From the Rock & Rule mailing list:
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Howdy do everybody,

Stephen here from Unearthed Films with some good news. We have a date
set in stone for the release of Rock and Rule. The release date is
June 7th 2005. If anyone wants to help, let the animation websites,
fans and mags that any of you suscribe to and hang out at know we are
a go for June 7th. Here's a refresher of what's in the dvd.

Rock and Rule Special Edition
New fully restored High Definition Anamorphic transfer in 1:85:1
An enhanced 5.1 Dolby track and cleaned up 2.0 Dolby track
The Making of Rock and Rule Featurette
Commentary with Director Clive Smith.
Intensive sketch gallery
Deluxe animated menu's
Restoration comparisons
Liner Notes

Rock and Rule Double Deluxe Collectors Set
New fully restored High Definition Anamorphic transfer in 1:85:1
An enhanced 5.1 Dolby track and cleaned up 2.0 Dolby track
The Making of Rock and Rule Featurette
Commentary with Director Clive Smith.
Intensive sketch gallery
Deluxe animated menu's
Restoration comparisons

Disc 2
CBC; Original version of Rock and Rule
The Devil and Daniel Mouse
The Making of The Devil and Daniel Mouse Featurette
PDF File of the script
Massive sketch gallery
Alternate Title Sequence
15 Minute workprint ending of Drats
Collectors Booklet

The dvd looks fantastic, Clive Smith helped us with the color
correction and said it looks awesome. It always feels good to know we
hit it on the head. Checked out the whole package and I do have to
say. I am very surprised it looks as great as it does. I'm not
blowing smoke in your faces either. I really do hope everyone enjoys
it when they finally get their hands on it. I pretty sure when you
see it, watch it and go over everything, I think you will notice the
time and effort we put into one of the coolest animated film of all
time.

I hope your all doing well and thanks for all of the support and well
wishes you guys have sent us over the last year. We really appreciate
it and we hope you enjoy Rock and Rule when it comes out June 7th.

Best and thanks,

Stephen Biro
Unearthed Films

I was just about to post this.


Good news!

Andrew

I am a big fan of both Cheap Trick and Iggy Pop (oh, and Blondie, too), so I'll definitely be picking this one up.

What is my most anticipated DVD right now, finally about to come out!

So many people are going to get introduced to this super-fun flick this summer!

Excellent!

So what is this?

From allmovie.com:

"A rock-and-roll singer searches for eternal life in this animated musical fantasy set in a post-nuclear dystopia. Similar to the earlier Heavy Metal (1981) in tone, this film attempts to incorporate mythical themes and mutant beings with music by Cheap Trick, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, and other popular acts of the time, with mixed success. Clive Smith's film was a disappointment at the box-office, but has since attracted a minor cult following."

Is it up for pre-order anywhere yet?

Not yet. Unearthed Films is just about ready to do an official press release soon. Pre-Orders should follow soon after that. They leaked the news out to everyone on their Mailing List at Yahoo earlier this week.



Andrew

I was just thinking about this film a couple days ago. I always loved the music.

I actually liked R&R better than HM.
Been looking forward to this one, it deserves a good 5.1 mix. I sold my VHS copy for about 80 bucks on ebay a couple years ago.
It's definitely fun, and the music is quite varied, but all of it is good. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, since i know rights/royalties/costs all have an effect on it, but I would think an OST for a film like this would be a nobrainer. I'll be getting the CE.

So, no Lou Reed video?

Never saw the movie, but I'm a diehard Cheap Trick fan so it may be a blind-buy for me.

I love that an obscure animated film that has been out of print for so many years is getting such lavish DVD treatment. That's why we love DVD. Can we really say that it's ever been in print? A retail VHS edition has never existed. I still don't know what to think of the fact that a studio that releases Japanese horror/grind movies is releasing this---kind of funny. Why the hell not. Good for them. Anyway, FAAAAABULOSO!!! It's about goddamned time.

Yes, it has. MGM-UA released it on VHS in the 80's. It was a hard video to find even back then, but it did come out.

It was in one of those oversized cardboard cases, that opens like a book. I found acopy at Turtle's for like five bucks. It was pretty rare, though, and I guess it was 'priced for rental' at first.
Still, I've definitely been looking forward to this release.

Yeah, it was released on VHS in the mid '80s, but it was always priced for rental. The video cost about $75 new.

I've owned two different versions on laserdisc, the MGM release and the Japanese release. The MGM showed signs of laser rot, was pan & scan, and had a very soft transfer. The Japanese LD was also pan & scan, and it had non-removable Japanese subtitles. They appeared to be different transfers, though -- I think the Japanese version showed slightly more of the bottom of the frame.

At any rate, I'm certainly excited about finally getting to watch this film in its OAR. June feels like such a long ways away.

That's what I mean. A lower-priced consumer edition has never existed. I remember that all VHS were like that back then, and in those big boxes. I still see them at some old video stores. I can't remember when videos moved from "priced for rental" to lower "consumer affordable" prices, does anyone know?

The laserdisc, which I'd consider a consumer edition, was only about $30 when it came out; unfortunately, it went out of print rather quickly.

Most VHS videos started out "rental priced" and became priced to own about six months later. Tim Burton's Batman was one of the first titles to be priced to own from the start. Unfortunately, Rock & Rule was never released at a "sell-through" price on VHS, perhaps due to a perceived lack of demand.

Currently available for preorder at Deep Discount!

regular edition: 13.19/19.95MSRP http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=UNE024382
2 disk CE: 19.79/29.95MSRP http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=UNE024392

That's a good price - $7 cheaper than Amazon.

Cover art:

Eh, as a member of the R&R newsgroup I can order it directly from Unearthed and get free shipping and some extra goodies. She can sing or she can SCREAM!! But she still pissed me off.

Rock & Rule Reviewed (with pictures!)

I received a screener of this but it turned out to be pan & scan and not remastered. Still, it's better than the LD, which has a rather abysmal transfer. Cannot wait until I can buy the proper version on DVD.

Nice review, by the way.

Thanks!

For what it's worth folks, spring for the two disc collector's set. The alternative version alone is worth the difference but there's soooo much more than that too.