- archived news -

Old news stories live out their retirement here, most recent first.

May 1999, April 1999
March 1999, February 1999, January 1999,
December 1998, October / November 1998,
September 1998, August 1998, July 98, June 98

 

- 23/3 Kubrick moves to September, and Troopers double sided -

Those awaiting those promised Kubrick titles will now have to look to September, according to DVD Net. The Shining, Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket and now - oooh! - 2001 are all slated for a September 6th launch.

Other Warner distributed date moves include Emma, Quiz Show, Pete's Dragon and Pret a Porter to 28th June, Little Voice, Yellow Submarine and Lolita to September, The Exorcist to 25th October, and in November, Jack Frost comes out on the 15th, Swiss Family the 20th and Arachnophobia (the one film in the world that I will never, ever, watch) arrives on the 29th. The King and I has been dropped.

And now for the really bad news, schlock fans - Warner Distribution are said to have admitted that Starship Troopers is double sided. Having thrown precious facilities stupidly at the 94 minute Snake Eyes, Buena Vista seem to excel at being the most disorganised, amateurish company dabbling in DVD anywhere in the Western World. Congratulations boys and girls - this is an accolade you have definitely earned, but at least you've more than played your part in reducing the viability of regional coding. From all of us here in region 2 - thanks.

All this info is courtesy of DVD Net, and is yet to be independently confirmed by the studios themselves.

- 20/5 Carry On Carlton -

It had to happen - Carry On is coming to DVD. And the first one is your chance to do what you never could with the BBC airings - the slo-mo (sorry Babs) - yes, it's Carry On Camping. Better still for series fans, the disc comes complete with the 40th Anniversary documentary "What's a Carry On?" and biographies.

Also released on July 12th is Kenneth More's WW2 epic Reach for the Sky with the original 1955 trailer and biogs, and also coming up around that time is John Thaw in Goodnight Mister Tom. Note also that Carlton have now decided to embrace the growing hard of hearing DVD community (the format recieved a rave on a recent BBC programme for the deaf), and closed captions are included with the Carry On and Reach For The Sky movies.

- 18/5 Enemy of the State and many more... -

Warner and Buena Vista have announced their official July line up, and a more impressive bunch it is than May or June, even without the Kubrick films. Kicking things of on 12th is the first of three new day and daters, the Will Smith / Tony Scott actioner Enemy of the State (no further details as yet). The 19th has another - Practical Magic, which is a veritable special edition - it features a commentary (by Sandra Bullock, director Griffin Dunne, producer Denise Di Novi and composer Alan Silvestri), "Making Magic" and "Casting the Spell" featurettes and a TV trailer (2.35:1 DD 5.1).

On the 26th we have a slew of releases. Straight to DVD (is this a new type of movie?!) and rental video, Warner have the Paul "Event Horizon" Anderson / Kurt Russell movie Soldier (2.35:1 and DD 5.1) - also Presumed Innocent (1.85 not anamorphic and DD 2.0), The Bodyguard (1.85:1, DD 2.0), Camelot (2.35:1, DD 5.1 and dual layer), and New Jack City (1.85:1 and DD5.1). BV have the long awaited The English Patient, plus What's Love Got To Do With It, Turner and Hooch, Honey I Shrunk the Kids and The Adventures of Huck Finn - no further details on these.

- 15/5 Elizabeth and Metallica details -

Released on Monday 17th May, more details are now in on two very impressive sounding, technically pioneering discs from Polygram.

The multi-award winning Elizabeth arrives complete with 24 minutes of extras, including interviews with cast and crew, The Making of Elizabeth and behind the scenes footage. The disc is also set to employ seamless branching, and will contain video segments from 3 countries (see 13/4). RRP is £17.99.

At the other end of the artistic sensibility spectrum, Metallica: Cunning Stunts will be a 2 disc set, retailing for a price record breaking £29.99. The main concert (recorded in Forth Worth, Texas), is 2hrs 20 minutes, and features three songs with DVD's little used multiple camera angle facility - these are the Spinal Tapesque sounding Ain't my Bitch, For Whom the Bell Tolls and Wherever I May Roam. In addition to this, there is another 35 minutes of extra material, including band interviews, a documentary and behind the scenes footage. The Dolby Digital disc also has full motion menus and a photo gallery with almost 1,000 photos from every stop of the tour. If you like Metallica, this is clearly a must buy at any price.

- 15/5 Tarantino fans beware! -

Following the 7/5 news story, it has emerged that both the Spanish Tarantino discs and The English Patient have subtitles which can not be turned off when listening to the English soundtrack. Darn it - thanks to Juanjo Garcia for the tip off.

- 15/5 Philips DVD for £239 -

Giving Samsung some serious competition, the ever excellent Richer Sounds are now selling the Philips DVD-930 for £239 (including a "free remote"!!!) Further, Hyper Fi in Essex are flogging the well regarded Panasonic A350 for £299 - Richer match this price if an amp over £200 is also bought.

- 13/5 Columbia / Universal titles to year 2000! -

Movies, DVD & That has got hold of the video distributors' release schedule from Columbia Tristar Distribution, listing European and UK titles slated until March 2000. It should be emphasised that ALL titles are subject to change and alteration, and the further forward it gets, the more prone to error. Nevertheless, there are countless nuggets of info, with many of the more imminent titles complete with format and extra feature details. The full table is available here, and is a large download - for those with slow net access, here are the highlights:

14th June has Babe released - yay! - in widescreen (the US version is pan & scan). Indeed, all the rest of the next wave of Universal titles are Widescreen (and the same list covering current releases DOES have Sea of Love and Twins as Full Frame, in case anyone was wondering), and there are no flippers - it's single side and / or dual layer all the way. Woo hoo!

Casino is out on 1st July, dual layer, widescreen and 5.1, while the 19th has a day and date release of The Opposite of Sex, complete with director's commentary and deleted scenes, and Bad Boys with a featurette and 2 music videos. Anyone wanting an explanation for the fiasco that IS Hudson Hawk can get it on 26th July, where director Michael "Heathers" Lehmann tells all.

But the fun really starts in August, shaping up to be the biggest DVD month yet. Meet Joe Black kicks things off complete with an "on location" report, along with BOTH versions of Psycho on 2nd August. The real day to mark on your calendars is the 16th though - whip out your plastic for the very sexy Out of Sight, Shakespeare in Love, Apollo 13, Dragonheart and The River Wild. A week later come day and date releases of Urban Legend and Stepmom, but Jean Claude fans beware - Columbia's rights to Double Impact expire in September, so buy now if you must.

There's plenty more after that, including Dr Strangelove, One True Thing and Patch Adams in September, the acclaimed Brit com Still Crazy, Ghostbusters I and II (no details yet), Cape Fear, The Mask of Zorro (note this has been delayed), and a day and date 8mm in October. The Desperado / El Mariachi double bill and Apt Pupil arrive in November, and... there's so much more, you'll just have to trawl through it all for yourselves.

The next few months in particular are very impressive, and doubtless as time goes on, more details will emerge regarding later in the year. Well done chaps and chapesses - let's just hope Universal start piling on the extras now...

- 13/5 Titles Withdrawn -

Following the acquisition of the pre-96 Polygram library by MGM, Fargo, Dead Man Walking and the Usual Suspects will be withdrawn from sale by Polygram / Universal on 30th June. The rights for these titles will go to MGM, but it is yet unknown when or if they will be re-released, and what features they might contain. Is this our chance to finally get a decent version of the Usual Suspects?

In the mean time, if you want copies of the other two, perfectly respectable discs, buy quick, 'cos when they sell out, they won't be replaced.

Also on the Polygram / Universal axis, the company have stated that they will not be handling Universal DVDs for 3 years - Columbia will distribute them until this time.

- 10/5 June Universal / Columbia details -

The latest info is in from Columbia distribution regarding June's slate of discs - Columbia themselves continue to excel, while there is still no sign of any kind of sense out of Universal. 7th June has a widescreen Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola's version), which includes a documentary "Dracula: The Man, The Myth, The Legend", costumes, trailer and filmographies, while The Big Chill includes a "Making Of" documentary, deleted scenes, filmographies and is also widescreen. 14th June has Babe (no features), Backdraft (production notes) and Liar Liar (notes and trailer), and 21st sees the unfortunately topical Twister (trailer and notes), and - appropriately enough - In God's Hands. 28th June is Waterworld (trailer and notes), The Mirror has Two Faces (widescreen, featurette, trailer & filmographies), and Little Women (widescreen, featurette, filmographies and trailer). All other titles are unknown as to their widescreen status or sound formats.

Of Universal's first 4 discs, only Daylight and Dante's Peak are in widescreen, with both Sea of Love and Twins in Pan & Scan. So far, Universal have given European consumers every reason to continue to import US discs - a situation which will continue until they put their discs where there promises are. Look for Apollo 13 (possibly in September) as the big test - Columbia's European crunch came with As Good as it Gets, and they eventually delivered a fine disc. Will Universal's Apollo 13 reflect the superb special edition sold in the US, or will they continue to encourage region hacking? Funny how many of the studios - who came up with the idea of regional coding - seem so keen to see the system fail.

- 7/5 Region 2 Tarantino fest -

This could be an expensive month for Tarantino fans - Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms and From Dusk till Dawn are released by Laurenfilms in Spain, along with The English Patient. Better still, it appears that all titles are widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1, and the longer ones are - deep breath - dual layer. Jackie Brown has interviews with De Niro & Tarantino, and Four Rooms has a deleted scene from Tarantino's section. This, of course, is a right royal stuffing for Buena Vista, who have butchered some of these titles for the UK market.

I also see that Lee at the DVD Debate is reporting a French version of Armageddon which is dual layer and anamorphic. We're slipping well behind here in the UK, aren't we? Head over to the European Resource Page for links to purchase any of these discs.

- 6/5 Blockbuster increase rental fees -

Rather than doing the decent thing and dropping prices to attract new custom, mega chain Blockbuster Video have increased their rental fees to £4 for 2 nights for new release product. This is in contrast to £3.50 for an overnight rental of a VHS, and £16-£20 to buy outright.

The sales person I spoke to in one branch today cited A Perfect Murder as an example of the insanity of this policy - they had sold out of discs to buy, but had barely had one rental since the film's release. As he said, with results like these, they should be dropping the price back again before long. It goes without saying - don't pay this kind of money for one measly rental, since it only encourages them.

- 6/5 Heavenly Creatures descend -

According to DVD File, there is a French release of the truly astounding Heavenly Creatures coming in June. Anyone with more info on one of Kate Winslet's finest hours, please e.mail.

- 6/5 Date chaos -

Er, sorry - all the dates for news items went screwy for a while, and I only just noticed. Big sorry to those who thought I was even lazier than I am, and hadn't updated for a month...

- 5/5 Our cries have been heard! -

While the studios still keep the prices high, a couple of retailers have made significant steps to offsetting them. Sponsors of this very site, DVD Plus, held a "10 for 10" promotion at the weekend, with Gattaca and The Replacement Killers - along with 8 others - flying through people's mailboxes for half price - £10 a throw. Although this promotion is now over, keep a look out for other similar offers very soon, and a couple of discs buried in their website somewhere for - NO! - five quid. Happy hunting.

Meanwhile, that nice WH Smiths have stated a "Buy one, get one half price" promotion for all DVDs. This is, obviously, one helluva offer, and apparently lasts all month. Thanks to Andrew Lee for the tip off.

- 5/5 Kubrick postponed -

Following the news story on 28/8, Warners have stated that the Kubrick discs have been postponed for the time being. More news as and when.

- 3/5 Recordable DVD by year's end for $250?!!! -

That's the tip from a new US industry report, compiled by investment company Nationsbanc Montgomery. As well as predicting more phenomenal growth of disc and player sales (and a new entry level price of $199), Variety magazine summarised that "Player sales also are expected to be fueled this gift-giving season by the introduction of recordable DVD devices from major manufacturers for as low as $250", referring to the Christmas 1999 period.

While the future of recordable digits looks pretty certain to be hard disc based, there will almost certainly be a place for recordable DVD for (among other things) archiving purposes.

- 3/5 Total DVD out now -

Sorry for the delay, but the mag is now out at a High Street near you.

If you have any general feedback on likes or dislikes of the magazine, now is the time to make your thoughts known! The powers that be are to asses the magazine's future direction soon. Drop us a line.

