The Keep (1983)

[Wendell R. Breland]

Received mine from Deep Discounts. The DVD had come off the hub but only had a couple of minor scratches. It played thru without problems (Oppo UDP-203). Looked quite good for a DVD.

As to being anamorphic, still a question mark, the labeling makes no mention of being “anamorphic” or “enhanced for widescreen”. Presented in 2.35:1 does not necessarily mean a anamorphic transfer. From memory, if someone has a DVD player and a 4 x 3 (1.33) set you can check for sure because there will not be any black bars at the top and bottom if it is a anamorphic transfer. Folks will look tall and skinny.

[revoloution]

I feel a label like Criterion or Arrow really need to push Michael Mann and get a CGI/Special/Practical Effects company involved to finish his 'vision' and get this released somehow. Something like what happened with the Nightbreed release from a few years ago. I know there's some rights issue with the music but that should be quite simple to sort out after all these years.
It'll have to be a multiple Disc Cut set to really do it justice, Have his new cut on Disc 1, the Theatrical cut on Disc 2 and possibly some behind the scenes footage (there's loads floating around youtube and the web) on Disc 3.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I'm not the one who's looking for it. I'm just speaking in general. Besides, when was The Keep released on DVD in the U.S?

The US retailers all carry the Australian BD. I just ordered it from Amazon. It's regionless and NTSC, so it doesn't need a US DVD release anymore.

[jaws3dfan]

I order the Australian DVD today, like most people here I have been patiently waiting for a Blu-Ray but it's looking more and more like that won't happen.

I did find a cool Custom Made Blu-Ray Cover for THE KEEP that I plan to use for the DVD.

[jaws3dfan]

Got the DVD in the mail yesterday, I hope to watch it one night this week.

[jaws3dfan]

Watched the DVD Friday night and was amazed at the picture quality of the DVD, I can't help but wonder what a new 4k Blu-Ray transfer would look like. Maybe one day the Mann Estate will allow that to happen but for now this DVD is well worth the purchase price and is the best I have ever seen this movie look and sound.

[Mikezilla3k]

It looks like someone's done a 35mm scan of the film:
https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Th...d/18075/page/2

[uncledougie]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The US retailers all carry the Australian BD. I just ordered it from Amazon. It's regionless and NTSC, so it doesn't need a US DVD release anymore.

So how does one reliably identify on Amazon whether or not the version selected is the new Australian region free release? Some of the reviews associated with whichever version you click on date back several years and claim it appears to be a bad copy from VHS. I’ve found this type problem on Amazon before, where you can’t tell which video version is associated with the reviews posted, and timing and details are either sparse or inaccurate.

[jaws3dfan]

Originally Posted by uncledougie

So how does one reliably identify on Amazon whether or not the version selected is the new Australian region free release? Some of the reviews associated with whichever version you click on date back several years and claim it appears to be a bad copy from VHS. I’ve found this type problem on Amazon before, where you can’t tell which video version is associated with the reviews posted, and timing and details are either sparse or inaccurate.

I bought mine on ebay to avoid any confusion.

[Nicage22]

Originally Posted by jaws3dfan

Watched the DVD Friday night and was amazed at the picture quality of the DVD, I can't help but wonder what a new 4k Blu-Ray transfer would look like. Maybe one day the Mann Estate will allow that to happen but for now this DVD is well worth the purchase price and is the best I have ever seen this movie look and sound.

What did you think of the movie itself?

[jaws3dfan]

Originally Posted by Nicage22

What did you think of the movie itself?

I love THE KEEP, I would love to see a Uncut version but I have always loved THE KEEP, The music, the atmosphere, The Acting..all are amazing.

[jw007]

I went ahead and bought this on Amazon for $19 after ImportCDs sent me a message that it was on backorder so I had to cancel this order. I got the DVD 2 days after I ordered it on Amazon and watched the movie last night for the very first time.

I'm a HUGE Michael Mann fan and so I decided I'm going to spend the next 1-2 weeks watching his entire filmography (I often do this with other directors too, such as Stanley Kubrick or Jim Jarmusch... I even do this with my music collections listening to one artist's entire album discography before I move on to the next).

My Criterion blu-ray of Thief was fantastic (I had bought this 6 years ago and watched it back then shortly after I purchased it).

