Perhaps the biggest release of next week, at least in my humble opinion, is that of Douglas Trumbull’s green-minded science fiction epic Silent Running, which will be making its limited edition Blu-ray debut courtesy of Eureka!’s Masters of Cinema line on Monday. I remember staying up late to catch this one on television many a time as a kid, enthralled by the fantastic imagery, unique narrative and exuberant score (courtesy of Peter Schickele with contributions by Joan Baez), and still have the 13-year-old Image Entertainment DVD release of it on my shelf. Those tempted should note that MoC’s Blu-ray release is to be Region B locked, and will require an all-region setup to play outside Europe. Wtf-Film considers it must-have material all the same.
The director-approved limited edition Blu-ray and even limited-er Steelbook editions of Silent Running street on Monday, 11/14, and can be pre-ordered through Amazon.co.uk as well as through Eureka directly.
From Masters of Cinema: Three years after helping to achieve some of the most amazing imagery in cinema history with 2001: A Space Odyssey, special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull made an auspicious directorial debut at age 29 with the environmentally themed science fiction classic Silent Running.
In the distant future, plant life on our planet is extinct. Remaining specimens are cultivated in vast greenhouse-like domes orbiting in space. Bruce Dern stars as Freeman Lowell, dedicated botanist aboard the “Valley Forge”, awaiting the call to refoliate Earth – despite the scorn of his crewmates. When an order comes to instead destroy the domes and return home, Lowell takes matters into his own hands, beginning a long and lonely voyage into the unknown.
With its remarkable special effects (especially the robot drones Huey, Dewey, and Louie); glorious score (including songs performed by Joan Baez); memorable sound effects (created by Joseph Byrd from the cult band The United States of America); a screenplay co-written by Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues), and an impassioned central performance from Dern, Silent Running remains a uniquely contemplative and haunting adventure that continues to make hippies of young children, even today. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a new Blu-ray special edition to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary.
Special Features:
• Exclusively restored beautiful high-definition 1080p transfer
• Full-length commentary by director Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
• Isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles on the feature
• The Making of Silent Running, a 1972 on-set documentary [50:00]
• Two video pieces with Douglas Trumbull [31:00 + 5:00]
• A Conversation with Bruce Dern, a discussion with the actor [11:00]
• Original theatrical trailer [3:00]
• A lavish 48-page full-colour booklet featuring rare photographs and artwork from Trumbull’s personal collection, and recollections of the film’s cinematographer, special designs coordinator, and composer
Next up, releasing Tuesday, is the high-definition debut of a guilty pleasure of epic proportions. Directed by Rene Cardona Sr. and imported to America by schlockmeister K. Gordan Murray, Mexico’s bizarre Santa Claus finds jolly old Saint Nicholas fighting the devilish villain Pitch from his workshop in space with assistance from legendary magician Merlin and some Christmas-loving kids. Famously lampooned on TV’s Mystery Science Theater 3000, Cardona’s Santa Claus is must-see insanity of the highest possible order.
The Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment finds both the original Mexican and American import versions of Santa Claus available on on disc, and streets on Tuesday, 11/15. The disc is currently available for preorder through Amazon.com for just $13.99.
From VCI Entertainment: The producers packed every magical, wacky, and just plain weird, holiday oddity known to man in to this wild-n-wonderful, and strangely charming, children’s classic! It’s not enough that Santa must deal with the usual suspects – the good little boys and girls, and the not so good little boys and girls – but this season Lucifer himself is out to ruin Christmas and has sent his chief minion, Pitch, on a mission to Earth to turn all the children of the world against Santa. But wait, there’s more! Santa’s workshop is located high above the North Pole in a Toyland castle in outer space, where he plays the organ and keeps watch over the children on earth through specialized equipment, while readying his mechanical reindeer for Christmas Eve action. Santa also enlists the aid of Merlin the Wizard, who provides him with magic sleeping powder and a flower that makes one disappear. But wait, there’s even more! Santa also receives a magic key that will unlock any door on Earth from Vulcan himself!
Special Features:
Contains both the American K. Gordon Murray and Original Mexican Versions on one disc; Commentary by Daniel Griffith (K. Gordon Murray Historian), and more!
Notes: According to information posted at the Monster Kid Classic Horror Forum, the VCI release is sourced from the original Mexican film negative at the intended aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film itself was erroneously advertised as being in MexiScope, which has led many to believe that the film was originally 2.35:1 – an idea perpetuated by what VCI itself has said of their release.
Last but not least, on Tuesday Lionsgate will release a 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of Sam Raimi’s classic comedy of gore Evil Dead II, both a sequel to and remake of Raimi’s earlier low-budget horror opus The Evil Dead. Released disappointingly in hi-def by Anchor Bay some years ago, this Lionsgate effort will not be without its controversy (preliminary screenshots show that at least one memorable special effect flub has been fixed). But it is reportedly the first video edition to be sourced from the original negative, and will feature some hefty new supplemental content to boot.
