Four Lions DVD / Blu-Ray

[Neil]

It's now available to pre-order. 

All we know about the extras so far is gleaned from recent talks.  Squidy bumped into Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong earlier this week, and they mentioned having done a commentary that day.  Last night at a Q&A, he also learned that the cast feature on it too - although it sounded like they had recorded one the day after - so possibly a seperate cast commentary?

Anything else?

[Paaaaul]

I'm hoping that now CM is working with a bigger budget, he can afford to do a commentary track with a runner and some drunk bums.

[Neil]

They're now taking pre-orders for Blu-Ray, too:

[Neil]

Release date is confirmed for the 30th of August.

[glitch]

Wow, some of the reviews on there are really, rally bad and seem to completely miss the point in the same way that they thought the BES was about laughing at paedophilia and not the media representation of it.

[Neil]

On my phone, and very intrigued.  Could you paste some in please?

[JPA]

I found "Four Lions" to be a bit of a hit and miss film really ; parts of it were quite funny (

Spoiler alert

the exploding people

[close]

, the misdirected SAM) while a lot of it was rather silly with a lot of slapstick and visual gags. Judging by the audience's reaction in the cinema however,they found the film funnier than I did. "Four Lions" tells the tale of four somewhat gormless,amateurish British suicide bombers attempts to create bombs and set them off,

Spoiler alert

either at a mosque,a chemists or during the London Marathon

[close]

, in order to advance an Islamic jihad , but none of the bombers really looked the murderous type and they came across as bungling misfits. However the problem that I had with the film was the underlying premise that suicide bombing is somehow funny. Try telling that to the relatives of their victims in Britain and the Middle East...

[glitch]

It's really just this thread starting with the above review which then goes off into this territory:

Listen, the premise of this film is that suicide bombers are funny and that them blowing people up is to be considered a source of amusement. I don't think that they're funny in the slightest. Maybe if you lost one of your family to a suicide bomb attack, or lived in an area where people are cowed by fear of them, you mightn't find the bombers so amusing.Personally I did find Allo Allo offensive for much the same reasons as I did "Four Lions". I repeat again ,suicide bombers and terrorists are not funny - they are scumbags - and making them seem comical and inept as this film does is wrong.

You clearly are a bit of an obnoxious ,liberal smart arse with the same mentality as this film maker, who is determined to ram his own views down the throats of anyone who disagrees with him. Allo Allo is thoroughly objectionable because it makes Nazis seem bumbling and funny - they were not - they were ruthless,efficient,sadistic killers. I don't know what you're talking about when you say that "Very few people in the UK have ever died from a terrorist attack". Clearly the 3000 who died in the Northern Ireland Troubles must count as "very few". Not to mention all those maimed in other atrocities and the tens of thousands in Ulster who lived in fear of the no warning car bomb and the late night knock at the door. You're only revealing your ignorance here. Terrorism is not amusing and isn't something we should all just lighten up about and see the funny side of.

[Neil]

Needed to know what Q&A stuff is being used, and Sam Bain was gracious enough to reply with the following info:

@cookdandbombd Chris tells me there's going to be a fragment from Bradford Q&A plus a bit from the foyer interviews on the Four Lions DVD

[Ignatius_S]

It's really just this thread starting with the above review which then goes off into this territory:

Excellent, thought-provoking analysis.

[Glebe]

Not expecting it too look amazing, but a respectable HD transfer would be nice. Morris commentary, deleted scenes and perhaps a featurette would be all be fantastic.

[weirdbeard]

I'm just looking forward to watching it again in the privacy of my own silence.  Not a fan of the cinema anymore, I must say.

[dfurnell]

Needed to know what Q&A stuff is being used, and Sam Bain was gracious enough to reply with the following info:

Hmm it wasn't much of a good Q&A though at Bradford was it? I also doubt they'll leave the bit in where I loudly blew my nose.

[Neil]

Hmm it wasn't much of a good Q&A though at Bradford was it?

Nope, took at least the first one or two for Morris to warm up to it, but I guess there's no way they could afford to film everything, so it makes sense to prioritise the premiere(s).  Plus, no fan recordings seem to exist of that, so I'm happy enough that some of it is going to be on there.  And now that I know which Q&A's they won't be using...

I wonder if Charlie Brooker went ahead and suggested the idea of an internet Q&A, as floated on Twitter that time.  It's not long till the release, so I guess we'll know soon enough. 

[dfurnell]

Nope, took at least the first one or two for Morris to warm up to it, but I guess there's no way they could afford to film everything, so it makes sense to prioritise the premiere(s).  Plus, no fan recordings seem to exist of that, so I'm happy enough that some of it is going to be on there.  And now that I know which Q&A's they won't be using...

I wonder if Charlie Brooker went ahead and suggested the idea of an internet Q&A, as floated on Twitter that time.  It's not long till the release, so I guess we'll know soon enough.