- 28/4 New Starship Troopers and other dates -

Word from sponsors DVD Plus is that Starship Troopers now has a 7th of June date, while A Life Less Ordinary is pushed back to July. Music titles I noticed changed on a recent release sheet were The Corrs, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and Rod Stewart all back to June 14th, while Alanis Morissette and Tap Dogs go to May 24th and George Michael unzips on May 31st. Other forthcoming movie dates (tentative) - July 7th could be Kubrick day with The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Barry Lyndon, Enemy of the State goes day and date on July 12th, You've Got Mail on 16th August and Clint classics Pale Rider, Dirty Harry, Outlaw Josey Wales and The Gauntlet are all tentative for 23rd August.

- 28/4 Red Corner special edition -

MGM may not be prolific, but they are good - Red Corner is released on June 21st with director's commentary, trailer and lovely booklet. The film is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is in anamorphic widescreen - aspect ratio 16:9. Not that this has UK only sound and subtitles - is this a BBFC cut movie?

- 27/4 Vivante launch audio DTS -

UK audio specialists Vivante have picked up UK rights to DTS audio DVDs, which will be launched here in June. A full list of products will appear shortly - in the mean time, it is worth clarifying that the company DO NOT have rights to any movies at this time.

For those who do not yet know, Universal's US DTS discs will play on a region 2 machine.

- 26/4 BMG move into movies -

Video label BMG - who have so far mainly released only music video titles onto DVD - have announced their latest batch of movie titles. The first couple are due on June 7th, and are Escape from New York (widescreen) and The Evil Dead 2. On June 28th comes Manhunter (widescreen), The Graduate (widescreen), Flash Gordon and Raw Deal. Look to August (exact date TBC) for Dawn of the Dead. All their movies are to priced at £15.99.

- 26/4 More from VCI -

VCI have hinted at some more titles to look out for before the end of the year. Look out for Anna Friel in Land Girls, Hellraiser 3 (please, no), and three critically acclaimed Brit flicks - Secrets and Lies, My Name is Joe and the controversial Hillary and Jackie (all dates TBC).

- 25/4 FACT move to ban PERSONAL importing? -

At the risk of starting a nationwide riot, Dave Taylor is reporting that FACT are moving to ban all personal importing of US video product. The source apparently comes from Laser Enterprises - themselves in a court case for selling US discs - who have been informed of the move.

Now, before any actual violence is committed, this should be taken with not just a pinch, but a while sack of salt. Think about it for a second - ALL personal importing would have to include buying stuff on holiday and, more importantly, there would be no legal grounds for differentiating between video and any other product - books, equipment, baby dummies, anything. It would effectively end ALL global mail order and Internet trade in this country, and would require a radical change in the law (FACT are a regulatory body, not a government organisation). Suffice it to say that wars between countries have started from less - people DON'T MESS with US free trade.

At the moment, there are two clear(ish) principles which govern imports - obscene material, and reselling material not copyrighted for the UK. Personal importing of regular movies has nothing to do with either of these areas. What is probably at work is FACT attempting to stop so called "Personal Importation Services" that many UK retailers enjoy - the process by which they can get around reselling US discs. This is more of a legal grey area.

For now, don't panic, and watch the websites this week. You can be sure there'll be plenty more on this one.

You can visit Dave Taylor's Melon Farmers website to see his piece on the FACT development. Thanks to Andrew Gintilli for pointing me in its direction.

- 22/4 Universal clarify position on region 2 -

Universal Home Video in the US have clarifies the position with regard to special editions here in the UK. Take a look at what they have to say in the news section of Home Cinema Choice Online.

- 22/4 Total DVD on the way at last! -

Hey, I know you've all been patient. The long awaited issue three of Total DVD is at the printers as you read this, and should be on shop shelves at around the end of the month.

Meanwhile the new magazine DVD Review has been launched. Very pretty and satisfyingly thick (insert cheap actress jibe here), it is a great introduction for DVD newbies (unlike the absolutely dreadful What DVD). Since Total DVD covered all the basics 5 months ago, issue three will be moving on to pastures new - look out for in depth features on how VCI manage on a staff of one, thrill to a head to head between 10 region 1 and 2 discs, and gawp at secret transcripts on what exactly goes on behind Buena Vista's closed doors, amongst many other things...

- 15/4 First Universal titles featureless -

It's official - despite early hopeful noises, Europe has once again become the regional dumping ground for DVD with Universal's first batch of titles, released through Columbia Tristar. The first four - Dante's Peak, Sea of Love, Daylight and Twins, include two US special editions which helped stretch the format in the early days Stateside. The titles are released here on 17th May (note - this is a week later than previously thought), and each contain production notes, filmographies and trailers only.

Meanwhile, Columbia's next wave includes the classic Midnight Express, which includes a "making of" featurette, released in mono and 16:9 on 24th May. Before then, Screamers and Flatliners are due on April 17th (although the wonderfully creepy Flatliners has in fact already hit shop shelves), while The Cable Guy (16:9 - but not necessarily anamorphic, according to the packaging - and DD 5.1) and Nowhere to Run (16:9 and DD 2.0) street on the 10th May.

- 15/4 Full Warner / Buena details for May / June -

Full details are now in for the next two months of Warner Distribution product. And a jolly uninspiring bunch they are.

The two biggest films are Nicolas Cage's Snake Eyes, and the superb The Negotiator - one of the few exceptions to the generally poor quality standard. This is possibly the most underrated action film of the last 10 years, and almost deserves Die Hard status in my book. Go buy!!! Both of these are confirmed as dual layer, with Snake Eyes being the first such disc from everyone's least favourite supplier Buena Vista. The May 10th release will be 2.35:1. DD 5.1 but as usual is otherwise featureless.. The Negotiator is accompanied by a 15 minute "on location" documentary, but be warned - if this is the same as the US one, it is very, very dull. No mention either of the "Real Life Negotiator" supplement, but again it ain't too much of a loss. The title is 2.35:1, and DD 5.1.

What is alarming is that The Negotiator is the olny disc in the entire package to have any extras on at all beyond production notes. There is also no mention of more dual sided releases with widescreen and pan / scan alternatives. And most important of all - look at those titles! Operation Dumbo Drop? Caddyshack? Pete's Dragon?!!! Come on guys, you really have to do better than this. Warner seem to be slipping badly here after their early strong commitment. At least they promise a big marketing push, with (among other things) a generic DVD trailer on the front of all new VHS rental releases from now on.

Here's a full list of titles and dates - all movies widescreen unless otherwise stated. 10th May - Snake Eyes; 24th May - Demolition Man, Assassin, Executive Decision (dual layer), The Glimmer Man, Purple Rain, Dead Presidents, The Rocketeer, White Fang, Aladdin - King of Thieves (4:3), Mrs Brown, Scream 2, The Love Bug (4:3), Pete's Dragon (4:3), Emma; 14th June - The Negotiator; 21st June - National Lampoon's Vacation; 28th June - Private Benjamin, Arthur, Caddyshack, 10, Hocus Pocus, Operation Dumbo Drop, Pooh's Most Grand Adventure (4:3), The Sword in the Stone (4:3), The Crow: City of Angles; 30th June -The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Babylon.

- 15/4 Film '99 delay -

The eagle eyed among you will have spotted the total absence of DVD on yesterday's show, but will have seen the rather fabulous Minnie Driver to make up for it. The DVD item has been postponed by a fortnight.

- 14/4 DVD on Film '99 -

Those in the UK should set their old VHS to stun tonight, since Jonathan Ross' Film '99 is set to include a feature on DVD, apparently. Mr Ross is a known DVD aficionado, so here's hoping it's a goodie. The show is on at 11.05, BBC1 - video plus number 849086.

- 13/4 Elizabeth set to employ seamless branching -

Polygram's upcoming Oscar and Bafta winning Elizabeth is to be something of a DVD first, it appears. Because of subtitles actually burnt in to the picture, there needs to be 3 separate versions of the image contained on the title, made for three different countires. The bulk of the movie will be common to all, while the opening and closing credits and one other section will be split between 3 different video streams, each of a different language.

Now the really clever bit is that - apparently - the title is being authored in a new way, which allows for genuinely seamless branching between one section and another. What that means for you or I is that we select the appropriate language, and we watch an entire, uninterrupted version of the movie - no ugly pauses while the player finds the next bit. The technical process itself is being kept very hush, hush for now.

Seamless branching has been tried before, and has long been touted at as within the DVD specification, but has never satisfactorily achieved. If Polygram can pull this off, it could open the floodgates to all sorts of possibilities - director and normal cuts on the same disc, 18 and PG rated versions on the same disc or choosing an ending at the start of the movie and watching it play out in a continuous stream (A Perfect Murder or Fatal Attraction would be obvious candidates). The question is - can it really be done, and perform consistently among all machines?

Well, we should all find out in May. In the meantime, for the authorers - may the force be with you!

- 13/4 More sales stuff -

According to Warner Distribution, Armageddon is now hovering at around the 29,000 mark, and weekly sales have overtaken Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels again.- overall, the Brit Crime caper is at 19,000. This should be an emerging pattern for day and date movies - for every two new people buying a Samsung, one will want Armageddon since it isn't available elsewhere, whereas she may already own Lock Stock on VHS and decide not to buy another version.

Elsewhere, Both Lethal Weapon 4 and Contact are at around 15,000, LA Confidential at 10,000 while Air Force One has only scraped 1,500 in its first week. Is this actual evidence that flippers can hurt sales?

It has been confirmed that Starship Troopers has been postponed, but interestingly there are no even off the record rumours as to why. The accepted guess is that Buena Vista have decided to wait until their dual layer plant is ready next month. We can but hope.

- 12/4 Another studio about to join? -

Universal... Entertainment... Fox... just in case you thought things were slowing down, look to (hopefully) the end of this week for another studio joining the region 2 fold. No details yet, but things are looking good, with the company concerned most anxious to have their releases as feature stuffed as possible, and some VERY desirable titles are planned! To once again quote Homer Simpson... whoo hooo!

- 9/4 It ain't true... -

Relax, take it easy and get that blood pressure back down - Entertainment in Video have confirmed that the widescreen fiasco has emerged as nothing more sinister than an error on their part in the press release. ALL titles, including Lost In Space and Blade, WILL be widescreen - the only exception is Much Ado About Nothing, apparently at none other than Kenneth Branagh's insistence. So there you go...

NB - I can confirm all the Fox info below as official - congrats to the R2 Project with getting it out there first!

- 9/4 Fox launch region 2 with TITANIC -

No more rumours - it's official. Titanic is to set sail simultaneously in the US and the rest of the world in September. This will be 20th Century Fox's first DVD title in Europe.

Now for the bad news - after many months of waiting, the disc looks set to be film and trailer ONLY, at least in our Fox incarnation. According to Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits, at least it should be available in full or widescreen, although it is not yet clear if that means on the same disc.

In addition to this, the excellent R2 Project have more information of upcoming Fox titles here, which I can confirm is very official from Fox here in the UK.). Titanic will be a stand alone launch title (agreeing with what I've previously understood), followed in November by Die Hard, Die Hard II, The Siege, Speed and Speed II. Look to next year for The X-files Movie, Romeo and Juliet, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, plus two more titles previously unannounced elsewhere even in region 1 and hotly anticipated - Independence Day and Braveheart..

- 9/4 Please say it ain't true! -

Again from the R2 Project, webmaster Andy C claims that EiV have confirmed that Lost in Space and Blade will be Pan & scan only.

Everybody try to remain calm.

I must confess to an error myself here, as I incorrectly copied from their press release that these films were in fact widescreen (now amended). I shall do some digging on this - if it IS true, may the floodgates open and Entertainment in Video accept the huge bucketfulls of scorn and derision which will justly reign down on thier heads from an almighty height. This really is the last thing that region 2 needs.

- 7/4 Entertainment in Video launch! -

After months of speculation, the UK's largest independent film company, Entertainment, have formally announced their entry into the UK DVD market with an anticipated 60 titles between now and the end of the year. Many of these are promised to contain extra material, although whether they reflect the hugely popular US New Line versions remains to be seen. It may be significant that Entertainment are choosing to specially highlight titles with extras in their marketing campaign.

Unusually, Entertainment have opted for three different price points for their titles - £15.99, £17.99 and £19.99. The first releases will street on June 1st, and are Evita (widescreen), Boogie Nights with extras (widescreen) and Wag The Dog with extras - all at £19.99, while I Know What you Did Last Summer, First Strike with extras and Much Ado About Nothing are at £15.99.

