THIS WEEK's RELEASES: William Wyler, Michael Curtiz, Cecil B. DeMille, Edward Dmytryk, George Cukor, Otto Preminger, George Stevens, Daniel Mann, Frank Tashlin, Joe May silent, Daniel Petrie, Alain Cavalier, more Bad News Bears...
THIS WEEK's CALENDAR UPDATES (NEW): Peter Weir masterwork in 4K UHD, Seijun Suzuki 4K UHD, Wim Wenders gets Criterion 4K UHD, Lumet-Pacino goes 4K UHD, yet more Dark Side Noir + Essential Noir (woohoo!), Peter Bogdanovich gem, Andrzej Żulawski trifecta, Jacques Rivette, Don Siegel, Basil Dearden, Dennis Hopper, Luigi Cozzi, Ulli Lommel, Ye Lou, Mervyn LeRoy, Martin Brest, Álex de la Iglesia, Takeshi Kushida, Ridley Scott, Wes Craven - Picard Trek goes 4K UHD, large Warner packages...
THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS: The definitive package of Lenzi-Milian Poliziotteschi efforts. Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider - one of the best thrillers of the 70s in 4K UHD! 70's Kung Fu comedy with revenge, justice, friendship and discipline. Euro Horror set in a 19th-century French boarding with an abusive and sinister headmistress played by Lilli Palmer. Reincarnated 16th century, vengeful, witches, counter-culture futuristic science-fiction...
Enjoy,
Gary

RELEASES the WEEK of March 6th, 2023 (Recommended titles have "**")

