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Is it worse than The Conqueror though? You make this sound like something I could gift to someone I hated.

Let me put it this way: Halfway through the movie, James Mason shows up sporting a Fu Manchu

No clips online, but here he is in the trailer. It's somehow worse than I remembered-- though Robert (né Robery) Morley makes Mason look like Marlon Brando in this movie. The trailer quite wisely didn't use any clips of Morley talking!

I remember this film now. I have actually seen bits and pieces of this. It was on TCM and my Dad pointed out what trash it was.



Yikes!

Big Ben wrote:Is it worse than The Conqueror though? You make this sound like something I could gift to someone I hated.

I suppose at least Genghis Khan did not result in everyone getting cancer from being filmed near to a nuclear testing site. So it is not literally toxic!

Ok, I saw yesterday Genghis Khan, and although I love the genre, yes it IS bad! (and this comes from a person that loves italian peplum films that generally are considered bad)
I was bored to death and in the last 5 minutes i fast forwarded.
I wouldn't recommend a blind buy to anyone.

Geronimo: An American Legend (Walter Hill, 1993)

Release Date: May 22nd, 2018.
Pre-order date: Wednesday, May 9th at 4 pm EST.

Special Features:

• Isolated Music Track
  Original Theatrical Trailer

Booklet art:

Next Stop, Greenwich Village (Paul Mazursky, 1976)

Release Date: May 22nd, 2018.
Pre-order date: Wednesday, May 9th at 4 pm EST.

Special Features:

• Isolated Music Track
  Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Paul Mazursky and Actress Ellen Greene
  Original Theatrical Trailer

Booklet art:

DVDBeaver: Blue Denim; Model Shop; No Down Payment

Hilda Crane (Philip Dunne, 1956)

Release Date: May 22nd, 2018.
Pre-order date: Wednesday, May 9th at 4 pm EST.

Special Features:

• Isolated Music Track
  Jean Simmons: Picture Perfect, as seen on Biography® on the A&E Network
  Original Theatrical Trailer

Booklet art:

The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915)
(The Patrick Stanbury / Kevin Brownlow Photoplay Restoration; 2015)

Release Date: May 22nd, 2018.
Pre-order date: Wednesday, May 9th at 4 pm EST.

Special Features:

• DISC 1
  • Centennial 2015 Photoplay Productions Restoration by Patrick Stanbury
    1930 Sound Reissue Prologue
    1930 Sound Reissue Intermission and Introduction to Act 2

• DISC 2
  • Outtakes and Original Camera Tests
    Four Additional Restored Civil War-Themed Silent Films from D.W. Griffith and Other Directors: The Coward, The Rose of Kentucky, Stolen Glory and The Drummer of the 8th (in Two Versions)
    The Birth of a Nation: The Legacy
    The Clansman: From Stage to Screen
    The Birth of a Nation Score Recording Sessions Conducted by John Lanchbery
    D.W. Griffith on Lux Radio Theater with Cecil B. DeMille
    Stills and Collections Gallery
    Essays by Photoplay Co-Founders Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury, and Film Historian Ashley Clark

Booklet art:

Perfect intersection of label and film. Hilarious.

I don't get it?

domino harvey wrote:I don't get it?

They’re both outdated, useless, and controversial?

Birth of a Nation was one of those things I watched as a right of passage through film history. It's an abominable historical document that exists in moral abyss. Outside of people who REALLY want this I cannot fathom why Twilight Time would think this would be worth producing.

Who knows though. Perhaps there is a market for it and I'm just an idiot.

I don't think anyone has a problem with a label releasing it, at least here we shouldn't. But the sheer audacity of Twilight Time, whose entire mission is "we're releasing the things no one else would for so they'll have a BD when the home video market disappears in *checks calendar* 18 months" to release a movie with several perfectly good releases due to being PD already in its same, ridiculously unnecessary $35 format is basically a new level for them. Plus, unlike a Night of the Living Dead or Charade, a movie, you know, people like, this is a movie people might feel compelled to own but a relative minority genuinely enjoy this film, partially due to its age but mostly due to its values, so it would be thoroughly odd for many to feel the need to double-dip even if the transfer is appreciably better (which it probably is).

