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>>LASER SCANS<<
The Laserdisc and DVD Newsletter
January 1998: Part One
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KAMA SUTRA * VARIETY LIGHTS * TOKYO DRIFTER * FULL MONTY
DAS BOOT * TIN DRUM * HOLLYWOOD RHYTHM * ASTEROID
CLANCY SET * WHITNEY'S CINDERELLA * MARATHON MAN
DVD: FOX SAYS NO * THE GAME * PETER PAN * SOUL FOOD
ANIMA MUNDI * FOX LORBER * UNIVERSAL * LOST IN SPACE
MGM * TLC * SERENGETI * ENCARTA * GROLIER'S * PIRACY
MPI * 007 DVD * LIVE * RUNNING MAN * NEW LINE * BADFINGER
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Laser Scans, a monthly newsletter distributed online, is edited and published
by Chris McGowan. Email subscriptions are free. To subscribe or inquire about
advertising or web site use, email us at Laser...@aol.com. © Chris McGowan
1997. DVD in Part Two.
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Laser Scans on the Web
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Find us at: Video Online Express (http://www.videoexpress.com), Home Theater
(http://www.village2000.com/homepix), LaserDisc Monthly
(http://ldm.tierranet.com), Cinema.Lu (http://www.cinema.lu), CyberTheater:
The Internet Journal of Home Theater (http://www.cybertheater.com).
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Laserdisc News
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ID4 DELUXE: A special edition of Fox's "Independence Day" is coming, it was
confirmed by an Image Entertainment spokesman, but details were not available
at presstime.
PIONEER bows the submarine thriller "Hostile Waters" with Rutger Hauer, Martin
Sheen and Max Von Sydow ($34.98) Jan. 20 and "Lovelife" with Sherilyn Fenn
($34.98) Jan. 27. "The Jack Ryan Collection" set brings together the Tom
Clancy-based movies "The Hunt For Red October," "Patriot Games" and "Clear And
Present Danger" (wide, DD, THX, $99.98) Feb. 10. Also due then is "Subway
Stories" ($34.98), directed by Jonathan Demme and four others. Sidney Lumet's
black comedy "Critical Care" with James Spader, Helen Mirren and Albert Brooks
(wide, $29.98) and "Good Burger" with Sinbad (wide, $39.98) launch Feb. 17,
followed by Roman Polanski's eerie "Rosemary's Baby" (1968, wide, remastered,
$39.98) Feb. 24.
VOYAGER will release CRITERION COLLECTION editions of Federico Fellini's
"Variety Lights" (1950, $49.95), Seijun Suzuki's "Tokyo Drifter" (1966,
2.05:1, $49.95) and Suzuki's "Branded To Kill" (1967, 2.20:1, $49.95) in
January.
IMAGE will launch MIRAMAX's amusing Marxist farce "Children Of The Revolution"
with Judy Davis, Sam Neill and F. Murray Abraham (as Stalin!) (1.85:1, $39.99)
Jan. 28 and "Curdled" withWilliam Baldwin (1.85:1, $39.99) Feb. 4.
TOUCHSTONE bows the engaging buddy film "Nothing To Lose" with great odd
couple Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence (1.85:1, DD, $39.99) Jan. 21, Chen
Kaice's "Temptress Moon" with Leslie Cheung (1.85:1, $39.99) Jan. 28, Mark
Herman's "Brassed Off!" with Ewan McGregor and Pete Postlethwaite (1.85:1,
$39.99) Feb. 4, and a special edition of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988,
1.85:1, DD, commentary, $29.99) Feb. 25.
DIMENSION's reveals the fallen angels of "The Prophecy II" (1.85:1, $39.99)
Feb. 4.
DISNEY's "Cinderella" with Whitney Houston, Brandy and Whoopi Goldberg (DD,
$29.99) and "Oliver Twist" (directed by Tony Bill and starring Richard
Dreyfuss) bow Jan. 14, followed by the 45th Anniversary Edition of "Peter Pan"
(1953, restored, THX, CLV, $29.99; CAV, extras, $49.99) March 14.