**Asphalt** [Blu-ray] (Joe May, 1929) Kino
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: From its elaborate and stylish opening scenes, Asphalt immediately establishes itself as a startling cinematic achievement of Weimar cinema. Gustav Frölich, best known as the young protagonist of Metropolis, stars as a strait-laced traffic cop who has the simple task of escorting a diamond thief to the police station. However, Holk’s routine assignment becomes complicated when he discovers the criminal in his custody: the exotic and beautiful Else (Betty Amann). Working alongside cinematographer Günther Rittau (The Blue Angel), director Joe May (The Indian Tomb) takes a simple melodrama and transforms it into a masterwork, with a brooding visual style, nuanced performances, and psychological complexity.
_____________________________
The Bad News Bears Go to Japan [Blu-ray] (John Berry, 1978) Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Caught in a clash of cultures and ready to wreak more havoc on Japan than Godzilla, the Bad News Bears are back for their third outing, following the enormously successful The Bad New Bears and The Bad News Bears In Breaking Training. This time the Bears have been spirited off to Tokyo by Tony Curtis as Marvin Lazar, a slick and sleazy con artist who sees in the team a perfect peg for a get-rich-quick scheme. The strikeout-prone Bears are pitted against a murderously skillful Japanese junior baseball team, and the resulting comic chaos is hilarious.Starring Tony Curtis, Jackie Earle Haley, and Tomisabur Wakayama.
_____________________________
**Camille** [Blu-ray] (George Cukor, 1936) Warner Archive
US PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure. One such woman is Marguerite Gautier (Greta Garbo), the Camille of this sumptuous romance based on the enduring Alexandre Dumas story. Garbo's aloof mystique and alabaster beauty illuminate this George Cukor-directed film featuring what many call her finest performance. Her Camille is a movie paragon of true love found (in suitor Armand Duval, memorably played by Robert Taylor), then sacrificed for a greater good. Garbo earned an Academy Award nomination and the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award for her memorable work.
_____________________________
**Carrie** [Blu-ray] (William Wyler, 1952)‎ Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Carrie is the story of a woman whose dreams of adventure in the big city are squashed after discovering a bleak life of grueling and poorly-paid factory work. That is, until a traveling salesman named Drouet steps into her life and changes her outlook. Breaking all the rules of morality at the time, Carrie moves in with him and at first she's content, but when Drouet introduces her to the wealthy and married Hurstwood, who manages a restaurant, Carrie instantly sizes up the difference between the two men and discovers she's falling for him.William Wyler's classic adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" was nominated for two Oscars.Full unedited version of the film featuring the previously removed "flophouse" scene which was omitted for the original release in the US theatres.
_____________________________
**The Crusades** [Blu-ray] (Cecil B. DeMille, 1935) Kino
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Master filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille (The Sign of the Cross, Cleopatra, The Ten Commandments) combines religious fervor and a stirring love story in one of his greatest screen spectacles, The Crusades. Christians in Medieval Europe are planning war against the Saracens, who have taken over the Holy City of Jerusalem. In order to obtain supplies for his soldiers, England’s king, Richard the Lion-Hearted (Henry Wilcoxon, Unconquered), is forced to marry a princess (Loretta Young, The Stranger) he has never met. The two are soon involved in a treacherous battle for survival of the Holy City—and of their love. This powerful epic unfolds in true DeMille fashion, bringing the past to glorious life as a cast of thousands creates “the kind of excitement that pulls an audience irresistibly to the edge of its seat” (The New York Times).
_____________________________
Electric Dragon 80.000 V [Blu-ray] (Gakuryû Ishii, 2001) RB UK Third Window Films
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: As a child, Dragon Eye Morrison undergoes electro-shock treatment for his aggressive behavior. The levels of sheer energy absorbed by his body over the years allow him to channel and conduct electricity. Now an adult, Morrison works in the city as a reptile investigator and has learned to channel his rage through the performance of aggressive guitar-based noise. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt Buddha, a TV repair man turned vigilante, who has the same electro-conductive powers after a childhood accident, goes after crime bosses and gangsters. When both men learn of each other's existence, Thunderbolt Buddha challenges Morrison to a final showdown on the rooftops of Tokyo.
_____________________________
**Alain Cavalier's "Fill 'er Up with Super"** Blu-ray - Patrick Bouchitey @FilmsRadiance
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Alain Cavalier's Fill 'er Up with Super is unconventional, groundbreaking French auteur cinema; free-spirited, under-produced, experimental - focusing on men sharing and confiding with each other about their lives, women, sex and lives with the casualness of amusing humor and a subtle distinction of the characters evolving throughout. There is no extraneous detail put on lighting, dubbing, sound effects, make-up etc. It is often paired with Cavalier's 1979 similarly less-constrained Martin et Léa also with Xavier Saint-Macary. This Blu-ray further announces Radiance Films as the 'real deal' in terms of unique, underexposed cinephilia (check out A Woman Kills and Big Time Gambling Boss.) Their growing niche will not want to miss this, 'well-kept secret', fascinating piece of independent 'guerilla filmmaking'-style cinema - another complete Blu-ray package from Radiance Films. Absolutely recommended!
