FA: Prince of Tides LD - Rare Unreleased 1992 Edition
Jeff Krispow
"The Prince of Tides"
Criterion Collection Laserdisc
The extremely rare, original,
unreleased 1992 laserdisc edition
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=126402407
As you may or may not know, Criterion originally planned to release Barbra
Streisand's special edition laserdisc of The Prince of Tides in August
1992.
The discs were pressed and ready to go, but just prior to release it was
was put on indefinite hold. Streisand had final approval of this laserdisc
release, and due to scathing comments from an early review of the disc in
Rolling Stone regarding her audio commentary, she ordered that Criterion
cancel the release and destroy all of the already-pressed and packaged
copies. Streisand insisted that she be allowed to re-record her commentary
as well as to redo parts of the supplementary materials.
Criterion strongly urged Streisand to reconsider her requests, since,
again, the discs were pressed and packaged and were about to be shipped to
dealers (not to mention that they didn't want to eat the costs involved
with destroying 3,000+ discs). In the end, Criterion had no choice but to
comply with her outrageous request -- the discs were destroyed, the audio
commentary and supplementary materials were reworked, and the new disc
was finally released in 1994, nearly two years late.
A few discs out of the original pressing run survived the destruction.
Approximately five (5) copies were sent to reviewers prior to the release
date (a few weeks before the madness started). Criterion/Voyager staff
members also received copies -- some have claimed that 40-50 copies were
given to staff, but a more realistic estimate is 20 copies (this is what
my husband was told at the time -- Criterion's staff was extremely small
back then).
This disc presented for sale here is an extremely rare copy of that
original, unreleased 1992 pressing. (My husband was one of the reviewers
that received a copy.) It is highly unlikely that another copy of this
pressing run will ever be made available for sale. As mentioned earlier,
the audio commentary has numerous differences, and there has been a
reworking of some of supplementary materials. In addition, the gatefold
jacket features some differences from the actual released version.
This two-disc set features the movie on sides 1 & 2 (CLV format) and part
of 3 (CAV), and the supplementary materials appear on sides 3 & 4 (in
CAV). Special features include:
Barbra Streisand commentary.
The Prince of Tides featurette.
Outtakes: Nick Nolte's gag reel.
Teaser & Theatrical trailers.
Alternate end credits featuring Streisand singing "Places That Belong to
You."
Vision and Version: Making the Prince of Tides, an exclusive interactive
documentary on the production of the film featuring screenplay excerpts,
4 audition and rehearsal videos, behind-the-scenes video, 4 alternate
versions of key scenes, 5 deleted scenes, costume and makeup tests,
interviews, production photos, storyboards, and more.
The laserdisc jacket is in excellent condition. The back cover features a
few extremely tiny white spots, and there is some very minor "wear lines"
along the spine where the gatefold cover opens -- please note that this is
the same "new" condition that the disc was received in.
The discs themselves are in perfect, mint condition. The discs are
completely clean and free from scratches. The transfer is also very clean
and features no signs of "rot" (the discs were personally just checked on
a Pioneer CLD-99 player).
The disc features a digital surround stereo English soundtrack. The
transfer is letterboxed (approx. 1.85:1).
Criterion Collection
First Pressing: 1992
#CC1302L - run time: 132m
--
Jeff Krispow