Lawrence of Arabia - 50th Anniversary CE - US BD

I believe no one needs another review on the film and this product.
But I hope photos of the package can help some people who are not yet sure which edition they should get, gorgeous 4-disc giftset or simpler 2-disc set.

The Box

Inside the box

Keepcase: 1 CD + 3 BDs

CD tracklist:

1. Overture (4:15)
2. Main Title (1:54)
3. We Need A Miracle (3:06)
4. In Whose Name Do You Ride? (1:22)
5. That Is The Desert (2:51)
6. Nefud Mirage (2:21)
7. Sun's Anvil (3:10)
8. Lost In The Desert (2:09)
9. Bringing Gasim Into Camp (3:34)
10. Arrival At Auda's Camp (1:59)
11. The Voice Of The Guns (1:58)
12. Entr'acte (4:15) *
13. Continuation Of The Miracle (2:15)
14. Lawrence's Bodyguard (2:05)
15. End Credits (1:06)
16. Exit Music (2:37) *

Total time: 41:50
*: previously unavailable

I'm especially glad they had this CD in the set.
The soundtrack CD has been strangely OOP for a long time.
The used copy I got has been degraded so badly in the last decade

My thoughts on extras

Except for the interview with Peter O'Tool (on BD #2),
I find newly added extras (on BD#3) are generally boring.
If you are to get this edition because of BD #3, don't expect much.
The deleted "balcony" scene is the only extra I find really worth seeing in BD #3.

There's one thing I wish they included:
David Lean's brief speech at the premiere screening of the restored version,
which was included in the old LD and not in DVD, and BD.
Pity.


US versions:



UK versions:

Holmes/UFO/Thunderbirds on Japanese BD

Recently in Japan, some notable blu-ray releases of British TV shows were announced.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett)

Release date: Dec. 04, 2012
Publisher: Happinet Pictures

Region code: ALL
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono / Japanese LPCM 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: Japanese / Japanese for dubbs / English
Video: 4:3
Discs 12
Running time: 2392 mins

Contents: all 41 episodes of the series.

Extras (all in SD):

• Some multi-part featurette entitled "How to enjoy Sherlock Holmes" (this may be in Japanese audio only) which has:
  
  • Holmes' art of detection
  • Baker Street 221B
  • Illsutrations of Holmes
  • Holmes and Jeremy Brett
  • Holmes and pipes

Also includes a booklet.

Personal comment
I'm slightly skeptical about this release, because previous DVDs of the show from Happinet had poor video quality. I hope they'd acquired HD remasters from UK this time around.

UFO

Release date: Dec. 05, 2012
Publisher: Geneon Universal Entertainment

Region code: ALL (Amazon claims A, but Geneon confirmed ALL)
Audio: Japanese dts SR Mono / English dts-HD MA 5.1 / English dts SR Mono
Subtitles: Japanese / Japanese for dubbs
Video: 4:3
Discs 7
Running time: 1300 mins

Contents: all 26 episodes of the series.

Extras (130 mins):

• Video interviews with Japanese voice cast (15 mins +)
• Original version of the opening Ep.1 （5mins）
• 2 deleted scenes from Ep.2 (Foster and Koffax [3 mins], Foster and Dr. Jackson [9 mins])
• SID sings （3 mins）
• Studio recordings from Ep.6 (Foster [2 mins), Straker [2 mins])
• Textless ending (1 min)
• SHADO Secret File (24 mins)
• Retrospective documentary "The UFO Documentary" (55 mns)
• Textless ending of Ep.14
• Effects test for Ep..24
• Unused sound effects for Ep.26

Booklet (40 pages):

• Introduction
• Cast bios
• Mechanics guide
• Episode guide

Note:

• Restored from the original 35mm negatives, telecine was done by Technicolor Creative Services (USA)
• DNR'ed with Teranex
• Scratches and dirts were repaired with HD Edifis

Here's a promo video on YouTube:

[ADDED Oct.6: One thing should be noted for foreign UFO fans.
It's very likely the Japanese BD will have the episodes in irder of the Japanese TV broadcast, as in the previous Japanese DVDs.
The Japanese order is significantly different from the original UK broadcast order (see Fanderson page).

