Tokyo Fist in UK region 2 -- Surrealist classic double from BFI -- Jean Vigo Collection -- One for the Road -- Chaos in February -- Apocalypse Now returns -- Wild at Heart SE -- Ren and Stimpy Uncut -- Scorsese Collection, set 2

Tokyo Fist on UK region 2 in November [3 October 2004]

With two of the great Shinya Tsukamoto's films still unreleased on any format in the UK (inclusing the cinema), good news arrives about one of his most impressive works, the 1995 Tokyo Fist, is set for s UK release from Palm Pictures, Manga Video and Crush Digital Video on 8 November. Tsukamoto himself stars as an insurance salesman whose childhood friend, now a professional boxer, re-enters his life and turns it upside down, taking over his home and stealing his wife, who starts to develop increasingly strong sado-smasochistic tendancies. Already available on region 1, but the transfer on that disk is non-anamorphic and frankly a bit of a mess, picture details on the UK release have yet to be confirmed, but we can only hope it follows the standard set by the French release, which has an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer (a 2-disk set that also includes the superb Bullet Ballet, but embedded French subtitles on both films and no English subtitle option) - we are assured that the picture has been 'digitally remastered', but that's a phrase that is bandied about so much in the DVD world that it has lost all meaning. What has been confirmed is a 5.1 soundtrack (which the French disk also has), a theatrical trailer, biographies and....erm....that's about it. So what about Soseiji and Bullet ballet now?

Surrealist classic double from BFI [2 October 2004 - updated 15 October]

The Jean Vigo Collection from Artificial Eye [1 October 2004]

He made just four films, the combined length of which total less than three hours, and yet he is widely quoted as one of the most influential film-makers in the history of cinema. Jean Vigo, who died at the age of 29 from tuberculosis, was the son of anachist Miguel Almareyda, who died under suspicious circumstances in jail when his son was only 12 years old. Vigo drifted into film-making almost by chance, and in 1930 made his first film, the documentary short À propos de Nice, a satirical study of Nice and a still fascinating slice of early French cinema. His second short, the 1931 Taris, roi de l'eau, is a beautifully realised, experimental portrait of the then famous swimmer Jean Taris. But it was his two features that left the biggest mark on cinema history, the 1933 Zéro de conduite, a brilliantly observed study of life at a boarding school (Vigo drew on his own experiences here) and the 1934 L'Atlante, a truly gorgeous slice of cinema featuring two newlyweds, relationship difficulties and a river trip. Well on 25 October, Artificial Eye deliver an absolute treat for fans of great cinema in the shape of a 2-disk collector's set containing all four of Vigo's films, four documentaries - Filmakers of Our Times: Jean Vigo, From L'Atlante to L'Atlante, The Voyage of L'Atlante and Sound Regained - and interview with film-maker Otar Losseliani, extracts from the first version of À propos de Nice, Gaumont newsreels featuring Jean Taris, stills, posters and a Vigo Biography.

Tartan give us One for the Road in November [29 September 2004]

The born-again Tartan continue to deliver where the major labels are just not measuring up, and in November they will be releasing a rather nice-looking edition of Chris Cooke's acclaimed but not widely-enough seen low-budget debut feature, One for the Road, starring the redoubtable Hywell Bennett. This witty, intelligent tale of four men forced to attend an alcohol awareness class who spend much of their time together driknking and making big plans is here getting rather impressive treatment, with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and DTS sound (Tartan have confirmed their commitment to this format and all of their new releases sport a DTS track) supported by a commentary track by writer/director Chris Cooke and producer Kate Ogham, a second commentary by key cast members, and three of the director's short films with an optional commentary track from Cooke. Available on region 2 only, the disk hits the streets on 11 November 2004. If you haven't seen the film, definitely check it out.

Tartan let Chaos reign February 2005 [27 September 2004]

With the wearily inevitable American remake (directed by Sexy Beast's Jonathan Glazer and, apparently, starring Robert De Niro) continues to be promised for the not-too-distant future, Tartan have announced a UK region 2 release of the Japanese original, directed by Rungu and Dark Water creator Hideo Nakata, for February 2005. This is excellent news, especially given born-again Tartan's commitment to decent anamorphic transfers and DTS sound, but also because, unlike Ringu and Dark Water, Nakata's original has never been released on any format in the UK and thus remains largely unseen, leaving the way clear for the US remake to clean up, with almost no chance of the sort of backlash that followed the Ring remake from those who had seen the original and knew it was far superior. To that end I have been lending my Japanese DVD of the film to everyone I know in an effort to educate at least a few of the potential audience for the new version. Now, thanks to Tartan, all UK viewers will have easy access to Nakata's original early in 2005, hopefully before the remake hits our screens. Mind you, those of you who have yet to see the film would be advised to watch it stone-cold sober when you are wide awake to have a hope of following it's labyrinthine plot and broken mirror structure. Full disk specs will follow when we have them.

