Julie Walker

Those wasting insane amounts of money on this dvd are going to feel so very stupid,if this rumor proves to be true


http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/2....html#comments


So I think I will wait,and see what happens. In the mean time,I might as well order Ichi:The Killer sometime to check that out finally.

steebo777

Good news. Thanks Julie.

Mondo Kane

Yeah, thanks for the info JW. I never did get around to the previous release but I'm glad an improved version is coming out.

In other R1 Miike DVD news, Media Blasters is re-releasing Fudoh-The New Generation soon.

Heartagram

^ Didn't even realise that Fudoh was OOP.

Mok

How do we know that this release will be a Unrated Director's Cut ? Another reason everyone seems to be after the Out of Print copy is because it seems to be the only one unrated.

Julie Walker

Mok,I double Ventura would release an 'improved' 'SE' of the film and release it R rated only.

For one,it was released theatrically unrated. Miike would have nothing to do with a censored release. Also on previous Miike films released in R & Unrated versions. The rated release usually contained little or no extras,while the unrated did.


Of course you never know,what with how Lions Gate does things now. But I am sure the film will be released unrated only. Or both in R & Unrated versions like the original release.

So I am not going to bother wasting $100+ on a non-16.9 enhanced dvd,when a 16.9 version will be coming out. + most likely it will be the unrated version.

cajun_junky

Glad I waited.......the new release looks like it might be for real.

Thanks JW

emhello

After that Halloween special they'd be fools not to re-release this movie again.

DrGerbil

With new extras? I'm sold... glad I held off getting the R2.

iamOrokoSaki

The R1 is non-anamorphic, the only thing the dvd has going for it in retrospect to other releases would be the commentary featured on it.

Trigger

I have the R3 of this... DVDBeaver's comparison of the various versions of this says that the R1 is a whopping 3 seconds longer than the R3. They list the R2 (which is actually R0 PAL, but I'll refer to it as R2 to avoid confusion) as being 5 minutes shorter but suggests a 4% PAL speedup. Someone wanna do the math on that?

In terms of picture quality, the R1 has the sharpest image but is unfortunately letterboxed. The R2 version's image is anamorphic, but looks a bit muddy. The R3 image is comparable to the R1. It's also letterboxed, but it isn't as sharp. It does seem to have a better color balance though as the R1 at times looks too dark. Overall though, the R3 has the worst image (not that it's all that bad though).

Sound - the R3 is 2.0 stereo only, but it sounds good. The R1 has 5.1DD and 2.0. The R2 has 5.1, 2.0 and a DTS track (which is reportedly not that impressive) and is listed as having the best sound.

Extras - the R3 has nothing. The R2 has a few extras like an interview and whatnot. The R1 appears to be loaded with extras and easily wins this category.

Overall, they like the R2 but give a strong nod to the R1.

If you own an Xbox, the R2 will play in it since it is actually Region 0 and the Xbox can properly convert PAL to NTSC.

My thoughts on this are that they simply discontinued the individual DVD of Audition so they could include it in the Miike box set. People selling on ebay are laughing their asses off. I'm perfectly happy with my R3 which is why I never upgraded, but I wasn't aware of all the extras or that it would go OOP - so even though I have the other two movies that come with the box, I'll probably pick it up at some point.

DrGerbil

That is simply not the case, Trigger. The box set had been available long before the Audition disk went OOP. A rumor is going around that Audition may be re-released fairly soon (makes sense), but 16:9, so you may want to stick with the R3 for the time being.

Trigger

I found two shops that list it for sale - no idea if it is in stock and the price is pretty silly.

http://store.yahoo.com/abctoy4me/12227.html

http://www.buyritegames.com/product_...EN%20D12222-7D shipping is like 9 bucks.

Here's the box set - http://www.pricetag.com/item.php?id=116973

Trigger

yeah - noticed after i posted that the box set is a rare find as well.

DrGerbil

$80 for the box? Meh... i'd give the single disks a shot, as they are better deals.

Richard Malloy

I just want to chime in with some impressions, as I have (had) both the R1 and new R2 Tartan (came out last summer). As I understand it, Trigger, you have the R1 and R3?

