The BFI Blu-ray and DVD Release Thread

[Linbro]

Watched the short film 'Sleepwalker' yesterday, via the BFI Bluray - fantastic film, with some decent extras. The 1hr15min interview with Saxon Logan is fascinating, and well worth a watch.
Amazing that this has been 'lost' until recently.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

This sounds interesting.

SHERLOCK HOLMES (4-DVD SET)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes: The Classic BBC TV series.

Regarded by many to be the best incarnation of the Baker Street sleuth, Douglas Wilmer gives a career-defining performance in this celebrated BBC series. Intelligent, quick on his heels, and bearing a striking resemblance to the original Sidney Paget illustrations, Wilmer's portrayal as possibly the closest to Conan Doyle's original vision that there has ever been. In 2012, his status as legend within the Sherlock pantheon was cemented when he was asked to make a cameo appearance in Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch.

The first story in the series, The Speckled Band, was originally produced as part of the BBC drama strand Detectives. Appearing alongside Wilmer, as Holmes loyal companion Dr John Watson, was the great Nigel Stock. Such was the success of the adaptation that Wilmer and Stock were reunited a year later for a full 12-part series. With a supporting cast that included Clochemerle star Peter Madden as Inspector Lestrade, TV veteran Derek Francis as Mycroft Holmes, and guest starts such as Peter Wyngarde (Department S, The Innocents) and Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who), the popularity of the series gave rise to a second series, in which the role of Sherlock was played by Peter Cushing.

Presented for the first time on UK DVD, this long-awaited release also includes an array of fascinating special features, including two reconstructions of partially-surviving episodes, an alternative presentation of the Detectives pilot, an alternative title sequence, an interview with Douglas Wilmer and a number of newly-recorded audio commentaries

Special features
Original 1964 Detectives pilot episode The Speckled Band
All surviving episodes from the 1965 series
Alternative Spanish audio presentation of The Speckled Band
Alternative title sequence for The Illustrious Client
The Abbey Grange episode reconstruction, featuring a newly-filmed sequence of Douglas Wilmer reading the first half of the story, followed by all surviving original footage
The Bruce-Partington Plans episode reconstruction, using all surviving original footage and original shooting scripts
Douglas Wilmer...on Television (2012, Simon Harries, 22 mins): the iconic actor discusses his career in British film and television
Five audio commentaries, including contributions from Douglas Wilmer and celebrated directors Peter Cregeen and Peter Sasdy, all moderated by actor-comedian Toby Hadoke
Fully illustrated booklet with new essays and full episode credits
UK | 1964-65 | black and white | English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles | 650 minutes approx | Original broadcast ratio 1.33:1 | 4 x DVD9 | PAL | Dolby Digital mono audio | Cert: 12 | Region 2 DVD

Available on March 30th.

[mark meakin]

The surviving Douglas Wilmer episodes have been out in the US a while now in a boxset,but this will be probably the definitive release.Glad I waited now.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by mark meakin

The surviving Douglas Wilmer episodes have been out in the US a while now in a boxset,but this will be probably the definitive release.Glad I waited now.

I've not seen any of them. I've just become a bit fixated with Holmes after watching the Brett and Rathbone box sets, so i'm quite looking forward to this.

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I've not seen any of them. I've just become a bit fixated with Holmes after watching the Brett and Rathbone box sets, so i'm quite looking forward to this.

I bought the Optimum boxset of the restored Rathbone movies years ago & I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who has yet to buy it.I've just started on my BFI boxset of the surviving episodes of OUT OF THE UNKNOWN.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by mark meakin

I bought the Optimum boxset of the restored Rathbone movies years ago & I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone who has yet to buy it.I've just started on my BFI boxset of the surviving episodes of OUT OF THE UNKNOWN.

Any good Mark?

That was another series i know nothing about.

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Any good Mark?

That was another series i know nothing about.

The one's I saw previously on YT were pretty good & it's aimed at a more adult audience than Dr. Who,though perhaps the pacing may not be to everyone's liking.Worth picking up for fans of cult British TV of the 60s/70s though,along with series like UNDERMIND,THE CORRIDOR PEOPLE or MYSTERY & IMAGINATION.I'm hoping the surviving episodes of DOOMWATCH will get a BFI release in the future.