Apocalypse Now returns [19 September 2004]

Following Francis Coppola's re-jig of his masterful Apocalypse Now into Apocalypse Now Redux, the problem of the new version replacing the old one had the inevitable effect of making the original cut of the film disappear, including its DVD incarnation. Now the problem with this, even for Redux's fans, is the inability to compare the original to the recut, but it's especially irritating for those of us who prefer the first version and were too stupid to realise that it would, somewhat inevitably, be retired in favour of the new one. A while ago we suggested a box set of both versions as a possible dream special edition. Well good news everyone, Pathé have spotted this gap in the market and are to re-release the original cut on region 2 on October 18. Unfortunately it looks to be a bare bones disk, but you can find it on-line for a tenner, and with Redux currently available at a bargain price, a good part of that hoped-for special edition can be yous for less than £20.

Wild at Heart SE on region 1 [12 September 2004]

Slowly, too bloody slowly for my liking, the works of one of modern cinema's greatest directors, David Lynch, are getting decent DVD releases, though we still have a very long way to go. The recent-ish special edition releases of Blue Velvet on regions 1 and 2 are a step in the right direction, but elsewhere we have been left wanting. Dune has been issued twice on region 2 and the second release does quite well on extras, though the transfer is still not quite there, and the frankly gobsmacking transfer on the region 2 release of The Straight Story is not backed up by any worthwhile extra features. The glorious transfer and excellent extras on Lynch's own release of Eraserhead is somewhat inaccessible to UK viewers, less due to its high price than the fact that it can only bought by US residents. So it's rather splendid news that a new special edition of Wild at Heart is on the way on region 1 at a price that we should all be able to afford. Sporting a new "high definition" transfer (marketing speak if ever I heard it) and a 5.1 soundtrack, new interviews with five of the cast members and, apparently David Lynch, a new half-hour 'making of' documentary, cast and crew comments on working with Big Dave, LKynch talking about the DVD transfer (hey, maybe it wasn't marketing speak after all), EPK, photos, trailer and TV spots. Release date is set for 7 December -- Great stuff, but how about a special edition for the magnificent Lost Highway?

Ren and Stimpy Uncut in October [11 September 2004]

In an attempt to put right the wrongs of the previous Time Life DVD outing of Ren and Stimpy episodes, a 'best of' compilation that was both incomplete and featured numerous cuts to the episodes featured, Paramount have announced that they will be releasing a Collector's Box Set of the first two seasons of the show, featuring not only all of the screened episodes in their uncut form, but also the much discussed but previously banned episode, Man's Best Friend. This long hoped-for set will boast 30 episodes, a featurette entitled Ren and Stimpy - In the Beginning and - I can barely believe this and I need to quote it - "an audio commentary from the original creators." This has to suggest the participation of the show's originator and driving force, John Kricfalusi, who was uncerimoniously ousted before the second season even reached its end and has been very open about his disatisfaction with the powers that be and their handling of the show. If you've never seen an episode - and it's just possible that some of you have not - then this is your chance to catch up with one of the most inventive and hilarious animated shows of modern times, and one that, in the utterly brilliant episode Stimpy's Invention, explored the thin line that separates comedy from madness in a way that manages to be screamingly funny and seriously disturbing at one and the same time. This is a US only, region 1 release and will be available from 12 October 2004. Happy happy joy joy!

A second Scorsese collection on region 1 in December [6 September 2004]

Following on from the just released (on region 1 - the region 2 set is on the way in October) Martin Scorsese Collection, a second box set has been announced by MGM for a 14 December region 1 release, presumably with a region 2 release to follow early in 2005. The four film collection is made up of his early film for Roger Corman, the 1972 Boxcar Bertha, his record of The Band's farewell concert, The Last Waltz (1978), the 1977 musical New York, New York and a re-issue of this seminal Raging Bull. Already available as a two-disk special edition, this time round the film gets the hoped-for anamorphic enhancement, plus a commentary by Scorsese and long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker (Yo, Thelma!), a commentary by the cast and crew and a details-to-be-confirmed 'storyteller's commentary. Three documentaries are included - before the Fight: The Writing and Casting of Raging Bull, Inside the Ring: The Making of Raging Bull and The Bronx Bull - three featurettes entitled After the Fight: Creating a Classic, La Motta Defends the Title and De Niro vs. la Motta, plus a theatrical trailer. Great stuff, but all a bit annoying for those who bought the last release. New York, New York has a 1.66;1 non-anamorphic transfer (boooo! Come on MGM, get anamorphic already!), a film-maker's commentary, deleted scenes and alternate takes, a trailer and a photo gallery. Details on the other two movies to follow. All four films are also to be released seperately.