Hey everybody, I have a question for you.

Has anyone here heard news or rumors about possible special editions of Terence Malick's three major feature films? I figure it's only logical that with the boom in collector's editions, that they might finally get that treatment to coincide with his newest movie The New World coming out in November. Warner's Badlands, Paramount's Days of Heaven and Fox's The Thin Red Line are just bare bones discs.

Knowing Malick, even allowing the trailer on those discs is probably a compromise.

There's a "special edition" of Badlands in the UK, which has a 20-minute featurette with Sissy Spacek, Martin Sheen, Jack Fisk and Billy Weber, and they make it perfectly clear that Malick will absolutely not put himself in the public eye under any circumstances.

Aren't the transfers lacking on Badlands and Days of Heaven? I've been waiting for a re-release for that reason -- if I'm wrong, somebody let me know and I'll buy those discs.

I own Days of Heaven and the transfer looks spectacular to my eye. I haven`t yet seen it on a 16X9 set, but on my fairly large 4X3 it look as good as I could ever imagine.

hmm, i've been holding off on that one cuz all anyone does online is bitch and bitch and bitch about how it looks.

This is dangerously close to a DVD talk thread.

Way off topic but I have to ask

Ben D
is your avitar Anton Lavey and Sammy Davis jr?

yes indeed

From what I've read Sammy Davis Jr was a follower of LaVey and was offered an honorary membership in the Church of Satan in 1973 and. He accepted and got to meet LaVey later that year. This is pretty odd--I've never figured out exactly why he was interested in it.

That's my point, I have no idea. If the current editions are the definitive versions, which I doubt, I would go with those. I've heard a lot about a longer cut of The Thin Red Line floating around when the film came out, and the other editions are so old that I have no idea what the transfer difference would be today. I don't see Paramount doing anything, but Warner and Fox can be notorious about these things.

Here`s a very positive review of the R2 Days of Heaven I own, and a very positive review of the R1 Days of Heaven.

So, I don`t know where you found the bitching. Either way, it`s a definite recommendation for both the film and the DVD from me.

amazon.com for one, and i'm pretty sure imdb and allmovie.

hell, if it looks good i'm ready to buy. then again, hd-dvd and blu-ray are around the corner and i have enough unwatched dvds to carry me through to that day.

as for sammy, he liked to be on the tip. sure, he converted to judaism but that didn't keep him from getting his honorary membership into the church of satan and being into the porno scene when they were cool. read linda lovelace's autobiography ordeal and check out how she taught sammy to deep throat.

That reminds me, does anyone know if that Italian-made doc on Malick, Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick, is ever going to be shown in North America or released on video here... or anywhere?

I've been seen the existing DVD for Days of Heaven. It's pathetic. The color seems at times washed out and the print looks dirty. Even the box art is crap.

Does anyone know if they'll at least re-master this one since The New World is coming out? I'm FINE with Badlands, it's just the Days sucks the way it is.

I doubt Days of Heaven is a big enough seller to warrant a sp. ed.

I'm sure this is gonna be the ebst you'll get on this format.

I did read somewhere that about 10 years ago Paramount ordered somebody to destroy the original 70mm negative of Days Of Thunder but this person destroyed the 70mm print of Days of Heaven!!!
Was Terence Malick pissed!!

WHAT THE F***!!!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me? What kind of morons are running these studios? I mean can't they just store the Days of HEaven negative next to the cans of film containing crap like Mad Dog Time and Gigli? Why destroy ANYTHING related to that masterpiece?

I guess we're screwed then, cause I doubt Criterion will ever hook Days of Heaven up. All I wanted was a barebones DVD with a better print.

And maybe newer box art. Is that so much to ask?

It's only a 70mm blowup from a 35mm negative. It's not irreplaceable. As far as I can see, the current DVD looks absolutely fine.

I have to agree. For what it's worth, I'm happy with the image of DVD.

Just out of curiosity, did they destroy the original 70mm negative of Days Of Thunder?

I do not know if they did destroy the 70mm negative to Days of Thunder but if they still have it Paramount can issue a special edition with a documentary on how Days of Thunder looks so good having the 70mm around and an interview with the dumbass who destroyed the 70mm print of Days of Heaven!!

The available R1 edition of "Badlands" features a transfer of barely acceptable quality. It's watchable, but looks like it was transferred from a 16 mm print.

A low-budget film from the early 70s that features grain in the image isn't exactly a shock.

What's shocking is the gaping discrepancy between the quality of the image as I exhibited it in a new print from Warner Bros. in the seventies and the shoddy presentation on the R1 DVD.