Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The latest news

Hi everyone! I hope all of you took time yesterday to reflect on the events of 9/11 and remember all of the families who lost loved ones on that horrific day in your prayers and thoughts. It's times like these that remind us why we're Americans and how we should never lose hope in the face of tragedy.

Recently Paramount Home Video had announced their plans to re-release the epic blockbuster “Titanic” on DVD in a new two-disc 10th anniversary edition. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this make the third time that this film has been issued on DVD?

In the early days of the DVD format we got a single-disc version of the film (as well as one of the theatrical trailers) on disc. And it was just a couple of years ago that we got a really nice-looking three-disc special edition that was close to the cat’s meow as you could get. The only thing of it is, that set was missing some significant added content. First, James Cameron pulled the feature-length documentary produced and directed by Ed Marsh late in the game, which for a lot of “Titanic” fans was a shame, despite all of the wonderful production supplements the set had. Second, and this is where the real insult occurs, while the U.S. got a three-disc version, overseas markets got a four-disc set that included a whole slew of trailers promoting the film. (I’m still miffed at whoever made that lamebrain decision to withhold that fourth disc from the U.S. market!)

Now we’re getting a repurposed release of the film yet again, but this time it’s just the first two discs only from that really nice three-disc (or four-disc, depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on) set, with all the same content from those two discs, only now they’re holding back the third disc? Give me a break!

I’m not falling for this needless triple-dip. Unless you’ve got something really substantial and up your sleeve to make me warrant wanting to get this disc again (i.e. the Ed Marsh documentary and all of the trailers), I’m not even giving it the once-over. I know that’s pretty harsh to say, but sometimes you’ve got to know where to draw the line, and where this re-release is concerned I’ve drawn the line. My final word on the subject: stick with the 2005 release.

In the meantime, I’ve got a really wonderful review of the three-disc set which I wrote up and submitted to the Digital Bits for possible inclusion on their site, but for some reason Bill Hunt (who I have a lot of respect for as a film, DVD, and “Star Trek” buff) went with a longer rewrite of his own earlier review. I still have that review file on a disc somewhere, which hopefully I can pull up and share on this blog soon, perhaps in time for the film’s 10th anniversary.

Oh, lest I forget, on November 6th the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation will release a two-hour documentary DVD entitled “Hope in Motion”, which chronicles the late actor’s efforts to rebuild his life and overcome his paralysis. Directed by Chris’ son Matthew Reeve, the documentary will contain the original 2002 documentary (shown on ABC-TV as “Christopher Reeve: Courageous Steps”) and a never-before-seen second documentary further exploring Reeve’s life and efforts to walk again after his tragic 1995 accident. It sounds like a wonderful DVD, and I hope to have a review of this DVD when it becomes available. (Thanks to Jim Bowers of CapedWonder.com for sharing the information with everyone!)

Next time (if all goes well), I hope to have a review of one of this month’s two big Superman-themed DVD releases, either “Superman: Doomsday” or the sixth season of “Smallville”. See you then!

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