I think it was an extra on another release where he talks about never meeting Noonan until he jumps through the window at the end of the movie where he sees him for the first time. Between Live and Die in LA and Manhunter, I know he took some mental time off due to the intensity of those two characters. I actually miss Peterson on the big screen. He's always had a good presence.

The only extra on this new release I didn't quite get was Joan Allen. I guess it was an interesting character, but I really was hoping we'd see a Brian Cox interview more than hers. Not knocking it either way, I'm just glad we got more extras on this release. That's my main motivation for wanting to pick this up. I'm just going to wait for a good price drop or another sale.

Re: Manhunter

does the DC add anything to the story? i've seen the theatrical a long time ago, don't remember it well, but want to see the best version on the new CE, so which one do i go for?

thanks.

DC adds scenes to flesh out characters and motivations better. They appear in SD - and look it - but it's Mann's preferred version and I think it helps the overall story.

Scream just announced a 2 disc special edition of John Carpenter's The Thing. Coming out in September.

giggity!

Finally! I can retire that ancient HD DVD.

thats awesome news. I've been waiting on that for some time. Would be nice if they gave it cool packaging like the Nightbreed set. This is probably the best and most prestigious movie they've released to date imo.

If I was to choose Carpenter's best and most prestigious movies, personally I would put Escape From New York over The Thing. But it's very close.

Glad I read about this now because I've been looking at the options to upgrade my old DVD of this. One of the few Carpenter movies I don't have on BD.

So glad I return the Mondo steelbook for this.

That was my thought exactly.

Why are people saying they can retire the HD DVD, because of the picture quality of the current BD? Doesn't that mean you'll have to wait on reviews for the new release to find out the PQ is actually better?

What exactly does retiring a HD-DVD (DVD or Blu-ray) even means? Are you gonna hang it up the wall? Vow to never touch the disc again?

Ditto.

We're making an assumption, but since the HD DVD currently has the best PQ on the market a new 4K scan for this upcoming BD would conceivably make it the best available.

It means I'll sell it to Amoeba for $0.50.

It'll be sent to Florida with all the other HD-DVDs, wondering why it never hears from you.

I'm actually still going to hold onto my HD-DVD, and not get too excited just yet. Given Scream Factory's spotty track record in the encode department, it's actually conceivable that they'll screw up THE THING in some way (eg, poor compression, artifacts, or apply too much DNR). I wish I could just say in all honestly that their version of THE THING will blow the HD-DVD out of the water, this is not the case...

Still it shouldn't be too hard to beat the HD-DVD, but if I remember correctly, THE THING is indeed one of the best HD-DVDs ever released when scored for picture quality.

Probably give it to my father who I think still has his HD DVD player hooked up somewhere. (Mine's in storage.)

I'm assuming that Scream Factory's release will at least be on par, if not an improvement (ideally a significant leap!). They're remastering Midnight Run, another Universal release, so I'm hoping they're not using Uni's ancient master for The Thing either.

True. Anyone holding onto their HD-DVD because it has a better picture than the Universal blu-ray should not just assume that Scream will look as good as or better than it.

This is one release where I'd love an isolated score track. I don't think SF has released any BDs with isolated scores. The original Morricone soundtrack has been OOP for a ludicrously long time. The most recent iteration was as an easter egg on the 1998 Universal DVD. (I'm not counting the "re-recording" released by BSX Records.)

Speaking of Universal masters, DVDTalk's review for I Saw What You Did was critical of the image quality, which suggests that Shout used whatever Universal happened to have on hand. Is anybody familiar enough with Shout's output to summarize their track record with Universal catalog titles? Perhaps it's all based on projected sales, but are they generally known to commission new masters? I'm disappointed that it will likely be a long time before someone takes another shot at ISWYD.

I was actually impressed with I SAW WHAT YOU DID. For a 1965 Wiliam Castle film, it exceeded my expectations in both picture quality and movie quality. Where in the hell are the other Castle films on Blu-ray, THE TINGLER, 13 GHOSTS, BUG etc? Or have I just missed them all these years?

THE THING, on the other hand should absolutely be given a stellar release in every department. It's an A-list title, with a huge cult following (it's my favorite Carpenter film), and Scream should spare no expense or effort to do it RIGHT. At the mercy of Universal's print? Yes, to some extent, but with a top-notch compressionist and encode, much can be done.

There are two William Castle double features coming from Mill Creek. 13 GHOSTS/13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS and MR. SARDONICUS/HOMICIDAL.

We're fucked.

They just announced Metalstorm in 3D!

What's wrong with the BD?

Inferior transfer and I believe the extras are chopped up in segments instead of the whole documentary running at a clip. If memory serves.

Sort of how the Apollo 13 HD-DVD is better than any BD on the market.