Second Sight Films (UK)

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Hopefully they won't be using the same master for Drive as the German UHD, which is... underwhelming at best. It was shot at 2K so it's never going to be a reference-quality UHD, but I'm sure it can look better than that.

[EddieLarkin]

Hopefully they won't be using the same master for Drive as the German UHD, which is... underwhelming at best. It was shot at 2K so it's never going to be a reference-quality UHD, but I'm sure it can look better than that.

I don't really see what resolution has to do with a disc being reference, there are plenty of reference UHDs that are "only" 2K upscales. As for Drive, it looking like that on the German UHD has nothing to do with it being a 2K source. To me it looks the same as what happened with Bourne Identity, instead of going back to any real source, they've merely taken the master from the Blu-ray, and artificially sharpened and boosted it to make it look "4K" and "HDR". Total snake oil that should be avoided.

Proper "2K upscales" are usually newly struck from the original digital files, which I have to assume is what Second Sight are doing, as they are a reputable company. This gets you every last drop of resolution and detail from the source, without the need for sharpening, and more importantly you get the maximum dynamic range available too, allowing you to actually offer a real upgrade over old Blu-rays.

[MichaelB]

Confirmed just now by Second Sight that they have The Hitcher, but will be Blu-ray only and not UHD due to the quality of the master (which they're going to restore as best they can). Great news!

Even better news - they've tracked down the original negative in Warner Bros' vaults and have been granted access to do a scan.

Unsurprisingly, plans for a UHD release are now firmly back on track.

[Yakushima]

MichaelB, fantastic news!

[rapta]

Confirmed just now by Second Sight that they have The Hitcher, but will be Blu-ray only and not UHD due to the quality of the master (which they're going to restore as best they can). Great news!

Even better news - they've tracked down the original negative in Warner Bros' vaults and have been granted access to do a scan.

Unsurprisingly, plans for a UHD release are now firmly back on track.

Props to Second Sight for being persistent, both with this and Martin. I'm sure these will be impeccable releases. Intrigued to see what they add to Drive as well (with Refn involved, as I understand it).

PS: Not sure if they have many non-horror films lined up over the next year, but I'd love to see what they could do with Ghost Dog, The Road or Black Dynamite for example (each are Icon titles like Drive, so presumably on their radar).

[Finch]

Ha, whoever it was that kept requesting The Hitcher from Arrow on BR.com for ages must feel like Christmas came early for them this year.

[M Sanderson]

Great news regarding The Hitcher. Absolute dedication from SS.

Moving on to Romero. SS seem to have a lot of dedication to him, going by the definitive Dawn… set in 4k and Blu ray. And the efforts that are going into the upcoming Martin.

Obviously The Amusement Park being “found” is another big piece of Romero news. I’m wondering if SS plan to release this separately, or even include it as part of the Martin set?

So far there’s only French and apparently US releases of this once “lost” film, in the works.

[dwk]

I believe Shudder has the rights to The Amusement Park in all english language territories. I'm not sure who handles the UK releases of their films, but I would assume whoever it is will be the ones releasing it.

[What A Disgrace]

I believe Shudder has the rights to The Amusement Park in all english language territories. I'm not sure who handles the UK releases of their films, but I would assume whoever it is will be the ones releasing it.

I believe The Host is Shudder, which Second Sight released, so if that's the case...

[dwk]

The Shudder logo is in the credit block, but they are not mentioned in the copyright info on the Second Sight release. I assume that it was the production company that licensed the UK disc rights to Second Sight not Shudder.

[What A Disgrace]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K forthcoming later this year. The Witch 4K limited edition up for pre-order right here, right now

[Finch]

As per Eddie's comments in the UHD upgrades thread, Lionsgate fumbled the ball a little with their disc requiring a manual workaround and given SS's excellent record this far, this has got to be a superior import and a very nice upscale from the 2k negative. The TCM announcement on Twitter is the icing on the cake. More excited about both than Arrow's May line-up.

[rapta]

Happy they got The Witch, thought they might do that (and maybe they'll do The Lighthouse later on as well). Will have to get the standard Blu-ray reissue eventually as I'm not set up for 4K, bit of a shame as I love this film.

