criterionforum.org

manicsounds wrote:Seems extremely quick between the facebook plea until the actual screening, doesn't it? Makes me think that the whole thing was just a hype-builder and they had found the longer cut print a long time before...

Anyway, it'll be nice to retire the VHS mastered longer cut.

The timing with this has been more than a little strange since the start. In April they announced it was coming out on blu in October, then in May they started the (more than a little unusual) Facebook campaign, within two months they'd found this mysterious 'final cut' and now a press screening within a few weeks.

This feels very much like a 'hype-builder' to me too, but I'm still a bit sceptical as to whether they've actually found anything new or they've simply restored and reedited what we've already seen.

Let's hope it's not been put through the same "restoration workflow" that completely wrecked StudioCanal's Blu-rays of DON'T LOOK NOW and PEEPING TOM.

peerpee wrote:Let's hope it's not been put through the same "restoration workflow" that completely wrecked StudioCanal's Blu-rays of DON'T LOOK NOW and PEEPING TOM.

The restoration was the restoration, and 'WorkFlow' was the name of the cheesy 'underwater oil painting' Photoshop filter they then applied to every frame.

Exactly.

StudioCanal seem to have confirmed that the "Final Cut" will basically be the slightly extended (minus the mainland opening) version that played by US cinemas and released by Abraxas. A print of this version was located in Harvard's archives.

In that case, it's probably a good thing that they didn't specify whose 'final cut' it was! Still, this should mean that it's better quality than any previous release, right?

Which is the version of The Wicker Man that Anchor Bay released in the early 2000s, and how does this new final cut differ from that? I believe that is the version that I saw a few years ago. Liked the film very much, managed to creep me out.

The one in the wooden box? That was the director's cut and the UK theatrical version. This upcoming version - called the middle version - is somewhere in between.

The director's cut on the Anchor Bay disc had the introduction of Christopher Lee's Lord Summerisle when he sees two snails mating outside the inn (if I remember this correctly). He makes some remark about fertility and then sends a young lad upstairs to be deflowered by Willow, the landlord's daughter.

Then there is an extended cut of Willow's Song, which includes the full lyric and doesn't drop the beat, the way the theatrical cut does.

Hopefully that much will be on the "final cut?" I don't remember other edits very clearly, though there may have been some extra closeups in the final scene that were originally cut for animal cruelty or something of the like?

Has Studio Canal mentioned whether the theatrical cut (or indeed the director's cut) will be included on the blu-ray?

Don't think they've confirmed any additional cuts but considering that Robin Hardy reportedly considers the mainland prologue inessential, I wouldn't hold out too much hope for the Director's Cut. If they want this release to be definitive though, they should include all three versions.

Thanks. They also need to make sure they don't fuck up the transfer Don't Look Now-style. I'm praying they do this one right.

"To all The Wicker Man fans, you’ll be very pleased to know the Blu-ray will include the UK theatrical cut, The Directors Cut (with seamless branching into extra scenes) and of course The Final Cut, plus lots more - now there's a reason to celebrate! Keep following The Wicker Man for more details"

Great news. Does that info come from an official Facebook page?

Now it all hinges on the transfer(s).

It all hinges on the transfers and the proofing of the seamless branching. Either way, this one appears to have been rushed like billy-o (assuming this wasn't all a PR ruse).

I'd like to give Studiocanal the benefit of the doubt and presume that while they've probably had the Abraxas print from Harvard and intended to release it as the "Final Cut" for some time, the Facebook campaign was a semi-serious appeal for information they might not have had. And some new leads did indeed come to light; I mentioned that Joe Dante temporarily had possession of the Corman print (after hearing an offhand remark by Mick Garris in his Trailers From Hell commentary for the film), and Dante himself confirmed that it was never returned by Abraxas after they "borrowed" it.

Anyway, PR ruse or not, as long as they don't screw up the transfer, I still think it's tremendously exciting to have not just the short version but most of the Director's Cut footage in HD. (Plus they haven't necessarily hit their mastering deadline yet so we could still see more interesting developments announced.)

