Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Is there a special edition of 1990's Dick Tracy?. I heard some talk about a "Vista Series" edition and then nothing. There were rumblings that Warren Beatty and Disney got into legal issues. Anyone know anything about this title?.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Nope, the 2002 release is the best one out there...and yes, I believe legal issues were to blame.
Nothing in the way of extras, but it's got great A/V quality.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

This and The Rocketeer needs a proper release...!!!

I take Disney is the worst studio to upgrade their film library. Once a title is out that´s it. We´ll never see any upgrades of older movies. What a shame.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Okay. Thanks!.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

The Rocketeer could get a re-release when Captain America comes out next year. Same director.

At least that's what I'm hoping!

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I'm not sure that would be the case. If so, we would have seen it when The Wolfman was released.

Although, since these are both superhero tales set around the time of Nazi Germany, it's not out of the question. I just find it unlikely. It's a shame, since I'd love a SE (or Blu-Ray, nowadays) for The Rocketeer, and Dick Tracy, too, to bring this back on topic.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

-confused-
That's not true at all, Disney has had PLENTY of double dips:
Snow White, Dumbo, Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats, Winnie The Pooh, The Fox And The Hound, Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, Toy Story (1 & 2), A Bug's Life, Mary Poppins, 101/102 Dalmatians (live action), etc. etc. etc.........

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

They rerelease their hits. But let the rest of the catalogue rot. Dick Tracy and Rocketeer weren't hits.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

You just named off films under the actual Disney banner. Movies by Touchstone and such get the shaft. One that was long overdue was Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The days of double dipping for movies like this are pretty non-existent.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

yes i know.

because if you actually live on planet earth and i'm sure most of you here in this message board don't then this is what gonna happen:

Warren Beatty and Disney resolve all the legal issues then there's going to be a Dick Tracy reboot directed by Michael Bay starring Lady Gaga then they are gonna release a SE of the 1990 Dick Tracy on Blu a long with DVD+digital copy with lenticular slipcover then they are gonna reissue all the Dick Tracy series boxsets then they are gonna make a spin off TV series starring The Jonas Brothers...etc

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Absolutely true. I could name a bunch of Disney-owned properties not released under the actual Disney label that languish on non-anamorphic DVDs in my collection and others' collections as well. These will probably never be released on DVD again. Of course, I would not mind a BD release of such titles, which would certainly be friendly to 16X9 screens, but that seems even less likely right now.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

This is the exact reason why I'm hopeful we'll see something around the time Captain America is released in theaters or later when it's released on home video.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Oh good grief, there have been plenty of double dips in the past for live action Disney owned (Touchstone/Miramax/Buena Vista) titles as well:
Pretty Woman, Sling Blade, Tombstone, The Sixth Sense, 10 Things I Hate About You, Air Bud, Nixon, Con Air, Enemy Of The State, Coyote Ugly, The Santa Clause, Bad Santa, Clerks, Pearl Harbor, Gone In 60 Seconds, Beaches, Splash, Remember The Titans, Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam, Father Of The Bride, Sin City, Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood, Scream 2, The Crow, The Parent Trap, Ransom, Reindeer Games, etc etc etc....

I'm sure EVERY studio has a certain title somebody wishes would be reissued, hell, Fox has never double dipped and provided us with an anamorphic SE of TRUE LIES, and that's from James Cameron starring Arnold, a title you know would sell WAY better than most....

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Actually, Tracy made over $100 million in the summer of 1990 when making that much did make you a hit. It didn't live up to expectations, but was not a flop by any means. Rocketeer on the other hand was a disappointment that was supposed to launch a franchise. Critics liked it, but it came out in the summer of 1991 when just about everything was driven by star power.

