DVD & Blu-Ray Purchases Thread - (DVD's! Do you buy them New or Used?...)

[MinionZombie]

F*ckin greedy Rubenstein! Shout would likely give us the multiple-edit release we’ve been asking for. Too right. We need a proper deluxe edition with brand new restorations of all three cuts, plus a compilation of any leftover footage, plus new docs etc - but that ain't happening any time soon - and whatever happened to the 3D conversion of Dawn? Did that ever happen? How long ago did that get announced? Who the hell cares for a 3D conversion of it anyway? A deluxe Blu-Ray is what we want!

[bassman]

MZ, I think I’ve heard you talk about these films on a few occasions. Critters series box set coming: https://www.shoutfactory.com/product...roduct_id=6882

[MinionZombie]

Hmmm ... if there's no extras, then I don't think I'll bother as I already have the four movie collection on DVD (which are barebones releases). Now, if there was a nice complimentary of extras and it came to the UK, then I'd be interested. I re-watched Critters 2 the other week as this year is the 30th anniversary of the movie. There's an excellent episode of the podcast Post Mortem with Mick Garris (featuring Lin Shaye and the Chiodo Brothers), which I'd recommend listening to for fans of the flick.

[EvilNed]

(Not my picture, snatched it from google) Found these two releases waiting for me when I returned from Italy.

[MinionZombie]

City of the Living Dead is getting a new 4k restoration from Arrow Video and a deluxe packaging release (reversible poster, lobby cards, booklet, hard cardboard outer case). LIMTED EDITION CONTENTS • Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative by Arrow Films • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation • Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio • Original English and Italian soundtracks • Newly translated, optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack • Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack • Audio commentary with star Catriona MacColl and journalist Jay Slater • Audio commentary with star Giovanni Lombardo Radice and writer Calum Waddell • We Are the Apocalypse, new interview with writer Dardano Sacchetti • Through Your Eyes, new interview with Catriona MacColl • Dust in the Wind, new interview with cameraman Roberto Forges Davanzati • The Art of Dreaming, new interview with production designer Massimo Antonello Geleng • Tales of Friendship, new interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati • I Walked with a Zombie, new interview with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice • They Call Him "Bombardone", new interview with special effects artist Gino De Rossi • The Horror Family, new interview with father and son actors Venantino and Luca Venantini • Previously unseen interview with composer Fabio Frizzi • Archival interview with actor Carlo De Mejo • Building Fulci’s City, a new video interview with Stephen Thrower, author of the definitive tome, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci • Reflections on Fulci, a new appraisal of Fulci’s Gothic period by actor, writer and director Andy Nyman (Ghost Stories) • The Dead Are Alive!, a new video essay by Kat Ellinger on Lucio Fulci and the Italian zombie cycle • Behind the scenes 8mm footage with Roberto Forges Davanzati audio commentary • Alternative US Gates of Hell opening credits • Original trailers and radio spots • Extensive image gallery featuring over 150 stills, posters and other ephemera from the FAB Press and Mike Siegel archives • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter • Double-sided fold-out poster • 6 lobby card reproductions • Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and Roberto Curti, an archival interview with Lucio Fulci, and original reviews I've already got the previous Arrow Video release from a few years back, so I don't fancy double-dipping (especially as I'm not crazy about COTLD, although I have grown to like it more with subsequent viewings) ... but they've certainly put together a tempting package there...

[JDP]

City of the Living Dead is getting a new 4k restoration from Arrow Video and a deluxe packaging release (reversible poster, lobby cards, booklet, hard cardboard outer case). I've already got the previous Arrow Video release from a few years back, so I don't fancy double-dipping (especially as I'm not crazy about COTLD, although I have grown to like it more with subsequent viewings) ... but they've certainly put together a tempting package there... They forgot to add a "What is the bizarre ending supposed to mean???" feature.

[beat_truck]

They forgot to add a "What is the bizarre ending supposed to mean???" feature. I've read several times that the abrupt, nonsense ending was used because the film was damaged by getting coffee spilled on it, and they were just too cheap/lazy to reshoot the real ending. Whether it is true or not, I don't know.

[JDP]

I've read several times that the abrupt, nonsense ending was used because the film was damaged by getting coffee spilled on it, and they were just too cheap/lazy to reshoot the real ending. Whether it is true or not, I don't know. I've read the same thing. But I think that not even Fulci himself knew what the substitute ending is supposed to mean.

[beat_truck]

I've read the same thing. But I think that not even Fulci himself knew what the substitute ending is supposed to mean. Probably not. Nobody else does, that's for sure.

[EvilNed]

Also put on sale yesterday was Mondo Macabros upcoming release of Perversion Story. This is the limited edition, there will be a standard edition later.

[MinionZombie]

They forgot to add a "What is the bizarre ending supposed to mean???" feature. While there's no specific featurette on that, I recall from the extras on the version that I have (extras that'll be ported over to join the new ones on this new release) that they do discuss the ending on a couple of the interviews with cast/crew talking about it. I'd never heard the 'spilt coffee' rumour, and I'd imagine it's just that, because I don't recall that being mentioned at all on the Blu-Ray extras for the disc I've got. I think it was basically a case of they didn't really have a good enough ending - it was lacking some kind of jolt or something to creep you out - so you end up with that weird 'cracked glass' sort of effect. It kind of feels like a dream being shattered, and considering that City of the Living Dead was designed to have this kind of 'dream logic' feel to it with all these vaguely connected vignettes and a loose narrative, that kind of plays into the weirdness of it all.

[bassman]

I’ve never seen City of the Living Dead. Might be worth a blind purchase?

[beat_truck]

I’ve never seen City of the Living Dead. Might be worth a blind purchase? Try before you buy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLwMb5rU3w They messed with it to get it by the copyright police, so you need to watch it at 0.75 speed.

[shootemindehead]

I’ve never seen City of the Living Dead. Might be worth a blind purchase? Absolutely not.

[MinionZombie]

I’ve never seen City of the Living Dead. Might be worth a blind purchase? IIRC you weren't overly fussed by Zombie Flesh Eaters, and that's one of Fulci's very best. City of the Living Dead is a solid effort, although IIRC Shoot really doesn't like the movie, so perhaps he's biased in another direction? The first time I saw it I didn't get along with it at all. The second time I saw it was years later and I enjoyed it more, having really gotten into Italian genre movies of the 70s and 80s. The third time I saw it I'd developed more of a familiarity with it, so it bedded in a bit more for me. IMHO City of the Living Dead is the weakest of the 'Gates of Hell' trilogy (which was followed up with The Beyond - arguably the best of the three to most folks - and then The House By The Cemetery), but it has some great scenes (e.g. the pick axe in the coffin scene, or the vomiting her guts up scene, the head drill scene). It does feel like a bit of a ZFE rip off in some regards (most notably in the main musical theme for the film), but yeah, a solid Fulci flick. For you though? I wouldn't buy this one as a blind purchase as you might not like the movie. Have a look at it elsewhere, or get a cheap copy on DVD or something to try it out maybe?