I popped downtown yesterday afternoon purely for something to do, and by early evening I ended up in the neighbourhood where the Hot Docs cinema is located (Hot Docs is our annual documentary film festival, but the theatre, a former rep house, runs all year, although recent events mean they’ll be closing for the summer). I happen to check their schedule and ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE was playing, that night, one night only! I’ve seen pre-paid movies at this theatre many times over the years, but the last time a chance opportunity like this happened for me was way back in 2008, when I randomly visited the neighbourhood the night CORMAN’S WORLD was showing, and duly popped in. It’s nice when that kind of thing happens out of the blue.

So despite saying I’d wait for my box set to arrive, I couldn’t resist seeing CLONES on the big screen, and it had me grinning throughout. YMMV of course, and depends on how much of this kind of junk you may have consumed in your youth (not just the Bruce knockoffs, but all the other lower-grade HK chopsocky films). David Gregory, who spent the better part of the last decade piecemeal building this beast (which means some of the folks we see on screen have since passed on) deploys tons of well-chosen clips from the films – in varying quality, of course – many of which amusingly punctuate comments from the interviewees. The clips carry the original hokey English dubs, which is entirely appropriate as most of these movies were made for an export market that just couldn’t let the real Bruce Lee go back in those days, and the original Cantonese or Mandarin tracks are probably long gone if they ever existed at all. It’s really well done, and the graciousness of the Bruces and some of their costars (including Angela Mao Ying, who looks great!) has me itching to check out their many extended interviews in the box. All of these folks have pretty sharp memories of their glory-by-proxy days, and some are obviously a little bittersweet about it because their careers were fairly restricted because of the association. It was also nice to see Juan Piquer Simon’s PIECES put into context here as well (you may recall it has a Bruce in it too). I doubt the documentary will necessarily convert anyone into a fan of these films — after all, most of them are junk, albeit fun junk in the right frame of mind — but on its own it’s about as worthy a tribute to an oddball moment in cinema history as we could ask for. And actor and Bruceploitation expert Michael Worth’s memorabilia collection, particularly the original posters, had me drooling. Lucky bastard.

Almost forgot! I mentioned how much the CLONES doc made me grin, and while that started in little ways in the preamble before the credits, the first really big one came during the opening credits themselves, a colourful retro-70's animated collage set to the theme song "King of Kung Fu" from GOODBYE BRUCE LEE: HIS LAST GAME OF DEATH (1975), which is included in Severin's box. I'm not too proud to admit I actually taped this tune off of a VCR recording when I was a kid (most likely from Detroit's local late-night 'Kung Fu Theatre' show). I wasn't exactly a huge martial arts nut, but I loved funky/cheesy riffs like this. At the time I figured I'd never see or hear it anywhere else, let alone in a documentary 40 years later!

Unboxing video for the CLONES set. I’ve always felt Severin is a just a wee bit dodgy with the product illustrations for some of their boxed sets, with their designers making the boxes look a fair bit thicker than they ultimately are (as with the Black Emanuelle set), and in the case of CLONES maybe even a little bit taller. Still, the real set seems nicely designed overall, and all for movies that have been anything but rare during the entire home video era.

Another post about the CLONES doc here just to say that the bonus features are excellent. The extended interview bits total an hour over three featurettes: one with the participants discussing working methods at Shaw Bros.; another with them discussing their experiences working with Lee and their reactions back then to his sudden death; and another about the overall lack of preservation of negatives and IPs once the original exploitation period had passed, which is probably the saddest bit. Frank Djeng’s location tour of ‘Bruce’s Hong Kong’ is one of the better of its kind, even if it’s a little rough anround the edges, and runs 27 minutes and covers a lot of ground (with a slightly amusing cameo by Michael Worth).

Not sure if these segments are available with the digital release, but they add considerable context to the documentary. The extended interviews in particular are the bee’s knees because they mostly venture beyond Bruceploitation and provide great insight into the industry itself from the people who were actually there (instead of the usual cadre of gwailo experts presuming to give us the inside story.)

The commentary is solid too, and breaks down the lengthy production process across multiple countries. Part of the problem was the Bruces themselves, who had encountered so much fanboy fawning over the decades that some were wary of being used in yet another b.s. “interview” that might barely be seen. Bruce Le seemed to play hard-to-get the longest, to the extent that they basically constructed a version of the doc without him to prove they were serious. That convinced him to participate and he basically became the lynchpin of the whole film.