The 25 Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Evil Dead II streets on Tuesday, 11/15, and is available for pre-order from Amazon.com at the low low price of $9.99.
From Lionsgate: Ash (Bruce Campbell), the sole survivor of THE EVIL DEAD, returns to the same cabin in the woods and again unleashes the forces of the dead. With his girlfriend possessed by the demons and his body parts running amok, Ash is forced to single- handedly battle the legions of the damned as the most lethal – and groovy – hero in horror movie history! Welcome to EVIL DEAD II, director Sam Raimi’s infamous sequel to THE EVIL DEAD and outrageous prequel to ARMY OF DARKNESS!
Special Features:
• Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Sam Raimi, Star Bruce Campbell, Co-Writer Scott Spiegel and Special Make-Up Effects Artist Greg Nicotero
• “Swallowed Souls: The Making of Evil Dead II” Multi-chaptered feature-length look at the making of the film
• “Road to Wadesboro: Revisiting the Shooting Location of Evil Dead II” – NEW
• “Cabin Fever” Featurettes from original production video taken on the set of Evil Dead II – NEW
• “Artifacts of the Dead” – Extensive Still Galleries – NEW
• Theatrical Trailer
• Archival Featurette: “The Gore The Merrier”
• Archival Featurette: “Evil Dead II: Behind-the-Screams
Sneaking in as an honorable mention is Eureka! Masters of Cinema’s upcoming Blu-ray of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, which features no fewer than three cuts of the film spread across two dual-layer Blu-ray discs. This is another Region B locked title, and though I’ve not pre-ordered it myself (I only have so much money to spare in a month that’s seen all of the above and Twilight Time’s Mysterious Island too) it’s too historically important a release not mention it here.
Touch of Evil, which streets on Monday 11/15, is available for pre-order on limited edition Blu-ray through Amazon.co.uk and Eureka directly, or as a limited edition Steelbook exclusive to HMV.
From Masters of Cinema: Touch of Evil begins with one of the most brilliant sequences in the history of cinema; and ends with one of the most brilliant final scenes ever committed to celluloid. In between unfurls a picture whose moral, sexual, racial, and aesthetic attitudes remain so radical as to cross borders established not only in 1958, but in the present age also. Yet, Touch of Evil has taken many forms. The film as released in 1958 was certainly compromised from Orson Welles’ vision, but a lengthy, arresting memo written by Welles to studio heads in 1957 – taking issue with a studio rough-cut – had some influence on a subsequent preview version shown to test audiences (and rediscovered in the mid-1970s) as well as the 1958 theatrical version. Forty years later, in 1998, Universal produced a reconstructed version of the film that takes into meticulous account the totality of Welles’ memo, and ostensibly represents the version of the film that most closely adheres to his original wishes.
Charlton Heston portrays Mike Vargas, the Mexican chief of narcotics who sets out to uncover the facts surrounding a car bomb that has killed a wealthy American businessman on the US side of the border. As Vargas investigates, his newly-wed wife Susie (Janet Leigh, two years before Hitchcock’s Psycho) is kidnapped by a gang out to exact vengeance for the prosecution of the brother of their leader (Akim Tamiroff). Meanwhile, Vargas’ enquiries become progressively more obfuscated by the American cop Hank Quinlan (played by Welles himself, in one of the most imposing and unforgettable screen performances of his career), a besotted incarnation of corruption who alternately conspires with Susie’s captors and seeks solace in the brothel of the Gypsy madame (Marlene Dietrich) who comforted him in bygone times.
Welles’ final studio-system picture has at last become secure in its status as one of the greatest films ever made. It remains a testament to the genius of Welles –– a film of Shakespearean richness, inexhaustible. The Masters of Cinema Series attempts to honour Welles with this special two-disc, Blu-ray only edition of Touch of Evil, with the film presented in multiple versions and aspect ratios.
Special Features:
• New high-definition masters of five variants of the film: the 1958 Theatrical Version in both 1.37:1 and 1.85:1, the 1958 Preview Version in 1.85:1, and the 1998 Reconstructed Version in 1.37:1 and 1.85:1
• 4 x audio commentaries, featuring: restoration producer Rick Schmidlin; actors Charlton Heston & Janet Leigh, with Schmidlin; critic F. X. Feeney; and Welles scholars James Naremore & Jonathan Rosenbaum
• The original theatrical trailer, which includes alternate footage
• Bringing Evil to Life + Evil Lost and Found – two video pieces [21:00 + 18:00]
• Optional English SDH subtitles on all versions of the film
• A 56-page booklet featuring essays by Orson Welles, François Truffaut, André Bazin, and Terry Comito; interview excerpts with Welles; a timeline of the film’s history; and extensive notes on the film’s versions and ratios
