Dvd releases for October 2008

[tazber]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 4:57pm

October 7
- 30 Rock: Season 2 (Comedy, TV)
- The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (50th Anniversary Edition) (Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas (Remastered Deluxe Edition) (Animation, Family)
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Remastered Deluxe Edition) (Animation, Family)
- Backyardigans: Escape From Fairytale Village (Animation, Family, TV)
- The Berenstain Bears: Christmas Tree (Animation, Family, TV)
- The Beverly Hillbillies: The Second Season (Comedy, Family, TV)
- Classic Christmas Favorites (Various)
- The Devil's Chair (Unrated) (Horror)
- Dora the Explorer: Dora Celebrates Three Kings Day! (Animation, Family, TV)
- Go Diego Go!: It's a Bug's World (Animation, Family, TV)
- Halloween (3-Disc Unrated Collector's Edition) (Horror)
- Halloween: 30th Anniversary Box Set (Horror)
- The Happening (Thriller)
- Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (Action, Comedy, Horror)
- Jack Frost: Deluxe Edition (Animation, Family, Musical, TV)
- Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead (Unrated) (Action, Thriller)
- Martin: The Complete Fifth Season (Comedy, TV)
- Max & Ruby: A Very Merry Christmas Collection (Animation, Family, TV)
- Mission: Impossible - The Fifth TV Season (Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, TV)
- The Munsters: The Complete Series (Comedy, Family, TV)
- The Munsters: Family Portrait (Comedy, Family, TV)
- The Naked Brothers Band: Season Two (Family, Music, TV)
- The Picture of Dorian Gray (Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance)
- Psycho (2-Disc Special Edition) (Horror, Thriller)
- Ray Harryhausen Collectible DVD Gift Set (Various)
- Rear Window (Special Edition) (Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller)
- Rest Stop: Don't Look Back (Horror, Thriller)
- Robot Chicken: Season Three (Animation, Comedy, TV)
- The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete First Season (Drama, Family, Sci-Fi)
- The Simpsons: The Eleventh Season (Animation, Comedy, TV) - Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition) (Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance)
- The Smurfs: Season 1, Volume 2 (Animation, Family, TV)
- South Park: The Cult of Cartman (Animation, Comedy, TV)
- Speed Racer: The Complete Classic Series Collection (Action, Adventure, Animation, Family)
- Stuck (Thriller)
- Touch of Evil (50th Anniversary Edition) (Crime, Thriller)
- TV Sets: Holiday Treats (Various) Pre-Order
- Vertigo (Special Edition) (Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller)
- The Visitor (Comedy, Drama)
- Watership Down (Deluxe Edition) (Animation, Drama, Fantasy)
- The Wiggles: Sing a Song of Wiggles (Family, TV)
- Wonder Pets!: Save the Nutcracker (Animation, Family, TV)
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2-Disc Fully Loaded Extended Version) (Comedy)
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Rated Single Disc Edition) (Comedy)
- You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Unrated 1-Disc Extended Version) (Comedy)
- You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (Deluxe Edition) (Animation, Family)

October 14
- Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection (Various)
- Back to You: Season One (Comedy, TV)
- Brotherhood of Blood (Horror)
- Chaplin (15th Anniversary Edition) (Drama)
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Eighth Season (Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, TV)
- Dance of the Dead (Horror)
- Dark Floors (Horror)
- Holiday Inn (3-Disc Collector's Set) (Comedy, Drama, Musical, Romance)
- How I Met Your Mother: Season Three (Comedy)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2-Disc Special Edition) (Action, Adventure)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Single Disc) (Action, Adventure)
- Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventure Collection (Action, Adventure)
- The Last House in the Woods (Horror)
- Mongol (Drama)
- Nash Bridges: The First Season (Action, Crime, Mystery, TV)
- The New World (The Extended Cut) (Adventure, Drama)
- No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker (Horror)
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Full Screen) (Adventure, Animation)
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Widescreen) (Adventure, Animation)
- Quark: The Complete Series (Comedy, Sci-Fi, TV) Pre-Order
- Room 205 (Horror)
- The Sarah Silverman Program: Season Two, Volume One (Comedy, TV) - Standard Operating Procedure (Documentary)
- The Substitute (Horror)
- Trackman (Horror)
- The Unit: Season 3 (Action, Drama, Thriller, War)