The next batch follow close behind on June 28th. The Mask with extras (widescreen), Spawn Director's Cut with extras (widescreen), Seven Years in Tibet (widescreen), Blade with extras and Lost In Space with extras will go for £19.99, while Seven (widescreen) is at £17.99 and Donnie Brasco at £15.99.

Other titles scheduled for the second half of the year include Dark City, The Wedding Singer, Rush Hour, The Piano, Up Close and Personal, The Crow and Leaving Las Vegas.

EV Sales and Marketing Director Paul Evenden comments "The strong DVD sales registered over last Christmas have continued into the first quarter of this year and with the strong commitment from retailers, we feel that the time is now right for us to make the move. DVD is clearly the future and our belief in the new format is reflected in the strength of our release schedule for this year and the marketing muscle we will be putting behind the titles"

- 7/4 Velvet Goldmine of features -

VCI's upcoming Velvet Goldmine is set to be their most feature-rich disc to date. The £19.99 title is on sale from 19th April, and will contain a 28 minute "Making Of" documentary, a special photo library, Placebo's "20th Century Boy" music video and 2 trailers. It will be anamorphic widescreen and be in both Dolby Digital 5.1 (the first film from VCI to be so) and 2.0.

Other news - Martha, Meet Daniel, Frank and Laurence goes to retail on May 3rd, Irvine "Trainspotting" Welsh's The Acid House has been put back to 19th July, while one new announcement is the acclaimed WWII drama Land Girls, landing on 20th August.

Look for a special in depth feature on VCI - including some exclusive news on upcoming release plans and what was really going on last year with The Shawshank Redemption - in the next issue of Total DVD, out nearer the end of the month.

- 6/4 KERPOW!!!!! -

As Grandmaster Flash would say - "Something like a phenomenon. Baby."

Despite having no new blockbuster releases, last week's disc sales broke new records at over 40,000. This rate of increase is absolutely extraordinary. Maybe it's another example of the Samsung effect...

- 4/4 Code free Samsung details -

Thanks to those who have pointed out to me that the hack for the Samsung is now out - Lee at the DVD Debate has put up the details. Buy and enjoy...

- 3/4 Philips DVD for £249 -

Until this Monday, you can pick up the Philips DVD-930 for £249 (reduced from £399) from Currys. Hey, this is getting fun! In little over a week, the entire UK player market has been blown to smithereens. Thanks to James Worth for the info.

- 2/4 Here we go again? -

Stand by for another wave of "region 2 is rubbish" flames on the newsgroups - it seems the first batch of Universal titles here due on 10th May are film & trailer only, according to DVD World via the R-2 Project. These include the feature rich US titles Dante's Peak and Daylight.

However, it is worth reitorating that Universal in the Sates confirmed to me directly that we would see special editions here, the same as the region 1 versions, "wherever possible". So just hold fire on those petrol bombs for now.

- 31/3 September worldwide release of Titanic? -

The ever wonderful and reliable The Digital Bits are reporting the strong rumour that Paramount are set to sail with Titanic in the US in September, and Fox elsewhere in the world in either the same month or November. This tallies with very strong sources I have heard independently (and with a lot of stuff I just cannot say!) Many have suggested that Titanic could be a launch title here for Fox. There have been plenty of false dawns with this one, but trust me - this is now looking like the real thing...

Other region 1 rumours doing the rounds include - Saving Private Ryan for Novemberish (maybe), and the Special Edition of The Shawshank Redemption for the end of the year.

- 31/3 Samsung code free? -

For those who have missed it, the bargain Samsung 807 is, according to The Daily Telegraph's Connected of 25/3, code free. It appears that it may follow other earlier Samsung machines in being enabled in a one-off procedure via the remote. No details yet on what sort of code free is involved, PAL / NTSC concerns or what the magic code is. Anyone with further info on this, please e.mail

- 31/3 55% sales jump in a week -

Following yesterday's story on sales, more details have emerged on last week's record breaking week from Warner Brothers. Total DVD sales have jumped by 55% in a single week, boosted by Godzilla and Lethal Weapon 4. Representing the overall doubling of sales in three months, this increase alone equates to the total sales of DVD in Christams week 1998.

- 30/3 The shortest flipper yet?-

Just when you thought Buena Vista couldn't get any worse, along comes The Three Musketeers - a flipper at a breathtaking 100 minutes. This is a whole half hour and then some clear of the generally accepted length of a one sided movie. If anyone knows of anything dafter anywhere on DVD in the entire world, please e.mail. Thanks again to Richard Exley for spotting the stupidity - as he comments, maybe Jackie Brown will turn out to be a 4 disc box set...

- 30/3 Another record breaking week -

Word is, unsurprisingly, that last week was the best yet for disc sales, with Lethal Weapon 4 just beating Godzilla. Interestingly though, neither topped Armageddon's first week sales back in February. No official figures yet - there have been some disputes over previous totals.

- 30/3 Woolworths launch in 100 stores with 200 note players -

That Samsung player is everywhere. According to Lee at the DVD Debate, there is an advertised coupon for £50 off the £250 machine in Woolworths. For more details, and a complete list of the participating stores, head on over (as I'm sure you all do anyway!)

- 29/3 Air Force One is a flipper -

The headline says it all really. Thanks to Richard Exley for the info.

Air Force One runs at 120 minutes. The US release - through Columbia - is widescreen or pan & scan, and has a commentary. It is thought that Buena's fascination for flippers on films with short running times is linked to standards converting the video from NTSC, which reduces the quality and makes the MPEG process much harder to do. So don't blame region 2, just blame Buena Vista.

The next big release will be Starship Troopers, almost certainly another flipper and vastly inferior to the US release. Look for Snake Eyes in May as the first dual layer title from Buena Vista, and the beginning of the end of this ugly chapter in DVD history.

- 24/3 Full details on Ronin -

Ronin, released here day and date with rental VHS on 24th May, will be a similar version to the feature-stuffed US special edition released earlier this year. Look out for - an alternative ending, commentary from director John Frankenheimer, 20 mins behind the scenes featurette on the car chases, a theatrical trailer and MGM's usual nice 8 page accompanying booklet. The film will be anamorphic widescreen and in Dolby Digital 5.1, and will retail for £19.99.

Not that there is no mention at this stage of the additional DVD-ROM content seen Stateside, however.

- 24/2 Samsung DVD for £225 now?! And HOW good its it? -

The R2 Project are now reporting that MVC (part of the Kingfisher group) will be selling the upcoming Samsung DVD-807 (along with all stock) with a 10% discount for 10 days from 29th March. So buy tons of discs with it, why don't you.

I have spoken to someone who has seen this player in action. Although absolutely no details can be divulged, I will just say that there should be a lot of smiling faces coming soon... As previously hinted, look out for a full review in upcoming issues of Total DVD and/or HCC.

- 23/3 ASDA and Woolworths dip toes in DVD water -

Both ASDA and Woolworths have started to sell DVD on a small basis. Woolworths are selling 5 discs - Lethal Weapons 2, 3 & 4 plus Lock, Stock and Godzilla at £1 below RRP in 20 stores. However, the company promise that this will expand out to a full range soon across all stores - and that they are currently looking for a partner to sell in-store hardware too. They promise that Woolworth's commitment to DVD will be consistent with the brand's ethos of value for money.

The details on ASDA's plans are still sketchy - at the moment all that is known for certain is that a small number of high profile titles are on sale in some of the larger stores.

- 19/3 Samsung launch DVD for £250 -

Samsung are set to launch not one, but three DVD players that will each break the magic £400 barrier - and the cheapest will sell for a stunning £249.99. The DVD-807 will replay Dolby Digital 5.1 and MPEG 2.0, has RGB out (but no S-Video) and will sell exclusively through Comet. It will be on sale on March 30th.

Next up is the DVD-709, which adds an S-VHS out and - gasp - DTS replay for another £50 at £299.99. Finally, the confusingly named DVD-909 will not play laserdiscs, but will have an on-board Dolby Digital decoder, and will sell for £399.99. These last two machines will be available through all Samsung stockists from April.

The significance of these new price points cannot be overstated, since the relatively high entry point into the format is probably the most frequently cited stumbling block to not purchasing a machine (along with lack of recordability). Since the DVD-807 slashes over a third off the new entry price at a stroke, this machine in particular should thus cause a veritable explosion in DVD sales, and will hopefully fire the starting pistol for other manufacturers.

Look for a review of The DVD-807 in next month's Total DVD.

- 18/3 Official: Warner Brothers announces Friends on region 2 DVD -

Warner Brothers have officially announced that the UK's biggest ever selling video series, Friends, is coming to DVD this autumn. The first batch will be series 4 and 5 (Sky TV are currently showing series 5). Warner Home Video UK MD Ron Sanders comments "This will be a key tool in raising consumer awareness of the format and will prove a must have purchase for fans of DVD and the series".

Although exact details are still sketchy, it looks as if the first titles will be released in October or November. As to number of episodes per disc... the current thinking is a whopping eight! So stick that, South Park...

- 18/3 UK sales double in 3 months -

Official figures are in, and they're, frankly, amazing - disc sales in the UK have doubled in the three months since Christmas. Each week sees successive gains, with last week's figures topping out at roughly 30,000. Next week, with Godzilla and Lethal Weapon 4 released, will undoubtedly see another record broken. Relative to the sales growth in the US, the UK is exceeding the extraordinary precedent already set. Yet we are still way behind in terms of numbers of titles - there are currently only 600 titles in total planned to be released by the year's end. Meanwhile some titles - Contact being one - are selling at a VHS to DVD ratio of around 4:1. In other words, DVD is catching up on tape fast...

- 16/3 Buena Vista to drop flippers in May? -

Website DVD Inside report Thomas Heinrichs, Manger of Technical Support for (I think) Buena Vista Germany, as saying the end of the Buena Vista flipper is nigh. Having previously promised Total DVD magazine that they would be phasing out the massively unpopular format (and adding extra features), Heinrichs states (alatavista babel fish translator aided) "At the latest starting from May 1999 all DVDs of Buena Vista Home Entertainment as DVD-9 will appear".

As far as the useful but comedic babel fish can be trusted, Heinrichs blames the slow entry into dual layer technology on compatibility problems - early tests of DVD-9's were unplayable on some first generation machines. He also comments on Buena's current policy to release "family" films such as Flubber full frame only. If any reader has a good knowledge of German, perhaps they would like to provide a better translation of the story! Thanks to Hans Bratt for the lead here.

- 16/3 Bigger and bigger... -

As well as (hopefully) Woolworths (12/3), look for further expansion into the high streets of the land from Blockbuster Video, WH Smiths, Menzies and even ASDA. Blockbuster expand their trial of 30 stores to a massive 130 on April 1st, promise at least 50 titles at each store, and have set up a special DVD hotline for customers wanting to find out more - 0345-413561 (calls charged at local rate). WH Smiths and Menzies are doubling the number of stores carrying DVD to 180, and trebling the shelf space - look also for Clubcard and multiple purchase discounts. Meanwhile, ASDA are trying the disc of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in some of their stores.

- 16/3 Columbia anniversary -

Columbia Tristar have pledged to release "at least" 75 DVDs here in the UK, to celebrate the studio's 75th anniversary. Also, they will be giving away two DVD players every month although, bizarrely, details on this promotion seem limited to appearing on VHS cassettes!

The company's first simultaneous with rental VHS titles is out today, The Assignment, along with some delayed titles - Hush, Excess Baggage, Amy Foster and In the Line of Fire. Godzilla is released on 22/3 (simultaneous with retail VHS), and Bugsy, Flatliners and Screamers are due on 29/3. "Coming Soon" are The Cable Guy, Nowhere to Run, and their first widescreen / pan & scan double sider, Midnight Express.

- 12/3 Paramount Home Video take over CIC -

Paramount Home Video have taken over the operations of CIC in London, while Universal are to move over to Polygram. Both have, until now, used CIC as a joint venture for video in the UK and other territories.

The announcement, made on Wednesday, does not mention DVD specifically, and does not preclude further arrangements - Universal recently announced a short term distribution deal with Columbia Tristar. One of the Universal VHS titles that CIC will be handling prior to the move to Polygram is Out of Sight - and this has already been confirmed as covered by Columbia for the DVD. In other words - Paramount may well still do their own thing. As previously reported here, Paramount have been in discussions with other companies with regard to DVD releases outside America.

It may be for the best if another company did handle DVD. I recently heard - from an impeccable source - that CIC's advanced stage artwork for Universal discs (prior to the Columbia deal) were for standard CD sized jewel cases! Please no, we don't need another letter campaign, do we?