Here's the Japanese broadcast order, preceded with the original ep.# in []:

1. [01] Identified
2. [05] Exposed
3. [04] Survival
4. [06] Conflict
5. [13] Close Up
6. [16] Kill Straker!
7. [17] Sub-Smash
8. [19] The Cat With Ten Lives
9. [18] The Sound Of Silence
10. [09] Ordeal
11. [15] E.S.P.
12. [02] Computer Affair
13. [03] Flight Path
14. [11] The Square Triangle
15. [21] The Man Who Came Back
16. [22] The Psychobombs
17. [20] Destruction
18. [10] The Responsibility Seat
19. [23] Reflections In The Water
20. [25] Mindbender
21. [07] The Dalotek Affair
22. [14] Confetti Check A-O.K.
23. [12] Court Martial
24. [24] Timelash
25. [08] A Question Of Priorities
26. [26] The Long Sleep

]

Thunderbirds

       

Release date: Feb. 06, 27, 2013 [date changed on Feb. 2, 2013]
Publisher: Geneon Universal Entertainment  (not much information as of this writing)  
Region code: A    
Audio: Japanese / English    
Subtitles: Japanese    
Video: 4:3  
Discs 9    
Running time: 1500 mins    

Contents: all 32 episodes of the series.    

Extras (over 170 mins):

• Documentary "Thunderbirds Companion" (50 mins)
• UK version preview (3 mins)
• All about the secret base (23 mins)
• Century 21 Files (2 mins x7)
• Thunderbirds in Tokyo (20 mins)
• Episode guide (2 mins x 32)

Booklet (60 pages):

• Introduction
• Cast bios
• Mechanics guide
• Episode guide

Note:

• Film scanning, telecine, restoration were done by JCA (UK).
• Original negatives were cleaned with ultrasonic.
• Films were scanned in 3K with Arriscan Film Scanner, output to super 2K DPX file, and digitally restored.
• Broken films and other problems such as kicks, flicker, were repaired semi-automatically and manually. Restoration technicians checked them frame by frame afterwards.
• All materials were tuned with Cinnefilm Dark Energy.
• Finally colors were adjusted, and restored materials were tuned as one program with Pandora Revolution Grading system.

Geneon has set up a promotional website for UFO and Thunderbirds here.

Follow Me (The Public Eye) - Japanese BD

In this article I refer the film with the title "Follow Me", because

1. it's much familiar to me than "The Public Eye".
2. it's the title on the BD package I write about

In Nov. 2010, Japan's King Records released the DVD of the movie



In Sep. 2012, they released the BD edition, which is the main topic of this article.

BD

The Package

The initial pressings come with a few goodies:

• Slipcase
• 16-page booklet
• 3 pieces of 35mm film strip (5 frames each)

The booklet is a miniature reproduction of Japanese theatrical souvenir book of 2010 re-release (more on this later). As such, mostly it's Japanese text, which serves well for Japanese fans, but probably useless for others.

Basic disc specs

Disc format: Single-Sided, Single-Layered
Region code: A
Running time: 94 mins
Video: CinemaScope (16:9 enhanced) / MPEG-4 AVC
Audio: English / Japanese; both dts-HD Master Audio Mono
Subtitles: Japanese / Japanese for dubbs / None
Extras: Original trailer (4:3 letterboxed, English audio)

Navigation

When you insert the disc, after usual copyright warning (in Japanese)
and some company logos, the movie starts right away.
Audio and/or subtitles may default to Japanese at this point.
You may have to go to the main menu (or popup menu if you prefer) to change them.

The main menu is accompanied by the theme song.
The image in ellipse area is animated.

