BD 23 Silent Running

[reaky]

Pre-ordered from Amazon, but out of interest, peerpee, if the prices are identical, which is better for MoC: buying it from Amazon, letting them pay for the postage, or ordering direct from you?

Buying from them directly at even half of the price would be by some distance I imagine.

Plus, in my experience, you often get your orders early, whereas Amazon tend to hang onto them until the publicly announced release date.

[d-less]

I'm personally a big fan of ordering directly from Eureka. They once missed a release date and I got a free Blu-ray out of the bargain. Plus I just read today that, besides from being my 2nd most favorite Sci-fi film, that it was a big inspiration to Joel Hodgson when creating "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

[mfunk9786]

No offense intended to anyone, but I've been fearful of preordering from Eureka since I never received my Metropolis steelbook.

[tenia]

I often have posting issues with Eureka orders. A simple mail to Kevin, and it solves everything.
I even had to ask for a 2nd sending for the Metropolis poster ! I wonder where my first one is.

And I have to add that I never had, afterwards, the first sending showing up after having ask for a 2nd sending (I'm always afraid of that).

But, anyway, I always had what I paid for.

[swo17]

Yeah, I've also had quite a few orders never show up for whatever reason, but Kevin has always been very responsive and I've always eventually received what I ordered.

[matrixschmatrix]

I've had items never show up, and I've had items show up late enough that replacements came before the original order did- but not more so with direct Eureka purchases than with Amazon.uk purchases, and I didn't find Eureka's staff any less helpful and responsive than Amazon's. I've certainly never had them refuse to send a replacement for anything.

[manicsounds]

I've had the US DVD for years, and never got around to it, sadly. It's pretty obvious I'll get the UK disc, and still wondering if any exclusive extras will be on it, and obviously, if all the Universal extras will be ported over. Well, I can live without the old text screens...

[kneelzod]

About to sign this one off for replication. The image quality is very, very good - thanks mainly to Universal doing a good HD scan from an IP, but we also did quite a bit of cleanup at Deluxe 142 in London, to dust it down for its Blu-ray debut. So we have a unique HD version, and the film really hasn't looked better.

"Cleanup," eh? Not too extensive, I hope.

[peerpee]

Good proper extensive cleanup without affecting grain structure = desirable.

[andyli]

Better than Universal doing it. I hope it's the same story for ToE.

[peerpee]

Universal's masters are usually very high standard with cleanup and good grain structure, but SILENT RUNNING really needed a helping hand. The others we've got from them are fine - including TOUCH OF EVIL - apart from the Preview version on which we did a small amount of work.

[kneelzod]

without affecting grain structure

This is music to the ears.

[MichaelB]

I watched the checkdisc last night, and it looks great - and I'm very happy to endorse Peerpee's comments about the visible grain structure. I don't know whether the essentially blemish-free image was down to the source or the cleanup, but I had no complaints whatsoever. I've just spotted in the booklet that the restoration at the MoC end was supervised by my former colleague James White, who's one of the best in the business - not just for his technical knowledge but also his understanding of the underlying aesthetic issues. (He was responsible for all the BFI's in-house HD transfers until earlier this year).

The only visual issue is one bedevilling practically any SFX-heavy film of this vintage, which is that sometimes the process work affects the texture of the image - but that's inherent in the original materials and there's obviously nothing that MoC could (or, arguably, should) do about that.

The booklet is particularly good, too - even by MoC standards.

[manicsounds]

Since you got the checkdisc, would you care to list the extras on it, or should we wait for the official extras announcement?

[MichaelB]

I don't have access to the Blu-ray player right now, but I recall extras being pretty extensive - certainly including most of the old DVD supplements (including the Trumbull/Dern commentary and the 50-minute production featurette).

[Duncan Hopper]

Not seen the disc myself, but I understand the extras are as follows:

Making of documentary - 50 min.
Douglas Trumbull doc - 36 min.
Bruce Dern interview - 11 min.
Commentary with Bruce Dern and Douglas Trumbull.
Original trailer.

[MichaelB]

Yup, that sounds about right.

[antnield]

Full specs now confirmed:

• Exclusively restored beautiful high-definition 1080p transfer
• Full-length commentary by director Trumbull and actor Bruce Dern
• Isolated music and effects track
• Optional English SDH subtitles on the feature
• The Making of Silent Running, a 1972 on-set documentary [50:00]
• Two video pieces with Douglas Trumbull [31:00 + 5:00]
• A Conversation with Bruce Dern, a discussion with the actor [11:00]
• Original theatrical trailer [3:00]
• A lavish 48-page full-colour booklet featuring rare photographs and artwork from Trumbull’s personal collection, and recollections of the film’s cinematographer, special designs coordinator, and composer

[kneelzod]

Full specs now confirmed

Besides the lavish booklet, what's new to this release in terms of extras?

[peerpee]

Further to the exclusively restored 1080p transfer of the feature, all of the extras are new to the UK. Only the Music & Effects track, and booklet, are new to what has previously been released in the USA.

[kneelzod]

Further to the exclusively restored 1080p transfer of the feature...

Yes, of course...had no intention of minimizing the import of a restored 1080p transfer with my query about extras! Everything else is, of course, gravy. I ordered the disc when it was announced. I appreciate the clarification. Another thing that can't be emphasized enough is how great it is to see the classic one-sheet key art restored to this release, in place of the ugly photo-shopped cover on the previous U.S. Universal disc.

[JPJ]

Silent running is 3.99 right now on Amazon.co.uk.Must be a mistake?

[John Edmond]

Can I have some clarification on who gets hurt by mistakes like that? Only Amazon?

[JPJ]

I'm sure they will cancel the orders...

[domino harvey]

Can I have some clarification on who gets hurt by mistakes like that? Only Amazon?

I believe Amazon can sell it for whatever they want, MoC gets the same percentage of the list price