- 12/3 Record week for DVD sales -

Information from CIN, the official chart and sales figures compilers for the industry, puts total DVD sales for last week at well over 20,000, the first time the magic figure has been broken in a single week. Lock, Stock made it to number 15 in the overall video chart, so has not broken Armageddon's record. Yet.

And things look set to go from strength to strength. Both Lethal Weapon 4 and Godzilla are released on 22nd March, with Lethal Weapon 4 a full 6 months ahead of the VHS release. Godzilla has already been released elsewhere in Europe, where reports are coming in of an absolutely stunning transfer ("Maybe the best region 2 disc I've seen" says Juanjo Garcia in Spain) and great extras.

Also, a rumour is circulating regarding Woolworths, who apparently have something massive planned for DVD. Look for an announcement in the next week or so.

- 8/3 Universal Special Editions & Columbia's El Mariachi on the way-

Good news indeed from the States - Universal Studios Home Video have stated that they "will be releasing the same Special Edition DVD's in the UK as are available in the US whenever possible." Although individual titles aren't mentioned, things look good for repeat performances of the superb versions of Apollo 13 and Dante's Peak, among others.

Meanwhile, Columbia here in the UK have confirmed that the upcoming Desperado will be a double feature with the superb king of low budget, El Mariachi. No word yet on any special edition content as promised in the States, but while some sites have this as the original promised June date, it has now apparently shifted to "towards the end of the year".

- 8/3 Polygram news -

Polygram's next wave of titles start later this month with The Very Best of Dire Straits. In April, look for Hard Rain, A Life Less Ordinary and The Big Lebowski, while May has the Best Picture Oscar nominated Elizabeth. Exact dates and features to come.

More on those Lock Stock sales figures - 3,100 discs were sold in High Street shops on Monday and Tuesday of last week. This compares with around 6,500 in the entire first week of Armageddon's release (add a couple of thousand for Internet and mail order sales). The race is definitely on - Polygram claim to have shipped 30,000 copies to outlets in total. Rumour has it that the DVD will just be squeezed out of the overall video top 10 - Armageddon made number 9.

- 4/3 Has Lock, Stock already topped Armageddon? -

Rumours are flying that Polygram's DVD of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, released on Monday, has already shipped more copies than Armageddon, possibly indicating that the title is set to be the best selling disc in the UK yet. Movies, DVD & That understands that 24,000 units have shipped to dealers, compared to 20,000 of Armageddon. Of actual discs sold, Armageddon sold 8,000 in its first week of release.

If these figures are confirmed, it makes a hugely impressive effort for the low budget Brit-com. Partly contributing to the success, the UK is the first territory in the world to have the title released. This compares with Armageddon, released in a superior format in the States a month earlier. It could be an indication that quality of the disc does matter after all...

- 3/3 First Universal titles? -

While Columbia PR in the UK are still putting together the official press release (and as such, all details are best considered speculative until then), DVD World and others are reporting the first actual titles and dates. The first four released in May (some have this as April 30) are Dante's Peak, Daylight, Sea of Love & Twins, while June sees Babe, Backdraft, Twister (a Speilberg production, note) Waterworld and Liar Liar. July has Dragonheart, The Nutty Professor and what would possibly be their first day and date with rental VHS title, Babe II: Pig in the City. Other titles due this year are: Apollo 13, River Wild, Mercury Rising, Cape Fear, Out of Sight, Meet Joe Black, Psycho (1998) and Patch Adams.

- 2/3 More news on Universal / Columbia deal -

Further details have emerged regarding the upcoming release of Universal discs outside the US. Columbia's PR department in the States say that the first titles should become available as soon as April or May, and those specifically mentioned in the original press release will be destined for the first batch or two (note, however that films such as Patch Adams and Shakespeare in Love will have to play out their 6 month window first). Columbia expect "a good mix" of new releases and back catalogue, with recent hits a priority. As for extra special edition features, they "assume they are an important part of the package". This is yet to be definitively confirmed by Universal themselves, however.

Variety reported last week that the deal is thought to be only a short term one, and most industry commentators believe that at the end of the 100 or so title run, Polygram will take over distribution reigns. Screen International report that the company are planning to release "at least" a staggering 14 titles a month, which would barely have the agreement lasting 6 months.

Columbia are thought to have initiated the move out of frustration at the slow progress of region 2 and other territories. With an apparent understanding of the realities of Europe and the UK, Columbia Tristar Home Video president Benjamin Feingold stated that "We think that the main competition to DVD is going to come from digital television. You will need to have a great line of product to compete". In their original press release, Columbia exhorted other studios to follow the lead of Universal as quickly as possible.

- 24/2 Universal region 2 deal announced -

Following Universal's withdrawal from CIC Video (12/2), Universal Home Video have formally announced that their new distributors for Europe (plus Japan, Latin America and elsewhere) will be Columbia Tristar. This is the first official support from any new major for European DVD since Buena Vista's announcement back in July 1998.

Universal intend to author and manufacture their discs through Matsushita, who handle their coveted region 1 titles. This bodes well for the content, and both Columbia and Universal also promise that "wherever possible, new release product will be day and date with VHS rental and VHS direct-to-sell through, and that catalog titles will be released at the earliest possible moment".

Initial titles mentioned in the press release as covered by the deal are: Patch Adams, Shakespeare in Love, Out of Sight, Apollo 13, Daylight, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Dante's Peak. Psycho, Meet Joe Black, and Babe. For more on this, see comment.

- 24/2 Strictly Carlton -

Carlton have announced their next wave of DVD titles. Set for release on 12th April, the three titles are Strictly Ballroom, Hitchcock's 39 Steps and David Lean's Great Expectations. All will retail at £19.99, and will include "extensive biographies" - no other format details are available at this time.

- 19/2 Paramount hold talks for international distribution -

It has just emerged that, with the probable imminent demise of CIC, Paramount are involved in talks with other distributors for their DVD product outside America. Last week, high level discussions took place between the company and an international label (NOT Warner) - if the party concerned are successful there could conceivably be a formal announcement within two weeks.

The news comes in the middle of a massive region 2 feeding frenzy - Universal now look certain to distribute through Polygram. On a smaller - but still significant - scale, US indie Fox Lorber are also currently in negotiations for European distribution. Stay tuned - more on all this should be forthcoming very soon.

- 19/2 Enemy of the State day and date... -

Following Lethal Weapon 4 and A Perfect Murder, Warner Distribution have announced the next slew of DVD releases day and date with rental VHS. These will be The Horse Whisperer, Enemy of the State, Snake Eyes and You've Got Mail. Exact release dates to come.

- 19/2 Armageddon DVD makes the "VHS" top 10 -

Fans may decry it, but there ain't no use pretending otherwise - Armageddon has made one helluva deep impact. The DVD title made a hugely impressive number 9 in the CIN video chart of all video releases (i.e. including VHS) for the week 8th - 14th Feb. In a press release, Warner distribution crow that "The Armageddon DVD's sales performance has been phenomenal, driving an incredible 40% week on week increase in total market software sales. Even more astonishing is that Armageddon has sent DVD software sales skyrocketing to a level 45% higher than during Christmas 1998".

They continue, "Armageddon's first week sales success marks a number of major milestones for the DVD format, not least of which is the top ten chart position, ample proof that DVD is now strong enough to hold its own in the video chart. The title, which has already surpassed MGM's Tomorrow Never Dies as the biggest shipping DVD of all time in the UK, looks set to unseat the James Bond hit (released by WHV during the software "hard launch" last September when the installed base of players was far lower than it is now) as the UK's best-selling DVD title in a matter of days.

- 17/2 Full Species II details -

The latest company to join the increasingly prevalent strategy of simultaneously releasing retail DVD with rental VHS is MGM, with Species II. The feature stuffed disc streets on 22/2, and will contain deleted scenes, a commentary from director Peter Medak, animated morphing menus and an accompanying 8-page booklet. It is single sided (at only 89mins), Dolby Digital 5.1 and anamorphic widescreen.

- 16/2 Yet more on Warner dual format discs -

As suggested on 13/2, more confusing labelling from Warner has confused even the PR people. The following February discs are confirmed by Warner as dual format anamorphic widescreen and pan & scan - Risky Business, Dave, Forever Young, Murder at 1600 and Driving Miss Daisy.

- 16/2 Trainspotting - the official news -

Polygram have stated the official reason for the Trainspotting recall - the wrong disc was pressed. Specifically, the version needs one shot of a syringe cutting due to BBFC demands. Polygram say that the new version should be ready in "a couple of weeks", although months would probably be nearer the mark, a cynic might guess.

It can only be hoped that the release being the wrong version means that it is a test disc. The disc was authored by the normally excellent Stream - I can't believe that the shocking version I received last week (see review here) is the one the company signed off.

- 16/2 MVC top Virgin? -

According to the DVD-Debate, the excellent MVC have risen to the challenge thrown down by Virgin with regard to Columbia titles. While Virgin offer 3 for 2, MVC are offering 2 for £28. Both work out around £14 each, but with MVC you, of course, only need buy two.

- 13/2 More on Warner dual format discs -

Thanks to Simon Quin for a news correction - Warner have, unannounced, already quietly slipped out their first dual format disc - Beetlejuice. This is widescreen on one side and pan & scan on the other.

Further, Warner tell me that several other upcoming titles are in this format - Risky Business, Dave, Forever Young, Murder at 1600 and Driving Miss Daisy. But, bizarrely, apparently the packaging on these indicates that BOTH sides are in widescreen, with one side suitable for 4:3 sets, and the other for 16:9 sets! In other words - one side anamorphic, the other not. Very useful.

Anyone wishing to bet that this is the case, rather than another Warner labelling screw up, is a braver person than I. One more correction - thanks to ProsserBob, who points out that the UK cut of Lethal Weapon 2 at certificate 18, is still edited - we are in fact minus three deaths at the end, dammit.

- 12/2 Universal pull out of CIC video

In a move that will have massive implications for European region 2, Universal have announced they will pull out of their licensing agreement with CIC Video by November 9th, 1999. Until now, all Universal VHS product has been available through CIC, and it was believed that the company were to have been gearing up for DVD. Further, it is now believed that the DVD and VHS beneficiary will be, of all people, Polygram.

Polygram have been through a rocky few months following massive debts. As a result, the company have sold their own film archives to MGM, and some TV and other film archives it owned to Carlton. Polygram themselves have been taken over by Seagram - who also own Universal, and are now ramping up feature film production again. Trade magazine Screen International (12-18 Feb 1999) comments that "PolyGram Video is now expected to see its activities significantly expanded with the arrival of a flow of product from Universal and possibly DreamWorks". The magazine also speculates that this will lead to the complete break up of CIC, with Paramount looking for new video distribution. Recently, the Digital Bits have reported that Paramount have been in talks with Warner Brothers, who already distribute Buena Vista and MGM. Phew.

Whatever happens, it is likely to take a while. Universal are required to give 90 days notice if it wants to use an alternative distributor, on top of the enormous length of time it would take to start up a new operation. Be prepared for a long wait for European DVDs from Universal or Dreamworks, folks.

- 12/2 Lethal Warners start dual format DVDs -

As well as Columbia's upcoming special edition of Godzilla, another way to compensate for the huge disappointment of Armageddon (see comment) is to buy one of Warner's special editions, topped by their first day and date with rental VHS release Lethal Weapon 4. This is a special edition that lives up to the name, with "Pure Lethal", a 30 min documentary, an Interview Gallery (15 mins), extended scenes from Lethal Weapon 1-3 16:42 mins) which promise parts that have never been seen before, and B-Roll Footage (10 mins). The title will be 2.35:1 and Dolby Digital 5.1, and is released on March 22nd with the second and third in the series. Lethal Weapon 2 (rated 18, so uncut presumably) contains a "stunts and action" featurette plus a trailer, while Lethal Weapon 3 has 2 trailers - both are 5.1 and 2.35:1.

A week later, on March 29, Warner also release Copycat with a commentary by director Jon Amiel (2.35:1), Eraser (2.35:1), Batman Returns (cert 15, 5.1 1.85:1) and Batman Forever (1.85:1). The Avengers arrive on April 6th (1.66:1), while April 26th sees Nico (1.85:1). The Last Boy Scout (2.35:1), Passenger 57 (2.35:1), Mad Max 2 (2.35:1) and Tango & Cash (2.35:1) All titles are Dolby Digital 5.1 and have production notes.