October 21
- Anaconda 3: Offspring (Action, Horror)
- Ben 10 Alien Force: Season One, Volume One (Animation)
- Casino Royale (40th Anniversary Edition) (Action, Adventure, Comedy)
- Casino Royale (Collector's Edition) (Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller)
- Family Guy: Volume 6 (Animation, Comedy, TV)
- The Incredible Hulk (3-Disc Special Edition) (Action, Thriller)
- The Incredible Hulk (Single Disc Edition, Full Screen) (Action, Thriller)
- The Incredible Hulk (Single Disc Edition, Widescreen) (Action, Thriller)
- The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series (Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, TV)
- The Incredible Hulk: Season 5 (Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, TV) - Knight Rider: The Complete Series (Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, TV)
- The Lazarus Project (Drama, Thriller, TV)
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume Six (Animation, Comedy, Family, TV)
- Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Volume Six (Animation, Comedy, Family, TV)
- The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series (Action, Adventure, TV)
- Mondays in the Sun (Drama)
- The Strangers (Unrated) (Suspense Thriller)
- Vice (Drama)

October 28
- The 4400: The Complete Series (Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller, TV)
- Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection (Animation, Comedy, Family, TV)
- Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens (Documentary)
- Brotherhood: The Complete Second Season (Crime, Drama, TV)
- The Flintstones: The Complete Series (Animation, Comedy, TV)
- Good Times: The Complete Series (Comedy, TV)
- Hank and Mike (Comedy)
- Houdini's Death Defying Acts (The Miriam Collection) (Drama, Romance, Thriller)
- Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (Drama)
- The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection (Comedy, Family)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (20th Anniversary Edition) (Comedy)
- National Lampoon's Animal House: 30th Anniversary Edition (Comedy)
- National Lampoon's Animal House: 30th Anniversary Edition (Limited Gift Set) (Comedy)
- NewsRadio: The Complete Series (Comedy, TV)
- The Polar Express Presented in 3-D (Adventure, Family)
- Run for Your Life (Documentary, Sports)
- Sanford and Son: The Complete Series (Comedy, TV)
- Tinker Bell (Animation, Family, Fantasy)
- Zombie Strippers (Comedy, Horror)
- Zombie Strippers (Unrated Special Edition) (Comedy, Horror)

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 9/29/08 at 10:09pm

Isn't Sleeping Beauty due out soon too?

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 9:36am

Sleeping Beauty (Blu-ray and DVD) is out on October 7th!

I think I have to get that "Little Rascals" 8-disc set.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 10:30am

SLEEPING BEAUTY is on there. It shares the 31st line with THE SIMPSONS, inexplicably.

- The Simpsons: The Eleventh Season (Animation, Comedy, TV) - Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition) (Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance)

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 10:31am

Tazzy just forgot his "hard return."

AGAIN.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 11:08am

Any word on the re-re-re-re-releases on REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO? Extras, new prints remastered?

I'm wanting to get that Hitchcock Premiere thing, but I already own most of the films in it, and would be getting it only to own THE LODGER in a non-bootleg copy. Any word on the possibility of it being released separately?

[tazber]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:20pm

As far as I can tell, none of the movies on the Hitchcock collection are going to be released seperately.

That set is my most anticipated release though. I have been waiting for Rebecca to be re-released for years.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:28pm

THey're doing separate releases of NOTORIOUS and REBECCA and SPELLBOUND, but not of PARADINE CASE or THE LODGER, per amazon.com.

Curses.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:30pm

Here are (outstanding) reviews of Rear Window and Vertigo, roscoe.

At least these are separate releases.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/34858/rear-window-specia-edition-universal-legacy-series/

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/34870/vertigo-special-edition-universal-legacy-series/?___rd=1

[Roscoe]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:33pm

Merci, Besty!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:35pm

Also releasing this week: The uncut version of Andrzej Zulawski’s truly bonkers POSSESSION with Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani. It's both brilliant and terrible and an uncut release means more of Isabelle Adjani losing her sh*t while frothing yogurt out of her mouth in a tube station.

Don't miss it.

Here's the trailer!

Updated On: 9/30/08 at 12:35 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 12:37pm

Don't forget, the following will be released on the 21st:

Warner Gangsters Collection, Vol. 4 (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse / Invisible Stripes / Kid Galahad / Larceny, Inc. / The Little Giant / Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film)

Updated On: 9/30/08 at 12:37 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 1:05pm

Cool...looking forward to the Hitch special eds and THE SIMPSONS.

For some reason, I always confuse Dr. Clitterhouse with Dr. Ehrlich....eek!

[bschneid76]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 8:29pm

I don't know if I need to get the Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo Special Editions. I have those on DVD from a previous release during Hithcock's 100th Birthday. Most of the features appear to be on the disc already. I will have to research more to see if it is worth it.

[tazber]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 9:56pm

If you have those movies in the maroon velvet box bschneid, then these are not upgrades transfer-wise.
They do however include additional commentaries and features.

