thing-fish24

The special edition of the Roger Corman cult classic (not the Frank Oz musical) will be released on May 1st. Featuring a restored black and white version and new colorized version. From the same folks that put out the excellent DVD editions of "Reefer Madness" "House on Haunted Hill," and "Plan 9 from Outer Space."

Color trailer: http://www.legendfilms.net/trailers/...opTrailer.html

(NOTE: there is already a topic on "Plan 9" that I believe mentions "Little Shop," but since this is a different release, I figured that it should have a different thread.)

Cameron

Do you work for Legend Films Or Fox? I mean no disrespect, but you seem to be one of the only people who are championing Legend and colorization. Just seems like a hard fight to win in an enviroment filled with film purist.

Everyone knows how I feel about it, and rather than have the same conversations over and over I just wanted to ask why you think its needed.

Side note: The end of "Thank You For Smoking" has a great dig at things like colorization and digital modification....i laughed and thought of you when I saw it.

Joe Molotov

As long as they keep putting the restored B&W version on there too...

The Valeyard

Honestly, Legend does a good job restoring the ORIGINAL Black & White picture (before they slop paint all over it). So for public domain films, they look pretty kick ass (based on the Reefer Madness & The Three Stooges releases that I own).

Best versions I've seen so far.

As for colorization....not needed. But if it supports the restoration of the ORIGINAL film....I can deal (and NOT watch the colorized version).

Disc-Flipper

I'll buy it for sure. May 1st is my birthday. I've been waiting for this disc for a long time. Little Shop of Horrors looks great colourized because it's a cartoonish movie. There was a colourized VHS many years ago which was pretty watchable.

What's worse is those public domain distributors making the cover artwork to look like Jack Nicholson is the star of this movie.

darkside

This is always a tough subject, because I am not a fan of colorizing in general, but the Legend films are kind of a different thing to me. First of all its all public domain stuff that is already available in B&W on half a dozen other discs, second they always include a fairly solid B&W version that is superior to all the other public domain releases and third they really play up the camp value with the way they color the films and with the Mike Nelson commentaries. Plan 9 and Reefer Madness were hillarious in color with the choices of coloring they made.

So I'm ordering again to get the Mike Nelson autographed edition and really have no guilt over it.

PatrickMcCart

Colorization sucks, but often Legend Films is responsible for the only decent B&W version of a film on DVD. However, their Carnival of Souls and Night of the Living Dead transfers aren't as good as Criterion's/Anchor Bay's (respectively). I haven't seen it, but I'd expect Warner's 16x9 enhanced House on Haunted Hill to be superior to LF's unmatted version.

However, we do have excellent quality Reefer Madness, Plan 9 From Outer Space (although, unmatted - should be 1.75:1), and this probably.

ShagMan

May 1st is on a Monday; do you mean May 2nd?

Roper

May 1st is correct. Like Legend's previous releases, this will be a limited edition signed by Mike Nelson, and it will be available only through their website. The regular edition will be available through retailers later on for about half the price.

David Cornelius

And while I haven't seen Legend's version, the Warner disc is incredible. Far better than any cheap release I've ever seen.

As for Legend - the main problem is that their extras (the Nelson commentary, mostly) are only included on the color version, and not the B&W. Also, while their B&W versions are restored, they still leave a LOT to be desired. They have yet to be sparkling enough to be worth the colorizing.

thing-fish24

That's just on "Reefer Madness" and "Night of the Living Dead." All of Legend's other discs let you listen to the commentary on either version.

"Reefer Madness," "House on Haunted Hill," and "Plan 9" have never looked better than they have on Legend's discs.

thing-fish24

Plan 9 was shot in fullscreen.

1. I work for neither.

2. Well, I'm not a purist, so that adds into the equation. I like colorization because the technology offers viewers an interesting perspective on things.

darkside

I think Legend got quite a few requests for the commentary on both versions and that will be the case on Little Shop of Horrors and probably all future releases. As noted only two of the releases force you to watch them in color for the commentary and actually Reefer Madness is worth seeing in color with the commentary.

However, the Warner release of House on Hanted Hill is much better than the Legend release and I would put the Roan release above it as well. The Warner version seems to have used much better elements and its widescreen which really tightens the frame and helps the atmosphere of the movie greatly. I will agree that Reefer Madness and Plan 9 have excellent B & W prints, but they played with the clocks in Reefer even in the B & W version which ruins it for purists. Also the Legend release of Carnival of Souls looks pretty awful next to the Criterion release, but considering the cost difference it should.

chemosh6969

People buy it because they get the Mike Nelson commentaries. When they do stuff with the color, like the smoke in Reefer madness, it just adds to it.

I have the best version of NOTLD for video/audio quality, but I also have the Legend one for a different type of enjoyment. The same is with the other movies they have put out.

You don't buy these for the ultimate version of the movie, you buy them to have some fun.

tonyc3742

Actually, that's an interesting point.
How many of you who 'don't mind' colorization won't buy MAR? What's the difference?
I've been against colorization for the most part for three main reasons:
* the process used to suck, and the movie would look horrible, with obnoxious bright colors bleeding everywhere [this may no longer be the case];
* sometimes black and white just looks better/cooler/more artistic;
and
* i usually want to see the release as 'the director intended'.