The next real biggie day and date with VHS rental also released on April 26th - A Perfect Murder. This marks a first for Warner Brothers in Europe - a dual sided widescreen (16:9) or pan & scan release. In addition, there are two commentaries - one by Michael Douglas, Andrew Davis & PS Kelly, the other by P. MacGregor-Scott, P. Rosenberg, E. Mirojnick, D. Schott & D. Wolziuk. As if that wasn't enough, there's an alternative ending, with two separate audio tracks. In case you were wondering, the running time is 103 minutes, so the quality should hold up okay.

The dual format nature of A Perfect Murder is significant - whether or not it announces a new trend remains to be seen.

- 12/2 More Disney dullards -

No production notes, no extras, who knows if they're anamorphic or flippers, but here's the list: March 1st - Lion King II: Simba's Pride (NB: this title is full screen, and for the extra height you get to pay £4 more at £19.99) 8th March - The Horse Whisperer (5.1, widescreen). 29th March - Air Force One (2.35:1), Deceived (1.85:1), Mary Poppins (1.85:1), Wings of the Dove (2.35:1), Quiz Show (1.85:1 - all these Dolby Digital 5.1). Also The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1.85:1), Pret-a-Porter (1.85:1) are released on 29th - no sound details. No details at all for 26th April - Starship Troopers, Scream, Jackie Brown, Jane Austen's Mafia (day and date with rental VHS), Love Bug, Emma, Guilty as Sin & Pete's Dragon.

- 9/2 Trainspotting latest -

Polygram have today officially confirmed that Trainspotting has been recalled, but are tight-lipped as to a reason. They hope to be able to give more news by the end of the week. Meanwhile, for a review of the disc issued to the shops last week before the recall, click here.

- 9/2 Paramount to distribute through Warner Brothers? -

An interesting thought. The Digital Bits reports that Paramount have been seeking advice and info from the DVD masters. It has previously been thought that CIC would distribute their product here.

- 7/2 No rental widow for Velvet Goldmine -

Having introduced rental only DVD to the UK with Martha, Meet Dainel, Frank and Laurence, VCI have decided to forego it with their next new release, Velvet Goldmine. The title is due to be released on April 23rd, straight to retail.

Meanwhile, their current batch of titles - Fried Green Tomatoes, Beautiful Thing, Hellraiser II and My Beautiful Laundrette are now released on March 15th. A review of Fried Green Tomatoes - VCI's first dual layer disc - is on-line.

- 5/2 Columbia come up trumps -

Putting the Armageddon shambles behind us, Columbia are shaping up to blow Disney out of the water.

First of the biggies is Godzilla, and all Columbia hands are on deck to get this ship-shape for the 22nd March release. It is confirmed that the title will have 3 theatrical trailers, a music video, a "making of" feature, photo gallery and "Godzilla - New York before and after". Whatever that is.

Then in June (exact date TBC) comes The Mask of Zorro, featuring a director's commentary, featurette, theatrical trailers and a photo gallery. Other upcoming titles with significant extras are Hudson Hawk with a commentary (!) in June and, first of all, Gattaca with out takes, poster and photo gallery and In The Line of Fire with a commentary on 22nd February. Note, this latter title is certificate 15, so has presumably been cut by the BBFC.

At this time, both Desperado and El Mariachi are listed as separate titles slated for June - no further details yet. In the US, a double feature is planned, with movie school supplements from director Robert Rodriguez.

Note the following date changes - Double Team and Replacement Killers are out on Feb 8th, while Gattaca, Hush, Excess Baggage, Amy Foster and In the Line of Fire are all 22nd Feb.

Other approximate dates (though some may well change) are on the studio page.

- 5/2 Trainspotting & When Harry Met Sally - guess what? -

No-one knows why, but there has been a recall on Trainspotting. Is it BBFC related, or a dodgy master? Hope to have a review up in the next few days - I'll let you all know.

Meanwhile Polygram have lost the UK rights to When Harry Met Sally. It is not known if this is related to the MGM buyout. However, fans can import the title, in anamorphic widescreen from Spain - see the European page.

- 5/2 Armageddon fiasco -

With all due apologies to all those who how now officially lost all patience, the bad news is in - Armageddon is NOT anamorphic (and I've seen it with my own eyes). It is also, as promised this time, a flipper. Full review up at the weekend ahead of Monday 8th's release, but here's the first impressions.

- 2/2 20th Century Fox DVD expands into Europe -

20th Century Fox have appointed a head of DVD at their London headquarters. This positively confirms that the company are indeed gearing themselves up for entry into the European DVD market. A spokesperson for Fox wouldn't be drawn on any likely date for the first product to appear, but speculated that it would be unlikely to be as soon as the summer - more likely later in 1999.

The move follows rumours regarding Titanic being prepared for a DVD release (see comment). Fox own the rights to the film outside the US, while Paramount are responsible Stateside.

- 2/2 Buena Vista respond to criticism -

The message may be getting through to Buena Vista. Following criticism of the quality of their releases, look for an official word form the company's Burbank, California HQ in Total DVD - although unfortunately the news may be too late for inclusion in the February edition. Although I can't reveal the exact details here, let's just sat that if the promises come true, we'll all be a lot happier...

Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful DVD Debate has some tentative plans from Warner distribution regarding upcoming Euro-releases. Pop over for a full list (note that in the UK, Disney have lost the rights to G.I. Jane on DVD), but by far the most interesting are the next batch of animated titles, including Aladdin in May. Coupled with the surprise announcement of A Bugs Life in the US, it could be an expensive time ahead for those with families. DVD World also report some UK March 31st titles, including Air Force One.

- 28/1 Disney contact -

For those of you asking who to send your letters of Disney complaint to regarding flippers, no extras, NTSC transfers, pan & scan releases etc, then here is the official address that will land your letter on the right desk:

DVD Product Manager,
Warner UK,
135 Wardour Street
London W1V 4AP

Let me know how you get on, and the best of European luck.

- 28/1 Anamorphic Armageddon -

The official word today from distributors Warner Brothers is that R2 Armageddon is definitely anamorphic. Note that the US versions from Disney, Criterion and DIVX are all non-anamorphic. To overcompensate for this, ours is the only dual sided version available, as opposed to dual layer.

- 26/1 DVD seminar -

Industry body BKSTS are organising a one day DVD seminar - "assets for the future" - at the Shell Theatre, South Bank, London on 29th January 1999. The event will feature contributions from authoring and facilities houses, and Dolby labs. Subjects covered include telecine, authoring, multi-channel sound, design, transmission and archive possibilities. Tickets are £40 + VAT for BKSTS members, and £50 + VAT for non-members. To get one, or for more information, contact Yasmeen Khan at The Moving Image Society on 0171-242-8400.

- 25/1 Another disc to avoid? -

Following Movies, DVD & That's bizarre revelation that the 115 minute Pretty Woman is a flipper (9/1) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (23/1) is featureless, comes yet more bad news about the new releases out today - Goodfellas is reported to not only be a flipper, but is not anamorphic! Note that this is NOT YET POSITIVELY CONFIRMED, but if is, than it's is an unenviable first from DVD kings Warner Brothers, and a very worrying sign of things to come. With the reduced quality and an intrusive break, it will be time to vote with your wallets folks, since I bet you can get a good deal on a rather better widescreen VHS...

- 23/1 Total DVD -

Just to let you all know that the next issue of Total DVD magazine will now street at the end of February, not the 10th.

- 23/1 Midnight in the Garden less good -

Another little poke in region 2's side - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil arrives on Monday minus the promised documentary (as evidenced on the region 1 disc). Also, Alice in Wonderland has been put back to February 19th, where it joins it's animated pal Dumbo..

- 21/1 Universal region 2 DTS DVDs... OUT NOW!!! -

Can it be true? Apparently so... the current slew of Universal DTS DVDs - Babe, Daylight, Liar Liar, Waterworld and Dante's Peak - are coded for both regions 1 and 2! While we thought that region 2 would never get DTS, and Universal have no other region 2 discs (or have even announced support), these have sneaked in completely unannounced. What's more, it seems to be deliberate policy - when the titles are played on a region 2 deck, the option to watch Japanese subtitles suddenly appears (Japan is also region 2). Strike a light! No word yet on the next waves of titles, including Apollo 13 and 12 Monkeys. DVD Resource have the dirt and a screen shot for all this...

- 21/1 More of Polygram sold to Carlton -

With the main Polygram archives already sold to MGM, the ITC film and TV division has now gone to Carlton for $150m. The press release from parent company Seagram explains that "The ITC Library includes approximately 200 films and some 9,000 hours of television programming, including such well-known series as The Saint and The Prisoner. Among the films are a wide range of titles including The Eagle has Landed, The Big Easy, All of Me and Return of the Pink Panther, as well as films starring such top talent as Gregory Peck in The Boys from Brazil, Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, Robert Mitchum in Farewell My Lovely and Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice."

Polygram's DVD loss will probably therefore be Carlton's gain, who have done a good job with their first region 2 titles. Full press release is available on the Seagram website.

- 20/1 Fox & Titanic rumours... -

DVD World's newsletter reports interesting stuff regarding 20th Century Fox in the UK. They say it is "almost definite that there would be DVD titles in the UK this year, possibly in the summer". Good news for Titanic - the source says that Cameron should have a master ready by Easter, and then it's a matter of getting the technical stuff together for the actual disc. This could be complicated if the disc is (as rumoured) dual layer, and dual sided. Titanic is considered as a launch title over here, where Fox own the rights. Bad news for Star Wars though - nothing is planned for the immediate future.

Contact DVD World for newsletter subscription to get the full story

20/1 DVD Pirate raid -

Empire Online report a raid of pirate DVDs in France, with an estimated value of around $1m. The discs' final destination was due to be the US, via a UK stopover - no word on what kind of discs were involved. As Empire say, with a bust like this, the format has come of age...

- 18/1 Delay on New Line titles -

Word is that Entertainment Video's first batch of UK discs - almost certainly New Line titles - have been delayed. They are still coming mind, probably now around March or April depending on how it all goes. The company, who have yet to make a formal announcement, are remaining tight-lipped about the exact titles for launch.

- 15/1 EXCLUSIVE! UK Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels on March 1st -

This is a world exclusive - the superb Brit-hit of last year, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, will be released in the UK day and date with the VHS on March 1st by Polygram. The company - who have been experiencing problems with authoring houses and have had their archives purchased by MGM - will want to put their woes behind them and give this one a real kick. The UK release predates both other European and US dates - more details on this title to come.

- 15/1 Are we yet spared DIVX?! -

An alarming rumour this, but as part of The Digital Bits' superb CES coverage in the States, their editor Bill Hunt spoke with Paul Brindze from DIVX. With all due acknowledgement to Bill, this snippet may be of European interest:

The official line form the UK DVD committee is that no companies are pursuing DIVX as a viable option at this time. Last year, A UK representative of Thompson (one of DIVX's backers in the US) described the issue as a "non-starter", and it was the last thing on anyone's minds. In any case, DIVX has to overcome legal hurdles regarding exporting the encryption technology - but Brindz claims that this process is already underway...

Suffice it to say, that with Fox, Universal, Paramount and Dreamworks yet to lend European support, any muddying of the DVD waters over here with DIVX would be nothing short of a disaster.

- 15/1 DVD-on-a-chip -

National Semiconductors, through the subsidiary Mediamatics, has announced an entire DVD player's worth of electronics on a single chip. The Pantera - which handles data stream processing, CSS decoding, MPEG video decoding and NTSC and PAL encoding - is fully compatible with all DVD specifications, Video CD and it also supports a variety of audio standards including Dolby Digital AC3 and DTS.

The company claim that the first players using this technology will appear as early as march, since the chip is designed to bolt right into existing designs, with the goal to produce players below the magic $300 mark. Pier Del Frate, vice president of marketing at Mediamatics, claims that. "Our Pantera solution enables OEMs to produce systems whose audio and video quality rivals that of $700 DVD players; yet they'll be able to meet the market demand for sub-$300 solutions. Our technology enables manufacturers to grow DVD penetration into the home market."

The chips specs include a 32-bit RISC processor, Audio RISC-DSP, MPEG specific hardware, 10-bit Video DACs, graphics and an NTSC/PAL encoder. Further details available on the Mediamatics website.

So how many DVD players does your family have?

- 15/1 Criterion Armageddon update -

Apologies for the disproportionate amount of Armageddon stuff (it'll soon pass)... but some grim news from Criterion I'm afraid. Straight from the horse's mouth, the title (see story on 12/1 below) will NOT be anamorphic, and WILL be coded region 1. No explanation was given for the anamorphic decision, except that more news may be given on the Criterion web site in another day or two. Thanks to Jon Mulvaney from the company for the info.

