special edition dvd Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few weeks ago I snagged a really sweet deal at the video store: A Chucky four-pack for $10. Granted, it's far from my favorite horror series, but hell: Four flicks for 10 bucks is a good deal, doubly so when those movies offer the voice of Brad Dourif as a homicidal toy. But when I got the DVDs home, I realized I should have looked a little closer: As this was a Universal Home Video 4-pack, the movies I got were Child's Play 2 (1990), Child's Play 3 (1991), Bride of Chucky (1998), and Seed of Chucky (2004). Still a pretty solid deal ... but I wanted the first (and best) Chucky misadventure: Part 1!

Logic indicates that Part 1 was not included for one simple reason: The sequels are Universal properties, whereas the original Child's Play (currently available on nasty-ass Full-Frame DVD only) is an MGM title. But I didn't offer all this boring background information for no reason: According to Bloody D, a new Child's Play special edition is due for release on September 9. The 20th Anniversary edition will feature two audio commentaries (one with screenwriter Don Mancini and producer David Kirschner, the other with actors Catherine Hicks and Alex Vincent, and FX designer Kevin Yagher), a new "making of " documentary, and a third commentary track with Dourif "in character" as Chucky. Best of all, the flick will arrive wearing a swanky new 16x9 widescreen transfer.

OK, so it's hardly big news to those of you who visit Cinematical to read about the big-time summer blockbusters and Oscar nominations and such, but it's an announcement that pretty much just made my whole day: Mike Hodges' 1980 sci-fi camp classic Flash Gordon is finally (finally!) getting the full-bore special edition treatment from the fine folks at Universal Home Video. How much do I love this movie? Well, I'd been unable to land a copy of the long out-of-print Image DVD -- so I went out and bought what's called a "region free" player. See, there's a Flash Gordon special edition that was produced for U.K. DVD players ... and I just had to have it. (Let's just say I saw this rollicking space adventure at a very formative age and I've grown to really adore the flick over the intervening years.)

But today one of my favorite DVD sites broke the news: Universal is finally preparing its very own special edition for the region 1 marketplace. The cover art is really slick -- and I'm so psyched about this release that I don't even mind that they chose to call it the "Saviour of the Universe Edition." (I'm not a big fan of the gimmicky DVD names.) My theory is that the studio aims to make this release a "tie-in" with the Sci-Fi Channel's new Flash Gordon series, but I just want the discs in my geeky little fist already. Universal hasn't announced their special features just yet (or if they'll be using any of the goodies from the region 2 release), but the U.S. 2-disc set is scheduled to hit stores on August 7th.

And to those of you who just can't figure out why this news makes me so happy, here's a list of Top Ten Coolest Things About Flash Gordon:

10. The slimy Prince Baron is played by eventual Bond Timothy Dalton.
9. "No, not the bore-worms!!"
8. Brian Blessed plays an awesome winged sidekick.
7. The Queen soundtrack. Of course.
6. The "evil tree stump" scene is really intense and creepy.
5. The production design looks like Barbarella hooked up with Star Wars at a hot disco club.
4. All the evildoers have really creatively gory death scenes.
3. There's a totally ridiculous "football brawl" that always makes me chuckle. ("Go Flash Go!")
2. Max Von Sydow as Ming the Merciless. Freakin' priceless.
1. Two words: Ornella Muti.

Universal Home Video is generally known for a) producing fine (and generally goody-soaked) DVDs for all their beloved (and not-so-beloved) movies, and b) double-dipping like nobody's business. This is the outfit that gave us three or more DVDs for The Mummy and The Fast and the Furious ... and I can't even count how many of the American Pie DVDs are littered throughout Best Buy. But here comes some double-dippage news that fills me with much enthusiasm.

According to Nerd Lord Joss Whedon, we will soon have a shiny new Serenity Special Edition to wrap our gorram mitts around. (And please don't think I'm mocking the geeks here; I've watched my Firefly/Serenity DVDs more times than I care to mention.) According to JW, he's hoping and expecting the SE to include a full-bore cast commentary (which will ndoubtedly be awesome), the "Tam Session" videos, all of the Aussie DVD's extras (which look like a lot of stuff!), and (yes) new cover art. I'll say it again: shiny. Guess that "flop" of a movie sold enough digital platters to warrant a second edition, eh? That's gotta make the fans feel pretty good. (Yep, actually it does.) No firm release date for this 2-disc treat, but my sources tell me (and this is off the record) "August."