Unfortunately menus are basically in Japanese only.

From left to right, they are:

• Play
• Chapters
• Set up
• Original trailer

Also, chapter index doesn't have associated images, which must be difficult for non-Japanese.

The text roughly says:

1. The Anxiety of Mr. Charles Sidley, an accountant
2. Opening credits
3. Enter the Great? Detective
4. How they met and fell in love
5. An Eye for an Eye
6. Cristoforou's Report
7. A Spying Housemaid
8. Belinda confesses
9. Walking around in London
10. Confrontation and reunion
11. Let's not quarrel
12. The Public Eye
13. The Second Proposal
14. End credits

The setup menu has language options.

From the top to the bottom, they are:

• Audio
  
  • Original English Mono dts-HD Master Audio
  • Japanese dubbs Mono dts-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles
  
  • Japanese
  • Japanese for dubbs
  • None

Video

The 2010 DVD used the "new HD master" which I believe from the new print for the theatrical re-release earlier that year. Probably the BD was made from the same master.

The picture looks very clean and there's no blemishes. Overall I have no major complaint.

However, although I had never seen the film before this BD, I'm under impression that colors should be a little stronger, and image should be a bit sharper, like, for example, the UK BD of "The Italian Job" (1969).



You may think these films are too different to compare.
But both are British films from roughly the same period, and some scenes appear to have similar setting and color scheme.

Here are some screenshots from both BDs:

Follow Me	The Italian Job

I'm not sure if these screenshots demonstrate the differences I saw on 60 inch screen,
but in terms of color vibrancy, sharpness and crispness, "The Italian Job" is better than "Follow Me".
I suspect if "Follow Me" is given the same treatment in UK, it might look like "The Italian Job".

Of course I may be wrong here, and this Japanese BD may represent "Follow Me" as it should look. And this is really nitpicking to begin with.
(Maybe "The Italian Job" looks exceptionally good for a 1969 film?)

Audio

English audio track is also clean. I have no complaint here too.

Extras

The only extra is an original trailer which doesn't look and sound very good, but serviceable.

Overall impression

I think this is a good product. The lack of extras is understandable.
The problem is, as always with Japanese BD/DVD, its high price.
If you can't wait for your domestic release and are willing to pay such price. this is recommendable.

Reception of the film in Japan

"Follow Me" seems to be very well received in Japan.

In 2010 it was re-released as part of "Film Festival at 10 AM" - a series of re-releases of 50 classic films with new prints in various theaters in many cities.
"Follow Me" was especially successful at box office.
Also, it was voted #4 by the audience. That's quite remarkable when you consider what films it competed:

• 12 Angry Men
• 2001: a Space Odyssey
• A Room with a View
• Amadeus
• The Apartment
• Babette's Feast
• Ben-Hur
• The Bridge On the River Kwai
• Bullitt
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Casablanca
• Duel
• East of Eden
• Les Enfants du Paradis
• Fantastic Voyage
• Il Ferroviere
• Field of Dreams
• The Godfather
• The Great Dictator
• The Great Escape
• Kramer vs. Kramer
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Limelight
• Love in the Afternoon
• The Name of the Rose
• North By Northwest
• La Nuit Americaine
• Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
• Papillon
• Plein Soleil
• Rain Man
• Rear Window
• The Right Stuff
• Roman Holiday
• Romeo and Juliet
• The Shawshank Redemption
• The Silence of the Lambs
• Singin' in the Rain
• Some Like It Hot
• Somewhere in Time
• Stand By Me
• The Sting
• There's No Business Like Show Business
• The Third Man
• Un Homme et une Femme
• The Way We Were
• West Side Story
• The Wild Bunch
• Witness

Some related products in UK:


and USA:



[Jun. 13, 2015: Modified product links according to the changes made by Amazon.com]

13 Assassins (2010) - Japanese BD

Toho/Sedic released Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" on 4 editions (from left to right):
1-disc DVD, 2-disc DVD, 1-disc BD, and 2-disc BD+DVD set.



