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Blood Simple



Joel and Ethan Coen's career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America began with this razor-sharp, hard-boiled neonoir set somewhere in Texas, where a sleazy bar owner releases a torrent of violence with one murderous thought. Actor M. Emmet Walsh looms over the proceedings as a slippery private eye with a yellow suit, a cowboy hat, and no moral compass, and Frances McDormand's cunning debut performance set her on the road to stardom. The tight scripting and inventive style that have marked the Coens' work for decades are all here in their first film, in which cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld abandons black-and-white chiaroscuro for neon signs and jukebox colors that combine with Carter Burwell's haunting score to lurid and thrilling effect. Blending elements from pulp fiction and low-budget horror flicks, Blood Simple reinvented the film noir for a new generation, marking the arrival of a filmmaking ensemble that would transform the American independent cinema scene.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• Restored 4K digital transfer, approved by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Conversation between Sonnenfeld and the Coens about the film's look, featuring Telestrator video illustrations
• Conversation between author Dave Eggers and the Coens about the film's production, from inception to release
• Interviews with composer Carter Burwell, sound editor Skip Lievsay, and actors Frances McDormand and M. Emmet Walsh
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by novelist and critic Nathaniel Rich

dx23 wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:56 am MGM is re-releasing individually Blood Simple Director's Cut on 9/16/08, according to Amazon.com.

What's the point?

Didn't you hear they just won Oscars?

Who's face is that??

kaujot wrote:What's the point?

Well, the Universal release has been out of print for quite some time, so it's good to hear that MGM is re-releasing it without the need to buy a boxset to get the film.

dx23 wrote:

kaujot wrote:What's the point?

Well, the Universal release has been out of print for quite some time, so it's good to hear that MGM is re-releasing it without the need to buy a boxset to get the film.

Ah. I had no idea the Universal had gone out of print.

Does the box set contain the director's cut?

htdm wrote:Does the box set contain the director's cut?

Yes. The boxset includes the MGM cover.

Wonder if they're keeping that odd commentary from the spruced-up 2001 DVD release.

This is coming out on Blu-Ray (with DVD included) in a couple weeks. Are there any specs of any kind out there?

I'm pretty sure I read that this release has been cancelled by Fox/MGM due to dismal preorder numbers.

From the 07/15/10 edition of The Digital Bits:

We've also got an update on some older announcements: We've learned that MGM's Escape from New York and Bull Durham (due on 8/3) will be Blu-ray+DVD Combo sets. There are no new extras on the Blu-rays, but the DVDs will include all of the previously-released special features. Meanwhile, the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, which, had also been initially set for release on Blu-ray on 8/3, has been delayed. We'll try to update you on that when there's new information to report.

The two links I posted above also show both versions of Blood Simple listed as cancelled on Mike's Movie Mayhem. I saw a post on another site that indicated it was due to low sales but the digital bits only says delayed, so maybe it will actually be rescheduled and not canned altogether.

Would be surprised if Amazon ships it out in two weeks.

Well that sucks. Maybe they're planning to tie it in with the True Grit release at the end of the year.

Any update on the Blu Ray of Blood Simple? Amazon has still kept it active for pre-orders, with no release date.

It's still coming. Be patient.

Jameson281 wrote:It's still coming. Be patient.

That's great news. It seems like MGM (or Fox, I guess) dropped the ridiculous "Blu-ray + DVD" combo packs (wherein all of the supplements were only on the DVD and the Blus were bare) that plagued their 2010 schedule. Blood Simple was originally announced as one of those. Fortunately, that big slate of Best Buy exclusives MGM just released had all of the supplements on the Blu-ray disc, just as The Lord intended.

Maybe the delay with Blood Simple means that it is getting a transfer and/or supplement overhaul and a proper Blu special edition. If so, it will have certainly been worth the wait.

I got the version of Blood Simple that came in the Coen Bros box set, but I've been wanting to get my hands one on with the ridiculous fake commentary that was on another release- I really hope that shows up on the blu-ray.

With this, and the Taxi Driver BD finally having a street date, this just leaves Punch-Drunk Love in the endless delay category. Isn't good news supposed to come in threes? [-o<

matrixschmatrix wrote:I got the version of Blood Simple that came in the Coen Bros box set, but I've been wanting to get my hands one on with the ridiculous fake commentary that was on another release- I really hope that shows up on the blu-ray.

I'm generally not one for commentaries, but the "Kenneth Loring" commentary is easily the best thing about Blood Simple. Just great.

I have the Universal edition, which has that track, so I assume it's the only one with it. I didn't realize initially all of the special features were gags when I first popped it in. I watched the intro and found it odd but it didn't set off any red flags at first (just figured the guy was a bit of a dufus) but the alarm bells went off just a couple minutes into the commentary track, if that even, when he's talking about how the opening scene was originally shot upside down and in reverse. The track didn't always work but it was still a fairly funny spoof of a scholarly commentary track.

Fox has announced an August 30 release date for the BLOOD SIMPLE Blu-ray. Coming the same day: MILLER'S CROSSING and RAISING ARIZONA on Blu-ray, along with a Coen Brothers box set that includes those 3 plus FARGO.

Glad this is finally happening. So odd that they've chosen to leave the other Fox title, Barton Fink, out of this line-up.

The absence of Barton Fink is odd. Any chance they licensed it to Criterion?

I went and saw the Blood Simple "Director's Cut" in a theater and have been disappointed ever since that it was actually a "Cut".... Most of my favorite bits were taken out. Does anyone know if we'll get a "Theatrical Cut" or should I just keep my VHS?