Akira Kurosawa

[manicsounds]

I hope BFI consider upgrading I Live in Fear seeing as it's the only (?) non-mainline Kurosawa which BFI haven't released in their Early Kurosawa set and which they have the rights to. In other words... Criterion will probably never release this in HD so like the Ozu's from the Late Eclipse, I hope BFI will jump in here...

I wouldn't consider "I Live In Fear" as an early Kurosawa, it was released after Seven Samurai. It is nowhere near the top of the Kurosawa titles, and I'd think the BFI would release some of the more main Kurosawa titles in HD before tackling a 'lower tier' like "I Live In Fear"....

And by the way, interesting to think, what are the possibilities of Criterion of upgrading an Eclipse title to a mainline BD? Highly unlikely.... ?

[Peacock]

Apologies, I know I Live in Fear isn't an early Kurosawa, what I meant was that it's the only Kurosawa title which BFI have, and which Criterion have released on Eclipse, that BFI haven't released in their own version of the Eclipse set (The Early Kurosawa one)... meaning it'll likely get upgraded (although as you say, not for a while). And I'm not sure Criterion will upgrade any Eclipse titles to mainline BD anytime soon, with so much they have the rights to and haven't released. Although, if they do, it would likely be barebones-but-a-trailer like Makioka Sisters (or people who only have DVD players would complain that the Blu-ray gets extras while the DVD set doesn't....

[Rob]

And by the way, interesting to think, what are the possibilities of Criterion of upgrading an Eclipse title to a mainline BD? Highly unlikely.... ?

I think there's a good chance that future Eclipse releases might be available in Blu-ray as well as DVD - I could see that working pretty well. Given that Smiles of a Summer Night was virtually barebones, maybe they'll do Begman's 'faith trilogy' as a Blu-ray Eclipse release - there were precious few extras on the DVD release and all of the transfers were high-def.

[antnield]

Two boxed-sets for October 24th:

Kurosawa Classic Collection
- contains Ikiru, I Live in Fear, Red Beard, The Lower Depths and Dodes'ka-den (the latter two making their UK DVD debut)

Kurosawa Crime Collection
- contains Drunken Angel, Stray Dog, The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low

[manicsounds]

Great pricepoints on both, but why aren't BFI giving the royal class treatment and dual format releases like they have with Ozu?

[perkizitore]

This must surely be a misprice.

[John Edmond]

It's going for GBP38 at Amazon.co.uk; it's a misprice worth taking advantage of.

[perkizitore]

It's actually 50p cheaper at TheHut/Zavvi, i don't like taking advantage of Moviemail.

[John Edmond]

True.

[RossyG]

Yeah, don't scam MovieMail. They're so sweet. You'll hate yourself afterwards.

[MichaelB]

It's actually 50p cheaper at TheHut/Zavvi, i don't like taking advantage of Moviemail.

That's nice to hear.

[tenia]

I don't understand what's the joke with MovieMail, but pre-ordered the "Classic" boxset on Zavvi, then.

[John Edmond]

There is no joke with Moviemail, they're just conscientious retailers. Unlike Amazon or Zavvi they stock labels like Re:Voir while also providing significantly above average service and product descriptions/reviews. Oh, and MichaelB used to/occasionally still does write for them.

[RossyG]

They also send customers a lovely free monthly mini-magazine (glossy and presumably expensive to print) which is invaluable for buyers of arthouse-type films.

MovieMail feel like 'us' rather than a faceless corporation in the same way that MoC or Second Run, for example, feel like 'us', whereas Canal Plus or Zavvi are 'them'.

[bigP]

Just to add further, Moviemail also offer a bonus point scheme which takes a surprisingly short amount of time to rack up £5 off next order awards. I feel guilty even using these but it's very appreciated.

[perkizitore]

Zavvi has a voucher that takes 3 pounds off 30, so there is no reason to use Moviemail anyway...

[Brvtality]

Zavvi might just honour the prices. They did with Lebowski and Being John Malkovich which were both mispriced on BD.

[Ozu Teapot]

The prices have gone up to £30.85 and £37.85 on Zavvi now but they're still at £13.99 on Play.com!

[Finch]

Can MichaelB or anyone else from the BFI posting here confirm if these sets are just repackaged reissues of existing discs or if the films have had new transfers? If it's the latter, I'd definitely get the Crime set.

[MichaelB]

I don't work for the BFI except in an occasional freelance capacity, but I'm happy to ask my contacts there on your behalf...

...and the answer is pretty much what I expected (given the prices), which is that the discs are mainly reissues of previous releases, aside from The Lower Depths and Dodes'kaden, which are making their UK DVD debuts.

[Finch]

Thanks Michael, much appreciated.

[Hail_Cesar]

And are they going to release Dodes'ka-den alone?

[MichaelB]

Based on precedent, I doubt it very much.

[Opdef]

MovieMail have just sent me an email saying the pre-order was cancelled due to a pricing error. I pre-ordered it with Play.com as well, just in case, but I'll be very surprised if the honour the £13.49 price.

[Mozart]

now GBP 30,-- and GBP 40,-- on play.com.

Let's see if they honour the initial pricing....