That said, as long as a release had both a quality colorized version, and the 'original' B/W version, I wouldn't avoid it and might give the colorized one a shot.

If it's a choice between a colorized release and no release, well, that's an easy choice.

thing-fish24

Yeah...I'm extremely fascinated by how colorization can look, and I enjoy some examples of the process, but I'm annoyed when studios put out a colorized version on DVD, and don't include the original with the package. It was extremely stupid for Sony to issue 'color' and 'black and white' sets of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched instead of including everything on one set (i.e., black and white on one side of a disc, colorized on the other).

It would have saved costs and they would have made a lot more money (Disney also made this mistake by releasing the colorized version of The Absent-Minded Professor seperately, instead of with the original). One of the reasons that Legend Films' releases sell so well because they want to make everyone happy.

David Cornelius

Didn't know that. Thanks - might have to pick up some of the newer stuff after all (but, as chemosh6969 said, just for fun - oh, how I loathe colorizing).

I do have their Three Stooges disc, the one hosted by the Film Crew, and it bugged me that the hosting segments only featured with the color versions. Grumble.

You really need to track down the Warner "Haunted Hill." I can't imagine Legend's fullscreen transfer could top it.

Legend's also been working on Fox's Shirley Temple releases, and they've barely done squat with the B&W versions. I doubt they're doing all the restoration that they claim to do.

thing-fish24

Here are some screencaps from Legend's edition: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDRev...dvd_review.htm

sparks

DVDBeaver is only showing Legends 2 versions, not comparisons. I'm sure you're not saying that Warners, that owns the film, their copy would not be as good as Legends, that doesn't own the film.

ThatGuamGuy

It all has to do with what I'm buying the disc for. I do mind colorization, aspect ratio, etc., when I'm buying a DVD for the movie itself (and I prefer theatrical cuts unless there's a reason for the change), but if I'm buying a disc for specific extras, I don't much care what they do to the movie itself. [For instance, I already had the Ultimate Terminator 2, but I wanted the Extreme for the commentary. I prefer the theatrical cut, and I think the Ultimate is a better DVD overall, but the Extreme has things I wanted, so I didn't mind that it was only the Special Edition cut.]

That said, I also haven't enjoyed the two I got very much and will probably just Netflix the rest, though 'Plan 9' is tempting...

thing-fish24

Warners doesn't own the film. The film is public domain. And Legend Films' release is still superior.

darkside

Have you sat through a viewing of the Warner verison? I have watched the Warner, Roan and Legend version and have to disagree. The elements Warner used in their version have much richer blacks than the public domain print Legend restored, seems sharper overall and is a better overall viewing experience especially since this movie benefits greatly from a 1.85:1 presentation. The Legend print is in good shape for a public domain release, but I still think the claim its the best version is untrue.

There is only so much Legend can do with a public domain print. Look at the Criterion version of Carnival of Souls compared to the restored Legend print. The Criterion version is so much better that it is like a totally different film.

thing-fish24

I used to own a widescreen version of the film - the Platinum Entertainment Disc Vincent Price collection, and I can't truly say that widescreen changed my viewing experience for the better. In fact, I enjoyed the film much more in fullscreen because I was seeing more of the picture!

I sincerly doubt that Warners' version of House on Haunted Hill is better. Their House on Haunted Hill DVD was released back in 1999, when DVD transfers weren't all that great - the technology has much improved since then. The Legend Films print is extremely sharp, and the blacks are very rich. Plus, their disc has better extras - Warners' disc doesn't have a commentary, a color version, or the press kit. And Legend's menu for the film is interactive, which Warners' menu (I'm guessing) is not.

Carnival of Souls is - in my opinion - a bad film. I did not like it, and I don't care to buy a better version. The Legend Films edition is the only one I can tolerate, because of the inclusion of a Mike Nelson commentary track. The black and white print on that disc isn't bad, in fact it is extremely good. But the film itself is a total mess. I don't vouche for superiority on any COS release - but I definitely suggest Legend's for folks who don't have much to spend on DVDs.

But 'Reefer Madness,' 'House on Haunted Hill' and 'Plan 9 from Outer Space' look far better on Legend Films' releases than on any other release I have seen of those films.

darkside

The expert opinion of someone that has never actually viewed the Warner version. Great. DVD transfers are still limited to the quality of the source elements and the ones Warner used were of a higher quality than the Legend print. Don't make claims of something being a superior version if you haven't viewed the competing discs. Its a safe guess compared to other public domain releases, but when companies like Warner have access to elements public domain companies could never touch they have a big advantage. House on Haunted Hill is not the night and day difference of the Criterion version of Carnival of Souls, but it is a sharper and richer image overall.

The extras on the Legend disc are great, but for people that actually like the movie the Warner edition is the way to go. BTW, the Warner version has the movie in widescreen and fullscreen which also gives a good representation of the different ways the movie was shown in theaters.

lotsofdvds

Sometimes the reasons Nelson's commentary is only on the colorized version is because he makes jokes about the colors. It wouldn't make sense in the black and white versions.