Between the R1 and R2, I think the R2 wins hands-down. The R2's anamorphic transfer is the major factor, but the black levels are also much superior. There's a more natural color timing on the R2, whereas the R1 seems more bluish. I don't know which is more accurate, but the R2 looks better to my eyes, and in particular all the more naturalistic scenes. As for sharpness, well, they're both fairly well detailed, and I'd like to call it even, except that the smaller letterboxed image of the R1 may only seem sharper than the larger anamorphic image of the R2 (obviously, when I zoom the R1 using the entirety of the display, I lose video quality as a result of the zooming). If you've got a widescreen TV (or even an anamorphic capable 4:3 set), I don't think there's any competition: R2 hands-down.

Where in the world did these reports of poor sound come from? I read them, too. I was surprised to find that the DTS track of the R2 is my favorite soundtrack on that disc. It sounds much more natural to my ears than the DD-5.1, and easily superior to the occasionally wonky 5.1 mix on the R1 (which doubles a lot of sounds in the rear speakers in the same way that so many of those early 5.1 mixes on some international DVDs, not just from Hong Kong... many of you may have the "Twin Peaks" pilot DVD, which has some similarly wonky remixing).

Looking forward to the new R1 release, and I hope it's the best yet! So far, the best I've seen is the latest from Tartan. I definitely recommend it, but I'm sure there's still improvement to be found.

Rypro 525

any updates regarding a rerelease.

Julie Walker

From the Fango site:

"The company (Lions Gate) has another new edition of a disc previously released by others on the way: a fresh DVD of Takashi Miike’s benchmark shocker AUDITION, due in August. In addition to the ported-over extras from Ventura’s disc (Miike’s selected scene commentary and appearance at the American Cinematheque, photo gallery, etc.), original features will include a new on-camera interview with Miike and special introduction, plus a chat with original story writer Ryu Murakami. If negotiations pan out with Bravo, the DVD will also add on the AUDITION segment from the cable channel’s 100 SCARIEST MOVIE MOMENTS."


But I would be extremely cautious regarding this release. Do not go sell your unrated dvds just yet.

Given LG's track record with uncut unrated releases. It would be smart to wait and be absolutely sure this is the unrated verison of the film.

R & Unrated prints are easily available for the studio,but that does not mean that they use them. Return of the Living Dead 3 is a great example. Previouslly released on VHS & laserdisc in R & Unrated versions. Yet they chose to release the R rated version as a 'SE' on dvd. This was back in 2001,and they still have not released that,nor many other films in unrated versions,even if prints exist(at least in the U.S anyway).

Richard Malloy

It's not even clear whether there will be a new (this time, anamorphic) transfer. As it's coming from Lion's Gate, I tend to expect the worst.

asianxcore

good to see there is some news of some kind of re-release. extras sound interesting, but as others have mentioned an anamorphic release would be welcome. also agree that Lion's Gate has been kind of weird lately with unrated/rated releases, so I think I'll keep my copy of the ventura release.

why is it recently that Lions Gate ops to go the rated route? I was disappointed that the R1 release of Toolbox Murders had the cut footage as extras rather than just put it in, like the overseas releases of it. boo.

Cameron

good news

Josh-da-man

I don't trust Lion's Gate either, but has there ever been an R-rated version of "The Audition" released?

I know that LG tends to favor "rated" cuts when they're available -- such as with "American Psycho." (Which is also getting another release, though no details on which cut it will be.

Rypro 525

there is an r rated version of audition at blockbuster, where the scenes are there, but more off camera or so im told.

U6C84

I actually own this dvd...but don't even like it.

Julie Walker

From imdb.com

Many items deleted from the finale in the U.S. "R" rated version. Most items are implied, but in the uncut version they are shown. this includes close-ups of the needles put into Ryo's body, a close-up of the hypodermic needle in the tongue and a shot of Eihi discarding Ryo's dismembered foot.

An R rated clip of the foot sawing was shown on the Bravo 100 Scariest show where you do not see the wire touching the foot at all.

The R version is cut by two minutes and runs 113 minutes,while the unrated theatrical version is 115 minutes.