[Susan Foreman]

BFI announces June - August DVD & Blu-ray releases | News | Film @ The Digital Fix

The BFI’s mid-summer 2015 Blu-ray and DVD releases feature the cream of British and international directors. Landmark works by such heavyweights as Orson Welles, Roberto Rossellini, Dziga Vertov and Jean-Luc Godard rub shoulders with a raft of great British titles directed by the likes of Tony Richardson, Clive Donner, Karel Reisz and Richard Massingham.

The Roberto Rossellini & Ingrid Bergman Collection (1950-1954)

This numbered, limited edition Blu-ray collection brings together three of Rossellini and Bergman’s greatest collaborations – Stromboli, Journey to Italy, and La Paura – in new digital restorations, with extensive extra features including Rossellini’s rare 1952 feature film The Machine That Kills Bad People, Francesco Patierno’s 2012 documentary The War of the Volcanoes, and Isabella Rossellini’s exquisite and personal My Dad is 100 Years Old (2005). Stromboli, Journey to Italy, and La Paura will all be released in stand-alone DVD editions.

Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

Voted No. 1 film in Sight & Sound’s 2015 Documentary Poll, this dazzling amalgam of documentary and pure cinematic art is famous for its range of pioneering cinematic techniques – such as double exposure, slow motion and freeze frames. Released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, this digitally remastered presentation is accompanied by composer Michael Nyman’s celebrated score, and includes a selection of little-seen Vertov films as extra features.

Around the World with Orson Welles (1955)

DVD and Blu-ray premiere of Orson Welles’ fascinating television production, with Welles writing, directing and hosting. Part home-movie, part cinematic essay, each episode takes the viewer on a journey to see the famous people and places in key cities across the continent, the result is a unique entry in the career of one of modern cinema’s most revered figures.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)

2015 marks the centenary year of the remarkable Orson Welles, and this insightful documentary explores the life and work of the exceptional actor, writer and director. Directed by critically-acclaimed documentary maker Chuck Workman, Magician is an essential film not just for fans of the great Orson Welles, but anyone interested in the magic of cinema.

Vivre sa vie (1962)

A classic of French new wave cinema, director Jean-Luc Godard’s critically-acclaimed drama tells the story of Nana (Anna Karina), a young Parisian woman who works in a record shop but finds herself disillusioned by poverty and a rapidly failing marriage. Released on DVD and presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

On Yer Bike (1899-1983)

This wonderful 2-DVD collection, containing 29 short dramas, animations, adverts and newsreel items from the BFI National Archive, is a fascinating portrait of the British cycling experience.

How To Be Eccentric: The Richard Massingham Collection (1933-1951)

Instantly recognisable to anyone who went to the cinema in Britain during the 1940s, Richard Massingham combined humour and information in these wonderful instructional films on a range of subjects from how to cross the road to the art of saving water at bath time. This DVD collection celebrates Massingham as one of British cinema’s most interesting and enduring characters.

Britain on Film:

The BFI celebrates great British cinema this summer and the famous faces in front of and behind the camera, with the release of a number of feature films from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Bizarre documentaries London in the Raw (1964) and Primitive London (1965) set out to reflect society’s decay through a sideshow spectacle on 1960s London depravity, while The Pleasure Girls (1965) and The Party’s Over (1965) look at the wild, and sometimes dark side of Swinging London. Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1967) and Bronco Bullfrog (1969) explore the late-60s teenage experience, albeit from different but equally entertaining, perspectives, while Lunch Hour (1962) and Deep End (1970) focus on romantic obsession and the potential for relationships to take a wrong turn. Two classic ‘kitchen sink’ dramas, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) see angry young men rebel against the system, while the hilarious That Sinking Feeling (1979) finds somewhat less angry young men causing a drama by stealing kitchen sinks.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Interesting line-up, although it's a shame that there is (yet again) nothing new to be added to their Flipside range... it seems to have died a death sadly.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Interesting line-up, although it's a shame that there is (yet again) nothing new to be added to their Flipside range... it seems to have died a death sadly.

Nor is there anything remotely ghostly.