Boutique Blu-Ray Releases

[greenman]

I'm guessing Arrow are having to deal with the boutique marketplace becoming more crowded, especially for pulp releases with more labels looking to buy up rights, hence there pushing UHD as hard as they did some they can resell previous releases.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Sometimes a 4K release will mean new work that's then released on 1080p as well, like when Apocalypse Now Final Cut came out.

Also can mean a limited cinema release. When the new Cronenberg came out the cinema I go to showed it back-to-back with a screening of Videodrome, which had recently gotten a 4k remaster and UHD release, I'm quite surprised they actually did that one as I've got the predecessor on Arrow and it's decent enough for the film stock being used, which is pretty grainy. In fact I reckon they de-noised the 4k release a bit.

[phantom_power]

Arrow's summer sale has started, with some Blu-Rays as little as a fiver

[Roxy Robinson]

Amazon and HMV been price matching quite a lot so if something goes out of stock at Arrow, have a look there. 88 also have plenty on sale at HMV, some of which also price matched at Amazon. A fair old few on 2 for £15. I got Story of Ricky and Night of the Demon.

[Rodan]

The new Bruce Lee Arrow set is more Bruce Lee than almost anyone will need in a lifetime. Spectacular release, insane amount of extras. Can I shock you? I don't massively enjoy Bruce Lee's films but the 4K restorations look great and the extras and commentaries are berserk. Bruce Lee himself and his story are vastly more interesting than his films. There's a four-hour video essay/reconstruction of Game of Death which is one of the best documentaries about filmmaking I've seen. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface, this will keep me entertained for months.



Fair warning, Enter The Dragon is just the WB Blu-ray release because they're bringing their own new 4K restoration out in August but at least there's a box here to sub in the new release. Obviously, it's a shame that Arrow haven't been able to do their thing on possibly his best film (Way is prob my fave) but there's so so much here, and it's not Arrow's fault, that it's hard to gripe.

[greenman]

I thought Enter the Dragon wasnt in the set at all? Way of the Dragon is.

First world problems trying to decide between the standard release above or the Arrow exclusive, I think the start actually looks better in this case.

I think Bruce does still make interesting viewing personally because the fights are not really the same kind of style as you saw elsewhere in Hong Kong in the 70's, really that kind of more direct realistic kickboxing didn't become popular again until the 80's, the showdown at the end of Fist of Fury still one of the best for me.

[Rodan]

I thought Enter the Dragon wasnt in the set at all? Way of the Dragon is.

First world problems trying to decide between the standard release above or the Arrow exclusive, I think the start actually looks better in this case.

Enter is there but in its own digipak with WB branding and artwork, not the Tony Stella stuff like the rest. I suspect that's why it's not in the promo materials. WB licensed their own 40th anniversary BD to Arrow to complete the set but it's effectively a placeholder. WB ETD 4K comes out 8th August or so.

Re: which version, I feel the same as you. I like the Arrow exclusive art, love the yellow, but you can't beat Tony Stella!

And yeah, I do absolutely love his fight sequences and the choreography but I see his films kind of like kaiju flicks. Everything else is a preamble. Lee himself is exceptional, larger than life, pure charisma and physical expression.

[greenman]

Enter is there but in its own digipak with WB branding and artwork, not the Tony Stella stuff like the rest. I suspect that's why it's not in the promo materials. WB licensed their own 40th anniversary BD to Arrow to complete the set but it's effectively a placeholder. WB ETD 4K comes out 8th August or so.

Re: which version, I feel the same as you. I like the Arrow exclusive art, love the yellow, but you can't beat Tony Stella!

And yeah, I do absolutely love his fight sequences and the choreography but I see his films kind of like kaiju flicks. Everything else is a preamble. Lee himself is exceptional, larger than life, pure charisma and physical expression.

Besides Bruce himself the films are a bit generic I'd agree but I spose thats almost the point having him stand out so much.

I feel the box for the Arrow store version looks a little nicer but I like the digipacs for the standard one a lot more compared to the standard photos of Bruce.

