BFI - Blu Ray Releases.

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John Johnson
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Re: BFI Thread.

#16 Post by John Johnson »

John Johnson wrote:Image



The British Film Institute has officially announced and detailed its upcoming Dual Format Edition of Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), starring Edward Judd, Janet Munro, and Leo McKern. The release will be available for purchase on November 17th.

Newly remastered by the BFI National Archive, this definitive version of the classic British science fiction thriller will be released by the BFI on both DVD and Blu-ray on 17 November 2014 as part of Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder.

Both formats contain a host of extras, including a commentary with director Val Guest (the Quatermass films), a newly-created documentary, a selection of bomb-related archive films and much, much more.

When the USA and Russia simultaneously test nuclear bombs, the earth is knocked off its axis and set on a collision course with the sun. As the planet inexorably heats up and society slowly breaks down, Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), a washed-up Daily Express reporter, breaks the story and sets about investigating the government cover-up.

Made at a time when the nuclear threat of the Cold War loomed large, The Day the Earth Caught Fire is an expertly crafted sci-fi film that boasts a BAFTA-winning screenplay, gritty characters and a vision of end-of-days London that really burns. It also stars Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey), Janet Munro, real-life reporter Bernard Braden and one-time Daily Express editor Arthur Christiansen. Many scenes were filmed on location at the former Daily Express HQ on Fleet Street and in the surrounding area.

Special Features:
Brand new 4K transfer by the BFI National Archive
Hot Off the Press: Revisiting the Day the Earth Caught Fire (John Kelly, 2014, 34 mins): a newly-created documentary with contributions from Kim Newman, Marcus Hearne and BFI Archive curators John Oliver and Jo Botting
Audio commentary with Val Guest and Ted Newsom
An Interview with Leo McKern (Paul Venezis, 2001, 9 mins)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire: An Audio Appreciation by Graeme Hobbs (2014, 9 mins)
Original trailer, TV spots and radio spots
Stills and Collections Gallery
Three nuclear films from the BFI National Archive: Operation Hurricane (Ronald Stark, 1952, 33 mins); The H-bomb (David Villiers, 1956, 22 mins); The Hole in the Ground (David Cobham, 1962, 30 mins)
Think Bike (1978, 1 min): road safety film with actor Edward Judd
Illustrated booklet with extensive credits and newly commissioned essays from John Oliver and Marcus Hearn
The Guardian Lecture: Val Guest and his wife, actress Yolande Dolan are interviewed by David Meeker, filmed at the National Film Theatre (1998, 63 mins) (Blu-ray exclusive feature)

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15266

Review.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm
Last edited by John Johnson on Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI Thread.

#17 Post by John Johnson »

John Johnson wrote:Image



The British Film Institute has officially announced and detailed its upcoming Dual Format Edition of Val Guest's The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), starring Edward Judd, Janet Munro, and Leo McKern. The release will be available for purchase on November 17th.

Newly remastered by the BFI National Archive, this definitive version of the classic British science fiction thriller will be released by the BFI on both DVD and Blu-ray on 17 November 2014 as part of Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder.

Both formats contain a host of extras, including a commentary with director Val Guest (the Quatermass films), a newly-created documentary, a selection of bomb-related archive films and much, much more.

When the USA and Russia simultaneously test nuclear bombs, the earth is knocked off its axis and set on a collision course with the sun. As the planet inexorably heats up and society slowly breaks down, Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), a washed-up Daily Express reporter, breaks the story and sets about investigating the government cover-up.

Made at a time when the nuclear threat of the Cold War loomed large, The Day the Earth Caught Fire is an expertly crafted sci-fi film that boasts a BAFTA-winning screenplay, gritty characters and a vision of end-of-days London that really burns. It also stars Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey), Janet Munro, real-life reporter Bernard Braden and one-time Daily Express editor Arthur Christiansen. Many scenes were filmed on location at the former Daily Express HQ on Fleet Street and in the surrounding area.

Special Features:
Brand new 4K transfer by the BFI National Archive
Hot Off the Press: Revisiting the Day the Earth Caught Fire (John Kelly, 2014, 34 mins): a newly-created documentary with contributions from Kim Newman, Marcus Hearne and BFI Archive curators John Oliver and Jo Botting
Audio commentary with Val Guest and Ted Newsom
An Interview with Leo McKern (Paul Venezis, 2001, 9 mins)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire: An Audio Appreciation by Graeme Hobbs (2014, 9 mins)
Original trailer, TV spots and radio spots
Stills and Collections Gallery
Three nuclear films from the BFI National Archive: Operation Hurricane (Ronald Stark, 1952, 33 mins); The H-bomb (David Villiers, 1956, 22 mins); The Hole in the Ground (David Cobham, 1962, 30 mins)
Think Bike (1978, 1 min): road safety film with actor Edward Judd
Illustrated booklet with extensive credits and newly commissioned essays from John Oliver and Marcus Hearn
The Guardian Lecture: Val Guest and his wife, actress Yolande Dolan are interviewed by David Meeker, filmed at the National Film Theatre (1998, 63 mins) (Blu-ray exclusive feature)

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=15266

Review.

http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/i ... -fire.html
London. Greatest City in the world.

