New Releases: ALien breakdown, Kurosawa films: Updated complete downloadable R1 DVD DB & info lists

For fans of Akira Kurosawa's films Home Vision has Ikiru and Cure
(anamorphic transfer) on January 6th. Following on January 20th are Rules Of
The Game and Underworld Beauty, both listed as having anamorphic video.
There was a follow up that I have to confirm that the Kurosawa flicks may
not come out until January 20 as part of a larger group of Japanese cinema.

Columbia/TriStar will release Annie (Special Anniversary Edition) on January
13th. It is slated as featuring Dolby 5.1 audio and anamorphic video for a
list price of $24.96.

From Paramount on February 24th, The Pentagon Papers for $24.99. On march
9th they have Sightings: Heartland Ghost being released also for $24.99.

Columbia/TriStar will release a few titles on January 20th. Included are
Matilda: Special Edition and Stark Raving Mad, reported as having Dolby 5.1
audio and anamorphic video. The animated television show New Adventures Of
Spider-Man, The: Season One (Special Edition), It Should Happen To You and
Three Stooges: Stooges At Work are also due out that date.

The UPC for the December 2nd Fox release of The Alien Quadrilogy has finally
been assigned, 024543098478 which means it can 'officially' take its place
in the database. This was one of the most detailed studio announcements I
have seen. The Nine disc set will retail for $99.98 but should prove to be
the definitive collection. Overall technical specifications are both Dolby
5.1 and DTS for the audio with original aspect ratio anamorphic video. The
discs are THX certified. The first eight discs alternate between the feature
film variations and a film specific disc. The last disc are overall extras
for the set. The individual film details where given in the Fox announcement
as:

Alien: (Discs 1 and 2) Both the original theatrical and the Ridley Scott
special edition. Introduction by An introduction by Director Ridley Scott,
Dan O¹Bannon, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright,Harry Dean Stanton and
John Hurt. Commentary track including Ridley Scott and the technical crew.
Nine brand new documentaries: "Star Beast," "The Visualists," "Truckers In
Space," "Fear Of The Unknown," "The Darkest Reaches," "The Eight Passenger,"
"Future Tense," "Outward Bound" and "A Nightmare Fulfilled". A Multi-Angle
Scene Study on the Chestburster sequence with optional commentary. Sigourney
Weaver's original screen test with optional commentary. Seven deleted
scenes. The first draft of the screenplay by O'Bannon. Ridleygrams -
Original thumbnails and sketches. Storyboard Archives "Art of Alien"
including a cast portrait gallery, production gallery, the sets of Alien,
H.R. Giger's Workshop, continuity polaroids and VFX gallery. Original
theatrical posters and stills from the premiere.

Aliens: (Discs 3 and 4) The original theatrical release version and the
James Cameron special edition. Introduction by James Cameron. New commentary
by James Cameron, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, Carrie Henn, Terry Henn,
Lance Henriksen, Gale Anne Hurd, Pat McClung, Bill Paxton, Dennis Skotak,
Robert Skotak and Stan Winston. James Cameron original treatment. Nine brand
new featurettes: "57 Years Later," "Building Better Worlds," "Preparing For
Battle," "This Time It's War," "The Risk Always Lives," "Bug Hunt," "Beauty
And The Bitch," "Two Orphans" and "Aliens Unleashed". The Art of Aliens
including conceptual art portfolio, cast portraits, production gallery,
continuity polaroids, Stan Winston's workshop, VFX gallery and premiere
stills. Deleted footage marker and deleted scene. Multi-angle videomatics
with optional commentary.

Alien 3: (Discs 5 and 6) The original theatrical version and a restored
pre-release version with more than 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage.
Brand new commentary by cinematographer Alex Thompson, Editor Terry
Rawlings, VFX designers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., effects producer
Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Lance Henriksen. Eleven new
featurettes: "Development," "Tales Of The Wooden Planet," "Pre-Production
III," "Xeno-Erotic," "Production: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three,"
"Adaptive Organism," "Optical Fury," "Music, Editing And Sound" and
"Post-Mortem". E.E.V. Bio-Scan - A multi-angle vignette with optional
commentary by Gillis. The Art of Alien 3 including conceptual art portfolio,
production gallery, and visual effects. Furnace construction time lapse
Storyboard archives.

