I have to confess that this movie is a guilty pleasure and engage with it completely on a stylistic level -- lots of wonderful, gonzo Sam Raimi camerawork and a loopy story that seems to be mash-up between Phantom of the Opera and Batman but filtered through Raimi's Evil Dead sensibilities.
This popped up on some Darkman message board so take this info with a big grain o' salt as I haven't run across this info anywhere else....
I work in the hollywood area and get tidbits of news from time to time from fellow friends within the biz.
I recently became friends with a few people who know some people at Universal. I received this email last night, that includes some preliminary art. (Complete with Raimi's name spelt wrong ) The email states that Universal are going to be releasing this sometime this fall or early next year to get in on the Spider-Man 3 hype. The case design as of now is to use the same type of metal case used on the DUNE E.E. eariler this year.
As of right now the disc will be a flipper dvd-18 with specs looking something like this. None of this is final at all!
Side A
- New Widescreen HD mastered transfer DARKMAN with new DD 5.1 and DTS mixes.
- Trailers, TV Spots
- Commentary by Sam Raimi (Not Definite)
- Isolated Score, Commentary by Elfman (Not Definite)
- Deleted, Alternate & extended scenes (being looked into as well as asking Raimi if he would like to extend the actual film)
- 1992 Darkman TV pilot (They want to include this, but are going over each rights holder carefully)
- 30-40 min of featurettes on the Darkman trilogy (no more info on that)
SIDE B
- Darkman 2 - The Return of Durant
- Darkman 3 - Die Darkman Die
- TV spots, Trailers (looks to be about the same as the current releases as of now )
The email did point out, that they are looking into possibly having two versions of Darkman if Raimi decides to do an extended cut. It is unsure if Raimi will be involved at all with this DVD due to SM3. As well as possibly including the alternate version of Darkman 2. If this all works out we may see extras added to the STV films and the set would become a 2 disc set. Reg disc for Darkman, Flipper for part 2 and 3.
I hope this is true since I've been waiting for years for a SE of Darkman. Very underrated horror/comic book film that a lot of people have overlooked. I've never heard anything about the Darkman TV pilot at all, so it will be interesting to see it on the set if it happens.
Antoine Doinel wrote:Those extras sound more like a wish list than anythign close to actual specs.
Yeah, I agree. Plus, it's coming from a fanboy message board so we'll see. It would make sense that Universal would capitalize on Spider-Man 3 though and supposedly this guy's contacts predicted The Frighteners SE.
Honestly, the only special features I think would be needed on Darkman is a documentary and a deleted scenes section. Raimi has always fared better in featurettes than in commentaries and it's not like we can get Campbell in to talk about the movie since he's only in it for about 5 seconds.
I've wanted to see those deleted scenes for years. The best stuff in Darkman is when it goes totally over into bizarre comedy and apparently Universal ended up asking Raimi to cut a lot of that stuff down.
djali999 wrote:Honestly, the only special features I think would be needed on Darkman is a documentary and a deleted scenes section. Raimi has always fared better in featurettes than in commentaries and it's not like we can get Campbell in to talk about the movie since he's only in it for about 5 seconds.
I've wanted to see those deleted scenes for years. The best stuff in Darkman is when it goes totally over into bizarre comedy and apparently Universal ended up asking Raimi to cut a lot of that stuff down.
Well, I could see maybe a Director's Cut with some of that stuff put back in... certainly a Raimi commentary track would a keeper but he should do it with someone, like Robert Tapert maybe? The one they did for The Evil Dead was pretty decent.
Title: The Darkman Trilogy Starring: N/A (Various) Released: 7th August 2007 SRP: $19.98
Further Details:
Universal Home Video has sent over artwork for the Darkman Trilogy which includes the Sam Raimi directed Darkman, and the straight to video Darkman II: The Return of Durant, and Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. Each will be presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. The two-disc collection will be available to own from the 7th August, and should set you back around $19.98. I'm afraid Universal has yet to reveal any details on extra material for this one. If anything's included - we'll let you know.