FOX will release the 30th Anniversary edition of "Valley Of The Dolls" (1967,
2.35:1, $39.98) Dec. 24; the TV show "Lost In Space" (1965, three episodes,
159 mins., $39.98) Jan. 14; George Tillman's tasty and moving "Soul Food" with
Vanessa Williams and Vivica Fox (1.85:1, DD, director's commentary, $39.98)
and Mike Leigh's "Career Girls" ($39.98) Feb. 11; Ridley Scott's "G.I. Jane"
with Demi Moore (2.35:1, DD, $39.99) Feb. 18; Miguel Arteta's "Star Maps"
(1.85:1, $39.98), with an ultimately dysfunctional family, Feb. 25; Peter
Cattaneo's "The Full Monty" with Robert Carlyle (1.85:1, $29.98) March 11; and
Lee Tamahori's gripping "The Edge" with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin
(2.35:1, DD, $39.98) March 25.
NEW LINE's "Money Talks" with Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen (2.35:1, $39.99)
is due Jan. 14, followed by "Most Wanted" with Keenan Ivory Wayans and Jon
Voight (2.35:1, DD, $39.99) and "Living In Peril" with Rob Lowe and James
Belushi ($39.99) Feb. 25.
WARNER launches the 25th Anniversary Edition of "Cabaret" (1972, 2.35:1,
extras, $39.98) this month; a remastered "The Color Purple" (1985, 1.85:1, DD,
$39.98) Jan. 7; "Empire Rcords" (1995, $34.98) Jan. 14; John Frankenheimer's
political bio "George Wallace" with Gary Sinise ($49.98) Jan. 28; an AC-3
edition of "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994, 1.85:1, DD, director's
commentary, $39.98) Feb. 25; the serial collection "Superman" (1948, 15
episodes, 249 mins., $89.98) March 4; "The Spirit Of St. Louis" with James
Stewart (1957, 2.35:1, $39.98) March 11; and Harold Robbins tale "The Betsy"
with Laurence Olivier, Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall (1978, 1.85:1,
$39.98) March 18.
COLUMBIA TRISTAR hands off the "Excess Baggage" with Alicia Silverstone and
Benicio de Toro (wide, DD, $39.95) Feb. 3.
MGM's "Showboat" (1951, $29.98) is set for Dec. 31, the Burt Reynolds double-
bill "White Lightning / Gator" (1973/1976, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, $59.98) Jan. 14;
"Dr. No" (1962, 1.66:1, THX, $39.98) in February; "Singin' In The Rain" with
Gene Kelly (1952, DD, THX, extras, $39.98) and "From Russia With Love" (1963,
THX, $39.98) Feb. 25; Sidney Lumet's "Equus" with Richard Burton (1977,
1.85:1, $39.98) March 11; and "Hearts Of The West" with Jeff Bridges and Andy
Griffith (1975, 1.85:1, $39.98) April 1.
POLYGRAM's "The Game" with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn (2.35:1, THX, DD,
$39.99; DTS, $49.99) bows on laserdisc Jan. 21, three days ahead of the DVD
edition.
IMAGE has "Going All The Way" with Ben Afleck (1.85:1, $39.99) Jan. 28; "Gang
Related" with James Belushi and the late Tupac Shakur (2.35:1, $39.99) Feb. 3;
"Call Of The Wild" with Rutger Hauer ($39.99), "Face The Evil" with Lance
Henriksen and Shannon Tweed (1996, $39.99) and "In His Father's Shoes" with
Louis Gossett ($39.99) Feb. 11; "Countess Dracula" with Lesley-Anne Down
(1972, $39.99) Feb. 18; and "8 Heads In a Duffel Bag" with Joe Pesci and David
Spade (1.85:1, $39.99) March 11.
TAI SENG has "Royal Warriors" with action goddess Michelle Yeoh (1986, 1.75:1,
$39.95) Jan. 20 and John Woo's "Heroes Shed No Tears" (1985, 1.66:1, $39.95)
Feb. 18.
PIONEER ENTERTAINMENT will now sell laserdisc, DVD and VHS titles directly to
Tower Records, according to a recently signed distribution agreement. Pioneer
is the second largest laserdisc distributor and also becoming promiment in the
DVD field.
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Laser Recent Releases
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PIONEER has Mira Nair's "Kama Sutra: A Tale Of Love" (1.85:1, $34.98), a
wonderfully sensuous and visually sumptuous love story starring Sarita
Choudhury and Indira Varma and filmed in Khajuraho and Jaipur, India. The
evocative period piece includes marvelous background music by the likes of L.
Subramaniam and G.S. Sachdev.