Hope they get some more non-horror Universal titles whilst they acquired this. I'd personally encourage them to try for a Schrader double-bill of First Reformed and The Card Counter, and maybe titles like Damsel and The Sisters Brothers with new interviews etc. I see why the horror stuff sells but it seems to be just horror at the moment.

Have also said before that I could see them doing titles like The Road, Ghost World or Babylon through their Kaleidoscope/Icon relationship (or even The Wailing, which deserves a UK Blu-ray).

PS: Yeah, I too found the Arrow announcements to be underwhelming, but then again that's probably because I never really rated Wild Things nor Enter the Void as masterpieces that some people apparently think they are. I might be interested in standard editions later on, but not paying more than sale prices for either. Glad they've made a lot of people happy with those, but I'm starting to think Arrow are drifting a bit (I barely pre-order anything from them anymore, but do pick up anything Japanese, and all the Italian genre stuff).

[ryannichols7]

Happy they got The Witch, thought they might do that (and maybe they'll do The Lighthouse later on as well). Will have to get the standard Blu-ray reissue eventually as I'm not set up for 4K, bit of a shame as I love this film.

Hope they get some more non-horror Universal titles whilst they acquired this. I'd personally encourage them to try for a Schrader double-bill of First Reformed and The Card Counter, and maybe titles like Damsel and The Sisters Brothers with new interviews etc. I see why the horror stuff sells but it seems to be just horror at the moment.

Have also said before that I could see them doing titles like The Road, Ghost World or Babylon through their Kaleidoscope/Icon relationship (or even The Wailing, which deserves a UK Blu-ray).

PS: Yeah, I too found the Arrow announcements to be underwhelming, but then again that's probably because I never really rated Wild Things nor Enter the Void as masterpieces that some people apparently think they are. I might be interested in standard editions later on, but not paying more than sale prices for either. Glad they've made a lot of people happy with those, but I'm starting to think Arrow are drifting a bit (I barely pre-order anything from them anymore, but do pick up anything Japanese, and all the Italian genre stuff).

it may not be universal, but for a release different from their releases as of late, it appears they still own the rights to Pandora's Box it seems since the DVD is still in print and on their site. they would make a lot of people happy by bringing that one to Bluray. I'm sure Eureka would kill to do it and Criterion seems to have absolutely zero interest...maybe Second Sight can save us?

speaking of non-horror titles...I'm not sure if this is news but I picked up Berlin Alexanderplatz which I thought was out of print already. what I'd give to have Color of Pomegranates or World on a Wire boxes

[rapta]

Happy they got The Witch, thought they might do that (and maybe they'll do The Lighthouse later on as well). Will have to get the standard Blu-ray reissue eventually as I'm not set up for 4K, bit of a shame as I love this film.

Hope they get some more non-horror Universal titles whilst they acquired this. I'd personally encourage them to try for a Schrader double-bill of First Reformed and The Card Counter, and maybe titles like Damsel and The Sisters Brothers with new interviews etc. I see why the horror stuff sells but it seems to be just horror at the moment.

Have also said before that I could see them doing titles like The Road, Ghost World or Babylon through their Kaleidoscope/Icon relationship (or even The Wailing, which deserves a UK Blu-ray).

PS: Yeah, I too found the Arrow announcements to be underwhelming, but then again that's probably because I never really rated Wild Things nor Enter the Void as masterpieces that some people apparently think they are. I might be interested in standard editions later on, but not paying more than sale prices for either. Glad they've made a lot of people happy with those, but I'm starting to think Arrow are drifting a bit (I barely pre-order anything from them anymore, but do pick up anything Japanese, and all the Italian genre stuff).

it may not be universal, but for a release different from their releases as of late, it appears they still own the rights to Pandora's Box it seems since the DVD is still in print and on their site. they would make a lot of people happy by bringing that one to Bluray. I'm sure Eureka would kill to do it and Criterion seems to have absolutely zero interest...maybe Second Sight can save us?

speaking of non-horror titles...I'm not sure if this is news but I picked up Berlin Alexanderplatz which I thought was out of print already. what I'd give to have Color of Pomegranates or World on a Wire boxes

I assumed the rights to Pandora's Box must have expired long ago and that was just remaining stock? I could be wrong of course, and I'd be perfectly happy for them to do a Blu-ray upgrade, but like you say it's perfect MoC material and surely the kind of dream silent film for them. And after all, they've already done four Pabst titles already - Diary of a Lost Girl, Westfront 1918/Kameradschaft, and more recently, The Love of Jeanne Ney. BFI released Pandora's Box theatrically but there was nothing after that...