Remember I did post a thread about the Clones movie in Movie Talk. This thread is really about the releases.

Not everyone here reads physical media threads, so your comments about the movie could get missed.

https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk...ion-genre.html

I remembered it for sure but at three posts, including yours and mine, it didn’t get as much traction as I’d hoped it might (Severin’s very limited theatrical run probably didn’t help). As the doc is more of a Blu-ray release now and the set it’s part of was under discussion here for a while, I just went with this thread. I should probably repost there just in case.

SEVERIN SUMMER SALE TITLE REVEAL #1

OPERA

THE NORTH AMERICAN UHD PREMIERE
5 DISC COLLECTION
INCLUDES 2 RESTORED VERSIONS
WITH 10 HOURS OF SPECIAL FEATURES
AND SOUNDTRACK CD

It’s been acclaimed by aficionados worldwide as “his biggest film” (Bloody Disgusting), “a breathtaking visual feast” (Daily Dead) and “up there with DEEP RED and SUSPIRIA” (DVD Drive-In). Now experience “Dario Argento’s last full-fledged masterpiece” (Slant Magazine) in The Director’s Cut and U.S. Theatrical Version, both in UHD: When a young opera singer (Cristina Marsillach, in her career-defining performance) is stalked by a masked psychopath, she will be forced into a grisly aria of murder, memories and unimaginable torment. Ian Charleson (CHARIOTS OF FIRE), Urbano Barberini (DEMONS), Antonella Vitale (THE CHURCH), Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni (MOTHER OF TEARS) and Daria Nicolodi (TENEBRE) co-star in this definitive presentation of “one of Argento’s best” (IndieWire) – co-written by Franco Ferrini (PHENOMENA) with cinematography by Oscar® winner Ronnie Taylor (GANDHI) and music by Brian Eno, Bill Wyman and Claudio Simonetti – newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives at Cinecittà with 10 hours ofSpecial Features, a soundtrack CD and more.

Special Features:

Disc 1: UHD (2.35:1 Director's Cut / U.S. Cut + Special Features)
• Audio Commentary With Actress Cristina Marsillach And Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival (Director's Cut Only)
• Audio Commentary With Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento, And Kim Newman, Author of Anno Dracula (Director's Cut Only)
• OPERA Trailer
• TERROR AT THE OPERA Trailer

Disc 2: Blu-ray (2.35:1 Director's Cut / U.S. Cut + Special Features)
• Audio Commentary With Actress Cristina Marsillach And Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival (Director's Cut Only)
• Audio Commentary With Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento, And Kim Newman, Author of Anno Dracula (Director's Cut Only)
• The Eyes And The Needles – Interview With Co-Writer/Director/Producer Dario Argento
• Arias Of Death – Interview With Screenwriter Franco Ferrini
• The Eyes Of OPERA – Interview With Actress Cristina Marsillach
• OPERA Trailer
• TERROR AT THE OPERA Trailer

Disc 3: Blu-ray (1.85:1 Director's Cut + Special Features)
• Audio Commentary With Actress Cristina Marsillach And Ángel Sala, Head Of Programming At The Sitges Film Festival
• Audio Commentary With Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento, And Kim Newman, Author of Anno Dracula
• Don't Close Your Eyes – Interview With Film Historian Fabrizio Spurio
• The Opera And Mr. Jones – Interview With Alan Jones, Author Of Profondo Argento
• Terror At The Opera – Q&A With Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini And Lamberto Bava At Cinema Farnese (2006)

Disc 4: Blu-ray (Special Features)
• OPERA Runs In The Blood – Interview With Actress Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni
• To Catch A Killer – Interview With Actor Urbano Barberini
• In Any Language – Interview With Actress Antonella Vitale
• The Perfect Death – Interview With Actress Daria Nicolodi
• Blood Red Piano – Interview With Composer Claudio Simonetti
• The Eye Behind The Camera – Interview With Camera Operator Antonio Scaramuzza
• Flight Of The Crow – Interview With SFX Artist Sergio Stivaletti
• Blood And Latex – Interview With Make-Up Artist Franco Casagni
• The Gliding Camera – Interview With Steadicam Operator Nicola Pecorini
• 800 Sons – Interview With Press Agent Enrico Lucherini
• Preserving OPERA – Interview With 4K Color Correction Supervisor Karim Hussain
• OPERA Backstage – Behind-The-Scenes Video Created From Archival Footage

