The Last Emperor [1987] 4K UHD 4-Disc Limited Edition Mediabook (Turbine)

[TheShape31]

Release Date: December 14, 2023

Newsletter (English):
https://turbine.de/der-letzte-kaiser...sh-mediabooks/


Cover A (600 units)
https://turbine-shop.de/detail/index/sArticle/35662



Cover B (500 units)
https://turbine-shop.de/detail/index/sArticle/35663



Cover C (400 units)
https://turbine-shop.de/detail/index/sArticle/35664



Full Set: Covers A, B, & C (11% discount):
https://turbine-shop.de/detail/index/sArticle/35669



More Mediabook Pictures:

[Show spoiler]

The Last Emperor | Limited Mediabook (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + 3 Blu-rays)


Summary:

Cult director Bernardo Bertolucci's monumental masterpiece is now appearing on Ultra HD Blu-ray for the first time. In 1988, the film won an impressive 9 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Thanks to a brand new restoration from the original negative, the magnificent images now shine in 4K resolution.

This is the almost incredible life story of Puyi, who was brought to Beijing in 1908 at the age of two and crowned the new emperor. From then on, a host of servants look after the godlike but isolated child emperor. But the revolution soon rages outside the palace walls and the millennia-old imperial rule is coming to an end: Puyi is THE LAST EMPEROR. The visually stunning masterpiece impressively traces the path of his life: from his short reign through the forced abdication and expulsion to his search for meaning as a disempowered man and the collaboration with Japan, for which he was imprisoned for many years before he died as a common citizen.

Mediabook Artwork: Renato Casaro

Film information:
Original title: The Last Emperor
Country of production: Great Britain, Italy 1987
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast: John Lone, Peter O'Toole, Joan Chen, Ying Ruocheng

FSK released from 12 years


Release Details

Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic biopic THE LAST EMPEROR – winner of no less than 9 Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) – finally arrives on Ultra HD Blu-ray. The Theatrical Version has been exclusively restored in 4K (sourced from the original negative) by Turbine in partnership with Arrow Films.

On December 14 Turbine will release three strictly limited Mediabook editions containing four discs: the Theatrical Version on both Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray as well as the Extended Version on a separate Blu-ray. The fourth disc contains extensive bonus features: a brand new interview with legendary producer Jeremy Thomas, “Postcards from Italy“ (video footage shot by Bernardo Bertolucci while location scouting) and two documentaries (“The Italian Traveler“ and “The Southbank Show: Bernardo Bertolucci“).


Technical Specifications

Ultra HD Blu-ray (Theatrical Version)
Audio:
English – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
German – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
Subtitles: German, German SDH, English, English SDH
Video: 2,39:1 (2160p24 Ultra HD) HDR10 & Dolby Vision
Runtime: 163 min

Blu-ray (Theatrical Version)
Audio:
English – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
German – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
Subtitles: German, German SDH, English, English SDH
Video: 2,39:1 (1080p24 Full HD)
Runtime: 163 min

Blu-ray (Extended Version)
Audio:
English – DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
German – DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: German, German SDH, English, English SDH
Video: 2,39:1 (1080p24 Full HD)
Runtime: 219 min

Bonus material:
+ Documentation about the filming (approx. 65 min.)*
+ Bernardo Bertolucci: The Italian Traveler (approx. 50 min.)*
+ Interview with producer Jeremy Thomas (approx. 19 min.)*
+ Postcards from China (approx. 8 min.)*
+ Trailer D/UK/INT
+ 40-page book section by Tobias Hohmann about the history of the film

*with optional German/English subtitles

Number of discs: 4
Genre: Drama

[TheHutt]

Covers A + B have partial spot gloss effects.

[TheHutt]

BTW: the bonus seems quite different between Turbine and Arrow.

Turbine:

• Documentary about the filming (approx. 65 min.)*
• Bernardo Bertolucci: The Italian Traveler (approx. 50 min.)*
• Interview with producer Jeremy Thomas (approx. 19 min.)*
• Postcard from China (approx. 8 min.)*
• Trailer D/UK/INT

Arrow:

• First to Last: The Road to the Forbidden City, a new visual essay by film critic David Cairns exploring Bernardo Bertolucci’s career prior to The Last Emperor
• Open the Door, a new visual essay by film critics David Cairns & Fiona Watson in which they follow Bertolucci into the Forbidden City to explore in-depth The Last Emperor and the truth on which it is based
• Archive interview with director Bernardo Bertolucci
• Archive interview with star John Lone
• Archive interview with star Joan Chen
• Postcard from China, video footage shot by Bernardo Bertolucci while location scouting in China
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by TheHutt

BTW: the bonus seems quite different between Turbine and Arrow.

Turbine:

• Documentary about the filming (approx. 65 min.)*
• Bernardo Bertolucci: The Italian Traveler (approx. 50 min.)*
• Interview with producer Jeremy Thomas (approx. 19 min.)*
• Postcard from China (approx. 8 min.)*
• Trailer D/UK/INT

Arrow:

• First to Last: The Road to the Forbidden City, a new visual essay by film critic David Cairns exploring Bernardo Bertolucci’s career prior to The Last Emperor
• Open the Door, a new visual essay by film critics David Cairns & Fiona Watson in which they follow Bertolucci into the Forbidden City to explore in-depth The Last Emperor and the truth on which it is based
• Archive interview with director Bernardo Bertolucci
• Archive interview with star John Lone
• Archive interview with star Joan Chen
• Postcard from China, video footage shot by Bernardo Bertolucci while location scouting in China
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

I was already excited for the Turbine when I saw the difference in bonus features but when comparing with the old Criterion BD, there's only the Jeremy Thomas interview that appears different.

I wish they'd have included another bonus documentary like on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, something like Mark Cousins' new doc about Jeremy Thomas for example.

[CelestialAgent]

The documentary and The Italian Traveler are also on the Criterion release (and Kinowelt’s previous Blu-ray.) Guessing the Thomas interview is new. The majority of Criterion extras haven’t been repeated outside of the Japanese Blu-ray.

[TheHutt]

Ah they got Criterion bonus licensed.
Actually, that's pretty good for people not having a region-free BR player to get alternative extras to the Arrow release.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by TheHutt

Ah they got Criterion bonus licensed.
Actually, that's pretty good for people not having a region-free BR player to get alternative extras to the Arrow release.

That's true re. the Region B alternative - although the bonus features are surely not Criterion-produced. I haven't seen them so far but I remember reading on here that they're mostly unwilling to license their exclusive special features to anyone.

[TheHutt]

Yeah, I know they usually don't do it, but I think sometimes they do make exceptions. The German BluRay for HEAVEN'S GATE by Capelight got the extras licensed from Criterion, for example.

Another thing: German buyers who already imported Arrow's (earlier) release have another stimulus to get the German release as well, not having to totally double-dip (at least as far as bonus features go).

[CelestialAgent]

I think cover A is my favourite but I quite like C too (B has been on a lot of releases.) As with Fear and Loathing I think this provides a better cover design and selection of extras than the Arrow release (Naked Lunch is probably better with Arrow unless you want an upscale of a SD documentary - Crash is pretty similar.) With BDs, there are still reasons to get Last House on the Left, The Thing, Psycho Legacy in terms of extras over their UHD counterparts.

[TheHutt]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Naked Lunch is probably better with Arrow unless you want an upscale of a SD documentary

All things equal, Turbine just leaves out Arrow's trademark "Famous Film Critic/Film Historian Fluff". On the other hand, it provides subtitles to the bonus features which Arrow doesn't.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=139

[88mph]

Do Turbine normally release a cheaper standard edition after the mediabook run?