Imprint/ViaVision (Australia) Thread: New Announcements

[AndyDursin]

Yeah I think all of these Via Vision releases are using whatever masters Paramount has already made. Some of them like When Worlds Collide were struck many years ago, they're not fresh remasters like War of the Worlds. Not that they're not worth having but it's best to keep expectations in check depending on the title.

[Eric Paddon]

That's good heads-up. Basically with "When Worlds Collide", it would probably be a question of whether I want the bonus features or not, but I have to admit I'm increasingly becoming more cynical about commentary tracks because I run into so many that are more miss than hit (abandoned a bad one for "Murder By Death" last night)

[Johnmgm]

Murder by Death has one of the all-time bad audio commentaries.

[Eric Paddon]

Annoying voice and far too many tangents in the first half hour which was all I could handle.

Shout would have been advised to have given us the deleted scenes that aired on TV and were on the VHS version I think instead! (one of them the "Sherlock Holmes" ending)

[AndyDursin]

Via Vision's December limited edition roster is up.

Not sure I'm up for yet ANOTHER release of THE DEEP -- even with an ILLEANA DOUGLAS commentary on it!

The others are mostly Paramount titles (a couple marking their first releases like DEAD AGAIN), but I'd caution the studio might get to some of these in the U.S. as they've recently started launching a line of $10 catalog discs (albeit with no extras) over the last few weeks (THE TWO JAKES, TIMELINE, UNCOMMON VALOR, etc.)

https://viavision.com.au/shop/imprint-b ... mber-2020/

[Monterey Jack]

Not sure I'm up for yet ANOTHER release of THE DEEP -- even with an ILLEANA DOUGLAS commentary on it!

That made me double-take as well. What's her connection to this particular film? Big fan...?

[AndyDursin]

I guess, lol! Is she trying to be the new Julie Kirgo?

[Monterey Jack]

Hey, actors gotta eat, and in the Covid era, it's a way to make some scratch while not leaving the house.

[AndyDursin]

Yes I don't think she's getting much work these days, covid or no covid. But she can't be worse than the guy who did the UK DEEP commentary I just bought (and promptly sold off!)

[Paul MacLean]

Not sure I'm up for yet ANOTHER release of THE DEEP -- even with an ILLEANA DOUGLAS commentary on it!

That made me double-take as well. What's her connection to this particular film? Big fan...?

Maybe Scorsese used his influence to elevate her to the status of "film historian".

Her attempt to be a filmmaker certainly didn't pan-out...

[AndyDursin]

Indeed, didn't he produce her only starring vehicle? (GRACE OF MY HEART)

She was his "longtime companion" for a while

[AndyDursin]

I picked up DAY OF THE LOCUST via one of DDD's sales -- the transfer BLOWS. It's some 20-year-old master like their craptastic release of TOP SECRET and barely shows any high-def detail at any point. In fact I'd go so far as to rank it one of the very worst transfers I've ever watched in the Blu-Ray format.

If they want to be regarded as a "deluxe" label for movie buffs they shouldn't be releasing decades-old, horrendous looking transfers like this and charging big money for them. This is out of focus and soft, and at times looks like an upscale from the DVD. Maybe worse, actually.

[Monterey Jack]

Certainly hope that Dead Again and Hard Eight look better. The latter received some praise in a recent Blu-Ray.com review, which referred to the transfer as "old", but in excellent condition.

[AndyDursin]

Yeah, if the master is fine, the release will be fine. DEAD AGAIN looks pretty good streaming and it'll be the same master so you should be good.

On the other hand, Imprint aren't doing themselves any favors by acting like Twilight Time or whoeever and releasing ancient masters like this that most labels wouldn't be comfortable releasing. I'll wait for it to sell out and then eventually unload it. Probably should've bought the digital first to see what it looked like.

Not a great movie anyway but it doesn't help when it looks like you're watching it through a dirty glass.

[Eric Paddon]

They just announced some new titles and the two I'm most interested in are "Black Sunday" and "The Bridges At Toko-Ri". I hope Deep Discount will have those available eventually because it's obvious that ordering direct from them will take forever. (my "Major Dundee" copy came from Deep Discount but I still don't have the one I ordered from Via Vision which will likely never come from Down Under).