1-disc editions are basically movie-only (save for some trailers),
and 2-disc editions have the same supplemental DVD.

They were all released on May 11, 2011,
but I recently got BD+DVD edition, as I had waited for the price to be dropped.
And I'm going to write about the product
(I won't review the movie itself as I believe you don't need it.)

Package

Box

What appeared to be the box cover art was merely an advertisement slip.
The actual box looks like a blood-stained old wooden one.
It's actualy cardboard, of course, but it's sturdy and has good texture.
When you touch the surface, the "wood" feels somewhat gritty, while "blood spots" feels slippery, as if they are wet. A nice touch.

The box houses a digipack, thick paperback book of complete storyboards (the red one, approx. 200 pages), and 16-page full color booklet (which is a miniature reproduction of the press kit).

Digipack

Storybaord

The storyboard book is supposed to be only available for initial pressings.
The publisher claims, after the initial pressings run out there will be a spacer included in the same package instead of the book.
But I got it so late and it still had the book. Perhaps they miscalculated the customers' demand.

Booklet

Disc 1 (BD): The Movie

Region code: Not stated (All?)
Running time: 141 mins
Video: CinemaScope
Audio: Japanese dts-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: Japanese (SDH)

Extras:

• Teaser trailer
• Theatrical trailer
• TV spots

Extras are presented with LPCM 2.0 audio.

Disc 2 (DVD): Extras

Region code: 2
Video: VistaVision
Audio: Japanese DD Stereo
Subtitles: None

• Making-of (72 mins)
• Premiere screening (17 mins)
• The opening day (10:30)
• Interviews with cast and Miike (total: 51 mins)
• A report from Venice International Film Festival (22 mins)
• Deleted scene: The last fishing (2:10)

Personally, I'm disappointed with the extras of this package.
While it has approx. 190 mins of extras, they are very superficial, and repetitive.

I expected something like they did with Sukiyaki Western Django 3-disc DVD.
But unlike the SWD set this package doesn't offer much information about pre-production/production/post-production, crew, and the project itself.

I don't expect filmmakers and actors talk about the "meaning" or "intentions" of their work. The end result should speak everything.
(In that regard, I think Miike explained too much in the press conference in Venice.)

But I'm curious about the process of filmmaking.

Whose idea was it to do the remake?
Who picked Miike for director and why?
Why Toho? (The original was a Toei movie.)
Did Miike, crew and cast watched the original movie? If so what are their thoughts on the original?
What are the reactions of the surviving people involved in the original?

Unfortunately nothing of these aspects are addressed.

Making-of

The majority of the documentary focused on actors. But even as such, it's thin.

Other than the 13, they only cover Masachika Ichimura (Kitô Hanbei) and Gorô Inagaki (Lord Naritsugu).
No other actors/actresses are interviewed. Some are not even seen anywhere.
(Personally I hoped I could hear something from Kazue Fukiishi as she played two characters in this movie.)

Very few of them tell interesting story on acting or anything.
Almost everyone says "it's great to be in Miike's movie" and "this is going to be a great movie".
The narration keeps praising their dedication, but that's what I expect from any professional.

Premiere screening, the opening day, and interviews

What we hear from actors here are mostly repetitions of what we heard in the previous material.

Venice International Film Festival

Finally we have something worth listening to, thanks to the meaningful questions asked by foreign reporters.
But as I wrote above, I think Miike explained too much. And even misinterpreted.

BTW, one thing embarrassed me in this section was the audience's reaction at the screening.
When the end credits started to roll, they instantly begun applausing, gave standing ovation to Miike and actors sitting behind them. Even the lights were turned on.

Why not wait until the movie is completely over? Why didn't they watch the screen? Some movies have a brief scene after the credits. You may miss it.
It's good to praise filmmakers by clapping and yelling but the best way to respect them is seeing their work as they intended.