I recall that Beatty planned on making the Vista Series release more of a Director's Cut with a PG-13 rating and re-edited to seem more like The Untouchables than a cartoon.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

It´s very catoon-ish... so yes, albeit it depends ones taste. Personally, I enjoyed it very much, although the story is slow by todays standard.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Not to mention that Disney (owners of The Rocketeer) bought Marvel (the studio producing the Captain America movie). I don't think there was any chance it'd have been tied into The Wolfman because the audience for that movie probably isn't going to care about The Rocketeer or make the connection between the two movies.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed $103.7 million, which ranked 9th for 1990. There were some all-time hits that year - Home Alone, Ghost, Dances with Wolves and Pretty Woman were the top four. It was also nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three. I'd personally love a Blu-ray disc - I'm sure the colors would look amazing.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I've been waiting for Dick Tracy, not to mention The Rocketeer, for sometime. Here's hoping that they get a proper release soon. If it takes the release of Captain America to theatres to get them released, the sooner the better.


Scott

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

The production design remains stunning. They were doing the "looks like a comic book" thing without CGI, 15 years before Sin City.

For example, all the sets, props and costumes are limited to seven colors, with no variation in hue.

They also purposely limited camera movement, so there are a lot of static shots, forced perspective and creative use of light and shadow.

It's all to make it look like a cartoon strip come to life

From a filmmaking point of view, it's a really fascinating movie to watch.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I finally saw this on a big screen last year and was completely in love with it. We didn't have a theater in town in 1990, and for one reason or another I never managed to get my mom to take me to Louisville to see it during its theatrical run. Maybe because she hated Batman and felt she'd done her annual suck-it-up duty taking my brother and me to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In any event, I thought the 35mm print held up very well, as did the actual story.

Yes, a lot of major characters are reduced to cameos, disappointing long-time fans. And it's always easy to make jokes about Madonna, but you know what? I thought she was perfect as Breathless Mahoney. She sounded great on the Sondheim songs, and really vamped up the acting for the character...which actually fit Gould's creation.

And I live for the day that Beatty's once-planned VISTA series content sees the light of day. Hell, I was excited when I came across a CD single of Madonna's "Hanky Panky" at Half Price Books several months ago. (You're damn right I bought it!)

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

It would be incredible for a new release but it's disney.. don't hold your breath.. they very rarely open their vaults for movies instead of double dipping their animation department releases.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Funny, I just came across this CD at a thrift shop and bought it for only $1.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Slate.com has an article up about the movie, its release, and its forgotten nature.

http://www.slate.com/id/2255746

They reference some line from Madonna about peach ice cream that I don't recall. Anyone want to refresh the memory about that?

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I was inspired by this thread to put it on!

I agree that Madonna was perfect for that role. Probably the only time I've ever enjoyed seeing her in a movie.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I just now remembered the peach line and did not know what it meant at the time I originally viewed the movie. While I didn't think much of her performance at the time as much as her body, I will say that having seen some film noir in years since she really had the whole gangster moll character down. Probably her best performance (thought that's not saying much).

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Why wouldn't you just buy the "I'm Breathless" CD? It is actually quite good.

The movie was actually quite good on all levels. I never did understand why it didn't do better in the theater. The story worked, the acting was decent, the cameos were everywhere and the overall production style was just flawless. It really looked like a Dick Tracy comic. Disney released it as a "bargain" title on DVD but the picture is animorphic and includes a DTS surround track - which is much more than anyone could have hoped. Otherwise it is barebones. Still a great movie. I watch it repeatedly.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Geek moment/story:

As a huge comic book fan back at release, I was there on opening night at some theater in Arlington iirc. Had pre-bought a t-shirt that was the actual ticket getting one into theater.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I still have that t-shirt. :D

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I already owned that on CD, as well as Danny Elfman's score, the various artists soundtrack album and the CD single of Ice-T's "Dick Tracy." ;)

"Alright, let's see your numbers, Numbers."

