Did you know that Blu-ray.com also is available for Canada? Simply select the
flag icon to the right of the quick search at the top-middle.
[hide this message]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced The Bridge on the River Kwai on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD set, with a release date of November 2. This WWII classic, winner of seven Academy Awards, has received a 4K restoration from the original negatives, with newly-restored 5.1 audio.
The near-final restoration was recently shown at the Plaza Classic Film Festival in El Paso, Texas, and will be shown at the London Film Festival in October. Grover Crisp, Sony senior VP for restoration and mastering, spoke about Kwai with El Paso Times. Crisp said that the restoration gives back to the film "its original 2:55:1 aspect ratio," as the film had been "cropped and changed to 2:35:1 shortly after CinemaScope started." Crisp added: "That's another kind of little joy I think in doing something like this. We get to see it the way they actually shot it."
The gift set includes a 32-page book with photos and stories from the 1957 souvenir book, and replicas of original lobby cards.
All-new special features include:
Never-before-released archival footage of The Steve Allen Show with William Holden
William Holden-narrated Premiere audio with photos
There is no need to hope, Octavio The fact that Mr. Crisp is involved with this project is the best possible assurance you could get that this will be a very special release!
I wonder if they found the true stereo tracks for the film.......the stereo on the DVD's was remixed, and they added jungle and insect sounds to the soundtrack. I hope this is the true stereo presentation. Now Columbia, Oliver, Bye Bye Birdie and Funny Girl please.
It's all starting to happen for classic catalogue restorations to Blu-Ray. First Warner, now Sony. With The Bridge on the River Kwai now in the pipeline, along with Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India already released - let's hope Ryan's Daughter and Lawrence of Arabia also receive fantastic restorations and follow up as well.
@BigNickUK: Can't say yet, but Sony is usually region-free, especially where they own the video rights generally worldwide (as with Kwai).
Amazon UK doesn't have it up for preorder yet, but their placeholder page shows a different, albeit preliminary, cover in a standard case, which may please the swag & Digibook haters. (Of course, it may or may not come out in the UK just yet.) However, the swag in this one doesn't seem too out-of-hand, especially at Amazon US' current preorder price; Sony certainly isn't WB in that regard. And the Digibook comes in a box, which should be easier to handle.
i have had this in preorder for a while now. can't wait! plus i think the price is great for the classic it is, and the fact it seems like a very nice package over all.
It's less than $25, don't think it'll go lower but higher (like Doctor Zhivago), so might pre-order it...the whole thing looks just beautiful, now to wait for the best, Lawrence of Arabia.
EDIT: The image shows that the second disc is DVD, so it's to assume that it will be the extra disc found in the SD DVD edition, with the new features in the blu-ray?
Now all I need after this and Apocalypse Now are released are The Sting and Lawrence of Arabia. Then my life will be complete. Sorry to the Star Wars fans, they just don't compare. I once had a two hour long conversation with Robert Harris regarding his work restoring Lawrence of Arabia. His passion for film to this day inspires me!
Good that the film has been remastered at 4K resolution, will be presented at 2.55:1 AR and that there will be a standard mono sound track offered but bad that we have to be inflicted with non-standard packaging, a lame publicity book and lobby card samples that we'll only look at once and then put away forever.
IOW: Just give me the movie and the disc extras. The rest isn't worth the extra cost nor the storage space.
And to wrap up, where is Lawrence of Arabia? It's been used by Sony on their BD previews almost since day one. That is the film that will show how good BD can be for truly great films.
I've had this preordered for a few weeks now and I've been very much looking forward to it. It looks as if Sony is going to deliver the film with the treatment it deserves: restored aspect ratio; the superior a.v. quality that's become typical of Sony; a rich, insightful supplemental lineup on the discs (I hope); and lots of collectibles in an inviting package. And for a very good price (at least at the time I ordered it), all things considered. I'm happy to see these details.
Now, the studio needs to shift to high gear and release the many other classics it has in its Columbia Pictures library. A collectors edition of Lawrence of Arabia would be logical and welcome follow-up.
I wish studios would also offer a more basic BD that didn't have the collector's crap, and was in a simple blue snap case. I really don't care for the printed scrapbooks, tchotchkes and other junk they throw in, most of which is very cheaply made. Just give me the damn movie with some good extras, thank you.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
flag icon to the right of the quick search at the top-middle.
[hide this message]
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced 
Top contributor
