmation (maybe they didn't send those out). The Russian release was issued on February 6, 2007 and I registered on the 13th so we were on it like a bunch of wild, hungry coyotes. As I recall the DVDs arrived quite quickly too. I have e-mail correspondence with Peter Briggs from the 21st about screen caps I posted to him in regards to the writers credits on the DVD so I would have had it within a weeks time.

The SciFi cut premiered months later in September. I can imagine them (D&P and/or Lionsgate) getting anxious based on the feedback on the board and wanting to re-cut the film. The US DVD release didn't come for quite a while (Feb 26, 2008) - a little over a year after the Russian release, I think the DVD of the new cut by DFW in the Netherlands beat it out by a long mile as well. Did SciFi have an exclusivity deal for the movie in North America perhaps?

P.S. The Dutch DVD with the re-cut film was released in August 2007, so I had it prior to SciFi airing its slightly censored version the following month. D.S.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

The SciFi cut premiered months later in September. I can imagine them (D&P and/or Lionsgate) getting anxious based on the feedback on the board and wanting to re-cut the film. The US DVD release didn't come for quite a while (Feb 26, 2008) - a little over a year after the Russian release, I think the DVD of the new cut by DFW in the Netherlands beat it out by a long mile as well. Did SciFi have an exclusivity deal for the movie in North America perhaps?

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Yep, that's why SciFi labeled it "A Sci-Fi Original" upon its broadcast premiere in the US...even though they had nothing to do with making it, or any financing.

YouTube

God bless 'em, they were passionate about it!

YouTube

But props to whoever assembled the UK trailer...they actually made it look - er, at least sound - like a real movie!

YouTube

That said, I actually love George Kallis' score for this movie! That leaked way ahead of time, too, and I was listening to it months before we even saw the movie!

And Briggs' scripts are of course way more interesting than what we ended up with... ah well.