The Robe: Special Edition - coming to DVD/BluRay March 17

[Escapay]

Courtesy of DVDTimes

Fox Home Entertainment have announced the US DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of The Robe (Special Edition) on 17th March 2009. An extensive restoration process that took over a year and half to complete, the newly restored edition of The Robe was collaboration between Twentieth Century Fox, the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, the leading non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation founded by filmmaker Martin Scorsese (who provided a film print from his personal collection that was used to aid the restoration process). The first film ever released in CinemaScope, The Robe was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Burton) and Best Cinematography, taking home two Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. Richard Burton stars as Marcellus Gallio, a Roman centurion whose life is forever changed when he win’s Christ’s robe in a gambling game at the foot of the cross. Directed by Henry Koster, the film boasts supporting performances from Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Jay Robinson and Richard Boone.

Priced at $19.98 SRP on DVD and $34.99 SRP on Blu-ray Disc, this Special Edition offers all-new bonus materials including a special introduction from Martin Scorsese, commentary by film composer David Newman and film historians and a behind-the-scenes featurette; plus the Blu-ray Disc is highlighted by over two hours of BD Exclusive content including picture-in-picture vignettes, in-depth featurettes such as The CinemaScope Story, vintage celebrity intros and much more.

DVD - Presented in the “Fox CinemaScope Version” widescreen format (2.55:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround, English 4.0 Dolby Surround and French Mono plus English and Spanish subtitles. Extras include:

* Introduction by Martin Scorsese
* Commentary with Film Composer David Newman and Film Historians Jon Burlingame, Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman
* The Making of The Robe featurette
* The Music of The Robe: Alfred Newman’s Score isolated music track
* Still Galleries
* Interactive Pressbook


Blu-ray Disc - Authored in BD-J with AVEC (MPEG 4) compression on a dual-layer 50GB disc, features include:

* “Fox CinemaScope Version” widescreen format (2.55:1 aspect ratio, 1080P)
* English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
* English 4.0 Dolby Digital
* French and Portuguese Mono
* English, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, Cantonese, Chinese and Korean subtitles

* Includes all DVD extras:
o Introduction by Martin Scorsese (in HD)
o Commentary with Film Composer David Newman and Film Historians Jon Burlingame, Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman
o The Making of The Robe featurette
o The Music of The Robe: Alfred Newman’s Score isolated music track
o Still Galleries
o Interactive Pressbook

* BD Exclusive Content:
o Vintage Celebrity Introductions by Richard Widmark, Susan Hayworth, Robert Wagner, Clifton Webb and Dan Dailey

o The CinemaScope Story featurette

o From Scripture to Script: The Bible and Hollywood featurette

o BONUSVIEW picture-in-picture mode:
+ The Robe Times Two: A Comparison of Widescreen and Standard Versions

+ A Seamless Faith: The Real-Life Search for The Robe featurettes
# Inspiration
# The Clothes of Christ
# Clothes in Biblical Times
# Clothes of a King
# A Seamless Garment
# The Robe on Page & Screen
# The Robe and Politics
# The Robe in Our World
# The Robe in France & Russia
# History vs. Drama

o Audio Interview with Screenwriter Philip Dunne (1969)

o Movietone News
+ CinemaScope Hailed by Public and Press
+ Broadway Hails The Robe in CinemaScope
+ The Robe (Christian Herald Award)
+ Millionth Patron Sees The Robe
+ CinemaScope and The Robe Win Oscars

o Trailers / TV Spots

o Poster Gallery / Lobby Cards

Region coding on the BD is TBC.

******************************

Whatever happened to the plans to include the Academy version with the CinemaScope version? That would have been a major selling point for me, as it provides interesting comparisons, similar to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in CinemaScope and Flat Widescreen, or Oklahoma! in CinemaScope and Todd-AO.

Otherwise, I'm glad this is being re-released, and the Blu-Ray extras sound exciting for anyone with Blu-Ray.

I wonder if Fox will give the sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators a new release as well.

albert

[2099net]

I'm a big supporter of PiP tracks, but I have to question the wisdom of this

"A Seamless Faith: The Real-Life Search for The Robe featurettes" being a PiP track.

It seems totally at odds with what may be happening in the movie, and I see no reason for it to be displayed while the movie is playing. It looks like a documentary which was made, and then later decided to split up and bung on as a PiP pop-up.

Hopefully the press release is wrong, and its just the comparisons that a PiP otherwise it's a shame, but while PiP can be effective most discs still aren't using it correctly.