_____________________________
**Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's "The House That Screamed"** Blu-ray - Lilli Palmer @ArrowFilmsVideo
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's The House That Screamed is a curious genre film - always hinting at the perverse Euro-sleaze but never venturing there with any blatant-ness. One sequence has a threaded needle with moaning representing sex with one of the nubile students. Ditto for gore that is conspicuous by its absence with edited flashes referencing the grisly. The atmosphere of a 19th-century French boarding school for troubled girls with an abusive and sinister headmistress played by Lilli Palmer - is enticing in itself. Throw in a twisted murder mystery and the combination is delightful for genre fans. There are echoes of Psycho. The Arrow Blu-ray is another of their complete packages with both versions, commentary, interviews, booklet etc. and vastly improved video from the previous 1080P edition. Absolutely recommended!
_____________________________
Hurry Sundown [Blu-ray] (Otto Preminger, 1967) Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Henry Warren (Michael Caine) is an unscrupulous and racist landowner obsessed with buying up all available land in a Georgia farming town. Blocking his path are sharecroppers Rod McDowell (John Phillip Law) and Reeve Scott (Robert Hooks), one white and one black.Otto Preminger (Anatomy of a Murder) directs this epic adaptation of K.B. Gilden's novel about racial prejudice and emotiona
_____________________________
**I'll Cry Tomorrow** [Blu-ray] (Daniel Mann, 1955) Warner Archive
US PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Lillian Roth has it all: youth, beauty, movie and Broadway fame, and a devoted fiance. Then her fiance dies, and Lillian takes one drink to ease her grief. Then another. Then ten. Then thousands. And soon her youth, her career and her life are drowning in an ocean of booze. Susan Hayward earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her searing portrayal of the real-life performer. Hayward's achievements don't stop there. She provides her own vocals for Sing You Sinners, Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe and more standards.
_____________________________
Little Miss Marker (Alexander Hall, 1934) Kino
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: In one of her earliest and most popular roles, the adorable Shirley Temple (Now and Forever) single-handedly melts the hearts of a gang of hardened gamblers when she is left as an IOU or “marker” for a debt. Adolphe Menjou (The Front Page) stars as a jaded head bookie, “Sorrowful” Jones, who winds up playing reluctant papa to the curly-topped waif and soon falls under her spell. Helping Sorrowful with the rigors of instant fatherhood is the beautiful Bangles Carson (Dorothy Dell, Wharf Angel), a nightclub singer whose racketeer boyfriend Big Steve (Charles Bickford, White Woman) is big trouble! Based on a story by Damon Runyon (Guys and Dolls) and directed by Alexander Hall (Torch Singer, Goin’ to Town), this heartwarming tale of love, faith and new beginnings will delight the whole family and make you believe in miracles!
_____________________________
Lonesome [Blu-ray] (Craig Boreham, 2022) RB UK‎ Peccadillo Pictures
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: In writer-director Craig Boreham’s stylish erotic drama, young country boy Casey (Josh Lavery) flees a scandal in his small hometown for Sydney, where he loses himself in the easy sex and pervasive loneliness of the big city. When he meets Tib (Daniel Gabriel) there’s instant chemistry, not only sexually but also emotionally as both men find something they have been missing. Can they overcome their own insecurities and let the other in, or are the walls they have built too strong to knock down?
_____________________________
The Mask of Zorro [4K UHD Blu-ray] steelbook (Martin Campbell, 1998) Sony Pictures
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: When a power-crazed despot schemes to buy California from Mexico, it takes two Zorros--the legendary Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) and his chosen successor Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas), a dashing bandit-turned-hero-- to defeat the tyrant's unscrupulous plans. But can even their combined skills, bravado and derring-do be enough to achieve de la Vega's ultimate goal: revenge against the man who killed his wife, kidnapped his daughter and held him prisoner for twenty years?
_____________________________
**Mildred Pierce [4K UHD Blu-ray]** (Michael Curtiz, 1945) Criterion
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BEAVER Blu-ray REVIEW
COMMENTS: Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from Hollywood master Michael Curtiz. Joan Crawford’s iconic performance as Mildred, a single mother hell-bent on freeing her children from the stigma of economic hardship, solidified Crawford’s career comeback and gave the actor her only Oscar. But as Mildred pulls herself up by her bootstraps, first as an unflappable waitress and eventually as the well-heeled owner of a successful restaurant chain, the ingratitude of her materialistic firstborn (a diabolical Ann Blyth) becomes a venomous serpent’s tooth, setting in motion an endless cycle of desperate overtures and heartless recriminations. Recasting James M. Cain’s rich psychological novel as a murder mystery, this bitter cocktail of blind parental love and all-American ambition is both unremittingly hard-boiled and sumptuously emotional.