I'm not replacing my box either.
I do want the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection though as it has different films that I've been waiting for.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/30/08 at 10:37pm

I'm guessing those classic Hitchcock films are soon to be out on Blu-ray. I'm going to wait until they come out. Maybe next year?

However... the previous releases of Vertigo and Psycho were not anamorphic/widescreen. They were just standard letterboxed. For those of you with HD or widescreen TVs, you'll know that's a HUGE difference when the film transfer isn't "enhanced for 16x9 TVs."

So, even though I think I'm going to wait for the BD releases... these new DVDs for Psycho and Vertigo would be a significant upgrade from the previous individual DVD releases.

Oh, and Tazzy, these are all new remasters. They haven't been included in any previous boxes or releases. The differences may be negligible on a standard TV, but I'm pretty positive these have been remastered first in hi-def, then down-converted to standard for the new releases.

Short answer: They're better than what you've seen previously.

Updated On: 9/30/08 at 10:37 PM

[NCGuy]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:34am

Woo-hoo for the 3-disc Casino Royale! The extras on that first release were pretty underwhelming. I’ve been waiting for Rebecca, too (snagged a copy of Notorious just after it went out of print, but was never able to find an affordable copy of that Criterion Rebecca release).

DVDBeaver has their release comparisons up for Rear Window and Vertigo. They’re giving the edge to the new versions over those in the Masterpiece Collection (which were also anamorphic widescreen). I don’t think my eye (or TV system) is sophisticated enough to justify an upgrade, though.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/vertigo.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare6/rearwindow.htm

[tazber]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 12:49am

Thanks for clarifying besty. I was checking the stats on dvdfile and they had wrong info.

[NCGuy]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 1:21am

Technically a September release, but Butterfly, with commentary from Ms. Pia Zadora herself, was released on DVD today (still no sign of The Lonely Lady, though).

Butterfly Updated On: 10/1/08 at 01:21 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 5:31am

Just to amend my original post about this... for the new Hitchcock releases, they may in fact be the same transfers made available in the 2005 box set.

Some are saying "these are new transfers that have never been available in any previous release"... and some are saying, "these are new transfers that have never been available in any previous individual release." That last statement implies that they WERE available in the box set, however.

If you own the 2005 Hitchcock box set, I wouldn't suggest getting these individual releases at all. And even if you didn't buy the box (like me because I owned the previous individual releases), the only ones really worth upgrading in any collection would be Psycho and Vertigo, since they were non-anamorphic prior.

For now, at least, I'm going to wait for HD releases, which I'm sure are on the horizon in the near future. Why upgrade halfway, when you can go to full 1080p soon enough?

[bschneid76]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 7:40am

I wish on one of the Hitchcock release they would include the spectacular documentary "Dial H for Hitchcock" they showed that on TCM a few years ago and it was amazing.

I notice they are releasing Notorious, Spellbound and Rebecca. I have those when they were first release many years ago, I wished I had gotten the criterion collection of those, but they have since been out of print. Do you think the re-released DVD would be just as good as the Criterions?

It is so hard to keep up with all these re-released DVDs.

Speaking of Criterion, I am glad to see the film "Missing" being released by them.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:15am

I haven't heard about the new release of Rebecca yet, as far as quality or special features.

The Criterion is outstanding though!

The new Rebecca is an MGM release (via Fox) and they've been getting good marks for their recent restorations of movies like 12 Angry Men and The Apartment. So I imagine Rebecca should be good.

I'm sticking with my Criterions of both Rebecca and Spellbound, though. Rebecca is a 2-Disc release that includes many of the original screen tests for the leading female role (unnamed in the movie and novel and simply referred to as "I"). The new MGM release is a single disc, so I'm not sure about the extent of the extras on it.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:20am

"If you own the 2005 Hitchcock box set, I wouldn't suggest getting these individual releases at all."

Sorry, Best, but I'm not clear. Do you mean the DVDs of VERTIGO, REAR WINDOW and PSYCHO that are coming out next week? These seem to have been pretty thoroughly remastered, based on the reviews. I'm assuming your post refers to the Hitchcock Premiere box, the one that includes REBECCA, PARADINE, THE LODGER, etc.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:29am

I'm referring to the Universal box set that was called "Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection"

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1747hitc.html

It included remasters of the following:
Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot

It was released in October of 2005.

From what I'm understanding these "new restorations" that are coming out now of these films are really just the first time they've been available as individual releases. You couldn't buy just Psycho or Vertigo. You had to buy this whole set, in order to get those new transfers. So now, three years later, they're releasing them separately. So their cheating the specs by announcing "new transfers never before available!" ...separately.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/1/08 at 10:36am

Gotcha. Thanks!