Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Blu Ray.

[John Johnson]

British distributors Arrow Video have officially announced and detailed their upcoming Blu-ray release of Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, and Jeff Goldblum. The release will be available for purchase in the United Kingdom on November 18th.

In addition to the standard release, Arrow Video will also have available for sale a Limited SteelBook Edition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. See our listing here.

Synopsis: An update of Don Siegel's 1956 horror classic, set in the paranoid 1970s. Alien spores land on Earth and slowly start taking over the people of America when they are asleep. The plants take over the bodies and souls of their victims so that no-one can tell who has been corrupted and who has not. Donald Sutherland takes on the role played originally by Kevin McCarthy, who appears in a cameo.

Special Features: •High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the film
• Original uncompressed Stereo 2.0 audio / 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Philip Kaufman
• Discussing the Pod: A new panel conversation about 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and invasion cinema featuring critic Kim Newman and filmmakers Ben Wheatley and Norman J. Warren
• Dissecting the Pod: A new interview with Kaufman biographer Annette Insdorf
• Writing the Pod: A new interview with Jack Seabrook, author of 'Stealing through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney' about Finney's original novel 'The Body Snatchers'
• Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod – a documentary on the making of the film featuring Philip Kaufman, Donald Sutherland, writer W.D. Richter and more
• The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod – a look at the film's pioneering sound effects
• The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod – cinematographer Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) discusses the look of and influences on the visual style of the film
• Practical Magic: The Special Effect Pod – A look at the creation of the special effects from the opening space sequence
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh [Amaray version only]
• 52-page collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Cairns, as well as re-prints of classic articles including contemporary interviews with Philip Kaufman and W.D. Richter, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12389

[Mike Skerritt]

Here's a (probably stupid) question - when BR's such as this are released overseas and are "region free," then obviously they should be able to play in any players in the US, but are there then any PAL/NTSC conversion issues such as speed up?

[AndyDursin]

Here's a (probably stupid) question - when BR's such as this are released overseas and are "region free," then obviously they should be able to play in any players in the US, but are there then any PAL/NTSC conversion issues such as speed up?

Depends on the title. Often times there is PAL content on some of the releases from smaller, non-major labels -- i.e. a video logo, pre-movie trailers, some old featurette that's in standard-def PAL, etc.

There are only a few -- and I mean, very few -- Blu-Rays that have FILM content mastered in 1080/50fps, and are sped up like PAL DVDs were, but they are few and far between typically. But, if you have a region-free player, this is usually something the player will take care of anyway (it's no different than US DVD players that can play PAL content).

Arrow Video is basically the UK's version of Shout Factory, they've released a handful of terrific titles, especially recently.

[John Johnson]

Here's a (probably stupid) question - when BR's such as this are released overseas and are "region free," then obviously they should be able to play in any players in the US, but are there then any PAL/NTSC conversion issues such as speed up?

I have a player that's been chipped, so playback is fine. The only drawback is having to change regions when I play BDs from different regions. Apart from that, the machine is good.