IRWIN ALLEN MASTER OF DISASTER Blu-Ray Box Set from Shout Factory

[AndyDursin]

Allen's Warner output (sans THE SWARM) coming in a box-set from Shout Factory this September.

Alas WHEN TIME RAN OUT will be the theatrical cut, the Shout rep said there are no elements in existence for the longer version.

The TV movies I have scarcely any memory of and I'm pretty sure I didn't see most of them.

Flood! (1976)
Fire! (1977)
Hanging By A Thread (1979)
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
When Time Ran Out (1980)
Cave-In! (1983)
The Night The Bridge Fell Down (1983)

This seven-film set includes both television and theatrical films from producer Irwin Allen, the master of disaster films and who helmed prior hits in the subgenre such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. All films have received new 2k transfer scans from the interpositive and features an all-star cast including Michael Caine, Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, Leslie Nielsen, Telly Savalas, William Holden, Sally Field, Roddy McDowall, Shirley Jones, Mark Harmon, Susan Sullivan, Ernest Borgnine, Patty Duke, Donna Mills, Robert Culp, Martin Millner, Carol Lynley, Barbara Hershey, Sam Groom, Bert Convy, Joyce Bulifant, Desi Arnaz Jr., Eve Plumb, James MacArthur, Barbara Rush, Edward Albert, Alex Karras, Burgess Meredith, Pat Morita, Red Buttons, James Franciscus, Barbara Carrera, Edward Albert and plenty of screaming supporting actors!

[Eric Paddon]

All of the TV-movies were previously released by Warner on DVD in the Warner Archive series. I have seen "Flood" and "Fire" and they're your standard type of TV version knockoff of big screen type stuff.

Amazing that "no elements" exist for the long version. They couldn't even find a home TV recording? I know I saw the longer version on NBC in the early 80s in the "Earth's Final Fury" title (maybe they forgot about the title rechange for TV?)

"Beyond the Poseidon Adventure" had a longer TV-cut too. Anything on that? Not that improved the film, but it at least gave us final scenes of the other surviving characters at the end whereas in the theatrical cut you only see Caine and Field.

I'll probably get it to retire the Warner Archive discs I have of Flood and Fire though I couldn't stomach sitting through "Beyond" again. It's the ultimate example of how (1) Irwin was a terrible director (2) Irwin cared little about story and characters. He honestly thought people would flock to see a boring replay of F/X sequences done to better effect the first time with "big names" and never mind the fact they weren't the same characters from the original and that the story can't even remotely be reconciled to events of the first film. He thinks we're going to like Michael Caine after establishing him as a guy who after seeing an overturned ocean liner with 1500 people aboard only cares about getting inside to loot valuables to keep his precious little tugboat from being repossessed???

[Eric Paddon]

The administrator of a Poseidon Adventure FB group just confirmed that he is now giving bonus materials to Shout! to help them with the release which it looks like will include the extended TV cut, or at minimum the extra footage as a bonus.

"Blu-ray update. I am officially helping Shout with the release. I'm only doing "Beyond..." because I have little or no material on the other titles. I just sent them close to 200 items, including stills, lobby cards, behind the scenes stuff etc. Also the extended TV cut, TV spots and trailers. Whether or not you like the film, I'm glad its getting some attention."

Bad as the film is, it's nice that it'll get some bonus attention to make the overall release livelier.

[AndyDursin]

Great to see Shout accepting the help, I've offered them TV versions in the past for things like CAT PEOPLE and THE GUARDIAN and they had no interest. Then I contacted UK labels like Arrow and Indicator who gladly accepted them later on! Shout, in general, is capable of doing a good job on these titles but the people running it aren't as sharp as other labels I feel, and sometimes make mistakes they're totally unaware of until it's too late. That's good at least they're listening to someone for a change.

BEYOND is, like we've said, a wretched movie. At least THE SWARM has some hilarious moments and Goldsmith's score is solid -- though the long version IS too long (shame they didn't include the theatrical version somewhere, at least it's paced better). BEYOND offers little unintentional comedy and Fielding's score is just as bad as the film. I remember seeing the TV cut as a kid because I had no idea the movie had a sequel -- and I had watched the original a bunch of times -- and then turning it off because it was "so boring". But I agree, so long as it's happening, it should have all the extras packed in.

WHEN TIME RAN OUT I've never seen the longer version of and have only faint memories of ever watching it...in fact I'm not sure I've ever really seen it all the way through. It was never in widescreen until the Archive DVD, as memory serves the laserdisc was cropped (?), so I've been holding out for a better version of it. Hopefully it's bad in a different way compared to BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE!

