Poltergeist DVD.

[John Johnson]

Any word on a special edition?

[AndyDursin]

hey John,
Someone asked this a short while ago -- I think the answer is sadly "no." Warner I believe was considering it but put it on the shelf in the last year or so. I'm sure the subject is still a sensitive one with Spielberg and Hooper, and Steven's "hands on" involvement as producer/writer, and who did what and where.

In regards to that, there's a terrific featurette on the POLTERGEIST Laserdisc that Frank Marshall made -- it's sadly only about 10 minutes, but it shows Spielberg on-set, basically directing everything, while Hooper is silently off to the side, almost like a set manager or something. It could have been that they played up Spielberg's involvement to captialize on his success at the time, but it's such a "Spielberg film" that I doubt it...and for those reasons I doubt we'll see a Special Edition addressing those subjects, possibly not while all the participants are still alive at least.

The MGM/Warner DVD isn't bad -- it's an older 16:9 transfer with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, and can now be found in the $5.50 bin (plus at Amazon as well for just about the same price).

[Eric W.]

hey John,
Someone asked this a short while ago -- I think the answer is sadly "no." Warner I believe was considering it but put it on the shelf in the last year or so. I'm sure the subject is still a sensitive one with Spielberg and Hooper, and Steven's "hands on" involvement as producer/writer, and who did what and where.

In regards to that, there's a terrific featurette on the POLTERGEIST Laserdisc that Frank Marshall made -- it's sadly only about 10 minutes, but it shows Spielberg on-set, basically directing everything, while Hooper is silently off to the side, almost like a set manager or something. It could have been that they played up Spielberg's involvement to captialize on his success at the time, but it's such a "Spielberg film" that I doubt it...and for those reasons I doubt we'll see a Special Edition addressing those subjects, possibly not while all the participants are still alive at least.

That's stupid. I wonder why that is?

[John Johnson]

hey John,
Someone asked this a short while ago -- I think the answer is sadly "no." Warner I believe was considering it but put it on the shelf in the last year or so. I'm sure the subject is still a sensitive one with Spielberg and Hooper, and Steven's "hands on" involvement as producer/writer, and who did what and where.

In regards to that, there's a terrific featurette on the POLTERGEIST Laserdisc that Frank Marshall made -- it's sadly only about 10 minutes, but it shows Spielberg on-set, basically directing everything, while Hooper is silently off to the side, almost like a set manager or something. It could have been that they played up Spielberg's involvement to captialize on his success at the time, but it's such a "Spielberg film" that I doubt it...and for those reasons I doubt we'll see a Special Edition addressing those subjects, possibly not while all the participants are still alive at least.

The MGM/Warner DVD isn't bad -- it's an older 16:9 transfer with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, and can now be found in the $5.50 bin (plus at Amazon as well for just about the same price).

Andy,
Thanks for that. I was thinking of buying the movie, but then thought 'hey, the 25th anniversary is not too far away, maybe I'll wait.' It's a shame as it would make a great 2 disc set. Still, if it ever does happen, maybe they could get the guys from Ghost Hunters to do the audio commentary. LOL.

[Eric W.]

hey John,
Someone asked this a short while ago -- I think the answer is sadly "no." Warner I believe was considering it but put it on the shelf in the last year or so. I'm sure the subject is still a sensitive one with Spielberg and Hooper, and Steven's "hands on" involvement as producer/writer, and who did what and where.

In regards to that, there's a terrific featurette on the POLTERGEIST Laserdisc that Frank Marshall made -- it's sadly only about 10 minutes, but it shows Spielberg on-set, basically directing everything, while Hooper is silently off to the side, almost like a set manager or something. It could have been that they played up Spielberg's involvement to captialize on his success at the time, but it's such a "Spielberg film" that I doubt it...and for those reasons I doubt we'll see a Special Edition addressing those subjects, possibly not while all the participants are still alive at least.

The MGM/Warner DVD isn't bad -- it's an older 16:9 transfer with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, and can now be found in the $5.50 bin (plus at Amazon as well for just about the same price).

Andy,
Thanks for that. I was thinking of buying the movie, but then thought 'hey, the 25th anniversary is not too far away, maybe I'll wait.' It's a shame as it would make a great 2 disc set. Still, if it ever does happen, maybe they could get the guys from Ghost Hunters to do the audio commentary. LOL.

It really should happen, for a seminal horror film like this.

[AndyDursin]

hey John,
Someone asked this a short while ago -- I think the answer is sadly "no." Warner I believe was considering it but put it on the shelf in the last year or so. I'm sure the subject is still a sensitive one with Spielberg and Hooper, and Steven's "hands on" involvement as producer/writer, and who did what and where.

In regards to that, there's a terrific featurette on the POLTERGEIST Laserdisc that Frank Marshall made -- it's sadly only about 10 minutes, but it shows Spielberg on-set, basically directing everything, while Hooper is silently off to the side, almost like a set manager or something. It could have been that they played up Spielberg's involvement to captialize on his success at the time, but it's such a "Spielberg film" that I doubt it...and for those reasons I doubt we'll see a Special Edition addressing those subjects, possibly not while all the participants are still alive at least.

That's stupid. I wonder why that is?

Because of the perception (and possible reality) that Spielberg directed a good amount of the movie himself...it was so overwhelming at the time that he took out a full-page ad in Variety (at the time of the movie's release) THANKING Hooper for their "collaboration" and dismissing the stories that Spielberg was the actual "director" in most senses of the word.

