Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

..and why not?
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GoogaMooga
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Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Nov 2018, 16:11

I thought we might have an ongoing where we alert each other to the matter of unexpected releases, limited editions, and such.

For starters, January 21, limited edition, Blu-ray:

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Dennis Hopper's legendary, long-unavailable masterpiece is available for the first time ever in the UK.

Hopper followed the enormous international success of Easy Rider (1969) with this exuberant passion project - a delirious, free-wheeling epic production shot in Central America with an incredible cast (including Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, Russ Tamblyn, Michelle Phillips, Tomas Milian and Sam Fuller) and an ambition to re-invent American cinema. Unseen for many years, this one-of-a-kind film can finally be experienced in a ravishing new 4K restoration.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Jimbly » 19 Nov 2018, 21:05

By masterpiece do they mean, drug addled mess.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Nov 2018, 21:38

Jeemo wrote:By masterpiece do they mean, drug addled mess.


You could call it that. Depends on your frame of mind. I saw it on the big screen in the early 90s. It's a lot more ambitious than Easy Rider, Hopper had free reins.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Jimbly » 19 Nov 2018, 22:08

GoogaMooga wrote:
Jeemo wrote:By masterpiece do they mean, drug addled mess.


You could call it that. Depends on your frame of mind. I saw it on the big screen in the early 90s. It's a lot more ambitious than Easy Rider, Hopper had free reins.


How does it depend on your frame of mind?
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Nov 2018, 22:27

Are you sympathetic to that kind of freewheeling filmmaking. You don't have to be under the influence to enjoy it, but I think it would help if you are sympathetic to drug culture.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Nov 2018, 22:28

I mean, you can look at it as a glorious mess or as a dismal failure.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Matt Wilson » 19 Nov 2018, 23:43

A glorious failure, a dismal mess?

It's okay if you're in the mood. El Topo is better, and so is Fonda's The Hired Hand. I reviewed all three this year in the Now Playing thread.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby naughty boy » 20 Nov 2018, 09:24

my cup runneth over
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 22 Nov 2018, 21:07

I can see how Sabata would get a release, but with Sartana, we are really digging deep...

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The Complete Sartana Limited Edition [Blu-ray]

Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name spawned imitations, variations and shameless rip-offs keen to emulate his success at the box office. Within months of A Fistful of Dollars release, Giuliano Gemma was playing Ringo, who was then followed by Franco Nero's Django, Tony Anthony's The Stranger and Gianni Garko's Sartana each providing their own twist on the Eastwood antihero, and each of them then subject to their own spate of unofficial sequels, spoofs and cash-ins.

Sartana tapped into more than just his Spaghetti Western predecessors a mysterious figure, he has a spectral quality, aided by his Count Dracula-alike cloak which also nods towards comic strip figure Mandrake the Magician, with whom he shares he shares a penchant for card tricks. He takes pride in his appearance unlike the Eastwood's dusty wanderer or Nero's mud-caked drifter. And there's a dose of James Bond too in his fondness for gadgetry and the droll sense of humour.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 20:46

Jane Asher. In the buff.

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BFI Flipside presents

DEEP END (DVD + Blu-ray)
A Film by Jerzy Skolimowski

THE FLIPSIDE: rescuing weird and wonderful British films from obscurity and presenting them in new high-quality editions.

Newly employed at a run-down London swimming baths, Mike (John Moulder-Brown) obsesses after his sassy and self-assured co-worker (Jane Asher) whilst collecting tips for the 'special services' he is expected to perform for clients (including the superb Diana Dors).

Darkly comic and utterly compelling, this portrait of Britain in an era of uncertainty makes its long overdue return to the screen in a new digital restoration with extensive bonus features.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Jimbly » 10 Dec 2018, 12:00

Deep End has been reissued a few times before.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Jimbly » 10 Dec 2018, 12:01

Deep End has been reissued a few times before.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby The Modernist » 10 Dec 2018, 15:28

I don't think I entirely understand this thread, so I'll try to help Googa out..are you looking for people to recommend cult films that have had a DVD or Blu-Ray release?

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 10 Dec 2018, 16:21

The Modernist wrote:I don't think I entirely understand this thread, so I'll try to help Googa out..are you looking for people to recommend cult films that have had a DVD or Blu-Ray release?


Yes, that was the idea. The more obscure, the better.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 10 Dec 2018, 16:24

Jeemo wrote:Deep End has been reissued a few times before.


I see, thanks. The way they describe it (rescuing from obscurity) made me think it was a first time release.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 10 Dec 2018, 16:25

Let us extend it to titles that are hard to find, also.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby The Modernist » 10 Dec 2018, 16:53

GoogaMooga wrote:
Jeemo wrote:Deep End has been reissued a few times before.


I see, thanks. The way they describe it (rescuing from obscurity) made me think it was a first time release.


It was issued on BFI's Flipside -which is dedicated to obscure British films.

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby Muskrat » 28 Dec 2018, 20:06

Hard to beat the Criterion issue of "The Blob."
Things that a fella can't forget...

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 03 Jan 2019, 20:26

February 18, limited edition

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Jonathan Miller's film of Kingsley Amis' comic novel (adapted for the screen by George Melly), casts Hayley Mills (Whistle Down the Wind, Twisted Nerve) as a naïve young girl who moves from the North of England to teach in a London school and finds herself fending off the advances of a number of lusty suitors, including Oliver Reed, John Bird and Noel Harrison.

As much a document of its time as a satire on the sexual mores (and confusions) of the period, Miller's still remarkably fresh debut feature is buoyed by its terrific cast and a typically excellent Stanley Myers score.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: Films/shows you never expected to see on DVD/Blu-ray

Postby GoogaMooga » 08 Jan 2019, 16:31

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amazon.co.uk:

The success of Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage ushered in a host of imitators, seeking to capitalise on this new, modern take on the giallo thriller. Many were highly derivative, but a number nonetheless rose above the crowd thanks to skilful execution and a willingness to experiment stylistically. Once such example is The Fifth Cord ¬ which, in the hands of director Luigi Bazzoni (The Possessed, Footprints on the Moon), turns a conventional premise into a visually stunning exploration of alienation and isolation.

When a man barely survives a brutal assault en route home from a New Year's party, washed-up, whisky-swilling journalist Andrea Bild (Franco Nero, Django) is assigned to report on the case. Before long, the maniac strikes again, this time with fatal results. As the body count rises, Andrea falls under suspicion himself, making it even more imperative that he crack the case. His only clue lies in a series of black gloves found at the location of every attack, each with a finger cut off...

Adapted from a novel by David McDonald Devine, The Fifth Cord boasts a complex, Agatha Christie-esque plot, outstanding cinematography courtesy of future Oscar-winner Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and supporting appearances by a raft of genre stalwarts, including Silvia Monti (A Lizard in a Woman s Skin), Edmund Purdom (Nightmare City) and Rossella Falk (Sleepless). Debuting here in high definition, arguably the most visually stunning giallo ever made now shines like never before.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck


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