Alien Resurrection: (Discs 7 and The original theatrical version and an
extended cut with alternate opening and ending sequences. An introduction by
director Jean Pierre Jeunet. Brand new commentary by Jeunet, Herve Schneid,
Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Pitof, Sylvain Despretz, Ron Perlman,
Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser First draft of the screenplay by Joss
Whedon. 11 new featurettes: "From The Ashes," "French Twist," "Under The
Skin," "Death From Below," "In The Zone," "Unnatural Mutation," "Genetic
Mutation," "Genetic Composition," "Virtual Alien," "A Matter Of Scale" and
"Critical Junction". Multi-angel rehearsal footage. A Mike Carro photo
gallery, a conceptual art gallery, VFX gallery, a promotional photo archive
and continuity polaroids. Storyboard archives.

Bonus Disc: (Disc 9) A brand new Q&A with Ridley Scott. "Experience in
Terror" - A promotional featurette from 1979. "Alien Evolution" - Channel 4
U.K. exclusive documentary on Alien. A complete laser disc archive of Alien
and Aliens. Original theatrical trailers and TV spots from all four films.
"Aliens In The Basement" - Inside the Bob Burns ALIEN Collection. Dark Horse
cover gallery - Anthology of 11 issues of the ALIEN comics. DVD-ROM
feature - Script to screen comparisons.

Stop by for a complete downloadable information list of all region one DVDs
in several formats as well as daily changes. The official list now features
35,071 titles with 191 additions or changes and 229 Pre-Release
announcements. The All Titles list has 35,300 titles. Recent releases
include: Last Week 270, This Week 272 and Next Week 236 titles.

Previews of X2: X-Men United, Two Towers Extended Reviews of Hulk, Indy
Collection, Taken, Sopranos Season 4, Matrix Reloaded, Avril Lavigne: My
World Scarface(1983), Scarface (1932), Smallville, In Cold Blood, Kiss
Symphony, The Two Towers, Chicago and All That Jazz. Past film reviews
include Wait Until Dark, Them, May, Phone Booth, Spun, Real Women Have
Curves, Them, Usual Suspects and Gormenghast . Coming titles listed before
all the specs are in can be found in a new list,
http://www.hometheaterinfo.com/pre-releases.htm

Updated lists for discontinued, cancelled, postponed and rescheduled titles
as well as lists for DTS, ES/EX and Superbit titles. UPC numbers and
original release dates now being added to the database. There is also a
greatly expanded list of titles that were rescheduled or reissued. Search
function for the database, (now including UPC search) complements of site
partner and friend, Michael's Movie Mayhem
(http://kazart.com/mec/DVDList2.html) and DVDLister.

Updates to the DVD database, including release specs usually made twice
daily.

Please stop by and visit.
Thank you.
--
Doug MacLean
http://www.hometheaterinfo.com

Doug MacLean

Doug MacLean wrote:
> For fans of Akira Kurosawa's films Home Vision has Ikiru and Cure
> (anamorphic transfer) on January 6th.

A quick clarification: _Cure_ (aka _Kyua_) is a film directed by *Kiyoshi*
Kurosawa, who's no relation to Akira Kurosawa.


> Columbia/TriStar will release Annie (Special Anniversary Edition) on
> January 13th. It is slated as featuring Dolby 5.1 audio and anamorphic
> video for a list price of $24.96.

> Columbia/TriStar will release a few titles on January 20th. Included [is]
> Matilda: Special Edition...reported as having Dolby 5.1 audio and
> anamorphic video.

Are you certain the _Annie_ and _Matilda_ SEs are mentioned as being
anamorphic? Several DVD-news sites -- e.g., DVDFile -- have said that
C/TS's press release mentions both these titles as being released in 1.33:1
"fullscreen" only.

doug

--

---------------Douglas Bailey ()---------------
In all your hurry, you've accidentally locked the gate...
--XTC

Douglas Bailey