A few days back, while perusing DVDActive.com, I came across some Special Edition news that surprised me not one tiny bit: On April 17, Sony will be releasing a DVD called Spider-Man 2.1. In addition to the eight minutes of just-added movie footage, the new SE will come with a producer's introduction, an audio commentary with producer Laura Ziskin and screenwriter Alvin Sargent, a trivia track and a featurette relating to the new goodies. Oh, and of course some promotional tie-ins for Spider-Man 3, which hits theaters this May.

But then today I got an email from Brendon "Filmick" Connelly, and here's what he had to say about the new treasures buried within Spider-Man 2.1: Most of the new stuff will be extensions of established scenes, like the birthday party, the backyard conversation and Peter Parker's visit to the doctor's office -- but there will also be a few completely new sequences and (yes) some extra action, including an entirely new office battle between Spidey and Doc Ock and a little more mayhem atop that speeding train! Cool. From the "uh oh" files, we've also learned that one of the new scenes will feature J. Jonah Jameson trying on the Spider-suit. The fact that Spider-Man 2.1 and Spider-Man 3 are arriving only two weeks apart is surely just a coincidence.

Like a whole lot of you, I "discovered" a strange little sci-fi flick called Dark City right after it hit DVD. (I do remember wanting to see the film during its theatrical run, but it opened opposite David Schwimmer's Kissing a Fool and Richard Dreyfuss' Krippendorf's Tribe, and I wasn't about to miss either of those.) (If I have to tell you I was just kidding, you might be drunk right now.)

So after hastily unwrapping the brand-new New Line DVD (and noticing that the platter came complete with a Roger Ebert audio commentary!) and grabbing a few snack items, I sat down to enjoy what I'd hoped would be a pretty nifty science-fiction movie. And nifty it was. Also dark, moody, disturbing, intelligent, bizarre, intense, strange, and oddly beautiful. It was a full-bore neo-noir mystery combined with a really convoluted (yet still decipherable) episode of The Twilight Zone. It had brilliant set design, retina-tickling visual tricks, brilliantly bombastic music, some really creepy villains, and a cast of old-school archetypes portrayed by some rather brave actors. (Rufus Sewell and William Hurt are great; Keifer Sutherland is wonderfully unhinged; and then there's the achingly lovely Jennifer Connelly, whom, according to court order, I'm not legally allowed to write about, so let's just move on.)

So the recap is this: Dark City made less than $15 million during its theatrical run, but (like many excellent sci-fi films *koff* Blade Runner) it has since gone on to become a wiiiiidely-adored piece of filmmaking. That's not to say that everyone loves the thing, but those who do -- do so with much fervor. (Good ol' Ebert called it the best movie of 1998, god love him.)

Segue from unnecessarily lengthy intro into the meat of the matter:

In a message board post right here (which was brought to our attention by this kook right here), Dark City / The Crow , I, Robot director Alex Proyas just dropped two little tidbits that had my geek light flashing:

1. As we already know, New Line is working on a big swanky Special Edition of Dark City, which isn't a big shock considering the fanbase its built over the past few years. It is, however, very good news, despite the fact that the original DC DVD is a dandy release all over, what with its lovely anamorphic transfer, a pair of commentaries, a featurette comparing Dark City to Metropolis, thoughts from Neil Gaiman, etc. Bottom Line: This movie is worthy of the "double-dip" treatment.

2. Does Proyas actually intend to make a Dark City ... sequel??? Really?? This comes from the keyboard of Proyas himself (we think): "DC was hardly a smash hit at the box office so it is unlikely, if a sequel was made, they'd give me a huge budget to work with. So don't worry too much about that! I am more and more interested in the idea of a sequel, and who knows, after the special edition comes out, with everyone's support behind it, a sequel... maybe who knows... but I've already said too much."

Nothing gets me more geeked out than a brand-new Special Edition release of one of the true classics. Yeah, it means I have to drop a fresh 17 bucks on a movie I already have ... but some flicks are just worth the extra effort, you know? One such movie would be the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is a title I already own, of course, but that particular DVD, with its half-decent extras and mediocre A/V presentation, isn't exactly a piece of digital heaven. (It was good enough for a while, but no more!)

Why no more? This is why: Dark Sky Films, the DVD maniacs I raved about a few weeks ago, are planning to unleash Tobe Hooper's finest flick in a seriously slick-looking mega-package. DavisDVD doles out the specs, and they look pretty damn awesome: Two commentary tracks (one old and one new), a feature-length retrospective documentary, deleted scenes, new cast interviews, trailers, TV spots, 5.1 audio, and a brand-new fully remastered OMG can't wait to see it anamorphic widescreen transfer. Zowie! (I can name one of my old DVDs that just made its way onto eBay.)