[Disneykid]

Well, Fox has made PIP features available on their own outside of the film context (they did this with Planet of the Apes). Perhaps the same will happen here.

I'm just glad to see all these Biblical epics coming to Blu-ray. The Robe and Quo Vadis are confirmed, and Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments are coming at an unannounced date (Easter to coincide with the other two would be fantastic). Now if we can get 1961's King of Kings on Blu-ray, I think I'll cry. That film looks stunning in SD alone; I can only imagine how something like the Sermon on the Mount scene's going to look like in HD.

[2099net]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... fchat.html

An excellent chat transcript on the restoration of The Robe, which explains the time, effort and research that goes into such endeavours. I wonder if Marky will read it?

[Escapay]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... fchat.html

An excellent chat transcript on the restoration of The Robe, which explains the time, effort and research that goes into such endeavours.

It's definitely a great read and even though it's not really related to the restoration, I was particularly interested in the (brief) discussion of the 4:3 version and how that was also restored. I really hope that Fox does release it on its own, though they really should've released it in the SE and made it a two-disc set, like how WB released the CinemaScope and Flat Widescreen versions together for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (strangely WB didn't do this when they re-released the remastered Brigadoon, another Scope film that had an alternate flat version filmed. Then again, the remastered DVD wasn't packed with bonuses either, so maybe a re-re-release is in the cards).

I saw the DVD in a store and on the back it noted that "The CinemaScope Story" is included as an extra feature, so it's not a BD exclusive as originally reported.

I plan on buying the DVD (along with a few more that I have yet to get) once Easter comes around and my "no buying DVDs during Lent" is over.

I wonder if Marky will read it?

Why? It's not about a Disney Animated Classic.

albert

[my chicken is infected]

I don't really like that most of the good bonus material is Blu-exclusive. Not that I have much interest in this title, but yes.

[SpringHeelJack]

Why? It's not about a Disney Animated Classic.

Doesn't Marky Mark go to other forums and complain about other restorations too? I thought I saw him doing that elsewhere.

...or is he just complaining about "Pinocchio" everywhere?

[Flanger-Hanger]

Why? It's not about a Disney Animated Classic.

Doesn't Marky Mark go to other forums and complain about other restorations too? I thought I saw him doing that elsewhere.

...or is he just complaining about "Pinocchio" everywhere?

No it's Sleeping Beauty (which at first he didn't like, then he did, now he doesn't again), Cinderella, Bambi, you name it, he hates it.

I can't wait until he gets his Marky Edition releases that are colour faded, grain ridden, scratch filled, coffee stained, green circle, edge enhancement full and he stops bitching because they are somehow "right" again.

Besides, he won't see this thread because I doubt he cares much for The Robe.

[SpringHeelJack]

Something tells me even if there was a direct transfer of the laserdisc to DVD, Marky Mark would still be unsatisfied. He just seems like the type of person who just won't ever shut up. Maybe it's the threads he's started just to repeat the same complaints, or maybe it's the constant comments he makes with the same criticism in which he uses his incredible willful ignorance to block out any possible feedback, but something about him just gives me that feeling. Call it a hunch.

[2099net]

An interesting review of The Robe Blu-ray, if only for what it says about the Academy/'Scope comparison ability.

I don't see how this could be a BD-Live thing if its virtually continuous throughout the movie (as the restoration chat transcript implies).

Of course, being a Fox release it's most likely region locked (not that I can find out yet) and thus unavailable to little ol' me to check. Damn Fox. All my fears about Blu-ray and region encoding catalogue movies have come true, just because of them

ETA D'oh, I was so busy bitching about Fox region encoding, I forget to include the link!

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/36696/robe-the/

[KubrickFan]

An interesting review of The Robe Blu-ray, if only for what it says about the Academy/'Scope comparison ability.

I don't see how this could be a BD-Live thing if its virtually continuous throughout the movie (as the restoration chat transcript implies).

Of course, being a Fox release it's most likely region locked (not that I can find out yet) and thus unavailable to little ol' me to check. Damn Fox. All my fears about Blu-ray and region encoding catalogue movies have come true, just because of them

It isn't BD-Live, it's a PiP feature. And I really don't want it to be region locked. I want to buy this, but there hasn't been any announcements that it will be released in our region. I don't understand why they'd go through an entire restoration, and then only bring it out in America. Doesn't make sense to me.