[magister]

I've been watching the Arrow Bruce Lee set and very much enjoyed Game of Death 2. Anyone recommend anything similarly ridiculous that I might enjoy?

[Goldentony]

I've been watching the Arrow Bruce Lee set and very much enjoyed Game of Death 2. Anyone recommend anything similarly ridiculous that I might enjoy?

i've always really liked The Chinese Stuntman, The Dragon Lives Again is a laugh and this Letterboxd summary from a review is a good one

Bruce Lee goes to hell, meets Popeye, and fights James Bond, Dracula, Clint Eastwood, Emmanuelle, Zatoichi, the Godfather, and the Exorcist

Clones Of Bruce Lee mileage may vary but it's the big one among the subgenre and theres decent prints of it out there now so probably also worth a look

[holyzombiejesus]

Just seen that Arrow have done a Blu-ray of Unman, Wittering and Zigo but it's only available in the US. Hope a UK label picks it up, thought Flipside would have been all over this.

BFI have finally sorted out whatever the issue was with Peter Bogdanovich's Targets and that's due out in the next week or two, thankfully not in that stupid UHD/ Blu-ray format like Full Circle.

[Goldentony]

Eureka had the Angela Mao set at a normal price yesterday but for the final 15 copies and I can assume that by now ive missed them

[Mecha Rodney]

The new Arrow 4K of Bava's Blood and Black Lace looks phenomenal. The old Blu-ray already looked great but the colours on this new HDR transfer are spectacularly good, so rich but not oversaturated, skin tones look very natural, everything is appropriate but when the gel lighting and primaries kick in, it's almost comparable to the Synapse 4K of Suspiria. If you have an HDR setup, this is worth seeing even if you don't much like the film.

[Goldentony]

are there any cheap or easy options for multi region blu rays? picked up Srigala on Terror Vision and couldn't find anywhere listing the actual region, untested on blu-ray DOT com for example, and hilariously in 2023 it's region locked to A, cheers. Any pointers or is this going to be a 170 quid film now?

[Magnum Valentino]

If you don't want a torrent you can make a PS3 into a region free player. Ps3s must be cheap now?

[Goldentony]

looking this up and going by my past experience with doing stuff like this I reckon it's fully beyond me, just the hunting one particular model is making my head spin, amazingly though a search for an already cracked PS3 led to an Etsy auction with a PS3 for sale with a Batman symbol cut into the top using what looks like a lighter

[13 schoolyards]

I know absolutely nothing about the UK blu-ray market but I've got one of these (in Australia) and it plays all regions: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175291952028

(on some models you have to go into the menu and change the region manually)

[Magnum Valentino]

looking this up and going by my past experience with doing stuff like this I reckon it's fully beyond me, just the hunting one particular model is making my head spin, amazingly though a search for an already cracked PS3 led to an Etsy auction with a PS3 for sale with a Batman symbol cut into the top using what looks like a lighter

Yeah that's a good point, I just happened to have one already. Also apparently it used to be much easier but I had to find a load of workarounds and now that I think about it, it was really stressful

[Herbert Ashe]

Heads up for anyone (like me) who put off getting the Shawscope Volume Two, HMV are selling them for £75 on ebay (everywhere else is £110+, and arrow have sold out). Only 3 left now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354301182519

[Goldentony]

I ordered one last night direct from Arrow, wonder if I got the last one! hahahaha!! hahahahahahahaha! bastards!!!

[Herbert Ashe]

Huh, when I was looking a few months ago arrow didn't have any listed, all I could find was £130+ on all the usual big places, but yeah it's back there now. Great, pissed away £75 worth of bonus points now.

[Magnum Valentino]

Indicator/PowerHouse has a sale on until next week, just picked up a rake of Lee and Cushing films and anything with a Jonathan Rigby commentary. Also they've all those Jean Rollin films ( @dontpaintyourteeth knows what time it is)

Hopefully this works for everyone else but once you hit 3 films on their 3-for-15, anything over that from the same deal is also reduced (so it works out as 4-for-20, 5-for-25 etc., you don't have to buy in threes).

Fill boots kid