Russ Meyer

[chaddoli]

Did these DVDs ever come out? Not all of them seem to be listed on amazon.co.uk, and the ones that are appear to be coming out on the 28th.

[In Heaven]

Does anyone know about the quality of the region zero Japanese releases?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Did these DVDs ever come out? Not all of them seem to be listed on amazon.co.uk, and the ones that are appear to be coming out on the 28th.

Bensonsworld shipped my order of all 6 releases on 22/03.

[Kudzu]

Can anyone attest to the transfer quality on the Arrow Film releases? I'm actually considering buying a region-free player in the future so that I can pick a lot of the RM Collection up rather than paying the exorbitant prices on the R1 releases (the RM Films releases seem to slowly be going out of print on Amazon in the US and the prices are rising).

I almost feel silly about having Vixen with commentary as a motive for buying a region-free but if the image quality is good, I may just take that jump.

[Lino]

I almost feel silly about having Vixen with commentary as a motive for buying a region-free

Don't. And in all truth, you should have broken FREE a long time ago. Can't you see how much you are missing?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Can anyone attest to the transfer quality on the Arrow Film releases?

I haven't had a chance to watch any of them yet, but I just stuck Vixen in the player to have a look. A reasonable transfer but not revelatory. A bit sharper than my VHS copy, but there's dust and flecks, a few minor scratches, and some shimmer. Still, Erica Gavin looks good!

[Lino]

Here's a handy link to 5 reviews of the new UK Meyer DVDs:

http://www.r2-dvd.org/searcharticles.jsp

[Lino]

Thread from the dead, indeed.

Bought my first two UK Russ Meyer DVDs (have been waiting for the price to come down and it paid off: bought them both for under $20!) and been having the time of my life! What fun movies!

I have one question though: apart from 7 Minutes which is a Fox property as is Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (this one already out on DVD in Europe for a long time) there are still 4 early Meyer flicks that haven't seen the light of day yet.

They are: Erotica, Europe in the Raw, Heavenly Bodies and Fanny Hill. Why are these titles AWOL? They're not even out on VHS anywhere. I'm crossing my fingers that Arrow in the UK grabs the rights for these ones as well and gets them out as double-features much like the recently released ones:

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/index.php?category_id=15

Are there copyrights problems with these four I mentioned or something? BTW, has anyone bought any of the japanese DVDs and can comment on A/V quality? I've heard that they are newly remastered versions. Anyone?

Here's a link:

http://www.fullmedia.co.jp/rm/

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The only info I have on these:

Europe in the Raw - some or all of the footage from this was recycled into Mondo Topless.

Fanny Hill - the rights were owned at one stage by the late Albert Zugsmith. Whether Meyer reacquired them I do not know, but I've read that he held the rights to all of his films bar Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Which of course is inconsistent with Fox owning The Seven Minutes, which I'm sure they do.

[htdm]

I wish Fox would let Seven MInutes out of the cage sometime. I used to think it was hugely enjoyable. Yvonne de Carlo as a .........

I agree. It's at least as enjoyable as anything else of his from this period and has more "names" [including an uncomfortable-looking Tom Selleck] in it. I think one of the problems with the film might be that, like Blacksnake, it takes itself too seriously while lacking sufficient (s)exploitation for the fanboys (or girls).

[Solaris]

A heap of Meyer titles are coming to R4, starting with Faster! Faster! Pussycat....

[Lino]

BTW what are the "ideal" OARS for Meyer's late films?

I believe (but may be mistaken) that Russ shot all his films on 1.33 bar Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Blacksnake which are 2.35.

Oh, and thanks for that Seven Minutes info: I was not that interested in seeing it (everywhere I read said that it was crap) but now I'm really looking forward to it!

Also, it would be great to know it the R4 releases will be better than the UK ones at least in the A/V department.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Also, it would be great to know it the R4 releases will be better than the UK ones at least in the A/V department.

Madman typically acquire transfers from overseas (converting from NTSC to PAL if required) rather than making their own transfers. I would guess that the R4s will be the same transfers as the R2s.

[htdm]

But YES - all that seriousness about censorship is all part of Meyer's fun. Yvonne spilling the beans is what it's all ABOUT! I AM WOMAN!!!! etc..

Yes, that courtroom scene at the end is a hoot!