[2099net]

It isn't BD-Live, it's a PiP feature. And I really don't want it to be region locked. I want to buy this, but there hasn't been any announcements that it will be released in our region. I don't understand why they'd go through an entire restoration, and then only bring it out in America. Doesn't make sense to me.

Hi - I've posted the link to the review now KubrikFan. That will teach me to post while seeing red.

It appears The Robe is region locked - see
http://www.axelmusic.com/productDetails/024543570080

AxelMusic test all their Blu-rays before adding them to their on-line catalogue.

As for Fox - I know some of these have been released in other European countries on region B, but their non-US catalogue releases are a joke. I'm still waiting for UK releases of::

DareDevil (finally coming in April!)

X-Files: Fight the Future (I refuse to buy I Want to Believe knowing a 2 pack will be available at some point in the future.)

Young Frankenstein (not released in the UK apparently because its a "niche" title, yet its been released in Italy?!? Surely there's more cultural demand for the film in the UK than Italy?)

The Day the Earth Stood Still [1951] (which was even officially announced, and then pulled, seemingly on release date! Of course, being as it coming out now when the shit "reimagining" is coming to disc, it means the UK release of the shit "reimagining" won't include the 1951 version.)

[KubrickFan]

Hi - I've posted the link to the review now KubrikFan. That will teach me to post while seeing red.

It appears The Robe is region locked - see
http://www.axelmusic.com/productDetails/024543570080

AxelMusic test all their Blu-rays before adding them to their on-line catalogue.

As for Fox - I know some of these have been released in other European countries on region B, but their non-US catalogue releases are a joke. I'm still waiting for UK releases of::

DareDevil (finally coming in April!)

X-Files: Fight the Future (I refuse to buy I Want to Believe knowing a 2 pack will be available at some point in the future.)

Young Frankenstein (not released in the UK apparently because its a "niche" title, yet its been released in Italy?!? Surely there's more cultural demand for the film in the UK than Italy?)

The Day the Earth Stood Still [1951] (which was even officially announced, and then pulled, seemingly on release date! Of course, being as it coming out now when the shit "reimagining" is coming to disc, it means the UK release of the shit "reimagining" won't include the 1951 version.)

It hasn't been tested yet, according to AxelMusic (great site btw, I always check it for regions of blu-ray's). I'm still waiting for confirmation on this title.
Well, we got The Earth Stood Still in the Netherlands, but the original mono track is missing. And the DTS-HD track is said to be tampered with (several sound effects are added to the film).

[2099net]

It hasn't been tested yet, according to AxelMusic (great site btw, I always check it for regions of blu-ray's). I'm still waiting for confirmation on this title.
Well, we got The Earth Stood Still in the Netherlands, but the original mono track is missing. And the DTS-HD track is said to be tampered with (several sound effects are added to the film).

But if you look at the back image it has a region A logo - the two recent Region Free Fox titles (Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine) don't have any region logo on back.

[KubrickFan]

But if you look at the back image it has a region A logo - the two recent Region Free Fox titles (Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine) don't have any region logo on back.

That really doesn't mean anything. I have blu-ray's that say they're region A, but they're region free. I just want it confirmed by either AxelMusic, or some other site that actually checked it instead of simply copying the cover information.

[2099net]

Region Free!

Axelmusic confirm that The Robe is region free. At last, Fox seem to be getting a clue.

[KubrickFan]

Yeah, I found out today. Ordered it immediately. I also hope Fox will keep this up.

[2099net]

Well, my Robe came today and is
Region A Locked!
I see AxelMusic is now reporting the title as "untested" - sadly I got mine from Amazon.Com so I doubt I can send it back - after all, Amazon did warn me.

What a disaster, and I simply cannot understand why Fox has done this - the chances of a region B release any time this year seem somewhat slight (its obviously a film which benefits from a release around Easter time) and, well let's face it, considering the other catalogue titles Fox UK insist on sitting on (probably while sticking their fingers in their ears and singing "La La La La" to themselves) I'd say there's more chance of THE actual Second Coming in the next 12 months than a specific UK release.

Bloody Fox. They and they alone are responsible for all my bad feelings towards Blu-ray. While other studios like Disney and Sony can (and do) use region encoding for their current release titles (and some catalogue titles) at least we know that they'll come out in region B land - Disney's even releasing "Miracle" over here - seriously, an Ice Hockey film? In the UK? A minority appeal film on a minority format. It will get about 5 people buying it. But as least we know it's coming. Not like the void of uncertainly us poor UK customers feel with every US catalogue Fox release.

Tossers.