[Eric Paddon]

WHEN TIME RAN OUT I've never seen the longer version of and have only faint memories of ever watching it...in fact I'm not sure I've ever really seen it all the way through. It was never in widescreen until the Archive DVD, as memory serves the laserdisc was cropped (?), so I've been holding out for a better version of it. Hopefully it's bad in a different way compared to BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE!

I remember seeing the longer version on NBC under the "Earth's Final Fury" title. The additional plot points I remember had to do with more backstory about the bad blood between Newman and Franciscus I think, plus Franciscus cheating on wife Veronica Hamel who had more scenes. Someone I'm sure has an off-air recording since this was 1983-84 and by then more people were recording.

[AndyDursin]

Indeed, it's funny how many more of these are popping up over time. Someone on one of the sites I frequent uploaded BEYOND's TV version with all the ads in a good looking recording just a few weeks ago. I had an earlier version that was "okay" -- is the recording they're sending to Shout 1st generation I hope? Like TWO MINUTE WARNING they used a pretty crappy recording of the TV version, and there are better versions out there.

Also, on WHEN TIME RAN OUT, couldn't they just rip the extended VHS release instead of using an off-air recording?

I'm just surprised Warner of all labels doesn't have access to these things or didn't catalog them properly. That's the kind of thing I don't entirely trust Shout with. They say they "couldn't find anything" but I wonder if they really asked or knew where to look.

[Eric Paddon]

Even though I have the TV cut of Beyond, I should probably ask what site that is, since recordings with network ads are not without interest!

With Universal films, I know we're dealing with the problem of the 2008 fire destroying the video masters of many of their TV cuts. I was surprised the overseas release of "Midway" had a very good looking version that I was able to rip on my computer and convert back to a Region 1 disc. "Airport '77" rermains the one I'd like to see get a release since its probably the one clear case where the TV cut is ultimately much better as a film than the theatrical version.

Shout did come through on "King Kong" because I never in a million years would have expected to see a TV cut presented in anamorphic widescreen of that.

Someone I think *really* needs to write a reference guide about the TV cuts of these 70s-90s movies and note the differences/additions and in the case of Universal what was shot after the fact for TV only. This has been a badly neglected subject overall.

[AndyDursin]

They were surprised they found that with Midway because they were going to use my tape for the longest time. But clearly not everything was gone with the Universal fire because Fast Times at Ridgemont High's TV cut ended up not only on the Criterion disc but in actual HD as well (and there are others like Paradise Alley which was released on the German Blu-Ray etc).

But it seems to be a hit or miss situation. I sent my Psycho III to Arrow which they are using on their 4K that's coming up and also Cat People for a UK release thats yet to be announced. I agree wholeheartedly there's scant info on anything in this genre...we are basically authorities on it!

[AndyDursin]

Movies Unlimited has the best deal on this with the August $30 off $100 code.

MU23AUG (apply at checkout) brings it from $106 down to $76 plus tax.

If you use Rebatesme you can get an extra 9% off:
https://www.rebatesme.com/r/v7uaxu

[AndyDursin]

Official specs:


SPECIAL FEATURES:



FLOOD

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive

· Trailer

· Still Gallery



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono







FIRE

· NEW 4K scan of the original camera negative

· Trailer



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono







HANGING BY A THREAD

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono







BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive

· Extended TV cut (in standard definition)

· Trailer

· Still Gallery

· Sunday Night Movie Promo

· Sweepstake Promo



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono







WHEN TIME RAN OUT

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive

· Extended cut (in standard definition)

· Additional scenes from the extended cut (in standard definition)

· Still Gallery





AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono







THE NIGHT THE BRIDGE FELL DOWN

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono



CAVE-IN

· NEW 2K scan of the interpositive



AUDIO:

DTS-HD Master Audio Mono

[Eric Paddon]

Well nice to see the long cut of "When Time Ran Out" will be there. Having that and the long cut of "Beyond" justifies having the set from an archival standpoint.

I hope we see something similar for the "Airport" movies eventually.

[Eric Paddon]

I got gypped. I ordered from Shout. I get a notice delivery will be September 5th which was perfect because I was in Atlanta for a week from the 29th to the 5th. But guess what, the one time I did NOT want the Post Office to speed things up, they delivered it on the 1st. I got back today and yep, the package was gone and stolen from in front of my door.

Frustrating thing is Amazon doesn't release it until next week. Had to go through them this time.

[AndyDursin]

Ugh so sorry Eric.

I ordered from Movies Unlimited for $80-ish or whatever it was. Hasn't shipped yet.

[mkaroly]

Sorry to hear that Eric. I am not a fan of the post office speeding things up for that very reason.

[Monterey Jack]

Porch Pirates are the worst.