Theatrical Performance
Total US Gross $103,738,726
International Gross $59,000,000
Worldwide Gross $162,738,726

Production Budget $47,000,000

It looks like the movie made most of its money in three weeks, then faded from the top 10 after another month. It was released 15 June, and only one other movie opened that week, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Otherwise, the top ten consisted of:

1. Dick Tracy - new release
2. Another 48 Hrs. - which opened the previous week and had been #1
3. Total Recall - 17 days old
4. Gremlins 2: The New Batch - new release
5. Back to the Future, Part III - 25 days old
6. Pretty Woman - 87 days old
7. Bird on a Wire - 31 days old
8. The Adventures of Milo and Otis - 297 days old (!)
9. Cadillac Man - 31 days old
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 80 days old

By Dick Tracy's fourth week of release, though, the competition looked like this:

1. Die Hard 2 - new release
2. Days of Thunder - 12 days old
3. Dick Tracy - 24 days old
4. Jetsons: The Movie - new release
5. Total Recall - 38 days old
6. Another 48 Hrs. - 31 days old
7. RoboCop 2 - 17 days old
8. Ghost Dad - 10 days old
9. Gremlins 2: The New Batch - 24 days old
10. Pretty Woman - 108 days old

Two things I notice. Firstly, Dick Tracy fared better than Gremlins 2, released the same day, as well as Another 48 Hrs., which had a week head start on it. Secondly, it was part of the June wave of movies which seems to have simply given way to the July wave. I don't know that anyone expected it to perform like Pretty Woman had (or that anyone expected Pretty Woman to perform the way it had), but it was #9 on the year-end box office list, and #12 worldwide. Not too shabby.

The sense that it under-performed came from Jeffrey Katzenberg, who publicly lamented that he felt Disney had spent too much money developing--and promoting--the movie trying to chase Batman's numbers from the year before. They did spend a fortune on advertising (reports vary, but some say they spent more promoting than making the movie), but I would counter that Warren Beatty's production budget was about 1/4 of what its worldwide gross was. That's a pretty good return. How far carried away Katzenberg and his executives got trying to chase Batman is their own fault.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Funny, this long time fan (well--I was 11 but had all the strips that were released in book form at that point and had read them a hundred times) thought this was one of the best aspects of the movie. I got a real kick out of picking out the rogues gallery as they appeared, even if it was only briefly. I'd rather see them for a second than not at all.

I do remember my inner geek moaning at the time about how they changed the Blank but I finally realized the movie version was actually more interesting plot wise than the strip one.

Can still picture Madonna from the neck down and the waist up in that black dress. :drool:

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

no shit! so do I

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Dude, I still have the teaser poster framed on my wall. I have the video release standee and the Dick Tracy badge. It's one of the films that I thought fitted the VISTA ideal perfectly.

The BFI in London had a comic book season last year and I went to see this again and it brought back some great memories.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Read that Beatty just won the court case over the rights to Dick Tracy so it looks like this could be released on Blu-Ray soon and he plans on doing more with the property (in order to keep the rights).

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I gotta tell you; when I got the e-mail about this thread just now, I was prepared to really be pissed at a no-news bump. This is awesome and very welcome news!

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Even without the actual announcement of a Blu-Ray or SE, that is very welcome news, since Beatty seems genuinely interested in revisiting the character...

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Would be nice to see him direct or even act in something, I think the last thing I've seen him in was Bulworth which is over 10 years old.

Has he been in retirement? Or focusing on other things?

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I don't think it's a formal retirement, so much as he just hasn't felt like acting in quite a while. But then, he'd had a prolonged bachelorhood until he got involved with Annette Bening. I think he's just enjoying the family life.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

I'd love a special edition blu-ray with a commentary and making of. The colours of the dvd are incredible. They're so bright and vivid. Can't wait to see what they'll look like on blu-ray. And I'd love to see a sequel for Dick Tracy. Maybe it could be in the late 50s or early 60s and has Dick come out of retirement to help catch one of his old enemies or something.

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

Remember when they did something like that with Indiana Jones? Do you want Tracy discovering aliens?

Re: Dick Tracy(1990) - Special Edition?
 

cool but long it will take them to make a SE now?..