Ah yes of course the Q&As that are not on the DVD could be uploaded on a site somewhere as they would not be any copyright issue. Makes me annoyed though when at the Notts Q&A they were so arsey about asking people not to record it. Like, what else, ask people not to remember it either?

Good point as well Neil there could be a burst of publicity about the DVD release to keep an eye out for. Maybe Riz and co will turn up on The One Show after all.

In the meantime Neil you got any comps planned to celebrate this?

[Neil]

Ah yes of course the Q&As that are not on the DVD could be uploaded on a site somewhere as they would not be any copyright issue.

Yes.  I've waited long enough, and done everything within my power to verify they're not going to be used on the DVD, so now I feel comfortable sharing.  My replacement external HD arrived today, so I'm going to try and EQ them, and then chance sticking them up.

Makes me annoyed though when at the Notts Q&A they were so arsey about asking people not to record it. Like, what else, ask people not to remember it either?

No need where I'm concerned...speaking of which, can you remember some comments about Peter Cook in the first one?  I'm sure there was some talk about him taking drugs and alcohol, by Morris.

In the meantime Neil you got any comps planned to celebrate this?

I still need to get back to getting the badges and stuff made up, hopeless procrastinator/plate-spinner.  I'll take whatever they give me, but they stayed well clear of me all during the cinema release.  They only got their street teamers to use me to promote competitions on other websites, and suchlike, and I eventually told them to either give me stuff for my own userbase, or stop bothering me.  Those posters finally arrived on Saturday (after yet more complaining), so I have to dish those out - just getting them required a lot of foot-stamping.  My experience was that they don't give a shit about comedy sites or - considering I even complained to Morris' agent at one point about the complete lack of info - they were told to give me a wide berth.  I'd guess they're simply only bothered in movie blogs, plus I refuse to trumpet the unique visitors CaB gets etc, and that's the only thing PR scum are interested in. 

So in summary, not really, unless it's different PR people handling the DVD release.  You never know, though...they were desperate enough to get the poster up on as many sites as possible that they offered me two unsigned ones, and the PR people for Nathan Barley gave me 5 copies of that DVD to give away, despite not exactly being a fan of the show. 

[dfurnell]

....can you remember some comments about Peter Cook in the first one?  I'm sure there was some talk about him taking drugs and alcohol, by Morris.

Hmmm.... no I can't. Could have been such comments but if there were some they have left my mind. I wonder if I could give Tony Earnshaw a call and ask him if he could burn off a full audio of the Bradford Premiere footage. They are a National Media Museum is a Museum after all and their materials should be made available for all scholars to study. I guess there's a clash between that sort of approach and the copyright-riddled world that movies companies exist in. So might not work. Hmmm let me send you a PM Neil...

[weirdbeard]

BBFC have recently started classifying extras.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/1DD3ED5EA16D70138025775B002D0719?OpenDocument
FOUR LIONS - LOST BOYS DVD EXTRA
When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 8m 53s.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/850FD87AC9D898A48025775E0056DCA8?OpenDocument
FOUR LIONS - MO ALI INTERVIEW - DVD EXTRA
When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 12m 59s.

[Lookalike Mark Chapman]

As this is the most recent thread -

Chris Morris helps train spies
MI5 agents told: Watch Four Lions

British intelligence agents have been told to watch Chris Morris's Four Lions movie to get a better understanding of home-grown terrorists.

A former CIA spy who provided research for Morris's comedy about a hapless English jihadist cell told the satirist that MI5 operatives were being 'encouraged' to watch the film.

Morris made the revelation during a Q&A session at the Latitude festival this weekend, two nights after his latest meeting with Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer in Afghanistan and now a forensic psychiatrist and author of the influential book Understanding Terror Cells.

The comedian reiterated that the script, also written by Peep Show's Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, was inspired by real-life stories from reformed fundamentalists.

He said: 'We spoke to people who walked the path and came back, so we could paint an accurate picture. There's a guys' dynamic, even in a terrorist cell.'

Morris cited such real-life situations as an Algerian terrorist summoned to Bin Laden in the late Nineties. But at the meeting the visitor told the Al Qaeda chief that he would have nothing to do with his plans as he had his own atrocities, and delivering a withering put-down. 'Bin Laden was left sitting on a rock looking like a slapped child,' Morris said.

He also said that Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the man convicted over the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, used to spend forever getting dressed as he was obsessed with appearing fat – and that when he quoted from the Koran he'd often get it wrong leaving his 'co-plotters pissing themselves laughing'.

And, Morris, says, it wasn't just the would-be mujahideen he learned about that could come a cropper, but the security services as well. He recalled: 'Once on surveillance operations in Northern Ireland, one of them was locked in the boot of the car – and the car got jacked by some youths.

'In virtually any job you will have people say, "You never guess what happened at work today".'