Still, most books seem to believe Steven was more than just a "producer" on the movie, and you'd have a hard time convincing people that Spielberg didn't direct portions of, or have a VERY "hands on" involvement, in POLTERGEIST...and I'm sure that's why Warner put the 2-disc Special Edition on ice for the time being. Chances are that neither Spielberg nor Hooper really want to talk about it, and if you're Hooper, why would you ever admit that you were essentially a "hired hand" so to speak who handled the technical aspect of the film whenever Steven wasn't around.

I agree with you, John, they could get the GHOST HUNTERS to do a commentary if Spielberg/Hooper spurned any involvement in the DVD...there are some deleted scenes apparently that would be great to see for the first time, too. I just think between the Spielberg/Hooper controversy and the death of so many cast members, maybe Warner doesn't want to undertake a program that would have to address all those issues.

[Paul MacLean]

I think if Tobe Hooper was the director of Poltergeist, I suspect his role was akin to that of Irvin Kershner on Empire Strikes Back, or Richard Marquand on Return of the Jedi -- in essence following the lead of a very hands-on writer/producer and executing that producer's vision.

I know that Jerry Goldsmith, when interviewed about Poltergeist in CinemaScore magazine said that Tobe Hooper "was not involved at all with post-production. That was all strictly with Steven, and I worked very closely with him."


Paul

[MikeSkerritt]

Good news on the infamous SE: it's happening next year.

Warner Home Video recently took part in a chat with members of the Home Theater Forum and had this to say:

[Warner] Yes, POLTERGEIST is still set for its Silver Birthday (gosh, are we all that old?) next year. 2 disc SE with lots of goodies.

They are also planning an SE of LA CONFIDENTIAL for release early next year, its 10th anniversary (has it been that long?)

[Carlson2005]

I think if Tobe Hooper was the director of Poltergeist, I suspect his role was akin to that of Irvin Kershner on Empire Strikes Back, or Richard Marquand on Return of the Jedi -- in essence following the lead of a very hands-on writer/producer and executing that producer's vision.

While Marquand was pretty much a hack for hire, one of the reasons Lucas has distanced himself from Empire and has even spoke of it as the worst of the SW films is because all too often Kershner wouldn't kowtow but let the actors improvise and even tinkered with the script. I think Lucas was expecting Kershner to be a lot more compliant, which is why he's so uncomfortable with the film's reputation.

One reason for the contrioversy over the direction of Poltergeist is a now forgotten edict from the Director's Guild at that time that its members could only work on one studio picture a year, leading to rumours that Hooper was Spielberg's 'beard' on the set. The fact that, much as I love the genius that is Lifeforce ("D'ya hear me, Carlson?"), he's never delivered anything that polished since.

[mkaroly]

I think if Tobe Hooper was the director of Poltergeist, I suspect his role was akin to that of Irvin Kershner on Empire Strikes Back, or Richard Marquand on Return of the Jedi -- in essence following the lead of a very hands-on writer/producer and executing that producer's vision.

While Marquand was pretty much a hack for hire, one of the reasons Lucas has distanced himself from Empire and has even spoke of it as the worst of the SW films is because all too often Kershner wouldn't kowtow but let the actors improvise and even tinkered with the script. I think Lucas was expecting Kershner to be a lot more compliant, which is why he's so uncomfortable with the film's reputation.

Actually, I think that's why I like EMPIRE more than any of the other films in the series- Kershner's direction brought out more of the actual characters and it flowed better; Lucas has proven that to him characters are clearly secondary (at the most) unless they're digitized or some kind of human-monster hybrid. EMPIRE blows away any and all of the crap he released in Episodes I-III. To me, it's not even a contest. I think his vision may be interesting but his translation of that vision to the screen (in human character development and story) is weak at best. I honestly can't stand listening to him talk about anything, especially STAR WARS stuff. He's way too full of himself-

As far as POLTERGEIST is concerned, I can see Spielberg's vision loud and clear- I doubt Spielberg could have gotten away with releasing this film with his name as director with the likes of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, RAIDERS, and ET in his bag. It wasn't as scary or edgy as it could have been had Hooper had complete control of it....it's still a fun movie to watch. Glad to hear there will be a definitive edition coming out.

Love that Goldsmith score- remember when they released that album! What a happy, happy day for me that was!!!

[AndyDursin]

It wasn't as scary or edgy as it could have been had Hooper had complete control of it....

I don't remember the exact quote (or who it was attributed to) about Spielberg and POLTERGEIST, but didn't someone's agent go to the set one day and say something like "Oh, so THAT's what a producer does! He places the camera, talks to the crew, instructs the actors, goes over the script and then lets the director yell 'action!'"

I actually believe it. If you see that MAKING OF POLTERGEIST featurette, you'll see the very same thing: Spielberg setting up shots, talking to the cast, getting the camera positioned, and Hooper off in a corner sitting by himself doing nothing.

I think what happened was that POLTERGEIST was Spielberg's show all the way. He was involved with E.T. and RAIDERS at the time, and probably didn't think he'd have enough time to devote to POLTERGEIST so he hired Hooper.

My theory is that Spielberg DID ultimately have enough time and basically the movie is his (werent there reports he was on the set every day?)...but Hooper got credit despite his lack of participation.

Trevor's DGA issue is quite possibly the other reason, too...good call!