 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has revealed further details about the upcoming Blu-ray releases of the James Dean: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set, as well as the standalone DigiBook releases of East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). The studio has yet to announce a street date, but all four titles are already available for pre-order.
James Dean: Ultimate Collector's Edition
James Dean: UCE Synopsis: One legendary actor. Three unforgettable films. Experience the movies that made James Dean a Hollywood legacy: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. While technical specifications have yet to be detailed, the 7-disc James Dean UCE box set features:
Expert Commentaries on All Three Films
Three Feature-Length Documentaries on 3 Separate DVDs:
James Dean: Sense Memories
James Dean: Forever Young
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
Vintage Documentaries:
James Dean Remembered
Forever James Dean
George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him
All-New Featurette: Dennis Hopper: Memories from the Warner Lot
East of Eden: Art in Search of Life
Premiere Footage for East of Eden
Screen Tests and Deleted Scenes for East of Eden
Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents
Recently Recovered Screen Tests for Rebel Without a Cause
Recent Recovered Outtakes for Rebel Without a Cause
Behind the Cameras Episodes
Return to Giant Featurette
Memories of Giant Featurette
Giant Wardrobe Tests
Theatrical Trailers
And More...
Collectibles and reproductions include:
40-page Hardcover Commemorative Book
Three Mini Reproductions of the Original Theatrical Movie Posters
Authentic Production Memos from East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause
Behind-the-Scenes Photos
East of Eden
East of Eden Synopsis: In the Salinas Valley, in and around World War I, Cal Trask (Dean), feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron for the love of their father Adam. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, to how to get ahead in business and in life, to how to relate to estranged mother.
Complete tech specs have yet to be detailed. Special features include:
Commentary by Richard Schickel
East of Eden: Art in Search of Life (Vintage Featurette)
1955 New York City Premiere (Vintage Featurette)
Actors' Screen Tests
Wardrobe Tests with the Cast and Crew
Deleted Scenes
And More...
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause Synopsis: Jim Stark (Dean) is the new kid in town. He has been in trouble elsewhere; that's why his family has had to move before. Here he hopes to find the love he doesn't get from his middle-class family. Though he finds some of this in his relation with Judy, and a form of it in both Plato's adulation and Ray's real concern for him, Jim must still prove himself to his peers in switchblade knife fights and "chickie" games in which cars race toward a seaside cliff.
Complete tech specs have yet to be detailed. Special features include:
Expert Audio Commentary
Three Behind-the-Cameras Segments from the Warner Bros. Presents TV Series
Recently Recovered Screen Tests
Recent Recovered Outtakes
And More...
Giant
Giant Synopsis: Texan rancher Bick Benedict visits a Maryland farm to buy a prize horse. Whilst there he meets and falls in love with the owner's daughter Leslie, they are married immediately and return to his ranch. The story of their family and its rivalry with cowboy turned oil tycoon Jett Rink (Dean) unfolds across two generations.
Complete tech specs have yet to be detailed. Special features include:
Introduction by George Stevens, Jr.
Commentary by George Stevens, Jr., Ivan Moffat and Stephen Farber
George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him
Memories of Giant
Return to Giant
New York Premiere TV Special
Hollywood Premiere Featurette
Behind the Cameras Segments
Stills and Documents Galleries
Original/Reissue Theatrical Trailers
And More...
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=11780
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Now those are three soundtracks I'd like to own.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All three James Dean films are coming out on Oct. 7 in the UK in a box set that is region free and retails for approx. one third of the price of box set in the US - FYI
Two good reasons why I prefer to buy from the UK.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joke of the day: "Giant" will have a true stereo mix 
I've the German set on pre-order and hope it will have the same extras as its US counterpart...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was tempted to buy it, until I realized that I had never even opened by boxed set of Dean's 3 movies on DVD, plus I have the most elaborate set of "Giant" in a separate set on DVD, and doubt I'll ever watch it either. While it would be nice to have all 3 of them on Blu-ray, unless I honestly intend to watch them a few times, why spend the money?
|
|
|
|
|
|
My "megaset" arrived via AmazonUK yesterday -- and last night I had a chance to look through the discs.
As per many comments on Amazon, the UK set is packaged rather cheaply. My set arrived unharmed, though, and the discs had not come loose. The extras are all fun -- reproductions of production memos -- a photo booklet devoted to Dean, mini posters, etc.
As for the discs here are my extremely amateur reactions to the transfers of the individual films (for more expert opinion I defer to Robert Harris and his comments on the Home Theater Forum).
1. "Giant" looks better than any version I have seen before -- on TV or on DVD or LD, etc. As Mr. Harris noted there are gazillions of transitions in the film that are made by fade ins and outs. Such transitions cause a degradation of image quality both before and after the fades. And the makers of "Giant" chose not to disrupt the fades by jarring the image into more clarity a few frames after the fade. Thus many sections of "Giant" are not as clear as other sections -- but sequences that are more traditionally edited without fades are crystal clear and gorgeous. On my visit to the first 20 minutes of the film I was again reminded that Hudson gives a beautiful performance in this film-- I don't think he often gets the credit he deserves in this cast.
2. "East of Eden" -- rich, dark colors -- crystal clear stereo separations -- incredibly sharp images. Interestingly enough you can see the same kind of image degradation during cross fades as happens in "Giant" -- but Kazan and his team choose not to extend the effect and the image pops back into clarity a few frames after each transition. The only qualm, again, would be with color -- on my TV the entire film has a rich golden hue -- almost akin to the effect achieved in the specially processed prints of "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (well...not quite THAT dramatic) but combined with a darker image quality, the "golden" quality of the images is quite striking. For all I know this is how the film is supposed to look.
3. "Rebel Without a Cause" -- again strikingly dark, rich colors with red popping, as expected. Rosenman's score sounds great -- great stereo separations. Wonderfully sharp image quality. The colors, again, were what caused me to stop and ponder a bit. Everything seems a bit reddish to me -- but again that may be exactly what the Warners Color prints looked like. One of the extras included is a test of the scene where Dean, Wood and Mineo explore an abandoned house and play "Father - Mother - Son". Mineo is extraordinary in this dry run for the scene as it appears in the film -- seeing this scene rescued and now preserved actually brought tears to my eyes. Several of the black and white outtakes and screen tests are just as wonderful.
All in all this is a collection I will treasure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