John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI Thread.

#18 Post by John Johnson »

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Regarded by many to be the best incarnation of the Baker Street sleuth, Douglas Wilmer gives a career-defining performance in this celebrated BBC series. Intelligent, quick on his heels, and bearing a striking resemblance to the original Sidney Paget illustrations, Wilmer’s portrayal is possibly the closest to Conan Doyle’s original vision that there has ever been. In 2012, his status as legend within the Sherlock pantheon was cemented when he was asked to make a cameo appearance in Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch.

The first story in the series, The Speckled Band, was originally produced as part of the BBC drama strand Detectives. Appearing alongside Wilmer, as Holmes’ loyal companion Dr John Watson, was the great Nigel Stock. Such was the success of the adaptation that Wilmer and Stock were reunited a year later for a full 12-part series. With a supporting cast that included Clochemerle star Peter Madden as Inspector Lestrade, TV veteran Derek Francis as Mycroft Holmes, and guest stars such as Peter Wyngarde (Department S, The Innocents) and Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who), the popularity of the series gave rise to a second series, in which the role of Sherlock was played by Peter Cushing.

Presented for the first time on UK DVD, this long-awaited release also includes an array of fascinating special features, including two reconstructions of partially-surviving episodes, an alternative presentation of the Detectives pilot, an alternative title sequence, an interview with Douglas Wilmer and a number of newly-recorded audio commentaries.

Episode Listing

• The Speckled Band (1964) Director: Robin Midgley
• The Illustrious Client (1965) Director: Peter Sadsy
• The Devil’s Foot (1965) Director: Max Varnel
• The Copper Beeches (1965) Director: Gareth Davies
• The Red Headed League (1965) Director: Peter Duguid
• The Abbey Range (Reconstructed Episode) (1965) Director: Peter Green
• The Six Napoleons (1965) Director: Gareth Davies
• The Man With the Twisted Lip (1965) Director: Eric Tayler
• The Beryl Coronet (1965) Director: Max Varnel
• The Bruce-Partington Plans (Reconstructed Episode) (1965) Director: Shaun Sutton
• Charles Augustus Milverton (1965) Director: Philip Dudley
• Retired Colourman (1965) Director: Michael Hayes
• Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (1965) Director: Shaun Sutton




Special features

• Original 1964 Detectives pilot episode The Speckled Band
• All surviving episodes from the 1965 series
• Alternative Spanish audio presentation of The Speckled Band
• Alternative title sequence for The Illustrious Client
• The Abbey Grange episode reconstruction, featuring a newly-filmed sequence with Douglas Wilmer reading the first half of the story, followed by all surviving original footage
• The Bruce-Partington Plans episode reconstruction, using all surviving original footage and original shooting scripts
• Douglas Wilmer… on Television (2012, Simon Harries, 22 mins): the iconic actor discusses his career in British film and television.
• Five audio commentaries, including contributions from Douglas Wilmer and celebrated directors Peter Cregeen and Peter Sasdy, all moderated by actor-comedian Toby Hadoke
• Fully illustrated booklet with essays and full episode credits

http://shop.bfi.org.uk/sherlock-holmes. ... m=Sherlock
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Eric Paddon
Posts: 8595
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:49 pm

Re: BFI Thread.

#19 Post by Eric Paddon »

It's interesting to hear this has never had a UK release which might make it the only series I know of to have been released in the US first in R1! The partial episodes were not included in the set and I recall they even had them on double sided discs which in this day and age is absurd.

Wilmer I think nailed the character a little better than Cushing did in the later color shows. One problem was they didn't have rights to adapt some of the better stories. Speckled Band and Redheaded League are the only two in this series that are in the perennial favorite category of Holmes stories with me.

John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI Thread.

#20 Post by John Johnson »

Eric Paddon wrote:It's interesting to hear this has never had a UK release which might make it the only series I know of to have been released in the US first in R1! The partial episodes were not included in the set and I recall they even had them on double sided discs which in this day and age is absurd.
All the surviving Cushing episodes were released on R2 back in 2004.

Image

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John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI Thread.

#21 Post by John Johnson »

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The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming dual format edition of Peter Watkins' Culloden and The War. The release will be available for purchase on March 21.

Synopsis: Culloden, Watkins first full-length film, a docudrama, made for the BBC, portrays the 1746 Battle of Culloden which in the words of the narrator 'tore apart forever the clan system of the Scottish Highlands'. The film was hailed as a breakthrough for its cinematography, as well as its use of non-professional actors and presentation of an historical event in the style of modern TV reporting.

