Universal 'Horror' (US BD) in September - Artwork added
05-08-2008 13:16 | 7104 views | Dave Foster | Show Backlinks
Universal Studios Home Video have announced the US Blu-ray Disc release of three horror titles on 30th September 2008. Priced at $29.98 SRP each or available as part of a Halloween Starter Pack priced at $59.98 SRP are the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead and John Carpenter’s The Thing.
Universal have so far not used region coding on their Blu-ray Disc titles and we expect this trend to continue, though officially no region coding information has been supplied. Features are detailed below…
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated Director’s Cut)
Land of the Dead (Unrated Director’s Cut)
The Thing
Regarding the lack of extras on Dawn of the Dead and The Thing, Universal's promotional material states that all three releases include U-Control "Picture in Picture" features that allows consumers to turn on one or more features at the same time while watching the movie, and that each title will also include the bonus features from the standard DVD release. While these standard DVD extras are not listed on the two titles mentioned, we suspect that the content will be presented via the U-Control PIP tracks, much like the recent Universal release of The Scorpion King that featured the DVD extras in the same way.
Universal have so far not used region coding on their Blu-ray Disc titles and we expect this trend to continue, though officially no region coding information has been supplied. Features are detailed below…
Dawn of the Dead (Unrated Director’s Cut)
- BD-25 Single Layer
- 1080P Widescreen
- English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- French and Spanish 5.1 DTS Surround
- English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- U-Control Tutorial
- U-Control Picture-in-Picture
- Feature Commentary with Director Zack Snyder and Producer Eric Newman
Land of the Dead (Unrated Director’s Cut)
- BD-25 Single Layer
- 1080P Widescreen
- English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Spanish 5.1 DTS Surround
- English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- U Control Tutorial
- U Control Picture in Picture
- The Remaining Bits
- When Shaun Met George
- Scenes of Carnage
- Zombie Effects: From Green Screen To Finished Scene
- Bringing The Storyboards to Life
- Scream Tests: Zombie Casting Call
- Feature Commentary with Director George Romero, Producer Peter Grunwald and Editor Michael Doherty
The Thing
- BD-25 Single Layer
- 1080P Widescreen
- English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- French 5.1 DTS Surround
- English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
- U Control Tutorial
- U Control Picture in Picture
- BD-Live Enabled
- Feature Commentary with Kurt Russell and Director John Carpenter
Regarding the lack of extras on Dawn of the Dead and The Thing, Universal's promotional material states that all three releases include U-Control "Picture in Picture" features that allows consumers to turn on one or more features at the same time while watching the movie, and that each title will also include the bonus features from the standard DVD release. While these standard DVD extras are not listed on the two titles mentioned, we suspect that the content will be presented via the U-Control PIP tracks, much like the recent Universal release of The Scorpion King that featured the DVD extras in the same way.
Comments
Member
Posts: 190
The Thing! Excellent news!
Member
Posts: 33
Originally Posted by chris21:
The Thing! Excellent news!
Hmm, it seems to be missing the rather brilliant 80 minute documentary featured on the DVD editions, as well as a load of other bonus material. Whenever I see 'BD-25' it immediately smacks of a half-arsed job...
Member
Posts: 72
Where are all the extras on Dawn of the Dead?!
They were all on the HD-DVD, so there's NO excuse! I'd been looking forward to this. Unbelieveable!
Member
Posts: 51
Rubbish Universal...absolutely rubbish!
Member
Posts: 76
This is terrible. Where are the extras? To say I'm gutted is an understatement.
Member
Posts: 190
Doesn't bother me. The Extra's will be on the DVD version I already have. I buy BD for the picture quality. Add to this the fact that when there are extra's on HD discs they're usually (always?) in SD anyway, and there's no problem.
Member
Posts: 205
Any news about Universal BD titles in the UK?
Member
Posts: 17
How does this compare to the HD-DVD release?
Member
Posts: 813
If you check out the HD-DVD specs you will see no PIP mentioned, it's likely the extras on the HD-DVD make up the PIP on the BDs:
The Thing: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62454
Dawn of the Dead: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=64964
Given that Universal aren't remastering these to make use of the extra BD space, BD25s seems about right. Even if it's a bit cheap.
As I personly prefer regular meaty documentaries to PIP (which is good in it's own right) I'm going for the cheap as chips Thing HD-DVD.
Member
Posts: 391
The Thing HD-DVD I picked up for £4.75 including postage from down under.
It has the 85 minute doc and worth getting if you can play HD-DVD's.
The pip might contain the doc cut up but I just do not know. The HD-DVD only loses out audio wise with a DD+ mix but its pretty good.
Dawn of the Dead, the HD-DVD had all the r1 disc's extras (and sadly as will this BD the strange cut "unrated" USA version zombie breasts and all that) and a very good Dolby True HD track which is rare for a Universal HD-DVD. I might be wrong but the only Universal HD-DVDs with True HD tracks I know of are Dawn of the Dead, Elizabeth The Golden Age(USA only), and the last Borne film(again USA only).
Member
Posts: 813
The Thing: If the BD doesn't have the HD-DVD extras it must mean Universsal created new ones for the PIP, which seems unlikely.
I'm guessing audio aside the BD will be more similar than it currently appears.
I think those are the only TrueHD Universal HD-DVDs.
Administrator
Posts: 2234
There are several more (at least) Universal HD DVDs with True HD tracks. Alpha Dog, Carlito's Way, Darkman, End of Days, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Inside Man, Pride & Prejudice, The Last Starfighter, Tremors etc.
Originally Posted by valmont_74:
Any news about Universal BD titles in the UK?
Other than the Heroes UK BD announcement Universal haven't revealed any plans.
Administrator
Posts: 2234
I've updated the news piece to reflect some new info on these titles. Universal have made a few promotional statements about the content, claiming that all of the DVD material will be included, and after checking some reviews on the recent release of The Scorpion King that was only announced with commentary and U-Control, something I think a few of us previously suspected now appears to be the case. On The Scorpion King they basically presented most of if not all of the DVD extras via the U-Control track, so while you can't easily access them from the main menu and watch as you please, they are at least on there. Maybe the same will be true for The Thing and Dawn of the Dead, though I'm not sure how that feature-length documentary on The Thing will work as PIP content.
Member
Posts: 205
"The Perfect Hi-Def Movie Experience" sounds almost as cheesy as "The Look and Sound of Perfect"... I wonder how they think up all those slogans. Why not do like Warner and just have a nice cover ;)
Member
Posts: 813
At least the English is better this time.
though I'm not sure how that feature-length documentary on The Thing will work as PIP content.
I'm sure Universal will try. As I said previously I tend to prefer meaty documentaries above all extras. I'm glad I went for the HD-DVD.
Picture in Picture is a cool extra but frankly old fashioned documentaries and commentaries are still better.
Thanks Dave.