Terry Gilliam on DVD

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Fletch F. Fletch · #1 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:17 pm

From DVDAnswers:

Title: Tideland (IMDb)
Starring: Jeff Bridges
Released: 27th February 2007
SRP: $27.98

Further Details:
Thinkfilm has provided some details for the release of Terry Gilliam's Tideland on 27th February 2007. This R rated film stars Jeff Bridges, Jodelle Ferland, Brendan Fletcher, Jennifer Tilly and Janet McTeer, and is based on the best-selling book by Mitch Cullen. This release will be presented as a two-disc collectors edition with the first disc containing: an introduction by Terry Gilliam, a feature length commentary by Tony Grisoni and Terry Gilliam, the theatrical trailer and a trailer gallery. On disc two there will be: a making-of featurette, a documentary short by Vincenzo Natali (with an optional commentary by Terry Gilliam and Vincenzo Natali) and an interview with Terry Gilliam.

#2 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:18 pm

wait, "R rated"... so this has been cut, yes?

John Cope · #3 Post by **John Cope** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:19 pm

Deepdiscountdvd has a great price on it.

The Fanciful Norwegian · #4 Post by **The Fanciful Norwegian** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 1:53 am

domino harvey wrote:wait, "R rated"... so this has been cut, yes?

Given that the theatrical release was uncut and also R-rated, I'm guessing "no."

Lino · #5 Post by **Lino** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:43 pm

Now that the upcoming DVD release of Tideland is imminent and just before the reviews start pouring, here's one for the French disc.

In other news, according to HTF poster, Brazil (the country, not the Gilliam movie) will be getting a Special Edition of The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, which is especially good news for me since I adore that particular film. Let's hope some of the special features on the OOP Criterion Laserdisc will be ported over, particularly the Gilliam audio-commentary. Here's a review for that LD.

Anonymous · #6 Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:01 pm

I love THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN too. But then I love almost anything Gilliam has ever done. TIDELAND is marvellous, as sweet and innocent as it is crazy and fucked-up. 12 MONKEYS and BRAZIL are visionary and greatly done and FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is - for the Hunter S. Thompson fan that I am - absolutely essential.

I met Gilliam last year when he presented TIDELAND. Very nice, friendly, funny and charming guy. I truly admire him.

Fletch F. Fletch · #7 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:28 pm

Lino wrote:Now that the upcoming DVD release of Tideland is imminent and just before the reviews start pouring, here's one for the French disc.
In other news, according to HTF poster, Brazil (the country, not the Gilliam movie) will be getting a Special Edition of The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, which is especially good news for me since I adore that particular film. Let's hope some of the special features on the OOP Criterion Laserdisc will be ported over, particularly the Gilliam audio-commentary. Here's a review for that LD.

This is great news! I adore this film as well. Amongst Gilliam's fans it's something of an underrated film, I think.

Now all we need is a special edition (preferably with all the extras from the Criterion LD) of The Fisher King!

Lino · #8 Post by **Lino** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:21 pm

The Fisher King is also a Sony title like Munchausen so it would be nice (and logical) of them to upgrade it as well.

Now, embarrasingly I've yet to buy any Monty Python movie on DVD (though I've seen and love them all) and was thinking of getting this 7 disc UK set that was recently released late last year. Has anyone got it and/or can recommend it?

Subbuteo · #9 Post by **Subbuteo** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:16 pm

Lino wrote:The Fisher King is also a Sony title like Munchausen so it would be nice (and logical) of them to upgrade it as well.

Now, embarrasingly I've yet to buy any Monty Python movie on DVD (though I've seen and love them all) and was thinking of getting this 7 disc UK set that was recently released late last year. Has anyone got it and/or can recommend it?

Seriously I wouldn't bother and I certainly wouldn't be embarrassed for not owning any Python. Oh I forgot you like Russell

Kirkinson · #10 Post by **Kirkinson** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:35 pm

Encapsulation of the aspect ratio situation.

Tideland was released to theaters in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The region-2 DVD by Revolver was overseen by Gilliam and opened up slightly to about 2.25:1 because he thought it looked better that way on the small screen.