The War Game is Watkins 1965 Academy Award-winning television drama-documentary depicting a nuclear war, written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology series. The film shows the prelude to, and immediate weeks of the aftermath, of a Soviet nuclear attack against Britain. Told in the style of a news magazine programme, the cast was made up of non-actors, with narration by Peter Graham and Michael Aspel reading quotations from source material.

Watkins is known for pushing boundaries to the extreme with his documentaries and his films continue to inspire today.

The films in this collection have been remastered to High Definition, and are presented on Blu-ray for the very first time.

Special Features:
Culloden commentary by Dr John Cook
The War Game commentary by Patrick Murphy
Interview with editor Mike Bradsell (2015)
Illustrated booklet with essays and full credits

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=18184
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John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI - Blu Ray Releases.

#22 Post by John Johnson »

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The British Film Institute has detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of Henri-Georges Clouzot's The Wages of Fear (1952), starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter van Eyck, and William Tubbs. The release will be available for purchase on October 23.

Synopsis: Few films are as gripping as The Wages of Fear, largely because few have come up with as effective a mechanism for generating pure white-knuckle tension. In an unnamed South American country, four European ex-convicts are so desperate to escape that they accept the potentially suicidal mission of driving two trucks loaded with nitroglycerine over the roughest terrain imaginable in order to extinguish a burning oil well – assuming their own lives aren't extinguished first.

The slow build-up gives Henri-Georges Clouzot time to round his characters – cynical Yves Montand, grizzled Charles Vanel, rugged Peter Van Eyck, nervy Folco Lulli – and establish how lethal a single drop of 'nitro' can be when jolted. And then the trucks leave the town, warning sirens blaring, whereupon Clouzot begins to slice at the viewer's nerve endings with the clinical precision of a master surgeon, and doesn't let up until the characteristically pessimistic ending.

The film was directly remade as The Violent Road (1958) and Sorcerer (1977), and its influence can clearly be seen in Speed (1994).

Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION of the original French theatrical release of the film
Interview with Assistant Director Michel Romanoff (2005, 23 mins)
Interview with Clouzot biographer Marc Godin (2005, 10 mins)
Interview with Professor Lucy Mazdon (2017, 35 mins)
The Guardian Lecture: Yves Montand in conservation with Don Allan (99 mins, audio only): recorded in 1989, the star discusses his distinguished career
Audio commentary with film critic Adrian Martin
Original theatrical trailer
Illustrated booklet with a new essay by Andy Miller, original reviews by Karel Reisz and Penelope Houston, an appreciation of Clouzot by Paul Ryan, and full film credits

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=22132
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John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI - Blu Ray Releases.

#23 Post by John Johnson »

The British Film Institute will add eight new titles to its Blu-ray catalog early next year. Amongst them are Beat the Devil (1953), Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971).

Please note that exact technical specs and supplemental features to be included on these releases will be announced as their street dates approach.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=25949
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John Johnson
Posts: 6087
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm

Re: BFI - Blu Ray Releases.

#24 Post by John Johnson »



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The British Film Institute has provided the final details for its upcoming Blu-ray release of Lewis Gilbert's film The Good Die Young (1954), starring Stanley Baker, Joan Collins, Gloria Grahame, and Laurence Harvey. The release will be available for purchase on July 20.

Synopsis: The film opens with four men sitting in a car as they prepare to commit a serious crime. Each man's reason for being involved is then explored...

Mike (Stanley Baker), an injured and ageing boxer unable to find work, Joe (Richard Basehart) is an out-of-work clerk who needs to get to the United States with his young wife (Joan Collins) to escape her unstable mother (Freda Jackson), Eddie (John Ireland) is an AWOL American airman with an unfaithful wife (Gloria Grahame), and Miles 'Rave' Ravenscroft (Laurence Harvey), a 'gentleman' scoundrel with gambling debts and the man who lures the other three. From director Lewis Gilbert (The Spy Who Loved Me, Alfie) comes this 1954 crime thriller that promises 'Deadly weapons, burning lips, and hot lead!'

Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEWLY RESTORED IN 2K BY THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE
The Good Die Young (export version) (1953, 101 mins, Blu-ray only): made available here for the first time, this extended overseas-only version of the film contains anti-establishment sentiments considered too strong for British audiences of the day
When Giants Fought (1926, 31 mins): a contentious but historic boxing match of 1810 is vividly revisited in this power-packed silent drama, with a newly commissioned musical score by Mordecai Smyth
Midnight Taxi (1946, 17 mins): a London cabby uncovers the city's secret nightlife in this surprising plug for post-war National Savings
Under Night Streets (1958, 20 mins): after the last tube has gone, an army of underground workers get busy down below
Not Like Any Other Director: Lewis Gilbert (1995, 31 mins): Michael Caine introduces the director of The Good Die Young in this excerpt from an onstage interview at London's National Film Theatre
Image gallery
First pressing only: Illustrated booklet with an essay on the film by Dr Josephine Botting, a biography of Lewis Gilbert by Peter Rankin, notes on the extras and full credits
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=27067
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