Last night was The Keep (and tonight I'm watching Manhunter).

So my technical thoughts on the DVD are: It looks pretty damn good for a DVD (that's the first observation). The second observation is, the audio quality is not so good (I'm not sure if it was the source material or what), but the audio could have been better. No supplements aside from a blurry 480i trailer.

My movie thoughts: It's one WEIRD film. Its unlike any Michael Mann movie I've ever seen or will see ever again. I'm quite surprised he made an expressionistic film like this as its so out of the ordinary if you look at his film canon. I always wanted to see a science fiction film by Mann, but this might be the closest we'll get to that, and sadly its a real shame the production had so many problems (with Wally Veevers, the special effects guy, dying a few weeks into post-production). I would love to see the 3 hour cut as no doubt the film suffered from way too much chopping. It's okay to edit down a film, but this one was irreversibly damaged by way too much cutting of scenes that completely threw the narrative out of whack (ie. no seduction scene between Eva Cuza and Glaeken Trismegestus...instead in the film we skip the foreplay and warming up and get right to the sex). I think though, the screenplay by Mann could have been better too though. People often say the film is disjointed and confusing, and I felt that watching it. I couldn't quite feel anything for the characters because their back stories were not there (probably due to the massive edits). I WANTED this film to be great and the first 30-40 minutes kept my attention, but things just fell apart after that from a narrative standpoint. Perhaps the point was not the narrative but the surrealism of the film, but even that was not a rousing success by any means to me. The film definitely suffered from a weak screenplay and never fully fleshed out characters. Aside from that, The Keep gets my respect for being totally imaginative and unique though, with a celestial Tangerine Dream score and some decent acting performances by Ian McKellen, Gabriel Byrne, and Jürgen Prochnow.

[Nicage22]

Originally Posted by jaws3dfan

I love THE KEEP, I would love to see a Uncut version but I have always loved THE KEEP, The music, the atmosphere, The Acting..all are amazing.

The Tangerine Dream score is magnificent. Especially Canzone and Heritage Survival.

[Guillaume P]

Here's an interesting Mann interview made just before the release of THE KEEP:

https://www.americancinemapapers.com...ASTLE_KEEP.htm

Originally Posted by jw007

My movie thoughts: It's one WEIRD film. Its unlike any Michael Mann movie I've ever seen or will see ever again. I'm quite surprised he made an expressionistic film like this as its so out of the ordinary if you look at his film canon.

"Manhunter" is also a very expressionistic film i think, it is quite similar to "The Keep" in many ways (screenplay, framing, use of widescreen cinematography, and soundtrack)...both of these films are expressionistic and dream-like, even if one is more grounded in reality because of its thriller genre.

Originally Posted by jw007

ie. no seduction scene between Eva Cuza and Glaeken Trismegestus...instead in the film we skip the foreplay and warming up and get right to the sex).

It's interesting that Mann is doing exactly the same style of scene and "elliptical" dreamlike editing in the love scene of the equally maligned "Blackhat".

[maksnew87]

[Show spoiler]

[drush9999]

^ Are those screenshots from the 35mm HD copy in the ether. I have that on my home server. It's scratchy and sound pops like a mofo. But it's like seeing a screening in a local fleapit in the 80s so makes the film creepier IMO.

[Lope de Aguirre]

I have to search h for this on the best quality available...

[Gosszilla]

here are the first ten minutes (available in 2160p 4K) on Youtube. Assuming this is the recent fan produced scan from an existing 35mm print. The audio is German. If this is the case, shame on Paramount for not allowing a US company like Shout Factory, Criterion or Arrow (US) to license a decent film print that they can produce a high definition scan from! Despite the heavy amount of film damage, you can see that the image quality still surpasses any version that has been commercially available on home video here in the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7i...ature=youtu.be

[drush9999]

^ That's the exact one on MySpleen, that version has very rough English audio taken from that print or another.

[Gosszilla]

Originally Posted by drush9999

^ That's the exact one on MySpleen, that version has very rough English audio taken from that print or another.

From what I've read, this recent film scan (from a German 35mm film print) has been synced to the existing audio track from the old US LaserDisc. I was only able to see this film once theatrically and this is the closest thing to a theater-like print that I have seen since!