Disc 5: CD
• Soundtrack CD

*Exclusive Booklet By Claire Donner Of The Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies

Feature Specs for OPERA:

• Runtime Director's Cut: 107 mins / U.S. Cut: 96 mins
• Audio Director's Cut: English 5.1, English Stereo, Italian Stereo, Cannes English Mono / U.S. Cut: English 5.1, English Stereo
• Subtitles Director's Cut: English Subtitles, Closed Captions / U.S. Cut: Closed Captions
• Region UHD: Region Free / Blu-ray Discs 2 & 3: Region A / Blu-ray Disc 4: Region Free
• Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 (Director's Cut / U.S. Cut) / 1.85:1 (Director's Cut)

Opera is a great film. 5 discs-worth? I'm not so sure ...

Yea, Kurt, you're a basic bitch. Wait for the basic standard version. OK!

Four discs, sure. Five?! It's too much!!!

Would not surprise me to see the regular version stripped down to the UHD plus the bonus features disc.

I do commend Severin for their commitment to CD soundtracks.

I wonder how many more Argentos we'll see announced for the summer sale. Phantom of the Opera, The Card Player, and Sleepless are other titles that Scorpion had the rights to that are now out of print. Pieces may be another possibility, since Severin talked about acquiring all of Dick Randall's properties. My understanding is that Grindhouse acquired that one in perpetuity, but maybe that's inaccurate, doesn't extend to other territories, or something.

Unless they go the route they did with CEMETERY MAN, where neither of the standard editions (4K or Blu-Ray has the majority of special features that are in the deluxe set via a supplements-only disc. I’m not overly concerned about OPERA or those other Argentos because I don’t think they’re very good or worthy of 4-5 disc treatments, but I’ll give Severin credit for going all in and creating what might presumably be the last, most comprehensive editions of the films that buyers will probably see on physical media.

Interesting to see that release of MUMMY AND THE CURSE OF THE JACKALS. I actually had to look that up, and it really sounds like they’re scraping rock bottom, albeit respectfully. Multiple accounts and reviews say it was never finished in 1969, never released theatrically, and was dumped on VHS in the mid-80’s and forgotten all over again. Sounds like it ranks up there with star Anthony Eisley’s other 1969 turkey THE MIGHTY GORGA. But apparently Severin found the OCN, so there’s that. This is the kind of movie I’d watch in a Mill Creek 50-pack if it had ever been in one, or on MST3K if they ever did it, or on YouTube where you can watch it for free, but I can’t deny that Severin’s treatment does make it tempting. Plus it’s a two-film set:

The movie:

Interesting considering both recently became OCN partner labels. https://variety.com/2024/film/global...d-1236043787/?

Maybe the split is Severin = catalog and OCN = new releases?

Maybe I’m wrong but haven’t a lot of those titles in the news release already had Blu-ray editions? Or at least DVDs? I’d imagine they were probably barebones, though, or close to it, in anticipation of just such an announcement as this. I was actually just talking with the owner of the VS store here yesterday about the Shudder releases (I was picking up their edition of THE SADNESS) and how it was cool that Shudder released a number of their movies on reasonably affordable DVDs or Blu-rays eventually via RLJE or whatever it’s called (same for IFC really). I talked about always seeing them at Walmarts both up here and (especially) in the U.S., but we both agreed that a LOT of them weren’t that great, not to mention all the chaff they don’t put on disc at all. But the $12 - $15 price point they charged was at least reasonable-ish, and you can often find them even cheaper in places like Big Lots, or in used shops because people generally don’t seem to keep or collect them. This smells like they’re suddenly going to be normalizing them as ‘important’ or collectable somehow, and I’m not sure how much money I’d spend on that. Even THE SADNESS was an exception, as I’ll probably flip it eventually.

I think that is simply the reality of marketing independent horror films in 2024. Definitely more pricey for us as consumers, I was mostly content with the barebones BDs Shudder was putting out.