ThinkFilm's region-1 release -- and DVDs known so far to be released by various companies in Russia, France, and Belgium -- are incorrectly framed at 1.78:1. ThinkFilm's explanation for the mistake is as follows:

You are correct that a 2.35:1 version is the most desired. We had in fact requested one early on in the DVD creation process; however, one was not created. Eventually, a faux 2.35 was created by the UK distributor, which ended up being closer to a 2.25 â€“ a quick, but not complete solution. We are only in position to put out what materials are delivered to us, and although we all knew that the 1.78:1 was not ideal, nor true to the film, we had to proceed. We are currently working on getting a 2.35:1 master to work from and will plan a re-release when it is made available.

According to Terry Gilliam, the Canadian region-1 release is, in fact, correct:

I think we have to get the word out NOT TO BUY the American version of the DVD. The Canadian version is correct. It's Region1... so Americans can see the film as intended.

So, in summation, the UK DVD (by Revolver) and Canadian DVD (by Maple Pictures) both present Tideland with the intended framing. All other currently known releases so far are incorrect.

Antoine Doinel · #11 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:45 pm

One wonders why ThinkFilm knowingly put out a film in the wrong aspect ratio when they could've delayed the release date and issued the film correctly.

Unless they were contractually obliged to deliver the DVD by a certain date one wonders who will put up the dough for the re-release if and when that happens.

denti alligator · #12 Post by **denti alligator** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:58 pm

Can I return my DVD directly to ThinkFilm? I got it from Deep Discount and have already removed the plastic, so returning it to them is out of the question.

Kirkinson · #13 Post by **Kirkinson** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:30 pm

The Senior VP of ThinkFilm says the Canadian and US editions are identical:

Marc Hirshberg wrote:The version in Canada and US is the same one. Think and the Canadian distributor collaborated on the project together and have the exact same thing save for logo's. The American version is renting brilliantly out of the gate and has sold thousands in its first week out. This is a jam packed 2 disc fantastic DVD with tons of extra's made especially for the Terry fan. YOU WILL LOVE IT but I am not going to force you to buy it.

We know about this faux 2.35 look that you refer to below. This was suggested to us about a week before we started shipping orders â€“ obviously too late. What you are not aware of is that this was a PAL version that was going to be a simple standard convert and not from the HD so the quality to a fan like you would have been utterly disgusting and you would have been able to slam Think worse than you are right now for not using it. We employ phenomenal people here at Think that only accept the highest quality masters for use with our DVDs so the experience for the consumer like yourself is the best it can be. You simply would not have accepted this shitty quality vesrion even though it would have been a faux 2.35 version.

We really need some screencaps of the various versions, I think.

Lino · #14 Post by **Lino** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 5:47 pm

Here's an early DVD review for Tideland:

On to the DVD. The film comes as a two disc set, the first disc including the feature only with bonus features, most notably Vincenzo Natali's 44 minute documentary Getting Gilliam, on the second disc. We'll start with disc two. You get five minutes of deleted scenes, with commentary by Gilliam, a five minute 'Making Of'' that is nothing more than EPK material, plus the aforementioned documentary helmed by the director of Cube. The documentary, frankly, is in itself nothing to get overly excited about. Natali takes a very straight forward approach, talking openly about Gilliam's role in his own life, and approaches things at least as much as a fan as he does as a serious documentarian. He's just happy to be there and things are pleasantly bland as a result. Or, perhaps, as Gilliam jokes on the commentary, Natali was simply unfortunate enough to be there shooting when things were going well which means no Lost in La Mancha style theatrics. And here's where thing get interesting: Natali and Gilliam give a commentary over the entire running time of the doc and Gilliam, as always, gives great commentary and with his nimble mind and quick wit, instantly draws Natali out of himself. The feature itself gets the golden treatment, with an excellent anamorphic transfer - the packaging says it's letterboxed but it's actually enhanced for 16:9 screens, the only matting the result of the film having been shot in scope - and sound options in 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround. The feature gets a brief video introduction from Gilliam himself and, once again, there is a stellar commentary featuring Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni. Whether you like the film or hate it there's no denying that Gilliam is a fascinating man to listen to and so whichever camp you fall in I recommend at least a rental to give the commentaries a spin.

Terry Gilliam warns against buying the R1 Tideland DVD

Now ThinkFilm has cropped this image so compared to the cinema you get a bit extra on top and bottom, and lose a chunk from left and right.
A shame, since early news on the ThinkFilm version is that it's a very nice one indeed, with (apart from aspect ratio) good video and sound, and a very nice selection of extra's.

But lets face it: It wouldn't be a Gilliam movie if there wasn't SOME sort of difficulty involved in seeing it. At least the UK region 2 DVD by Revolver does have the Gilliam/Pecorini approved 2.25:1 ratio.