EDIT: Now confirmed to be a three-disc package, two BDs and a soundtrack CD.

tenia wrote:I understood that the print running in theaters look much closer to the Criterion BD than the SC BD. It might be, like Le samourai, somthing that happened at the encoding stage.

For what it's worth, I just received the print catalog from this year's Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, and they have copious color stills from PURPLE NOON/PLEIN SOLEIL. Assuming that these come directly from the restoration--they look like frames and not production stills--the Studio Canal Blu-ray's color grading looks terribly anemic and yellowish in comparison. Although the Criterion Blu-ray was released in December 2012 and thus probably is not from the restoration, the overall color scheme looks a lot closer, if perhaps not identical. I'm looking forward to seeing the restoration theatrically someday!

Cinema Retro have posted a full press release on The Wicker Man that clears up a lot of questions - sounds like a definitive set, depending of course on the transfer.

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php/ar ... ATRES.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

THE WICKER MAN: FINAL CUT
Out in cinemas 27th September 2013
On DVD/BD 14th October 2013

Ltd 4 disc DVD edition & Ltd 3 disc BD edition to include:

The Final Cut
UK Theatrical Cut
The Director's Cut (seamless branching on BD only)
Audio Commentary
Making of Audio Commentary
Interview with Robin Hardy (new)
Featurette on the Cult of the Soundtrack (new),
The Wicker Man: 40 years on Featurette (new),
Restoration comparison (new),
Burnt Offering: The Cult of The Wicker Man
Interview with Christopher Lee & Robin Hardy (1979)\
Original Soundtrack
Ex-S documentary
Trailer

Making of Audio Commentary?

I wonder if that means the making of has a commentary, or if it's a featurette on how the audio commentary was made.

manicsounds wrote:Making of Audio Commentary?

I wonder if that means the making of has a commentary, or if it's a featurette on how the audio commentary was made.

I hope its the former. The only commentary which could possibly deserve a "making of featurette" would probably be for that poor Criterion soul who had to spend the weekend in a cabin with Hunter S. Thompson.

In regards to the Wicker Man package: It looks superb! Didn't expect all three cuts would make it. I've been wanting to get the soundtrack for ages, and now I can save $10!

Making of Audio Commentary?

I wonder if that means the making of has a commentary, or if it's a featurette on how the audio commentary was madeI hope its the former. The only commentary which could possibly deserve a "making of featurette" would probably be for [url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/ ... s-thompson]that poor Criterion soul who had to spend the weekend in a cabin with Hunter S. Thompson.

Its probably the same video feature of the Mark Kermode moderated commentary with Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward and Robin Hardy that appeared as an easter egg on the UK Collectors Edition a few years back. It runs for the first 20 minutes of the commentary and is pretty much a studio cam of the audio recording session.

Looks to me there is an Audio Commentary on the Making Of (Making of is in italic, so that's how it looks like).

Stephen wrote:

Making of Audio Commentary?

Its probably the same video feature of the Mark Kermode moderated commentary with Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward and Robin Hardy that appeared as an easter egg on the UK Collectors Edition a few years back. It runs for the first 20 minutes of the commentary and is pretty much a studio cam of the audio recording session.

They've transferred over pretty much every other extra from previous releases, so it is almost certainly this.

zedz wrote:It's pretty shocking. Do they imagine that when Clement and Decae shot the film the look they were going for was the original prints plus a couple of stages of duping and thirty years of fading?

Exactly. Just took a look at the 'official trailer' and it looks even worse than I'd feared. What were they thinking? Didn't anyone even think to compare it to the Criterion? A real missed opportunity.

Fred Holywell wrote:

zedz wrote:It's pretty shocking. Do they imagine that when Clement and Decae shot the film the look they were going for was the original prints plus a couple of stages of duping and thirty years of fading?

Exactly. Just took a look at the 'official trailer' and it looks even worse than I'd feared. What were they thinking? Didn't anyone even think to compare it to the Criterion? A real missed opportunity.

Forget comparing it to the trailer. Somebody should have just looked at the difference between the Blu-ray encode of the film and the unmolested footage seen in the interview with Alain Delon that appears on the same disc (at least as far as the UK release is concerned). It would be funny if it wasn't so heartbreaking.