14/1 Another UK chain starts rental DVD -

Primetime Video, with several Central London branches (amongst others?) are offering £2.99 a night, or 3 discs, 3 nights and a player for a tenner. Not 'arf bad - thanks to Patrick Cleasby for the info.

- 14/1 DVD UK back soon... -

I'm sure everyone here will be glad to learn that DVD UK's Andy Hawkins is alive and well, and almost has a phone connection back. Try his site again at the weeked for a return to normal service - we missed ya Andy!

- 12/1 Why stick to Disney? Armageddon' outta here! -

A third possible option to buy Armageddon on DVD has just come to light. Faced with a featureless flipper of a UK release or a non-anamorphic US one, Criterion have just announced a Stateside special edition of the comet-fest for a March release. What in't yet known is whether it will be regionally coded (previous Criterion discs aren't) or anamorphic (ditto). What IS known is that it will contain:

Usually, such Criterion special editions go for $39.99. Armageddon fans would be wise to wait and see what develops here...

11/1 EXCLUSIVE MGM to move to day and date with Rental VHS -

Following the lead of Buena Vista, MGM are set to release new discs to retail day and date with their Rental VHS counterparts. The first two titles will be Species II on February 22nd, and Ronin on May 19th. Meanwhile, the much delayed back catalogue movies (including Raging Bull and Rain Man) will finally surface on the increasingly packed January 25th.

- 11/1 Goodmans: No plans for DVD yet -

Confirmation today from the MD of Goodmans that, at this time, the company will not get into DVD. This follows a news story in Home Entertainment magazine (see news 8/1 below) regarding a £200-£250 player. One possible shaft of light is that the issue is currently under review, and if it goes DVD's way, a player could appear (at the earliest) this autumn.

- 11/1 More titles from Columbia -

DVD World report some good new titles from Columbia, and the horrible news that they are to move to the cursed breakable Jewel cases as favoured by Polygram. The titles are The Mask Of Zorro, Can't Hardly Wait, The Opposite Of Sex, Desperado, Apt Pupil and Ghostbusters 1 & 2 - it seems that at least some of these will be day and date with rental VHS. Too early to say if Desperado will be the special edition including the excellent El Mariachi. Before that in April / May come The Big Hit, The Cable Guy, Hudson Hawk, Dracula, Midnight Express, Who Am I?, The Mirror Has Two Faces, Little Women, Bad Boys, The Big Chill and Gilda (note that none of these titles have yet to be confirmed by Columbia PR, and are subject to change).

- 11/1 Virgin: buy two, get one free! -

Gracious to goodness - Lee Stoneman of the now award winning DVD Debate (hearty congrats, Lee, and thanks to Jonathan Price of DVD Lists for nursing my wounds!) reports this amazing offer. Further, it seems they have dropped the Columbia prices to the RRP of £19.99 - so last week, 3 Columbia discs would cost £71.97, while now they are £39.97! As Lee suggests, send them a message by buy, buy, buying while the offer is on...

- 11/1 Warner to abandon regional coding?! -

A wild rumour this, but just too juicy not to reprint - apparently (!) some trade magazines have been reporting that Warner Brothers are considering dropping regional coding, because of the global nature of DVD ROMs or some such strange reason. Seems incredibly unlikely to me, but maybe they'll try something out on their back catalogue...

- 10/1 The shape of recordable things to come? -

With seemingly dozens of different, confusingly named recordable DVD formats vying for consumer's attention, Philips have thrown their hat into the ring with an impressive sounding implementation of DVD+RW. Among the tantalising features promised for domestic home recorders are:

If it all sounds just too good, then it may well be. It is already becoming clear that the biggest obstacle to recordable DVD will be political rather than technical, with legitimate fears of perfect cloned discs - extras and all - wiping out the DVD market altogether. Currently, standards for Digital TV are thought to be in discussion, possibly blocking the digital recording of some shows, or time-limiting others.

Watch this bit-space...

- 9/1 Flipping Hell: it must be Armageddon -

All rumours and bets are off - the official word from Buena Vista is that Armageddon (8/2) is a two sided release. The otherwise flagship title is released here on February 8th, and will contain no extras whatsoever, according to the company's latest press release. By contrast, the US version is dual layer, and contains trailers and a music video, but is not anamorphic - it is unknown whether the UK version will be, but it does seem highly probable. It will be interesting to see if there will be a major backlash from the UK community regarding this release - this DVD owner always bought VHS over Laserdisc because, well, a movie is supposed to run from beginning to end. Contact details to come for Buena Vista if you wish to constructively vent steam.

Meanwhile, an even more astounding screw up from the increasingly dire Disney appears to be Pretty Woman - running at 115 minutes and also DOUBLE SIDED. Clearly, this is insane, and probably goes on record as the shortest ever movie to be a flipper, if the press release is to be believed. At least the rest of the Jan / Feb releases are all widescreen, with the exception of animated classics Dumbo (15/2) and Alice in Wonderland.(25/1) None of their 18 titles have even a production note for an extra.

Bad news too for the normally reliable Warner Brothers - due to what appears to be an almighty foul up, US Marshals (out now) officially does not contain an English 5.1 channel soundtrack, and Warner are apparently not planning re-releasing the title correctly - investigations are under way as to whether any other European version of this title has an English 5.1 option, as the US disc does. The title is also minus a documentary about the real US Marshals, which appeared on the American version.

Better news now - two more special editions are on the way from Warner. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (25/1) also has a pop video and "Real People in the Garden", an interactive documentary, while City of Angels (15/2) contains a 30 minute docco "Making Angels", 15 minutes worth of additional scenes with a commentary, and VH-1 interviews with Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morisette. Other notable features to be found on their next releases are a director's commentary for Devil's Advocate (15/1), and a music-only soundtrack for Beetlejuice (25/1).

Finally, it now appear's that Disney's first day and date with rental release is not Armageddon, but Six Days and Seven Nights, out on the 25th January.

- 8/1 A Goodmans DVD player for £200?! Er, maybe not... -

The not-always-reliable-but-improving-in-the-main Home Entertainment Magazine this month reports the amazing exclusive that Dixons group manufacturer Goodmans is to sell a DVD player at between "£200 and £250". This would blow the UK DVD market wide open, but before you practice your "No, for the last time I don't want 5 year Supercover" speech, there appears to be a problem.

The player doesn't exist.

Calls to the head office today revealed confusion as to where the story came from, and a highly placed member of staff explained that, although a player had been shown at a trade show in November, the company had taken the decision not to sell it in 1999 since they "weren't able to make or sell it cheap enough".

Full confirmation - or otherwise - should come early next week.

- 7/1 ...And a VERY happy new year! -

Following from the news that DVD has had a record US Christmas, news is filtering through of massive successes on this side of the pond. DVD player sales in the last quarter of 1998 were up 250% on the total from April to September - in early December, Philips had to ship more machines in from Europe as they had totally sold out of stock earmarked for the UK. Meanwhile, Warner Distribution - who handle Warner, Buena Vista and MGM - say that sales in December doubled those in November, with virtually each successive week giving gains on the previous one - and early indications show this trend continuing into the new year as people buy discs for their Christmas presents. Exact figures should be released in a couple of weeks.

The UK's best selling disc of 1998 was Tomorrow Never Dies, at around 20,000 copies. Not far behind was Contact, then a bigger gap with LA Confidential, Face / Off, Con Air, Sphere and GoldenEye being the other big sellers for the distributors. Warner Home Video say that although the presence of extras on a title helps sales, by far the biggest factors are title and genre. It is also worth noting that the strong sales have been across the board of retailers - including overchargers like HMV and Virgin.

Meanwhile, Warners hope that Armageddon, released on February 8th, will break new records. One of 1998's biggest hits, this kick starts their new retail DVD day and date with rental VHS release campaign - Lethal Weapon 4 follows in March, and the policy will continue throughout the year for all major new releases from Warner Brothers, Buena Vista and MGM. Columbia Tristar too are moving to day and date with VHS with their monster special edition - Godzilla.

From the hardware side of things, 1999 promises to break new ground. The consensus from all manufacturers is that the entry point to DVD will be coming down this spring, with the first players retailing under £300 appearing as part of a wider range way up to the £1,500 mark. By autumn, the aim is to drop the bottom end prices lower even than this.

All we need now is for Universal, Dreamworks, Paramount & Fox to read all this, and we'll have a very happy new year indeed..

- 7/1 The wrong type of trainspotter -

Did you know that Trainspotting was ment to be out last June? How hard can it be to transfer a movie - is it the wrong type of disc? Anyhow, the cult classic is now due for release at the end of the month, along with a Metallica video, Cats and yet more 3 Tenors, but seeing is beilieving of course. Meanwhile, Spiceworld sneaked out last week... minus the promised extras of the interviews. It is interesting to note that the VHS has these, while the new Dutch version of The Mask from Polygram has commentaries, animated menus, behind the scenes clips and goodness only knows what. What, it begs the question, are the UK DVD people doing so wrong?

- 4/1 CIC remain tight-lipped -

Those of us hoping for a New Year present from CIC look set to be disappointed. The official word from the company is "no comment", unable even to confirm that, when Universal, Paramount or Dreamworks titles appear, they will be handled by CIC. This is in contrast to earlier last year, when the official line was that yes, they will be playing ball, probably late in 1998.

Unofficially, a few tantalizing nuggets are starting to leak out. Those long standing readers of the site may remember last year's fracas when a release schedule of Universal titles was sent to some retailers in error. The films - which included Apollo 13, Babe and Dante's Peak - are still thought to be in development with a an eventual CIC release in view. As to when is anyone's guess, but insiders seem confident that we will see some action some time this year. For everyone's sakes, let's hope that's sooner rather than later...

- 4/1 Armageddon draws ever nearer -

This'll shock ya - for once a DVD release has ben brought FORWARD! One of Disney's flagship titles, Armageddon, now has a February 8th retail release date, to tie in with the rental VHS release. On the minus side, although widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, early indications are that the disc will arrive minus the trailers and pop video which adorn the recent US version.

- 4/1 US court Marshalled -

Trouble at mill - it seems that at least some copies of US Marshals, officially released here on 6th January, are rogue European versions. Warner Bothers are still finding out how widespread the problem is, but at least some appear to have what in the trade is known as a Disc 2, in this case containing only a UK 2 channel mix on audio track 2. The version we should have is a Disc 4, with a 5.1 version in English. And there's know way of knowing from the outside - the packaging is all correct and in English.

The advice is simple enough - if you buy a copy with the incorrect version inside, hang on to the receipt until a pukka UK disc arrives at your supplier.

- 1/1 DVD explodes in the US -

While DVD is still struggling to find its feet here (and sales figures are yet to come in), it has fair well exploded in the US. Huge on-line retailer, reel.com, says their share of DVD movie sales has jumped from 10% in September to 36% in December, while the total number of players sold in 1998 is 1,043,806 - for 1997 it was around 305,000. Top selling disc was Tomorrow Never Dies, with Godzilla and Air Force One in second and third. Disney's no 1 disc was no18 - Con Air, Paramount at 19 with Top Gun, and Fox didn't feature in the 1998 US top 20 at all. Guess some people don't want to make money...

A happy new year to all readers, by the way!

- 24/12 More extras from Columbia Tristar -

Columbia are to release 5 new discs in January, with each containing at least a basic trailer and filmography package. Leading the crop is Gattaca, which will also feature out-takes and a photo gallery, and this is joined by Hush, Excess Baggage and the delayed Replacement Killers and Double Team. These latter two titles should still beat the retail VHS release date by a month or so. All releases are £19.99 and are anamorphic widescreen.

- 17/12 New Line coming to UK DVD? -

That's the tantalizing promise offered by Entertainment Video, who own the VHS rights to many of the New Line titles such as The Mask & Seven. Movies, DVD & That can exclusively reveal that the company are about to move into DVD in the UK, and plan to issue a press release in January. In the US, New Line have released some of the most popular DVD titles, such as Austin Powers, Lost In Space & The Wedding Singer. Note, however, that holding VHS rights does not automatically mean that Entertainment Video owns the rights to the DVD, and Movies, DVD & That has learned that at least one of the preceding titles has been bought by another UK company.

Nevertheless, the move will come as a shot in the arm for the under-represented UK industry, still suffering with no announcements from Universal, Paramount, Dreamworks or Fox.

