Following Arrow Video R0 PAL DVD and Region Free Blu-Ray releases of Dario Argento's DEEP RED (Profondo Rosso), Blue Underground in the US has announced their own upcoming DVD and BluRay sets for 2011. Their transfer will be a new high definition master sourced from the negative. Blu-Ray compatible fans should be elated as the BluRay edition will feature both the international English version and the full Italian cuts. DVD compatible fans, on the other hand, will only be getting the "Uncensored English Version," that is, the aforementioned English dub of the export version. This is not the butchered US 96 minute R-rated theatrical cut, it is the 105 minute cut that was approved for exhibition outside of Italy, which removed about twenty minutes of expository material and some light comedy. Blue Underground's previous DVD was a port of the out of print Anchor Bay edition which was also prepared by Blue Underground's Bill Lustig. This version was the complete Italian version with the Italian track and English subtitles as well as a composite English/Italian track with English subtitles for the footage for which no English dialogue was recorded. This cut has been coveted by Argento fans (although not at the expense of the full version) for its more focused pacing. 
The cut was previously available on Japanese laserdisc (as SUSPIRIA 2) as well as middling quality releases on DVD in Spain and the UK (a Japanese set also featured this cut but it is quite expensive). Another World Entertainment in Scandanavia released both cuts along with a great Thomas Rostock commentary, but the transfer quality was lacking (the full cut was a PAL conversion of the master created for the Anchor Bay version). The English cut was available on Arrow's aforementioned DVD and Blu sets as a reconstruction using the longer Italian master (with text inserts and credits from standard definition). I'm wondering if the Blue Underground transfer will be a true HD master of the export version. While it is disappointing for DVD-only viewers that only one cut will be available on the DVD set, Blue Underground has been known to reissue their own titles (including boxed set exclusives) so we could very well see a DVD edition of the Italian cut some time after the initial DVD and Blu versions hit the streets. Blue Underground has not ported over the Rostock commentary (which was on the Arrow disc as well) and their extras are lacking in general, but it may be that they have allocated most of the budget for the release to the transfer, and that is just fine. The DVD and Blu editions will feature the same 25th anniversary featurette from the Anchor Bay version as well as the Italian and US trailers. The two new extras are music videos of the main theme by Goblin and by Simonetti's band Daemonia. The DVD will feature English DTS-ES 6.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono tracks while the Blu will feature DTS-HD 7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and original mono tracks (no info yet as to which languages will get which encodings). The DVD will retail at $14.95 (great price) and the Blu will be $29.98 (great if both cuts are on separate discs).RELATED LINK: DVDBeaver comparison of the Anchor Bay (USA) Region 1 DVD and the Arrow Video (UK) Region 0 2-disc set
"Blue Underground" releases at my Amazon aStore.
"Arrow Video" releases at my Amazon UK aStore.
Blue Underground USA (port of the Anchor Bay edition - NOT THE PRE-ORDER)
Arrow UK 2-disc DVD set
Arrow UK BluRay edition
No comments:
Post a Comment