The problem with many of these MGM transfers are that they're recycled from the Laserdisc era. Some films were remastered in the early 2000's, mainly for broadcast use. Those were the early days, before the switchover to digital broadcasting and long before Blu-ray, at a time when MGM was between ownership and in shaky financial condition (something which still, to this day, hasn't been fully resolved). You could say the studio will never be in a position to properly remaster any of it's catalog except for a select number of high-profile titles once in a blue moon. Sad, really, since the studio controls so many great titles.
I think Kino are extremely lazy on their blu ray releases. That's why I am not a huge supporter of their blu ray releases, I buy only select blu rays of theirs, only films I MUST have, because I know they will not be restored or have any special features. Or if they do have special features they will only be the exact same ones ported over from the old dvd release they did for the film. At least the was the case with all the Jean Rollin films on blu ray they did.
I'm never thrilled when I see an interesting title go to Kino or Olive but at least they are reasonably priced and provide a significant improvement over their respective DVD. There are worse publishers. There are numerous titles on there upcoming release list that I want. I watched THE WICKED LADY over the weekend. It looked very nice (but nothing special). The film is a blast.
that's not a very good review for the transfer of Sugar Hill sadly, but then again I probably wasn't going to buy that one anyhow. But it makes me fear for Madhouse and House of 1000 Dolls coming from Kino next month which I do want to get.
I watched Drum for the first time last night. Wow! What a crazy movie. I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to like it, because... well, slavery isn't exactly the most fun or entertaining subject matter out there. But this was like if you took 12 Years A Slave and had Jack Hill direct it in the vein of one of his "women in prison" movies. I found it enormously entertaining, and I'm not sure if it's okay to admit that. But when you have Rainbeaux Smith running around pouting and trying to stick her hand up Drum's ass at the dinner table, it's pretty hard to take the movie seriously or be disturbed by the subject matter. The tagline about Drum being "the explosion" is quite fitting, because the movie explodes into sheer insanity in the final 15 minutes as the slaves revolt and storm the plantation house armed with sickles. Like all the best exploitation films out there, the movie builds and escalates, delivering one humdinger of a finale. Big thanks to Kino (and Scorpion) for releasing movies like this on blu-ray. I probably never would have seen it otherwise. Definitely happy with this blind buy. Now to check out Mandingo ASAP.
I caught DRUM on Netflix streaming a few years ago and had the same experience. Definitely a guilty pleasure. I would like to own a copy but I'm going to wait and see if Arrow gets it in the UK.
DVD Beaver reviews The Crimson Cult: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_64/curse_of_the_crimson_alter_blu-ray.htm DVD Talk reviews The Crimson Cult: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/68778/crimson-cult-the/?___rd=1 DVD Beaver reviews Deranged: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_59/deranged_blu-ray.htm
DVD Talk reviews Hero & the Terror: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/68201/hero-the-terror/?___rd=1 DVD Beaver reviews Truck Turner: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_67/truck_turner_blu-ray.htm
Man, looks like Deranged will be one of those rare movies I own 3 copies of. The only other one like that might be the original Evil Dead. For Deranged the German DVD, Arrow Blu, and Kino Blu all have different bonus features.
Deranged and Truck Turner both look great. I'm not really seeing any more detail in Arrow's version of Deranged. They both look identical to me, except for Kino's being a bit brighter.
I'm not seeing a big difference in the screencaps either, although Arrow's has a much larger file size. Kino's extras look better too. Two of Arrow's featurettes are with people who have nothing to do with the movie.
Yeah what the hell is up with that crap? This is getting out of hand and retarted. Allot of studios are doing this also not just arrow.
I guess they're doing it since a lot of actors in these older films are now dead and if they're still around, it was so long ago that they don't remember much about it.
just like when le ann rimes was on I love the 80's saying how great the 80's were. she was born in 1982..???