Sure, the mock seriousness of Meyer's mode of address is fun, funny and part of what's so subversive about what he does. What I meant was that I thought 7 Minutes felt a lot more constrained by some general need to adhere to "the plot" which there isn't much of and yet paradoxically there's way too much emphasis on. What seems to go out the window are the usual visual and verbal flights of fantasy that make his other films so ...(pick your favorite adjective).
But it's still fun and far more so than something like Fanny Hill.

All this talk about 7 Minutes has made me want to see it again. Has it ever aired on cable or satellite?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

A heap of Meyer titles are coming to R4, starting with Faster! Faster! Pussycat.....
http://www.avchannel.com.au/actions/new ... newsId=479

Both Vixen! and Supervixens are slated for a February release according to the AV Channel website, each with a Meyer commentary.

[Lino]

Now that Meyer is no more, I am currently dreaming of Fox buying the distribution rights for the rest of all his movies, then restoring them to their original glory with extras to match, a la Beyond the Valley of the Dolls! I can dream, can't I?

[godardslave]

I decided to post this in a more relevant thread:

does this now mean i can now criticize Russ Meyer Films freely and without fear!?

Russ Meyer is over-rated garbage, by the way.
Pornography in respectable form, adopted by the art-house, dont you know?

have a nice day.

orginally here:
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... ght=#72937

[Lino]

Troll allert, cdnchris.

[godardslave]

Troll allert, cdnchris.

I am expressing my honest opinions on the subject at hand.
I was under the impression that this was the general idea of a message board, my dear Annie.

[toiletduck!]

if these films didn't contain large breasted women who frequently appear naked and/or in sexual situations, would anyone care about them? or pay attention to them?

Put another way, isn't the work of Meyer simply the classic example of pornography masquerading under the respectable heading of "art"?

Russ Meyer is over-rated garbage, by the way. Pornography in respectable form, adopted by the art-house, dont you know?

Evolution at its finest, folks.

I think we are all fully aware of your honest opinions on the subject. If that was the goal, thanks for the reminder, it's easy to forget something on the page before.

If you're looking for discussion on the topic, a little eloquence might be worth looking into. "Russ Meyer is overrated" isn't going to get anything beyond "No, he isn't. Go away."

If you've got a Meyer-specific point, by all means, let's hear it. If your big issue is what constitutes pornography and whether or not it should be respected as an art form, you're quite wrong about this being the relevant thread.

-Toilet Dcuk

[Lino]

The UK Arrow Meyer discs really are a bittersweet experience. On one hand, you got the movies uncut, uncensored, with fantastic extras on the most important titles and you can even buy 2 at the price of 1 for the earlier ones. However, the prints used are clearly from unrestored A/V elements which really ruins the experience for me. And to top that, you don't have english subs on any of the DVDs.

Now, if there is one director whose films delight in wordplay and verbal titilation (if you pardon the pun), they are Meyer's. I mean, there are really some incredible voice-over narrations, dialogues, monologues, one-liners, you name it, that are simply unforgettable and endlessly quotable. To lose a word or two or worse still, a whole sentence, would be like losing most of the fun in a Meyer movie. His scripts really are up to the excesses of the images being projected in equal terms.

I really hope someone grabs the rights from the Meyer family and starts properly releasing them on R1 land. The R2 DVDs are great but ultimately not satisfactory. Not only that but I'm getting more and more convinced that the japanese DVDs are completely remastered so it's a shame that we're not getting that here too.

[Lino]

Oh, I almost forgot: as of next week, you can buy all the UK Meyer DVDs on one big bra-busting boxset!

http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/index.php?tle_id=281

[Lino]

Not a Russ Meyer film but not that far. Take a look at Pervert, the closest thing you'll ever get of a decent hommage to the kind of filmmaking that was Meyer's trademark (and it doesn't look that bad, either) --

http://www.pervertthemovie.com/

[HerrSchreck]

Great splash page. Balloony girl floating & bouncing.. =P~

[Michael]

I finally saw Beyond the Valley of the Dolls this morning. Since this is my first Russ Meyer experience, I have a question about the whole "moralizing" finale. Is that typical of Russ Meyers films? BtVotD was Meyers first studio film so I keep thinking maybe it was due to the studios pressure or decision to tack on this kind of ending which I think the film can do without. How do other Meyer films compare to BtVotD? I was struck by the films gorgeous editing style that still feels new today.