TAI SENG has released Sammo Hung's slapstick Western with martial arts, "The
Millionaires Express" (1986, $39.95) with Hung, Yuen Biao and Cynthia
Rothrock.
CRITERION has launched two Dirk Bogarde on LD. Liliana Cavani's "The Night
Porter" (1974, 1.85:1, $49.95) finds a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte
Rampling) unexpectedly meeting her former torturer (Bogarde), an ex-SS officer
now working as a hotel's night porter, and rekindling her sadomasochistic
relationship with him. Basil Dearden's "Victim" (1961, 1.66:1, $49.95) was a
film ahead of its time, a suspenseful tale about a married English barrister
(Bogarde) with a hidden homosexual past, who is threatened by blackmail
following the suicide of his ex-lover.
IMAGE's "The Tin Drum" ("Die Blechtrommel," 1979,1.85:1, extras, $69.99)
presents the incredible Volker Schlondorff adaptation of the Gunter Grass
novel, about a German child who stops growing physically as the Nazis take
power and expresses his anger by beating on his drum. The LD, produced by Bret
Wood, includes storyboards, photos, costume sketches and Schlondorff's
commentary.
COLUMBIA TRISTAR has an director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's riveting "Das
Boot" (1981, 1.85:1, 209 mins., commentary, E/G, $49.95) and Barry
Sonnenfeld's "Men In Black" with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith (1.85:1, THX,
$39.95), which is similarly sensational on laserdisc. Also available is "The
Whole Wide World" with Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger (2.35:1, $39.95),
about a Texas schoolteacher's romance with the creator of the "Conan" comic
books, "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts (wide, DD, $34.95).
IMAGE's "Hollywood Rhythm: The Paramount Musical Shorts" (1929-1941, 325
mins., $99.98) is an incredible collection of pre-MTV short musical films that
capture many of America's greatest jazz and pop artists from another era,
including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Artie Shaw, Bessie
Smith, Bing Crosby and Fats Waller.
PIONEER has John Schlesinger's "Marathon Man" (1976, 1.85:1, $44.98), the
outstanding thriller based on the William Goldman novel and starring Dustin
Hoffman, Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider. More than twenty years later, it
holds up as excellent entertainment and looks great on LD.
"Nothing Personal" ($39.98) is a violent film about the I.R.A. and war-torn
Belfast in 1975. "Sprung" (1.85:1, $39.98), with Tisha Campbell and Paula Jai
Parker, is a light romantic comedy about players getting played and true love
finding its way. The TV mini-series "Asteroid" ($39.98) brings to life the
devastating threat of a huge asteroid hurtling towards the earth (for another
view of the same subject, read Arthur C. Clarke's fascinating novel "The
Hammer Of God"). Sidney Lumet's "Night Falls On Manhattan" with Andy Garcia
(1.85:1, $34.98) is an excellent drama about an idealistic district attorney
who uncovers far more than he expected when he tries to root out police
corruption in New York City.
UNIVERSAL has released a letterboxed edition of David Lynch's "Dune" (1984,
2.35:1, DD, THX, $39.98) and "The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island"
($24.95).
DISNEY's "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" (1.85:1, THX, DD, CLV, $29.99; DTS,
CLV, $49.99; DD, CAV, extras, $99.99) is available in three different
laserdisc configurations. The $99.99 special edition is an outstanding value,
a treasure trove, with commentary by producer Don Hahn and directors Gary
Trousdale and Kirk Weiss, a making-of featurerette, deleted songs with
composer's commentary, a history of the Notre-Dame cathedral, art design,
character designs and much more.
IMAGE has released an LD of Ridley Scott's "Thelma & Louise" (1991, 2.35:1,
director's commentary, $49.98) which includes an alternate ending.
MGM's "The Pope Of Greenwich Village" (1984, 1.85:1, $44.98), with Eric
Roberts and Mickey Rourke early in their careers, is about two struggling
Italian-American cousins who want to escape poverty but get into big trouble
with petty crime.
IMAGE's "In Cold Blood" with Sam Neill, Eric Roberts and Anthony Edwards
(1996, 179 mins., $49.99) is a recent TV adaptation of the Truman Capote
bestseller and explores the 1959 murders of a Kansas family and the FBI's hunt
for the killers.
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GO TO Part Two FOR DVD & DVD-ROM
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