Withnail and I

[MichaelB]

I like the idea of the different cover and quote options, but I'm not going to buy something that has my name printed on it. Along with never being able to sell it, what if my personalized copy were to arrive with the packaging damaged and I wanted to switch it out for another one? Or what if one day I have to prove in a court of law that I have never owned Withnail & I and this set turns up as evidence? That's a chance I just can't take.

In which case, you're welcome to buy the non-personalised version that's just been announced on Amazon - same content apart from the personalisation options.

[tenia]

You can still very well use a fake name on it.

[swo17]

The Amazon listing still describes the retail version as a limited edition. Do we know how many copies have been allocated to Amazon?

[EddieLarkin]

According to their Facebook, an additional 2000 copies of the book will be printed for the retail version. So I assume there will be 4000 of the box set, and then they'll do a standard version. Other retailers will be getting it so there's no way to know how many sets Amazon have allocated.

Since they don't take the money up front, I'm going with Amazon for now. £54.99 is the RRP so there's a good chance it'll come down, and I foresee Arrow taking quite a while to sell out of their personalised allocation, so I'll hopefully be able to grab one around release day if Amazon's price doesn't drop.

[MichaelB]

I foresee Arrow taking quite a while to sell out of their personalised allocation.

Handily, you can keep an eye on how things are going.

I see that six hours since the launch, they've sold 223 personalised editions, or more than 10% of the total, which I imagine they're pretty happy with.

[zedz]

That's a very impressive edition. I wish I were enough of a fan of the film to buy one!

[Adam X]

Same here!
I'm actually planning to watch the film soon just to make sure age hasn't made me like it more.

[Graham]

Massive pass from me. £50?! No chance. I'll wait and will buy a standard edition if one is released down the line. Really hope they don't pull this kind of stunt on a regular basis.

[manicsounds]

I was thinking of the personalized edition, but considering the standard edition has the artwork I like and the shipping would be more reasonable at amazon or zavvi, I might go for the standard instead.

I'm glad they are keeping the movie with the mono track.
I remember being excited that the Anchor Bay dvd had a dts 5.1 track, thinking about how good the songs would be (All along the watchtower etc) in surround. It certainly was the worst mixing job I'd heard... Sounded terrible.

[MichaelB]

I'm glad they are keeping the movie with the mono track.

Arrow have gone right back to basics - original camera negative, original sound mix.

This film has had an unusual number of compromised releases over the years - a UK VHS that inadvertently reproduced the slightly revoiced Australian track, Criterion's non-anamorphic DVD, the above-mentioned ill-advised 5.1 Anchor Bay remix, and so on - so there was a general feeling that it was very important to get this one right.

[EddieLarkin]

Massive pass from me. £50?! No chance. I'll wait and will buy a standard edition if one is released down the line. Really hope they don't pull this kind of stunt on a regular basis.

I'm thinking that How to Get Ahead in Advertising may be dropped from the standard release, since it's on a second disc. I'll not take the risk. Worst case one can always sell the non-personalised edition no problem once it's out of print.

[tenia]

Worst case one can always sell the non-personalised edition no problem once it's out of print.

If people are really already thinking selling their copy, they could very well ordered a personalised copy putting "Bruce Robinson", "Withnail", "Peter Marwood", or whatever.

[J Wilson]

The non-personalized box set is still $80 shipped from Amazon. I like the film a lot, but I don't like it that much, alas. It looks like a cool set, though, and the restored clips look great, from what I can tell.

[McCrutchy]

According to their Facebook, an additional 2000 copies of the book will be printed for the retail version. So I assume there will be 4000 of the box set, and then they'll do a standard version. Other retailers will be getting it so there's no way to know how many sets Amazon have allocated.

Since they don't take the money up front, I'm going with Amazon for now. £54.99 is the RRP so there's a good chance it'll come down, and I foresee Arrow taking quite a while to sell out of their personalised allocation, so I'll hopefully be able to grab one around release day if Amazon's price doesn't drop.

Yes, I have mixed feelings about this non-personalized box, and I really wish that something was withheld from it to make Arrow's personalized one worth the extra investment. With VAT removed and shipping added in, the personalized edition becomes about US $25 more, which will probably increase with Amazon's pre-order price guarantee on their version.

And there is, of course, the fact that personalization is not that great. I was looking forward to getting a home video release with the word "c**t" on it, but is that really worth $25, when I'm not that jazzed about putting a name on the set, too?

On the one hand, I want to support Arrow, but on the other hand, I fear I'll feel like a rube if I keep my personalized pre-order.

[MichaelB]

Arrow has just posted technical details of both restorations on their blog.

[EddieLarkin]

Arrow has just posted technical details of both restorations on their blog.

I'd just assumed that HTGAIA was going to be a non-Arrow created master, since it wasn't specified. The fact it'll also be a James White special makes the purchase much easier!

[beamish13]

The only gripe I have with this is that HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING is being treated like a supplement to WITHNAIL, when it's actually a much better film (in my humble opinion). This is no KING OF THE HILL/THE UNDERNEATH type pairing. I wish that it had been given a commentary (or two) as well.

[Adam X]

I took the specs to mean that both films have commentary by Bruce Robinson, while Withnail & I has a second track by Kevin Jackson.

[EddieLarkin]

£42 at base.com
They charge on dispatch.

[Lemmy Caution]

Worst case one can always sell the non-personalised edition no problem once it's out of print.

If people are really already thinking selling their copy, they could very well ordered a personalised copy putting "Bruce Robinson", "Withnail", "Peter Marwood", or whatever.

I'm going with Tony Blair ...

[antnield]

Restoration Promo.

This one focuses on the pretty pictures, naturally. But if you want Withnail with the quotable lines then there's also Promo Two.

[chatterjees]

Will there be (ever) a regular, normal looking Arrow edition of Withnail & I? I don't see such edition yet. May be I missed something.

[antnield]

Just the limited editions (four discs+hardback book) in either personalised or non-personalised form.

[EddieLarkin]

James White on restoring Withnail and I

[antnield]

From Facebook:

***Withnail and I Update - Important pre-order info***

We have reduced our quantity of the limited edition because we can only print as many as we take orders for by the 15th September, so this set is more limited by time than number. So the orders we have received as of the 15th of September will be how many each of the four options is limited by. For instance, if orders stopped now, Option 3 would be limited to 83 copies and Option 2 limited to 89 and so on.

We decided to bring the numbers down to 250 for each as we didn’t want there to be a wild difference between each version, therefore one might seem more or less limited than another.

If you are still planning to pick up a copy of the personalised boxset head over to withnailfilm.com and make sure to place your pre-order before September 15th (or whilst stocks remain).