Deleted scene

Actually it's more an extended version of the fishing scene early in the movie.
To my understanding this is also included in the foreign BD/DVD releases.

Note that US "international version" BD is 125 mins long.



[Jun. 13, 2015: Modified product links according to the changes made by Amazon.com]

Amazon JP exclusive Paramount BDs

Amazon Japan often offers exclusive packages of BD/DVDs,
such as steelbooks.

On August 3, 2012, as a tie-in promotion with Paramount Pictures' 100th anniversary,
they will release 12 of Paramount's BD titles in special digipack.

Although they come with some lobby cards and poster cards,
they are just repackagings of previously available titles.
But if you like digipack, and/or tend to be tempted with the words like "limited" and "exclusive", they may be of your interest.

Amazon JP's promotional page is here.

Leon: Integral Version

• 133-min version
• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

Saving Private Ryan: Special Collector's Edition

• 2-disc set
• Miniature replica of Japanese theatrical souvenir book (24 pages, 105 x 148mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Each has:

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

Top Gun: Special Collector's Edition

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

The Untouchables: Special Collector's Edition

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

The Hunt for Red October: Special Collector's Edition

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

Ghost: Special Collector's Edition

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

Godfather: Parts I-III

Each has:

• 3 lobby cards (130 x 160mm)
• 1 poster card of the original poster artwork (160 x 130mm)

BTW, Paramount itself will release repackaged Godfather trilogy boxset on August 10:

The disc contents are identical to the previous set.

Chicago Live in Japan - a Japanese engineer's recollection

As I wrote before, Warner Music Japan recently re-released
Chicago's "Live in Japan" album (1972) in mini-LP replica style CD.



To promote this release, Warner Music Japan's official YouTube channel
has 2-part interview with Tomoo Suzuki, the recording engineer of the album.
He also supervised the remastering of this reissue.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Since it's in Japanese only and there's no CC available,
I'm afraid it's useless for most foreigners.

However each part has a sample audio from the remastered album near the end,
"Low Down" (Japanese version) (at 6:20 of Part 1) and
"25 or 6 to 2" (at 5:40 of Part 2).

Also, after "25 or 6 to 2", they look at the actual mini-LP and shows what's inside (at 8:16).

FYI, here are some tidbits from the interview:

• When they asked the live recording, Japanese side didn't expect the band would agree, especially after the Carnegie Hall live album.
• The band asked Japanese side to prepare all the equipments, while they would bring American producer and engineer(s) to Japan.
• The recording was done with a pair of 8-track 1/2 inch tape recorders.
• While the tour started in Tokyo, Japanese team deliberately chose Osaka for the recording.
  They expected Tokyo would be a "good rehearsal" for the band, which would make them feel much comfortable in Osaka.
  Also, they figured audience in Osaka would show more excitement and appreciation honestly than those in Tokyo, who often behave too well-mannered and stay calm.
• Japanese-language version of "Low Down" was a complete surprise for Japanese, including the recording crew.
• While many live albums have "fixes" (especially today), it's not possible for this album, simply because the band had returned home.
  Suzuki also said "equipments those days were much simpler, there's less room for manipulations. So you get what the band performed".
• At the time, Suzuki was 25 years old and only one year experience as a recording engineer/mixer, and mostly served as an assistant. He was very surprised when James William Guercio personally told him to do the mixing down.
• After Wayne Tarnowski examined the recording at Roppongi sutdio and gave general directions, he returned home. The rest was up to Japanese crew.
• When mixing down was finished, they sent the result as a laquer disc to America, and it was accepted for the release.
• Some time later Suzuki visited America for study and met Guercio again, who told him it was very good. "I felt very happy," Suzuki said.
• The success of this album led Suzuki to many other "Live in Japan" projects, suh as Beck, Bogart & Appice, Santana, Mountain, Bob Dylan, Cheap Trick.
  "Without this album, my life would have been completely different," Suzuki said.