Dylan · #15 Post by **Dylan** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:52 pm

Some of Hirshberg's message comes off as pointlessly nasty to me.

You simply would not have accepted this shitty quality version even though it would have been a faux 2.35 version.

Does he call open matte films 'faux 1.85' when they are transferred as intended by the DP and director? In any case, based on Hirshberg's comments, we won't be getting another version on R1.

Are there any clips from the film shown in the various features on the DVD, and are those in 2.35? If they are, the 'complainers' really do have the last laugh because that more confirms Think's screw-up.

The entire story surrounding this film is sad: after waiting a year and a half for a release of any kind, the distribution is extremely limited and in turn gets awful reviews from both critics and audiences (and Gilliam fans), then months later receives a botched DVD transfer in every section of the world except (thankfully) England.

Lino · #16 Post by **Lino** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:54 pm

Welcome to Terry Gilliam's cursed life.

denti alligator · #17 Post by **denti alligator** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:59 pm

I called ThinkFilm. They're aware of the problem. Apparently they will re-release the DVD when they get the right elements.

#18 Post by **kinjitsu** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:21 pm

The Joys of Independent Filmmaking by Terry Gilliam

toiletduck! · #19 Post by **toiletduck!** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:14 pm

kinjitsu wrote:The Joys of Independent Filmmaking by Terry Gilliam

I heart Terry Gilliam.

-Toilet Dcuk

Kirkinson · #20 Post by **Kirkinson** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 9:22 am

More from the Dreams message board:

I'm embarrassed! Having been assured that the Canadian DVD was the correct format, I now discover I was completely misled. What was I thinking? Why hadn't I jumped a plane and flown to Toronto to buy a Tideland DVD on the 1st day of sales? I would have known the truth before opening my big mouth. What a fool!!! I can begin to see why Stanley Kubrick went a bit whacko trying to keep an eye on every print of his films in every far-flung corner of the globe... and he had a full-time guy doing the legwork. Any volunteers? What I recommend for all the owners of the North American Tideland DVD is to get a roll of wide black tape.... sorry, before you do that go out and buy a dozen more copies of the DVDs and pass them out to your friends, then... pause the disc at the Capri Films logo when it flares out into a blue sky. What you see is the correct proportion of 2.35:1. Then unrolling the tape, mask off the black areas on the screen above and below. If you want to leave a little bit more space top and bottom of the logo you will end up with the UK proportion. Then you should just sit back and enjoy. All the information left to right is there. There was no panning and scanning. Just stupidity.
Terry
p.s. Check next day to see how many of your friends will still look you in the eye. They are the people you should be spending time with. Fuck the others!

I heart Terry Gilliam even more.

Kirkinson · #21 Post by **Kirkinson** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:05 am

Okay, here's the final word: NONE of the DVDs is correct. According to this article at Dreams, which compares a shot from the US & UK releases with the same frame from the theatrical presentation and the original fully open film frame, both the US and UK releases are cropped quite considerably at the sides. The UK release however is framed correctly at the top and the bottom, resulting in an aspect ratio of about 2.05:1. As far as anyone has confirmed, that's the most correct version you can buy at the moment.

If you haven't already bought a DVD, the best thing to do at this point is probably to wait and see if anyone announces a reissue.

manicsounds · #22 Post by **manicsounds** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:45 pm

The Japanese DVD from Tohokushinsha is still unknown, comes out on 3/22. amazon claims 1.78, hmv and tower claim 2.35. we will see.

godardslave · #23 Post by **godardslave** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:38 pm

hey here is an idea:
Why dont dvd companies just forget about putting a film on the dvd at all?

Instead just put a white square on the screen for 2 hours.
As long as the white square is in the correct aspect ratio, no-one will complain, im sure.

Kirkinson · #24 Post by **Kirkinson** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:39 pm

Thanks, I'll keep an eye on that one. There are also rumors that the Hong Kong release is correct, but I haven't seen anything to substantiate it.

arsonfilms · #25 Post by **arsonfilms** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:47 pm

godardslave wrote:hey here is an idea:
Why dont dvd companies just forget about putting a film on the dvd at all?

Instead just put a white square on the screen for 2 hours.
As long as the white square is in the correct aspect ratio, no-one will complain, im sure.

God save us all if said white square were ever to be pictureboxed, though. Or if the running time were off by more than a few seconds.