Morris said of the terrorist characters in his film: 'There's something ridiculous about them, as there is with every bunch of average blokes. They are basically going to balls it up as they go along.'

'But we felt that as silly as things got, we would never lose sight of the fact the these guys were playing with serious consequences. Being ridiculous doesn't stop you setting off an explosive. We hope we kept hold of both elements.'

He added that no topics should be off limits to comedians. 'It's not the subject, it's how you approach it,' he said. 'Any subject can be joked about, it depends if the joke is good enough. You ask, "Are you being funny?" If the joke doesn't gel, then you take it out. You don't stop yourself looking at topics because it has a warning on; if it touches a raw nerve, then people tend to be overprotective.'

Morris also said he was heartened by the reaction Four Lions had received in the States, where he feared a backlash for joking about terrorism.

'We were perhaps overly concerned about the States,' he admitted. 'It's played at three festivals and gone down well. We felt slightly guilty for having judged them.'

Four Lions is released on DVD next month

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/07/20/11402/chris_morris_helps_train_spies?rss

[JPA]

Seen the images on Play?

[Artemis]

[trench]

I hope the blu-ray packaging is the same, I'll be more than a little upset if it isn't.

[Neil]

I just got the check disc.  I can't get it to play on my puter, so I'm going to hook up an old DVD player now.  I think they must have protection on it so it can't play on PC's - they also want the check discs sent straight back via an enclosed SAE, which is quite amusing.  I'll start posting up details in a bit.

[Neil]

The check disc has bits missing, as you'd expect, but it's looking good so far.  Audio Options just takes you to what must be an empty menu screen, with footage playing in the background.  The footage is of

Spoiler alert

the boys stopping the van on the way to London, in order to pray to Mecca.  it's a long shot, and looks great.

[close]

The actual extras menu itself has a similar long-shot

Spoiler alert

this time of Barry shouting.  It's absolutely wonderful.

[close]

Clicking into Deleted Scenes, you can see

Spoiler alert

everything displayed as a proper training video, with the Arabic music, scenes of the boys training in Pakistan etc.  It has a DVD menu at the bottom of the screen, however, clicking one of the options has caused my DVD player to crash.

[close]

Hang on...

[Neil]

So we have two menu choices when you go into extras, at the minute: Background Material and Deleted Scenes.  The background material section has a

Spoiler alert

little looping video of Puffin Party.

[close]

It's a lovely little thing,

Spoiler alert

as it manages to fit some of the main characters' personalities into it.  Nice extra character too.

[close]

Damn shame I am having to watch on a really old set-up, as it's not quite clear enough to read the background details.  I want to see what the

Spoiler alert

browser window

[close]

and stuff says.

EDIT:  Oh wow, a longer version of Barry's Training Camp!  Fucking brilliant, can't wait to see this. 

[Old Sally Fuckbottom]

Well, that looks lovely. I pre-ordered it for digital download on iTunes (I'm moving house next month and don't need more physical possessions to move) and this thread serves me right.

[Neil]

Finally got it to play on my puter, more or less.  Watched about half of the deleted scenes so far, and they're really, really good.  As funny as anything in the main film, perhaps even funnier at times, and they're all self-contained little set scenes as well.  They feed nicely into the back-story of the film, showing you things that weren't covered in the main feature, or which were only hinted at. 

I should be able to pull some screenshots now as well, will get some of those fired up soon.

[Neil]

[smg id=124 caption="click for preview"] 

Visit the gallery for the full size pic.

Hang on, need to fix permissions don't I.  Fixed, should be totally viewable to guests now, but let me know if there's a problem.  Presumably everyone can now also see the pics DJ Solid Snail added?

[Old Sally Fuckbottom]

On iTunes I won't even get the great extras! Hooray for digital distribution! It's the future of being ripped-off!

[Neil]

Haha!  Also, the backing loop for that is interesting.  I can't watch the whole thing as it crashes my creaky old puter, but it really reminds me of Intermission by Neil Innes (largely because of the organ), and the Communist Cooking song from Rutlands Weekend Television.  Wish it didn't skip so I could hear it more clearly. 

Haven't got to the commentaries yet - presuming they're on here, rather than in the Audio Set-Up menu which doesn't show any options yet.  Already I think this is a wonderful package, though, with typical care and attention to detail paid to every single facet of it.  Really fascinating, engaging extras that add to your appreciation of the main feature.  It's a delight to be able to see bits that still work brilliantly, but had to be cut because they were too spoon-feedy or the like.  The behind the scenes material is as endlessly fascinating as it was when some of it popped up on the official Four Lions site.  You can eavesdrop on the actors just mucking about between takes, cracking gags with each other, or giggle at Kayvan Novak endlessly grandstanding. 

Being brought into CM's creative process is priceless - you get a flavour of what he's like as a director, and get to observe him explaining what he wants from the actors, or scrutinising their performance.  All the behind-the-scenes stuff is wonderful, I could watch hours and hours of it.