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I love Kiss Me Deadly. I had the MGM DVD for a long time but I can't remember who borrowed it since it's no longer in my collection. The MGM DVD seems to be OOP. What should I do? Hunt for it on ebay or wait for the future release? Is MGM known for rereleasing its titles on DVD?

Michael wrote:I love Kiss Me Deadly. I had the MGM DVD for a long time but I can't remember who borrowed it since it's no longer in my collection. The MGM DVD seems to be OOP. What should I do? Hunt for it on ebay or wait for the future release? Is MGM known for rereleasing its titles on DVD?

While out of print, I think a lot of etailers still have it. I recently ordered it and received it from DDD.

The R2 UK is still very much available (and cheap!).

While out of print, I think a lot of etailers still have it. I recently ordered it and received it from DDD

.
DDD no longer carries it. What a shame.

So it's either Amazon.uk or ebay.

foggy eyes wrote:The R2 UK is still very much available (and cheap!).

The R1 is not anamorphic. Is the R2?

The R1 is not anamorphic. Is the R2?

The R1 and R2 releases are not anamorphic. Both editions include the trailer, but the R2 does not include the alternate ending that is present on the R1 disc.

This title deserves a major bells & whistles release, with commentary. Not holding my breath, though.

Just got the R4 recently, myself. (That one doesn't have the original ending either, despite saying so on the box.)
After a bit of searching on line, I found some descriptions of the original ending and it seems the difference is just the absence of those last 50 seconds, so I wouldn't worry about getting the R1 for that (heck, you can just switch off the movie 50 seconds earlier and you've seen the 'original ending')
Generally speaking, MGM's transfers tend to be better on the NTSC DVDs than they are on the PAL ('Night of the Hunter' being a particularly extreme example,) but I haven't hard of any particular difference in quality between the NTSC and PAL for this particular title (and, since the PAL was released several years after the NTSC, I seriously doubt the NTSC would have a better image)

Glenn Erickson: The Restoration of Kiss Me Deadly

Borders has an exclusive MGM Film Noir Boxset which includes Muholland Falls, True Confessions, Night of the Hunter and Kiss Me Deadly.

dx23 wrote:Borders has an exclusive MGM Film Noir Boxset which includes Muholland Falls, True Confessions, Night of the Hunter and Kiss Me Deadly.

Thanks for the tip, but I checked it out in-store and passed. Just the four already available titles boxed up with nothing new.
Actually, there is something new as we continue to scratch our head at what marketers attempt to squeeze into the "film noir" category.
May as well start a fight with my own analysis, which is:

KISS ME DEADLY - true noir, great late noir, and a perfect example of how a talented filmmaker can take a rotten book and turn it into a great movie.
TRUE CONFESSIONS - not noir, arguably neo-noir, and mostly an exercise in how to waste two great actors in an complex but undercooked story which had no impact except to eventually give Brian DePalma the idea that he, too, could make a movie about the Black Dahlia case while flatly refusing to deal with it.
MULHOLLAND FALLS - not noir, not neo-noir, not a good movie, although I do congratulate the cast for wearing hats, which is more than the boys in L.A. CONFIDENIAL were willing to do.
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER - not noir, but a wonderful and unique movie that deserves a box all its own.

For Boston area fans, "Kiss Me Deadly" will be playing at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA on Wed Nov 28th. I don't know what version we'll get.

Panda

Belmondo wrote:Actually, there is something new as we continue to scratch our head at what marketers attempt to squeeze into the "film noir" category.

There seems to be something of an idea that any detective and/or crime film set between 1930 and 1960, irrespective of when it was actually made, or how it looks or plays out, qualifies. The flip side of that is that contemporary efforts like Red Rock West, which fit most of the requirements, don't get thought of as part of the subgenre.

I've been on the bad end of Noir snobs from time to time (people who get bent out of shape at the absence of rain slicked streets or a femme fatale and thus dismiss something's credentials), but even my more catholic standards would rule out the ones you do.

dx23 wrote:NIGHT OF THE HUNTER - not noir, but a wonderful and unique movie that deserves a box all its own.

Actually, on my DVD shelves, Night of the Hunter occupies a space among my (mostly German Expressionist) silent movies.

Hi guys!

Recently, Kiss Me Deadly has been released in Japan. Some shops claim it's 16:9 (e.g. CDJapan), unfortunately, a tech review of the disc @ DVDFreak confirms the opposite...

Cheers!

Peto

The R1 still seems to be plenty available. I recently picked it up for $5 new, sealed from a Zellers dump bin.

I saw this in a few places the last couple of months. I didn't realize it was OOP. I really hope they re-do this 'cause the transfer doesn't look that good. As mentioned it's not anamorphic which isn't too bad because it's 1.66:1. The picture quality itself is the real disappointment - not horrid, but I watched it in between DVD's of Sam Fuller movies from the same era, and it paled in comparison. Like watching a decent VHS tape that was transferred to DVD. GREAT movie though.

Just checked Amazon, they've got a ton of copies used for a shade under $5.

With shipping, it'll cost you $8, but pretty cheap for a DVD that's been OOP for a year or more.