mdc3000

Fuck...I love The French Connection but that looks fucking terrible... pass.

chanster

Looks horrible, I blame Lucas for a lot of this tinkering. William Friedkin - what can I say? The guy has made a lot of bad choices since his heyday. The amount of T2 reissues is really disturbing. Its had at least 4 high def releases (the Extreme DVD, which had a high def version playable on PCs, the French HD DVD, the English HD DVD, the U.S. blu Ray, the German HD DVD). Its a joke.

Adam Tyner

How is it a joke if most of those are from completely different countries?

chanster

Its a joke because instead of releasing other movies, they keep on releasing the same old movie over and over again. If you want to discount the other countries, go ahead, but there has already been a Blu Ray release of the title. Why not release new movies???

Adam Tyner

Was a Terminator 2 re-release mentioned in this thread? It's not even a Fox title. I think I read something about that coming out in the UK, but I haven't heard word of a Blu-ray re-release on these shores.

naitram

What does Friedkin have to do with T2?

Anyway, that shot looks terrible, I'll be sticking with the DVD if that's the case. Here's hoping he comes to his senses before molesting Exorcist like that.

chanster

Yes, T2 was mentioned in this thread, digitalbits says T2, Aliens and one other Cameron work will be released around avatar's release.

Adam Tyner

Jeff Kleist mentions in that same post that this is just a guess on his part.

LickTheABCs

That is just... ridiculous. I'm talking about the French Connection not for some reason T2.

IamLegend

wow that looks bad...does'nt anyone give "ahem" advice on this stuff?

Doughboy

Wonderful. I sold my French Connection 5-Star Collection DVD a month ago. Now I'm torn over whether to repurchase that or suck it up and deal with a sh-tty Blu-ray transfer.

What kind of moron intentionally makes his movie look like crap? This isn't like Animal House. At least on that one, it looked better than ever, but Landis just insisted it didn't look TOO good. Here, Friedkin actually set out to take a really nice DVD transfer and reduce to 3rd generation VHS quality.

PopcornTreeCt

I think I would wait for my reviews and more than just one screenshot.

RockyMtnBri

I'll be passing on French Connection if it looks like that.

DGibFen

I'd be fine with a T2 reissue if a newer HD transfer were used and the audio was bumped up to a lossless TrueHD or DTS-MA track(s). It's been remixed, what, four times now? Include all the goodies from the "Ultimate Edition" and "Extreme Edition" on another disc, as it would have the space needed for all of that.

Won't happen, though.

Doughboy

There are more than that single screenshot online and they all look horrendous. I've upgraded just about every DVD I have to HD-DVD/Blu-ray with the exception of House of Flying Daggers which reportedly has one of the worst Blu-ray transfers around. The French Connection will likely be the 2nd.

DVD Polizei

Jesus Christ, I thought that WAS The Exorcist.

With studios like these...who needs the Anti-Blu-ray Doom and Gloomers.

I just shake my head. Buncha fucktards. The most popular movies of all time...and they fuck it up. Leave it to studios to cut their own heads off.

If Toshiba is smart, they'll use these examples of how DVD looks better. And they would be right (in this case).

DthRdrX

Is there anything "in print" that actually says he is toying with the Exorcist? Just curious?

Adam Tyner

On the featurette on The French Connection where Friedkin explains this drastically revised color timing -- going down to black-and-white and then layering in around 30% of the color from the original -- he says he's doing this with three of his other movies. He doesn't mention any titles specifically , but since he started working on The Exorcist last month...

Friedkin has supposedly mentioned in other interviews that he's doing this with The Exorcist, but I haven't been able to find a direct quote.

The revised color timing is bad, but the way it leaves the colors smearing and bleeding -- like VHS! -- is terrible. The contrast is screwed up too. I don't care if Friedkin wants to go the revisionist history route, but make the original movie available in the highest quality possible too.

DthRdrX

Thanks Adam. I agree as well. I don't care if director's toy with their own stuff, but let us get the original version also.

Josh-da-man

I wonder what Robert Harris will have to say about the Blu-ray release of "The French Connection?"

DVD Polizei

Well, I do care if directors play with their own stuff. After all, they wouldn't do it if they knew they were the only souls buying the shit. Now, would they.

The best thing we can do is not buy this crap and be honest in the reviews. I'm not sure what particular hair grew up his ass, but he can play Director L'Extraordinaire et Eccentric in his own studio, thanks. Maybe pass around a few copies to his close friends so he can feel his mission in life is completed. Friedkin isn't a revisionist. He's a moron. The man was a talented director for sure, but how he got to this point is probably great content for another movie with supernatural mystery and horror.

clckworang

Those French Connection screenshots are really disappointing.

Looks like I may be passing on this one ... and it sounds like some others from him as well.

chanster

You forget that Friedkin, did have his own studio, its called Paramount and his wife was the head the head of it for a long time.

E Unit

For those who may be in Austin Texas for SXSW....there's a special screening of Office Space that will have Mike Judge and some of the cast in attendence.

Get your TPS Reports Ready: "Office Space" 10th Anniversary Presented by Fox Home Entertainment, SXSW Film and Fantastic Fest
Originally released theatrically on February 19, 1999, writer/director Mike Judge's OFFICE SPACE was well received critically but did not initially click with the general public. It wasn't until the film hit video and cable TV that it finally found its audience, soon becoming one of the largest selling catalog titles in the then-burgeoning DVD market. It has since gone on to become one of the biggest selling titles in Fox Home Entertainment history and is a modern day comedy classic.

In celebration of the film's 10th anniversary, Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing the film on Blu-Ray DVD on Tuesday, February 3rd. That following Sunday, February 8th, South by Southwest Film Conference & Festival (SXSW) and Fantastic Fest will co-present the ultimate OFFICE SPACE screening at the legendary Paramount Theater in Austin, TX, where OFFICE SPACE was filmed. This one-time only screening event will take place at 8:00 PM and will include special appearances by writer/director Mike Judge and members of the cast and crew to be announced at a later date. Additionally, there will be exclusive giveaways courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment, and co-presenters SXSW and Fantastic Fest have promised special OFFICE SPACE activities before and after the screening. If you are a poorly functioning office fax machine, however, you may want to avoid the festivities entirely.

Tickets for this event will go on sale at noon on Thursday, January 15. Tickets are available for the first 48 hours to 2009 SXSW and Fantastic Fest badge holders (instructions will be emailed to current badge holders). Tickets will be available to the general public starting at noon on Saturday, January 17 at the Paramount Theater box office or online at gettix.net.

A very limited number of VIP tickets will be on sale which will include a pre-event cocktail reception, a limited edition event souvenir, flair, an actual red Swingline stapler, and an after-party at Chotchkie's featuring pizza shooters, shrimp poppers and extreme fajitas!

http://www.sxsw.com/

DVD Polizei

That's great. But I was specifically referring to a special room, only located in his home.