_____________________________
**The Mountain** [Blu-ray] (Edward Dmytryk, 1956) Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
ALT-BEAVER REVIEW
COMMENTS: Retired mountain climber and guide Zachary Wheeler (Spencer Tracy) reluctantly helps his younger brother (Robert Wagner) scale a treacherous mountain slope to reach the site of a recent plane crush. Truly his brother's keeper, he puts aside their differences and agrees to help his inexperienced brother on an immoral looting mission. After reaching the crash site the brothers discover a lone survivor (Anna Kashfi). Zachary immediately starts caring for the injured young woman planning her rescue while his brother would rather abandon her and make off with the loot.Directed by Edward Dmytryk (The Caine Mutiny) this one-of-a-kind action-adventure was based on "La neige en deuil" a 1952 French novel by Henri Troyat which was inspired by the crash of Air India Flight 245 in 1950.Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Claire Trevor, William Demarest and E.G. Marshall.
_____________________________
**Resurrection** [Blu-ray] (Daniel Petrie, 1980) Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: In Resurrection, an unforgettable story of love and devotion, Ellen Burstyn delivers a tour-de-force performance as a woman who experiences clinical death and returns to life with the amazing ability to heal others. Attributing her powers to human love rather than divine intervention, she begins to aid the residents of her childhood town. After healing a zealous young farmer (Sam Shepard), she starts to fall in love with him. As their affair develops, he tries to make her confess that her powers come from God and not from within. Her refusal leads to a violent climax that will change the healer and all who touch her forever.
_____________________________
**Something to Live For** [Blu-ray] (George Stevens, 1952) ‎Imprint
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Aging advertising executive Alan Miller (Ray Milland) is a recovered alcoholic who now does interventions on behalf of Alcoholics Anonymous, is called by the elevator operator of a residential hotel to come and intervene in the case of one of the guests, struggling Broadway actress Jenny Carey (Joan Fontaine). The two find they have even more in common than their taste for drink. But Jenny wants to put an end to their romance because Alan is a married man, who moreover is the father of two children. How will Jenny and Alan resolve their feelings without destroying Alan's marriage?Joan Fontaine stars in her acclaimed role as a famous actress who descends into alcoholism in this classic melodrama from legendary American director George Stevens (A Place in the Sun).Costume design by legendary designer, Edith Head (Sunset Boulevard).Starring Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, and Teresa Wright.
_____________________________
**Norbert Meisel's "Walking the Edge"** Blu-ray - Robert Forster / Nancy Kwan @FunCityEdition
UK PURCHASE LINK
Already out in:
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Norbert Meisel's Walking the Edge is a dated genre film - but we love the nostalgia, Forster and lovely Kwan. It holds up to be an enjoyable thriller with a drifting 'hack' teaming with a women bent on revenge. It is films like this, with simple involved characters standing up to criminals, that we reflect back on today with a great appreciation. I wish there were 100 more like this with Robert Forster (RIP.) The Fun City Editions' Blu-ray is top-shelf material; 4K restored, two commentaries, interviews, a video essay and a booklet. Strongly recommended!
_____________________________
**Welcome to the Dollhouse** [Blu-ray] (Todd Solondz, 1995) RB UK Radiance Films
US PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Junior high school student Dawn “Wiener-dog” Wiener is perpetually teased by her classmates and tormented by the school bully, Brandon. All she wants is to be popular and that would certainly help her emerging crush on the lead of her brother’s garage band. Todd (Happiness) Solondz’s celebrated coming-of-age comedy won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and young star Heather Matarazzo was awarded Best Debut Performance at the prestigious Independent Spirit Awards. Perfectly capturing the growing pains of youth and suburbia with startling intensity, Welcome to the Dollhouse was widely praised on release with Janet Maslin of the New York Times describing it as a “mordantly hilarious suburban comedy - excruciatingly funny.”
_____________________________
Who's Minding the Store? [Blu-ray] (Frank Tashlin, 1963) RB UK Signal One Entertainment
UK PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: Barbara is in love with Norman, the man who looks after her poodle. But she has a secret: She's the daughter of a wealthy society couple and worth more than Norman will ever make. When her mother, Phoebe, finds out about Barbara's relationship, she sends Norman to work a series of increasingly humiliating jobs at the family's department store. Norman tries to please his cruel boss, Mr. Quimby, and win Barbara's hand in marriage.
_____________________________
Women Talking [Blu-ray] (Sarah Polley, 2022) Universal
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
COMMENTS: In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith. Based on the novel by Miriam Toews.
______________________________
LATEST CALENDAR UPDATES (CLICK TITLES FOR MORE INFORMATION):

