Personally, I'm not obsessed with the word "anamoprhic". I'm obsessed with the added picture resolution it brings.

I watched the new version all the way through and did not notice any overdubbing, it has same voices/dubs that were in the original film.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know exactly this dubbing issue was on the previous versions, which scenes and what form the dubbing took?

Someone also asked about differences between R1 and R2 versions - the last release on R2 (which was actually an R0 anyway) had an interview filmed live on stage with Bob Hoskins and director Mackenzie, bios, trailers, film notes, photo gallery and the slang glossary...and it was anamorphic and 5.1/2.0 stereo, but no original mono track.

Personally I thought the 5.1 track on this version was awful, very echoey and unnatural sounding.

The other thing of note about the original release of the above is it had a limited edition slipcase with "burning fuse" style artwork on the front.

pic? i thought the new ones' is pretty nice.

Fair enough but in this case the difference is minimal. So, excellent commentary track vs marginally better transfer, it depends on where your priorities lie.

It's one of my favourite covers.

On the outside, you have a sturdy black cardboard slipcase. It's glossy and the silver is shiny. Unlike the picture, it says "special edition" in small silver letters where the "BOB HOSKINS HELEN MIRREN" is.



The DVD case cover has the lovely painted poster art, which I used for making the pictures I posted above. I do not have a picture of the cover, but the painting is the same as the one of the soundtrack CD. It announces Helen Mirren and Bob Hoskins, and has the tagline "Who lit the fuse that tore Harry's world apart?" below the painting, reproducing the "fuse" logo from the slipcase cover..



The actual DVD case is a clear case. Inside, there's a lovely little booklet, eight pages long and filled with bios, photos and trivia. I like its small touches, like newspaper clipping reprints. Since the case is clear, the back of the DVD case cover is a blood-red processed illustration of the cooler scene, with additional stills from the film running along the botom.

The DVD cover itself has a nice shot of Hoskins looking out over the waterfront.

It's how you make a single-disc set look really nice, I think.

Hope this helps.

Re: JM1's comments about dubbing, the sections that I can recall to hand are re-recording small sections such as Bob Hoskins on his boat drinking a bloddy mary & changing 'ere, that geezer don't half know about grub' to 'ere, that frog don't half know about grub', but as I said its a whole new recording. Also for some reason, Jeff talking to Cllr Harris in the restaurant at the beginning of the film, not sure why, but some has been done & the main one is re-recording the whole speech in the swimming pool when he's speaking about Colin & the national service. It talks about army service, not national service, prison instead of glasshouse & balls instead of b*llocks, but its the principal of the thing really.

Hmmm. Peter, they sound like dubs to make the dialogue "more accessible" to those unfamiliar with certain slang terms. What version of the film do you have?

while not as striking, the keepcase cover art is the above, but again not as graphic.

The original version I have is the 1989 video release by CBS FOX 'Modern Classics - Full un-cut version' released here in the UK. I don't have a problem with these DVD versions being released in other countries if there is a language problem, but think if releasing in Britain they should stick to the original dialogue.

Sorry, its a 1993 release (before anyone picks up on this).

No widescreen TV here, so I'll just stick with my Criterion copy. Thanks.

when did ex make this statement? i didn't see it in this thread or at least missed it, but the AB has some nice extras, including a commentary track that i thought was ported from another release and seemingly much better transfer than the CC.

**edit** he was talking about "Mona Lisa" ...that is why threadjacking should be punishable by law.

Sorry, I should've mentioned Mona Lisa in my post. In eXcentris' first reply to me, it was more obvious as to which DVD he was referring to.

Either way, I sold my Criterion LGF and will be eventually upgrading to the new edition.