Big Ben wrote:Birth of a Nation was one of those things I watched as a right of passage through film history. It's an abominable historical document that exists in moral abyss. Outside of people who REALLY want this I cannot fathom why Twilight Time would think this would be worth producing.

The film is still widely taught, it's of a special historical importance, and there are many thrilling and beautiful moments in it. Its overall thrust and argument is of course abominable (and in its own way it's more morally degenerate than Triumph of the Will). It's not at all hard for me to understand why someone should want a good copy of it and there should be no shame in releasing it, presuming the accompanying material doesn't endorse the film's vision of apocalyptic race war ending in the subjugation of an entire race (of course, the film insists this is for its own benefit, which is one of the most awful things about it).

Big Ben wrote:Who knows though. Perhaps there is a market for it and I'm just an idiot.

Whether we like the movie or not, it is an important part of movie history (and history itself). If there is a market in the UK for TWO different fully-fledged BD releases, I don't see why there wouldn't be 3000 potential sales in the US.
But it probably is a different "market" than for regular movies, in the way that it doesn't mean buyers are necessarily buying it because they like the movie.

tenia wrote:If there is a market in the UK for TWO different fully-fledged BD releases, I don't see why there wouldn't be 3000 potential sales in the US. But it probably is a different "market" than for regular movies, in the way that it doesn't mean buyers are necessarily buying it because they like the movie.

Exactly. The Blu editions released by Kino and Twilight Time in the States are now basically the same (give or take a few extras/booklets) as the editions released by MoC and BFI in the UK. I don't recall anyone having a cow when the BFI released their edition, even though there was already a perfectly good one available, so I'm not getting the shock and awe this seems to be inspiring. Not that I'm the biggest fan of Twilight Time's model, but this is a situation where most people buying it will probably be collectors specifically doing so for the Photoplay restoration, which is said to be better than that used for the Kino/MoC editions. And I don't see anything wrong with that restoration being made available to the U.S. market.

Ribs wrote:But the sheer audacity of Twilight Time, whose entire mission is "we're releasing the things no one else would for so they'll have a BD when the home video market disappears in *checks calendar* 18 months" to release a movie with several perfectly good releases due to being PD already in its same, ridiculously unnecessary $35 format is basically a new level for them.

I mean, this release is frankly less questionable than some of their more populist releases like Steel Magnolias and As Good As It Gets on that front. Who else would release this restoration, outside of another boutique label? Would it make you any happier if Criterion or Cohen Films were releasing it?

For what it's worth, Flicker Alley had the Photoplay BIRTH OF A NATION on their calendar a few years back and never, obviously, brought it out. I'm fine with the film being released, as repulsive as it is, especially in a package as thorough as this one. If I hadn't already gotten the UK release this would be a no-brainer, but I'd definitely wait for a sale.

I'm surprised that a Blu-ray release of one of the most important films in history is causing any kind of a stir on this board for its content, especially since its just a port of the BFI release.

I find nothing objectionable about a film of such historical significance getting a release, but I'll never be one of those who will crack open a beer and settle down to watch this. Same goes for Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. Seen both once, never need to go back there, don't want them on my shelf.

I picked up the BFI release about a year ago, it was just too inexpensive to pass up at $15 US. Lots of fascinating historical information about the film, and an impeccable transfer and score -- but not the movie to watch with a brew and pals. I'm glad to own it, but it's not a movie I watch much.

GLORIA (1980) BLU-RAY - August 21st

THE VIRGIN SOLDIERS (1969) BLU-RAY - August 21st

THE HOT ROCK (1972) BLU-RAY - August 21st

RAPID FIRE (1992) BLU-RAY - August 21st

Happy to see The Hot Rock! I watched it after Soderbergh named it his favorite heist film and it was great fun. Wonder if he'll contribute to a supplement.