March 13th, 2023

Kings Go Forth (Delmer Daves, 1958) MGM

Hour of the Gun (John Sturges, 1967) MGM

March 27th, 2023

Blood on Méliès' Moon (Luigi Cozzi, 2016) Severin

The Devonsville Terror (Ulli Lommel, 1983) Vinegar Syndrome

**Suzhou River** (Ye Lou, 2000) Strand Releasing
___________________________
April 3rd, 2023

**Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XII** Undertow / Outside the Wall / Hold Back Tomorrow - Kino

**Midnight Run 4K UHD** (Martin Brest, 1988) Shout! Factory

Star Trek: First Contact 4K UHD (Jonathan Frakes, 1996) Paramount

**WB 100th 25-Film Collection, Volume Four: Thrillers, Sci-Fi & Horror** - Warner Home Video
___________________________
April 10th, 2023

Hell Is for Heroes (Don Siegel, 1962) Kino

Moment to Moment (Mervyn LeRoy, 1966) Kino

The Truth About Spring (Richard Thorpe, 1965) Kino

**Up, Down, Fragile** (Jacques Rivette, 1995) Cohen

**Woman of the Photographs** (Takeshi Kushida, 2020) Epic Pictures
___________________________
April 17th, 2023

Oh, Doctor! and Poker Faces: Two Comedies Directed by Harry A. Pollard - Kino

**Serpico 4K UHD** (Sidney Lumet, 1973) Kino

**The Trap** (Robert Thornby, 1922) Kino
___________________________
April 24th, 2023

Acción mutante (Álex de la Iglesia, 1993) Severin

**All Quiet on the Western Front 4K UHD** (Edward Berger, 2022) UK Altitude Film Distribution

The Assassination Bureau (Basil Dearden, 1969) Arrow Video US

**Backtrack** (Dennis Hopper, 1990) Kino

The Big Bus (James Frawley, 1976) Kino

**Heat** (Dick Richards, 1986) Kino
___________________________
May 1st, 2023

**Essential Film Noir Volume 4** - Rope of Sand (1949), Appointment with Danger (1950), The Enforcer (1951), Beware, My Lovely (1952) & Jennifer (1953) - Imprint

**Picnic at Hanging Rock 4K UHD** (Peter Weir, 1975) UK Second Sight Films
Standard 4K UHD
Limited Edition 4K UHD
DVDBeaver Blu-ray Comparison

**Wings of Desire 4K UHD** (Wim Wenders, 1987) Criterion
DVDBeaver Blu-ray Comparison
___________________________
May 8th, 2023

**Branded to Kill 4K UHD** (Seijun Suzuki, 1967) Criterion
DVDBeaver Blu-ray Comparison
___________________________
May 15th, 2023

**Targets** (Peter Bogdanovich, 1968) Criterion
___________________________
May 22nd, 2023

**Andrzej Żulawski : Three Films** - The Third Part of the Nigh, The Devil and On the Silver Globe RB UK Masters of Cinema

**Petite Maman** (Céline Sciamma, 2021) Criterion
___________________________
May 29th, 2023

**Thelma & Louise** (Ridley Scott, 1991) Criterion

Blu-ray

4K UHD

The People Under the Stairs 4K UHD (Wes Craven, 1991) Shout! Factory
DVDBeaver Blu-ray Comparison
____________________________________
REVIEWS / COMPARISONS:

Robert Fuest's "The Final Programme" Blu-ray - Jenny Runacre @StudiocanalUK
UK PURCHASE LINK
UK DVD PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: The Final Programme was the first of Michael Moorcock's 'Jerry Cornelius' series of novels and stories and the only book by the author to have been made into a film although he did write the screenplay for The Land That Time Forgot. The director, Robert Fuest (Dr. Phibes Rises Again, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, And Soon the Darkness) was noted for his stylish genre work of the 1970s - The Final Programme being one of them. He was noted for his unique set designs - usually done with a low budget. The Final Programme has a counter-culture vibe and is visual science-fiction in the vein of Clockwork Orange or Zardoz. It has some unexpanded comments about the future thrown which can range from amusing to thought-provoking. It is quite unconventional which may deter some viewers. The Studiocanal Blu-ray is of strong a/v quality and has two revealing extra features all housed in a nice package. It may be worth taking a chance on or at least nabbing the DVD. To each his own.
____________________________________
**Ulli Lommel's "The Devonsville Terror"** Blu-ray - Suzanna Love @VinegarSyndrome
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Revisiting The Devonsville Terror I enjoyed it much more than my first exposure. Knowing the modest level of cheesy production quality of the film and the vastly improved a/v transfer spurred me to higher levels of appreciation. Ulli Lommel had some collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Andy Warhol and made a few films with, his wife at the time, Suzanna Love (who co-wrote The Devonsville Terror) including Prozzie and The Boogey Man. Love is quite strong here as the passive, girl-next-door schoolteacher cum reincarnated 16th century, vengeful, witch plus the film is buoyed by brief performances from recognizable Donald Pleasence (Ernst Stavro Blofeld to Wake in Fright) and Robert Walker Jr. (everything from ToS to Easy Rider.) Yes, there are female empowerment themes - liberating the trio from past bondage, unjust accusations and... their murders. There is the supernatural and some gorehound-appealing scenes. It's not bad at all and I will definitely watch it again. Vinegar Syndrome do it again - with their strong transfers, impressive extras and cool packaging. Certainly recommended!
____________________________________
**Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's "The House That Screamed"** Blu-ray - Lilli Palmer @ArrowFilmsVideo
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's The House That Screamed is a curious genre film - always hinting at the perverse Euro-sleaze but never venturing there with any blatant-ness. One sequence has a threaded needle with moaning representing sex with one of the nubile students. Ditto for gore that is conspicuous by its absence with edited flashes referencing the grisly. The atmosphere of a 19th-century French boarding school for troubled girls with an abusive and sinister headmistress played by Lilli Palmer - is enticing in itself. Throw in a twisted murder mystery and the combination is delightful for genre fans. There are echoes of Psycho. The Arrow Blu-ray is another of their complete packages with both versions, commentary, interviews, booklet etc. and vastly improved video from the previous 1080P edition. Absolutely recommended!
____________________________________
**Sammo Kam-Bo Hung's "Knockabout"** Blu-ray - Biao Yuen @ArrowFilmsVideo @Eurekavideo
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR COMPARISON
COMMENTS: Just like the Angela Mao double feature Blu-ray with Lady Whirlwind (1972) and Hapkido (1972), this Arrow release appears to be a Region 'A' duplicate of the previously released Eureka package from April of last year. Arrow also cites their transfer is from "2K restorations from the original elements by Fortune Star of both the original HK Theatrical Cut and the shorter Export Cut". The image quality is duplicated as are the supplements and commentaries - different booklet, cover design and slipcase artworks. Other differences include that Arrow have added optional English subtitles on the export version, both Cantonese and Mandarin language options on the HK version, a superfluous gallery and DTS HD master mono tracks as opposed to linear PCM. Plus the Arrow includes a folded poster.
So, same video image for both versions, additional audio and subtitle options on the Arrow, same commentaries and extras although different covers. Both great packages that I presume, like Angela Mao, they have collaborated on - releasing in different regions. Nothing wrong with repeating a stellar, complete, package for easier access across the pond. Still recommended!
____________________________________
**John Schlesinger's "Marathon Man" 4K UHD** - Dustin Hoffman @KinoLorber
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: John Schlesinger's "Marathon Man" is one of the best thrillers of the 70s. The opening with Ethiopian Abebe Bikila shown in a flashback running (and winning) the 1960 Olympic Marathon shoeless prefaces the scenes of Thomas "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman) fleeing the Nazi war criminal Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) representing Josef Mengele. There are so many memorable scenes; The dinner where Doc uncovers Elsa's lies, terrified Babe in the bathroom being kidnapped, Holocaust survivors recognizing "der weiße Engel!" on the street, the water-treatment facility finale and large quantity of diamonds and of course the torture scene with the repeated quote "Is it safe?" Kino's 4K UHD release is a must own for fans of the film since it is a notable video improvement over the old Blu-ray and DVD. Plus it has the new exemplary commentary. Strongly recommended!
____________________________________
**Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi / Tomas Milian Collection** Blu-ray @SeverinFilms
Almost Human (1974) Syndicate Sadists (1975) Free Hand For a Tough Cop (1976) The Cynic, The Rat and the Fist (1977) Brothers Till We Die (1978)
US PURCHASE LINK
CANADIAN PURCHASE LINK
UK PURCHASE LINK
BONUS CAPTURES
OUR REVIEW
COMMENTS: Severin's "Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi / Tomas Milian Collection" 8-disc set with 5 Blu-rays offers the definitive package for these Lenzi-Milian Poliziotteschi efforts. They offer the best HD presentations to date, two reveling commentaries and hours of interviews with the participants plus 3 CD soundtracks. It's going to be seen as one of the best packages of the year. These Euro-crime films were at the height of their popularity and, debatably, these are some of the best of this sub-genre. Favorites in this boxset include Almost Human, The Cynic, The Rat and the Fist and Brothers Till We Die. There is frequent brutal violence and multi-faceted institution corruption often present with Milian occasionally representing the working class hero type existing within the system. Severin's Blu-ray (and CDs) package represents a must-own for fans of 70's films - specifically Italian society commentary within exciting action-crime dramas. Strongly recommended!s.
____________________________________
DVDBeaver Newsletter for the Week of March 6th, 2023