The Arrow Thread

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Trashforcash

From the pioneers of ZFE, The Beyond and The Burning comes... Pitch Black! Arrow have certainly changed alot over the last 10 yrs. I always check this thread to see your opinions on new releases, but Pitch Black has tipped me over the edge and inspired me to post!

The problem arrow face is just competition. When they started they were the market leaders, now 10 other companies are in on the act. Worse still, companies often secure global distribution, cutting Arrow out. I recently bought Raw Force and Death Machines from Vinegar syndrome as I gave up hope of them ever getting an Arrow release. They are region A/B/C so presumably vinegar syndrome have worldwide distribution.

The result is that Arrow are becoming mainstream to try and stay afloat. Candyman, Waterworld, American Werewolf and Robocop are all mainstream offerings. This is not a problem in itself if it keeps them afloat. But their niche offerings are increasingly modern film festival pick ups which I have little interest in.

They still come up trumps from time to time (White Fire is surely their best in years), but this is becoming less frequent. I also wonder if they are obliged to release things that are substandard to secure other titles. Why all the Nico Mastorakis? You want Trapped Alive? Here have Chill Factor. Desperate for The Child? Well you have to take Hitchhike to Hell. This could all be baseless speculation, but i sense Arrow are being led less by what they want to put out these days, and more by whats about/ they have to put out.

I wouldnt buy Pitch Black. But I would buy Gymkata.

I dunno, the fun for me is the discovery of obscure titles and I really like the stories behind low budget filmmakers toiling at the margins. horses for courses I guess

[Michael Brooke]

Originally Posted by Trashforcash

I recently bought Raw Force and Death Machines from Vinegar syndrome as I gave up hope of them ever getting an Arrow release. They are region A/B/C so presumably vinegar syndrome have worldwide distribution.

That doesn't follow at all. Second Run's BD catalogue is entirely region-free and they certainly don't clear more than just the UK rights - it's just that they don't license stuff from major studios, and smaller rightsholders are less fussed about region-locking. The more obscure the title, the less likely it is that region-locking will be imposed on the label.

The downside, of course, is that the more obscure the title, the less likely it is that a decent HD master will already exist, and if you have to create one from scratch the production budget rockets skywards. Vinegar Syndrome have the huge advantage of in-house scanning and restoration facilities of a kind that only the BFI can match in the UK.

[Trashforcash]

Very interesting re Vinegar syndrome's in house facilities, I didnt know that. That explains why their prints look great, but the extras and overall package are not up to Arrow's standards, in my opinion.

There are so many obviously great unreleased cult films out there with US release but not Region B. Where is The Blob? The Prowler? Dead & Buried? Arrow undoubtedly put together the best packages. But Michaelangelo couldn't paint the Sisitine Chapel with dodgy paints.

[bleakshaun]

From Facebook
*** RELEASE UPDATE! UK: Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection (Limited Edition Blu-ray) ***



We are sorry to announce that our upcoming release of our Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection has been delayed until August 24. This is due to production delays with our partners on the release.



We understand this is an unfortunate situation having already moved this title once, but we have been taking extra care to make sure this release is of the highest quality. The good news is that the set is all now fully signed off and proceeding to manufacture.



We sincerely apologise for any convenience caused with this delay, but we genuinely hope that you will find it worth the wait when we do release this incredible set.

If you have placed a pre-order via our website, you should have already received an email from us regarding your order and any relevant actions required.

 All other orders placed via Amazon, Zavvi or HMV remain secure for the new release date. However, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us at support@arrowfilms.co.uk if you have any questions.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by bleakshaun

From Facebook
*** RELEASE UPDATE! UK: Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection (Limited Edition Blu-ray) ***



We are sorry to announce that our upcoming release of our Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection has been delayed until August 24. This is due to production delays with our partners on the release.



We understand this is an unfortunate situation having already moved this title once, but we have been taking extra care to make sure this release is of the highest quality. The good news is that the set is all now fully signed off and proceeding to manufacture.



We sincerely apologise for any convenience caused with this delay, but we genuinely hope that you will find it worth the wait when we do release this incredible set.

If you have placed a pre-order via our website, you should have already received an email from us regarding your order and any relevant actions required.

 All other orders placed via Amazon, Zavvi or HMV remain secure for the new release date. However, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us at support@arrowfilms.co.uk if you have any questions.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

That's a blessing for my wallet I had accidentally well overspent for the next few weeks so I'm happy that this has been pushed back 2 months and it falls on the right side of payday this time rather than a few days before like the current date did.

[will graham]

again different strokes for different folks.

Heck some people would consider The Burning as mainstream. zfe and the beyond werent exactly obscure hard to find movies when arrow released them.

[Dave]

I have a funny feeling we’ll be seeing another Battle Royale soon.


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[SymbioticFunction]

Flash Gordon and especially Pitch Black do seem quite mainstream to me. Upon reflection, probably not a surprising move as Arrow obviously want their first 4K UHD releases to shift as many units as possible and are playing it safe. Also many Arrow 4K mastered 1080p releases had a 4K scan but post-scan work (such as colour correction) was carried out in 2K. And UHD rights might not have been part of any licensing deal. That's my understanding of the decision to put out Pitch Black, I'm certainly not an expert on such things.

[g053584398]

I can understand why they would choose to release Flash Gordon, because although it was a big budget film, albeit a flop during the original theatrical run, it is definitely a cult film, and it really needed a new transfer. I would also say the same thing about An American Werewolf in London, which had suffered from terrible Blu-ray transfers previously.

Robocop is another cult film, and arguably one of the finest science-fiction films ever made, even though it was a big theatrical success. The only problem with that release though was that a 4K remastered version was already available cheaply, so for me there was no point in considering purchasing the Arrow version at all.

I can also understand why they would release The Game, as the previous Blu-ray transfer left quite a lot to be desired.

[SymbioticFunction]

Quite a random post but I wish Arrow would release blu-rays of Alligator, The Eye (original) and Evil Dead Trap.