Gizmo

There is no dedicated thread for it...

But for those wondering, Napoleon Dynamite BD is the extended version. The back of the case lists 90 minutes but its actually 94. I confirmed by watching by skipping to the end.

beebs

For those looking for The French Connection... it has been delayed to Feb 24th. Can't wait to see the reviews for this one.

-beebs

tylergfoster

So, Adam Tyner, the way you speak of The French Connection implies you've already got the disc and can confirm for absolute certain that this is what the film is going to look like in HD? Presumably French Connection II on BD is safe from such changes as well.

As for Napoleon Dynamite, the only extra I didn't see included on the two-disc special edition on standard DVD was an awesome sketch with Bill Gates that starred Heder and was created for Microsoft employees (it can probably be found on YouTube or some other viral video site). It'd be nice if it's on the BD, but I'm not holding my breath. It was hilarious though.

ali_b

French Connection 1 came out in the UK 2 months ago, so I'd say that the US disc is likely to be relatively similar as it is Fox here too

Gizmo

He was talking about the title in early January so he probably does not have the disc. Fox has been incredibly slow sending out review copies (I just got all 5 titles that were due out yesterday to review...yesterday! And I live 30 minutes from where they get sent out from) so I wouldn't expect a review on either French Connection until possibly after the release date. Just my opinion on the matter.

tylergfoster

Well, one can hope Friedkin stops being insane...

tylergfoster

If you scroll down on http://www.hundland.org/hd/ you can see several screencaps of The French Connection. Frankly, for all the fuss being made about it, it doesn't look AS bad as I was expecting. Certainly, the color bleed is awful, but at least looking at these caps I can comprehend why Friedkin did it because the film indeed looks colder and grittier, just like he wanted. I might end up repurchasing the DVD to have an alternate on hand, but I'll probably end up getting the BDs after all, because this is one of my favorite films.

tylergfoster

http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd...ction-the.html

This guy gives it an 8/10. Maybe someone at Fox got Friedkin to reel things back in quite a bit before the discs actually got pressed, or those were just caps taken from far earlier in the process...?

Giles

I love how at the end of the review it states:

*Note: The images on this page are not representative of the Blu-ray release.

so why include inferior screen caps?

Gizmo

So people can get an idea of the film (characters etc). Its a very common practice.

mdc3000

Dang, if French Connection doesn't look as bad as indicated earlier, I may have to get it...

Mr. Cinema

Someone on blu-ray.com spotted a new version of The French Connection. Could be the same disc, but the packaging says it's also approved by the Cinematographer. I thought he criticized the previous BD, so maybe this is a new transfer? The color timing featurette from the old release is not listed on the back cover.

E Unit

I was wondering what these new banners were for. Saw these as well. I'm not getting my hopes up French Connection is a new transfer, besides isn't the previous release approved by Friedkin as well? I thought Friedkin and the cinematographer were at odds about the transfer, so I'm not sure they both approved it. Unless as previously said, it's a new transfer. And the case artwork is different, it matches the slipcovers.

Shannon Nutt

Yes, the previous Blu-ray was approved by Friedkin...there's even a featurette on it. He changed the color palate to give it a more bluish/muted look.

The person who complained about the transfer wasn't Freidkin, it was Cinematographer Owen Roizman, who called the new version "atrocious."

E Unit

So the banner isn't lying when it says "Supervised by Director William Friedkin and Cinematographer Owen Roizman" - he supervised it, but was just pissed at the result.

Drexl

In the featurette, they show a before and after comparison, and you can see that they had a nice transfer before it was altered. Maybe that's what Roizman approved before Friedkin did his process on it.

Mr. Cinema

I don't think that color featurette is listed on the new version. But who knows if that's an error or if it's a hint the title has been re-done.

Mr. Cinema

The French Connection Gets a New Blu-ray Release, New Master

I'll be getting my copy tomorrow. FYI, this is an exclusive title at Best Buy. That link has a screenshot comparing the difference.

also, the newly released digibook version of Wall Street, which is also a Best Buy exclusive, appears to be a newly remastered disc.

RocShemp

It's about time The French Connection was fixed.

E Unit

Awesome, I guess I'll go find one as well now. Now I'm wondering if Wall Street got remastered as well. Probably only French Connection, which that in itself is a good thing.

JackBurton

Great news! I passed on the first release so I plan to pick this up today.

Jaymole

This is great news...I avoided the first release hoping that Fox would re-release this.

Just placed an order for this and Wall Street online.

E Unit

For those interested in Wall Street.

"All 4 titles are part of a new "Filmmakers Signature Series" Fox appears to be starting, and Wall Street and The French Connection have actually received remastered discs - as opposed to the normal double-dip style where it's the same old disc in a new package."

http://www.examiner.com/film-in-pitt...connection-bds

Gizmo

Amazing how all the insiders never know about tho stuff until it just appears in stores. How was this stuff missed?

E Unit

Catalog titles already released I assume. I'm just glad Best Buy isn't charging retail on these right now.