I still have yet to pick up Berlin Alexanderplatz, nor Heimat, which I was both interested in but they've remained fairly pricey even years later. I do have both The Colour of Pomegranates and World on a Wire, and someone noticed they were both still available on HMV recently (£19.99 for the former, £25.99 for the latter). Just looked them up but looks like they've disappeared again...might be worth checking in-store at HMV or Fopp?

Otherwise, there are obviously reissues of both titles, without the book and nice packaging. I'm quite happy not owning every single LE that Second Sight put out, but I have to make an exception on occasion. I admittedly did have a copy of The Babadook LE, but decided to sell it as I'm not going 4K anytime soon (and quite happy with the Blu-ray reissue, and will do the same for upcoming titles like The Witch, Drive etc).

[Finch]

Drive UHD with lots of tat can be yours for £55

Exclusive to the Limited Edition 4k:

Limited Edition Contents

Premium box set packaging with new artwork by AllCity
240-page hardback book with new essays by Travis Crawford, Alison Taylor, Matthew Thrift, Simon Ward, Thomas Joseph Watson, Emma Westwood and Hannah Woodhead, an exclusive interview with Drive author James Sallis by Matthew Thrift, original storyboards, stills and behind-the-scenes photos
The original novel with exclusive new artwork by AllCity
7 collectors' art cards

I'm glad I don't like the film! (the second half anyway)

To be fair to Second Sight, the standard UHD and BD ship on the same date for £24.99 and £15.99 respectively.

Special Features

A Special Edition release presented by Second Sight Films and Director Nicolas Winding Refn
Includes UHD and Blu-ray both with main feature and bonus features
New 4K master produced by the original post production company and approved by Nicolas Winding Refn
UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR graded by the film’s original colourist
Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
New exclusive audio commentary by Nicolas Winding Refn and The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw
Drive: a 70 minutes conversation with Nicolas Winding Refn, Editor Mat Newman and Composer Cliff Martinez
Cutting a Getaway - a new interview with Mat Newman
3 Point Turns – a new video essay by Leigh Singer
Optional English subtitles for the hearing impaired

[dwk]

I like the movie, but it is pretty shallow, so I doubt I find is much use in a 240 page book of essays. I'd rather have the shelf space, so I'm glad they are releasing a standard version at the same time. (Of course, I probably will probably still wait and see how Sony's US release turns out.)

Truthfully, I think I'm over big box editions of a single film (unless it is something like Criterion's Mr. Arkadin set or Second Sight's limited edition Dawn of the Dead - which my order was cancelled so I never got one) that hog shelf space.

[Finch]

The limited edition of Walkabout had the script included so I'm glad the LE was the only choice.

[yoloswegmaster]

The film is great but does it really need 7 different essays? I can't think of what sort of information they could fill out in the 240 pages without it getting repetitive.

[What A Disgrace]

Hopefully one of the essays will go into detail on the history of cars in movies, because lord knows that's the kind of hard hitting scholastic input I need.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

The Sallis-related content is a great idea but I'd imagine all the essays unlike say new interviews with Mulligan or Isaac or Newton Thomas Sigel were easier to coordinate.

[dustybooks]

The book packaged with Dawn of the Dead ended up justifying its size for me, but I suppose that’s a film with a lot more going on than Drive and so many unique situations in production, release history, social response terms to address in addition to the contents of the film itself. I have the Babadook limited edition but haven’t gone thru it yet, though I similarly can’t imagine how much there is to say there really.

[Finch]

Second Sight's Facebook administrator mentioned a few days ago that the owners of the longer cut of Martin (not Rubinstein) are asking for too much money so it seems unless this can be re-negotiated, the longer cut is off the table for now.

[Adam X]

Deeply unfortunate but not at all surprising.

[hearthesilence]

Second Sight's Facebook administrator mentioned a few days ago that the owners of the longer cut of Martin (not Rubinstein) are asking for too much money so it seems unless this can be re-negotiated, the longer cut is off the table for now.

Totally forgot about this and a complete bummer. Hopefully someone puts it out, especially if it's truly Romero's "preferred" cut. A massively different film too - 3+ hours (!) and completely in black & white!