Any specs for Midnight Madness (Michael J. Fox 1980)?
 

This comes out next week & I have it preordered. I'd have to cancel it by Thursday if it's full-frame, so if anyone has any info I'd appreciate it. Amazon & DvdEmpire have no specs at all. It looks like a Disney family title, so it might not be widescreen. I don't remember this as being exactly a family movie. Also, in the latest Premier magazine, one of the questions was for the name of a movie that was on HBO a lot in the 80's about a scavenger hunt with teams wearing different colors. Premier said it was Scavenger Hunt with Richard Mulligan, but I think it was this movie. I watched HBO constantly back then before cable & don't remember the movie they named, but I've always remembered this one. Michael J. Fox, David Naughton (American Werewolf) & Eddie Deezen (nerd in every 80's movie). I really hope it will be anamorphic.

My guess is that the transfer will be identical to the previous (full-frame) Anchor Bay release. This one (and Return to Oz) are getting quickie reissue by Disney now that the Anchor Bay contract has expired.


(And, I too immediately thought of this when reading Premiere. I actually think they answered the question incorrectly. Midnight Madness was all over TV for a while there in the early 1980s.)

This is a mystery, i checked Disney's website...they dont list any extras at all....probably will end up being the same as the Anchor Bay one, with a nicer cover.

I didn't even know about it being reissued!! If anything, it is an open matte transfer so I wouldn't get too worried. It is Disney after all, it isn't likely to be reissued anytime soon.

As for Premiere, I actually emailed them about that answer. They said they have been getting a lot of emails and would print a retraction in an upcoming issue.

Disney recently has shown a preference for full frame only on standard, low-interest releases. That would be my guess. Also I'm pretty pissed about the lack of extras on the Disney films coming out next week.

I just got it today & it is full-frame & mono, with absolutely no extras. The transfer isn't that great either. Oh well, I doubt it will ever get another release.

It's such a fun movie I might not even notice. It's not really a movie that loses much from being full-frame.



*I can't believe I'm saying this.*

Mine should arrive in a day or two and I'll be able to compare it directly to the Anchor Bay disc and let everyone know if it's the same transfer.

(It should be pretty easy to spot, as there is some obvious dirt/markings/etc. while the credits run.)

If it does turn out to be the same transfer, I'll probably keep the Anchor Bay edition, since it includes trivia on the flip side of the cover art and doesn't hype it as a "Disney" picture.

Is it this movie or another called 'High School U.S.A.' which I have seen at the video store from time to time,which involves some robot made by one of the smarter kids in the film?

I remember seeing it on tv as a kid years ago,but never knew the title.

I vaguely remember the ending involving a chase & they drive down some stairs in one of their parents cars. Meanwhile the ending has a 'recuring' joke where the robot pulls the preppies pants down embaressing himself,voila 'happy' upbeat ending.

Cheesy to say so myself,yet I am just wondering what the title was.

I don't think this is the movie you're describing Julie (Midnight Madness I mean). I don't seem to remember any robots being made. I think the nerd team wore white and rode around on mopeds.

My favorite line in this flick? "***-uh-beefy!" I forgot how he spelled it out in the scrambled letters....

No, that was one of the Michael J Fox/Nancy McKean romance movies (Poison Ivy being another).

Midnight Madness is about an all-night scavenger hunt.

I finally got around to comparing the (new) Disney edition with the (old) Anchor Bay edition. The transfers are, as far as I can tell, identical.

I didn't notice any differences at all, and at the very least they used the same source print. There is noticeable dirt splotches on both editions right after the title credit appears.

So, having said this, I prefer the Anchor Bay edition. There is trivia on the back of the cover sleeve. And it doesn't have a bunch of previews you have to skip past to get to the movie. The new edition is just too "Disney" for my taste. Disney didn't splash it's name all over the film during the initial theatrical release, and it just looks strange to me to have the "Disney DVD" logo before the film.

But, again, they're basically identical. No reason to upgrade if you have the original Anchor Bay.

Thank you.

I can't believe this got one release, much less two DVD releases. Not a knock, I love it and think it's great fun and tremendously overrated, just amazing to think it's even thought of 20 years later. I guess Michael J. Fox doesn't hurt.

It is definitely open-matte. I watched it on my 16x9 set with the zoom mode & it looked perfectly framed.

can't recall ever seeing this movie.

I got the new Premier magazine and there wasn't any correction for their question yet. I wonder if they will.