- 16/12 A few more delays -

The Borrowers has now hit the shops from Polygram, as has Brassed Off from VCI. Both studios have delays on other titles though - Trainspotting, originally due for shipping in June, now has a best guess date of late January 1999! VCI's other releases, including their fist dual layer title, Fried Green Tomatoes, will also now come out some time in the new year.

- 15/12 Ssssh!!!! Libraries rent DVD.... -

Keep your voice down, but DVD-UK is reporting that at least one British public library is renting region 2 DVDs for the oh-so-tempting sum of £2 A WEEK. So if you live near High Wycombe, it's time to iron your old membershiop card, slip on your hush puppies and pay off all your fines.

At the site, Andy Hawkins is collecting places whose libraries are joining the high-tech revolution. Take a look down yours and report back any good news you find.

- 14/12 Santa is back with his Iron Mask -

It's on, it's off... it's on again. The Man in the Iron Mash is now due out on December 21st. The other back catalogue titles (Rain Man etc) should be out next month, but there is no firm date yet.

Meanwhile, information is starting to trickle through regarding the Polygram archive acquisition. MGM will be handling old Polygram DVD titles (maybe THEY can get The Usual Suspects right), but the tortuous process of going through rights on a title by title basis is still in full swing. Look for full information on this hopefully early next year.

- 10/12 Godzilla: DVD DOES matter... -

With humans re-installed at Columbia, Movies, DVD & That... can exclusively reveal that the upcoming Godzilla DVD is slated to be the same special edition which recently broke sales records in the US. Upon release Stateside, the specially discounted disc was the first in history to actually exceed sales of the VHS version. The film should thus be anamorphic & dual layer, and include a featurette, special effects commentary, 5 trailers, animated menus, a music video, photos & notes. If this is the case, it will certainly join Contact, LA Confidential, Sphere and US Marshals as a Most Desirable Disc, although I'd urge caution until you see the whites of Godzilla's eyes.

Hold on, do Godzilla's eyes have whites?

The movie is released to the UK on March 22nd, and will coincide with the VHS retail release.

- 10/12 Only 2% of males of even HEARD of DVD!!!! -

That's the amazing finding of a major new report into European DVD by media journal Screen Digest, and refers to adults in the UK. By contrast, when the survey was conducted, 48% knew of Digital TV - 24 times the amount of those who knew what DVD was about.

However, the report is far from all gloom. France leads the way in market penetration, followed by Germany, then the UK. Across Europe, 125,000 players should have been sold this year, rising to 485,000 next year and over a million by the end of the year 2,000, while disc sales should rise from 1.4 million this year to over 15 million during the same period. By the end of 1998, around 400 titles will have been released across Europe, but only 135 of those are from the Hollywood major studios. The rest are made up of local independents - in the UK, VCI, BMG and Carlton are examples.

The report highlights what it sees are the problems facing DVD in Europe. These are:

The report also looks at the plans of all the manufacturers, software companies, authoring houses, replication plants (there are now 11 across Europe) and the viability or otherwise of DIVX. But don't rush out to buy your own copy - it'll set you back a modest £495.

- 9/12 South Park confirmed for March -

DVD World reports that all 13 episodes of the first season of South Park will go on sale in March 1999, courtesy of Warner Vision.

- 9/12 In The Line Of Fire finally has the UK in its crosshairs... -

Originally postponed due to cuts demanded by the BBFC, Columbia are apparently set to release the Clint thriller here in February 1999. It is not yet clear whether this disc has been cut or has had its rating bumped up to an 18.

Meanwhile, the hotly anticipated As Good as it Gets and Das Boot are delayed yet again - clearly the effort of getting a whole extra onto the discs has proved too much for the huge company. The new best-guess date is December 21st, perilously close to Santa's delivery date...

One more new release announced - Nicolas Cage finds out on March 22nd that It Could Happen To You. While Columbia have apparently replaced their entire staff with voice mail, thanks to DVD World for the info.

- 8/12 Titanic DVD is out now -

It's region 4, and... a bootleg. The discovery follows the recent appearance of Disney animated bootleg DVDs in the Far East. Of course, the quality is likely to be poor and previous bootlegs have even missed out entire parts of the film...

If you want more details, pop over to The Digital Bits.

- 8/12 More Flippin' Disney... -

This time, the film you have to turn over half way through is The Rock. This follows Face/off last month - neither title was two sided on their respective US releases.

- 4/12 First ever dedicated code free DVD player for £399 -

It's finally happened. Someone has broken ranks with the worldwide DVD consortium and released a player to the UK market which can, off the shelf, play DVD discs from any region, selectable by remote.

The company is called SMC, and the machine retails here through Maplin. It otherwise looks like a relatively basic machine, except for the curious addition of a karaoke facility. This may be a clue as to it's origins - such code free machines are common in Hong Kong, where karaoke is popular. It retails for £399 - check the company web site for a picture and more details.

Meanwhile, Upgrade Heaven have cracked the eagerly anticipated DV-717 machine.

- 4/12 All UK DVD prices cut -

£1 off all discs throughout December, with free first class P&P, are there for the grabbing from on-line retialers DVD Plus. Happy Christmas...

- 4/12 Pathe plan to launch DVD mid-1999 -

A few more details have been sneaking out regarding Pathe's plans for UK DVD. They hope to release their first titles in June or July 1999 through the Fox Pathe distribution partnership, probably starting with some high profile back catalogue releases - I am sworn to secrecy on actual titles, but they should be very eagerly welcomed.

The company then plan to move to rental DVD day and date with rental VHS on new releases, although they are watching the market for developments.

- 4/12 Warner distribution dominates UK sales -

Following the aggressive pricing of most of their product at £15.99, Warner Brothers distribution is officially dominating the UK market in a fairly major way. Since the start of the official top 20 sales charts, the company - covering Warner Brothers, Disney / Buena Vista and MGM - have been responsible for at least 16 of the best selling titles. In one week, they occupied all 20 positions. Their discs account for 70% of total UK sales.

Recently, Columbia Tristar reduced their RRPs from £24 to £20, and have started to incorporate significant extras on their titles. This may now give Warner some real competition. Obviously bullish in the meantime, Neil McKewan, from Warner UK, says actual numbers sold have been "very positive".

- 4/12 More MGM updates -

Thelma and Louise is now out - Man In the Iron Mask will now probably not make Santa's sack. Save those Christmas tokens...

2/12 Alice joins Brucie in DVD wonderland -

This is about as big a coup as we've ever had in European DVD - distributors Warner Brothers have confirmed that Alice In Wonderland, Disney's first ever animated feature, comes to UK DVD on 25th January 1999. This will be Disney's first ever classic animated title released anywhere in the world on our loveable disc format - it seems unlikely that the US will get any such titles before the end of next year. Another family favourite, Dumbo, is released on 19th February.

Another significant release on that date (subject to alteration) is Armageddon, along with these other Disney / Warner titles - City Of Angels, Copland, Dave, Driving Miss Daisy, Forever Young, The Green Berets, Hard to Kill, Ice Storm, Jungle to Jungle, Murder at 1600, Risky Business, Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion, Splash, The Three Musketeers and The Wild Bunch - Director's Cut.

Joining Alice in her Wonderland on 25th January are Beetlejuice, Blazing Saddles, Cool Runnings, Devil's Advocate, GoodFellas, Grosse Pointe Blank, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Mr Magoo, Shine & Spy Hard. Pretty Woman, GI Jane and Six Days and Seven Nights are all to be confirmed for this date.

And before even that, 6th January sees the release of US Marshalls - Special Edition.

There are around 15 more titles per month planned for March, April and May - no specific titles available yet.

All prices to be £15.99. Thanks to DVD World for the advance word on these dates - more details to come very soon.

 

October / November 1998

27/11 Want to play in South Park?

Rumour only, this one, but Warner Vision are apparently looking to release the whacked-out animation to European DVD next spring, possibly with 4 titles per disc.

27/11 Late again...

Brassed off is now the only VCI movie that will make the November 30th schedule - the rest of their titles follow on in December. The eagerly awaited first feature-enhanced Columbia titles As Good as it Gets, Das Boot and U-Turn, should now sneak out on 7th December.

25/11 More region 2 European imports

We all know that The Fifth Element is available in France, but there are plenty more European goodies where that came from. Juanjo Garcia reports from Spain (see also below) that two films are just out that are yet to be made available even in the US - fleshfest Showgirls (2.35:1) and UK epic Restoration (1.85) should keep the box-office-disaster-watchers very happy. Meanwhile, the more successful El Cid and 55 Days in Peking follow in the next few days. Other titles aleady available are Basic Instinct (2:35), The Bear (widescreen) and Immortal Beloved (1.85) - all with English surround options, but no anamorphic treatment and reportedly dodgy picture quality. To buy direct form Spain, try http://cyberbrain.es or http://www.mundolaser.com.

25/11 Thelma & Louise is the next region 2 dual layer

The upcoming classic has already made it to shop shelves in sunny Spain, and is a Pan-European release. Many have darkly commented on the huge numbers of lanuguage soundtracks on the title (5.1 English, and 2.0 German, French, Spanish & Italian), plus a commentary and alternative ending. How can they fit all that on one side of a disc, as with the US version? The answer is happily simple - they can't, and the disc is in the almost double capacity Dual Layer format. Thanks to Juanjo Garcia for the info, who teasingly reports that the image (anamorphic, by the way) looks good in Espania...

23/11 Update on MGM and other UK titles

Santa alert - MGM say that The Man In The Iron Mask and Thelma & Louise should now be available sometime "before Christmas". The other 4 titles from the studio originally due for release today will now emerge in early 1999.

Meanwhile, the next Columbia and Disney titles have had small delays of around a week or two.

16/11 MGM November titles "shelved"

Bad news for region 2 - ALL of the movies (The Man In the Iron Mask, Raging Bull, Midnight Cowboy, Rainman & Rocky) due for release on the 23rd November by MGM have been shelved - the fate of Thelma & Louise is unclear. As to whether these are completely scrapped or merely delayed is as yet not known - stay tuned for more info on this soon.

16/11 Polygram uncertainties

More delays for Polygram - while Bean and The Game have now reached shops, DVD owning Spice Girls fans will have to wait still longer for Spiceworld. Still no sign of Trainspotting either. In the mean time, the beleaguered compamy have made partial amends for the Usual Suspects fiasco, by correcting the faulty sound. The strange God-like voices on the original version were a result of a technical fault, which has now been fixed. However, the release is still fullscreen ONLY and has no director's commentary. The company say they were unable to source - or did not have the rights - to a widescreen print or the commentary.

It is now not known whether any further Polygram DVD releases will ever materialise, despite their recent new announcements. The uncertainty follows the purchase of Polygram's coveted 1,300 title film library by MGM for $250m. At this time, the UK offices of both companies are unable to clarify how this would affect DVD in the UK, although rumours from the States suggest that MGM will now take over the reigns.

16/11 Blockbuster & Choices Video full rental details

Here's the Blockbuster deal - £3 per disc for two nights, or a sensational £10 for two nights, two discs and a Toshiba player! DVD is about to get huge, methinks...

One bit of less good news - the rental trial has been scaled down from 120 stores to 30. However, the discs themselves are also available to buy at the participating stores. The latest list of those (modified from the original circulated list, and note Croydon has been replaced by Sutton) is:

Sunderland, Denton, Lincoln, Fallowfield, Walkden, Barnsley, Liverpool - Edge Lan, Derby, Coventry - Tile Hill, Newport, Reading - Lower Earley, Leamington Spa, Tamworth, Cheltenham, Hemel Hempstead, Basildon, Stevenage, Gravesend, Canterbury, Maidstone, Holloway, Crawley, Uxbridge, Bayswater, Welling, Fulham. New Malden, Clapham Junction, Sutton & Wembley.

Just so Blockbuster aren't left too it, Choices Video have announced 33 participating stores in their DVD trial, and will rent you a disc for a Blockbuster-beating £2 for 2 nights. Discs are also available for purchase from these stores or their web site for slightly above RRP. They also offer player retail, with 2 machines each from Philips and Sony, arriving within 24 hours by mail order. The company are very bullish about the format, with heavy promotion and 3 "digital experience" centres (Biggleswade, Haverhill and Bedford) complete with demo room. The full list of the other stores is:

Bury St Edmonds, Norwich ( 3 stores), Bretton (Peterborough), St Ives, (Cambridgeshire), Banbury, Blackheath (West Midlands), Cotteridge, Sutton Coldfield, Coalville, Daventry, Kettering, Mansfield, Melton Mowbury, Northampton, Braintree, Chesham, East Grinstead, Rayleigh, Southend, Driffield, Bridgenorth, Mold, Oswestry, Wrexham, Bridgnorth, Bristol, Thornbury & a brand new store at Kiddeminster.

One more factoid - Choices say that initial take up has been considerably stronger than expected, and the majority of renters so far have DVD in their PCs, rather than stand alone players. So now you know...

16/11 Pioneer / Universal deal collapses

Yet more bad news - the first DVD titles to be released as a result of a partnership between Pioneer and Universal have been scrapped. Due for release this month, The River Wild, The Shadow and The Nutty Professor will now not be released through the recently revamped Pioneer label. PLEASE NOTE - the December issue of HCC carries a story saying that the deal is on, but sadly this is old news. Total DVD (the new HCC offshoot magazine) will confirm this upon launch next month.

The UK DVD scene is in a state of enormous confusion regarding some of the biggest players. In addition to the Universal debacle, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks SKG have all yet to make their European plans known, depressing confidence in the fragile domestic market and boosting sales of hacked machines and chips, so as to import American versions. Pioneer are understood to be currently in discussion with some of these studios, as are CIC video, but no decisions or deals have yet been unveiled. Meanwhile, Pathe have reconfirmed that they shall be releasing titles in 1999, either through their own distribution or the Fox Pathe partnership. The company theatrically released films such as The Fifth Element and Austin Powers here, although no title details are yet available for DVD releases.

With the recent explosion of interest in DVD, it seems incredible that so many of the big players are still kicking their heels and botching deals. Sort yourselves out boys and girls, there are hungry mouths to feed out there... 

16/11 Columbia Tristar drop prices

A bit of good news. Having previously hiked their prices from £19.99 to a uniquely diabolical £23.99, Columbia Tristar have now bowed to public pressure and dropped them right back again. The new £19.99 price applies to all new releases, starting with the already available My Best Friend's Wedding and Mulitiplicity, and will soon extend to the back catalogue. Combined with the extras on the upcoming As Good As It Gets and Das Boot (both with commentaries, and the latter with a mini-documentary), it seems as if Columbia may be in the frame to claim the "listening studio" prize, along with VCI. Note though that recent rumours of a FURTHER pice drop to £15.99 have been denied by Columbia.

Meanwhile, a bit more release stuff - The Replacement Killers has been postponed from December 1st - no new date yet. Titles due on January 19th are: Assignment, Excess Baggage, Gattaca & Hush - despite more rumours to the contrary, no firm dates on other titles yet, including Godzilla.

16/11 Over 100 new titles announced

That loud noise you just heard is the sound of UK DVD exploding.

Every studio committed to DVD is now throwing crate loads of new releases at the market, and many of them are high profile. Among the discs coming in the first few months of next year...

Disney - Alice In Wonderland & Dumbo (the first classic Disney animation available on DVD anywhere in the world), Armageddon, Face/Off, Con Air, Air Force One, The Rock, Starship Troopers, Scream, Jackie Brown and Grosse Pointe Blank

Columbia Tristar - Godzilla, My Best Friend's Wedding, As Good As It Gets, Das Boot & Gattaca

MGM - Man In The Iron Mask, Species 2

Polygram - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Elizabeth, The Big Lebowski, When Harry Met Sally and It's a Wonderful Life

VCI - Velvet Goldmine, Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Warner Brothers - LA Confidential, US Marshalls: Special Edition, Goodfellas, City Of Angels & Lethal Weapon 4

Remember, these are just the highlights! For a full list, together with any further details which are available, either click the appropriate studio name, or go to the studio page.

Look out too for these music titles - from Sony comes live concerts from Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and VH1 Divas in November, George Michael and yet more Celine in the new year. BMG delight pre-teen female DVD owners with Five Inside before Christmas & Another Level in the new year, when they will also delight everyone with Natalie Imbruglia. 1999 also sees Warner Vision release Tap Dogs, Richter - The Enigma, Simply Red live, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 3 (3!!! lawks), Alanis Morrissette's Jagged Little Pill live and finally the clairvoyant Madonna - "1990-1999".

It is particulaly gratifying to see a high commitment to British releases from VCI and Polygram, providing an alternative to the US blockbusters. Now we just need Fox Pathe to release The Full Monty - and in widescreen please...

16/11 Glory to DVD in the high st

In a move that seems to have taken everybody - including many in the industry - by surprise, High Street stalwarts WH Smiths are now selling DVD in 90 of their stores, with prices sat firmly at RRP (unlike chains such as HMV and Virgin, who frequently overcharge). Woolworths plan to follow suit in their biggest shops in the new year, while the larger stores in the Our Price chain are also already on the bandwaggon.

Meanwhile, DVDPlus, a new web based retailer, opens for business on November 3rd, aiming to stock every UK DVD and ship at competative rates. They also launch with a DVD disc and player competition.

It was never like this with Laserdisc...

16/11 DVD receives its official UK launch at BAFTA

On 14th November, film and home cinema nut Jonathan Ross proved the perfect man to cut the red tape for the press and industry. Joined by various industry figures, the presentation and demonstrations made for a fine bash, with Jo Guest on tabloid duties and Terry Gilliam and Peter Yates (Bullitt) adding gravitas to the bun fight. A united front was stressed, with Toshiba speaking on behalf of manufacturers, and Columbia chiming in for the studios.

Some vital statistics from the event: In Europe, 300,000 players will have been sold by the end of the year, and 200 titles will have been released. For every player sold in the UK, 14 discs have gone to the happy owner - currently Tomorrow Never Dies is the UK no1, Contact no2 and GoldenEye no3. Players are available in 2,000 British stockists, and discs sit in 2,000 rental and retail outlets.

16/11 The hard FACTS on American Imports

It looks as if the widely publicised raid of Essex DVD and Laserdisc importers Laser Enterprises by the Police and FACT may herald the beginning of the end regarding the reselling of American discs. The original raid was, allegedly, carried out after a complaint from Adrian's Records, a region 2 only selling competitor. Laser Enterprises are currently taking legal advice for their defense - they recently claimed that they have a letter from a Trading Standards solicitor clarifying that they CAN sell US discs.

More recently the trade body has visited two other importers, following the cautious restarting of US sales - it looks as if the policy is here to stay. FACT themselves spoke directly to me, explaining that they, together with the police, are merely implementing the law. As they see it, this only allows direct personal importing of foreign copyright and non-BBFC certified material, and not commercial reselling. It seems they take the BBFC issue particularly seriously, coming down hardest on those selling films yet to gain a UK home video release. Further, they claim that anyone wishing to protest the policy should go straight to their MP, since the law would first need to be changed in order for FACT to change its position.

16/11 Dastardly Disney Deeds

Ol' big ears just can't seem to get DVD right. In the States, they are in the cross-hairs of the enthusiasts sights for being almost unique in releasing non-anamorphic discs. In Europe, we have anamorphic Disney titles - but it seems as if some may be dodgy transfers from ordinary NTSC letterboxed videotape! Warner's production division (who distribute the titles here) were asked to clarify this information, but declined, saying it wasn't "in their interests". Make of that what you will.

All that said, the transfer's look a sight better than you'd expect. Movies, DVD & That has a review of one of the first discs, Ransom.

16/11 VCI delivers Shawshank, but the age of Rental Only DVD is upon us...

The new widescreen / fullscreen Shawshank and Hellraiser discs are now finally out - read the Shawshank review here. VCI plan to follow these up by bringing some excellent home grown British films to DVD by the year's end.

November 16th sees a day and date with rental VHS release of Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, complete with animated menus, interview featurette and biographies, and presented in anamorphic widescreen & Dolby Surround. The one snag - this will be the first ever rental DVD (don't worry! Not DIVX!) - available only to rent for 6 months. After that, the product can be bought in the usual way. So far, VCI are the only studio to do this (next year, Velevet Goldmine will be given the same treatment) - Warner plan next year to release DVD to retail day and date with rental VHS, in order to help kick start the market.

Firmly in the retail sector and also with these features, look out for 3 other Brit-flicks. Ewan Mac Gregor blows off steam in Brassed Off, the gay comedy that even The Sun loved arrives as a Beautiful Thing, and Daniel Day Lewis' debut in Stephen Frears' My Beautiful Laundrette (details TBC) tumble out at the end of November. From the US, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe makes a very welcome dual layer platter, while Hellraiser II completes the 1998 line up.

16/11 New DVD magazine to hit the shelves

"Total DVD" launches in December as an offshoot of Home Cinema Choice magazine, with the aim to review as many Region 2 releases (and the cream of the region 1 titles) as humanly possible.

16/11 Manga kick DVD "ass"

Three initial titles smash their way out in the new year - Ghost In The Shell, Streetfighter II and Ninja Scroll.

September 1998

2/9 LATE UPDATE - clerical error for Warner Vision titles

Think I've gone into news overload. The Warner Music titles were released on August 24, not due for September 24! Sorry... and thanks Andy for pointing it out!

2/9 21 Disney titles to come by year's end

The Digital Bayou reports the following titles and dates, released through Warners, of upcoming R2 Disney discs. Please note that these titles are not as yet confirmed by Warners here, but they appear (the first 8 definitely) to be authentic:

September 24th - 101 Dalmations (live action), Crimson Tide, Homeward Bound, Metro, Nothing To Lose, Phenomenon, Ransom, While You Were Sleeping

October 31st - Face/off, Father Of The Bride, George Of The Jungle, Good Morning Vietnam.

November 30th - Con Air, Dead Poets Society, Father Of The Bride 2, The Rock

December 31st - Flubber, Jack, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Santa Clause & Terminal Velocity

If this list stands, then there are a number of nuggets here, with Face/off, Vietnam and Dead Poets all released here and in the US at aroud the same time, and 4 of the least interesting unique to region 2, hurrah! These are (I understand) Father of the Bride I and II, Jack and Terminal Velocity.

2/9 More VCI titles on the way

The Label That Listened have an interesting set of 5 new titles, including the very British and very good Brassed Off, the superb Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and the pre-Scream Wes Craven's New Nightmare, along with Hellraiser II and a Cameron Mackintosh tribute stage show, Hey Mr Producer. Don't expect these too soon though - it could be next year when they finally hit the shelves. The widescreen Shawshank and Hellraiser titles are now around 2 variable-lengh weeks away, incidentally. Thanks to Andrew Fish for pointing me in the right direction for this one.

2/9 Home Entertainment Magazine clarification

In the August 1998 issue, consumer magazine Home Entertainment published a somewhat alarmist and innacurate story on its news page regarding the demise of code-free DVD (see archive news, dated 13/7).

Prior to this, the magazine had not been covering any region 1 or code free DVD information for legal reasons. But following letters from some unqualified people who had wrecked their machines (and in the light of previous bad experiences on such things), the magazine somewhat belatedly decided to run this story aimed at discouraging home-grown botch jobs. Unfortunately, it was decided that the best way to keep within their editorial policy was to not recommend professional modifications either! Their resulting article was thus both late in the day and only partially accurate. Much as I stand by the strong sentiments expressed in my earlier story, I am happy to clarify that the inaccuracies contained in their original report were certainly not typical of the high quality magazine, and understandable in the light of editorial policy.

Their "no region 1" policy is currently under review.

2/9 Warner Vision details

The 4 titles out on September 24th, all RRP £19.99, are Madonna: The Girlie Show, The 3 Tenors in Concert (1994 World Cup), Eric Clapton unplugged and Fleetwood Mac - The Dance. All are double sided Dolby Digital or stereo. A couple of these I saw in production (thanks Sarah), and they looked and sounded superb.

1/9 Partnership between 20th Century Fox and Pathe for UK DVD

Pre-launch market research is currently underway for a new partnership, Fox Pathe, which will cover DVD releases for the two studios. Pathe now incorporate much of the the old Guild and Cannon franchises, who between them have been responsible for titles such as The Fifth Element and Terminator 2 in the UK. The mighty Fox own the rights to Star Wars, the Alien series and Titanic. It should be stressed that no title decisions have been taken at this stage, with the issue of DVD rights for films phenomenally complex - Pathe are currently establishing what they do and do not have digital rights to.

A spokesperson for Pathe said that DVD releases were "definite", but not to expect actual titles until 1999.

August 1998

26/8 Blockbuster Video UK DVD rental to start in September

Mammoth video rental chain Blockbuster are to start DVD trials in the UK at the end of next month - far earlier than originally thought. The tests, which will involve their 120 superstores nationwide, will feature disc and player rental, and disc retail. Pricing details have yet to be finalised.

The timing coincides with the release of over 40 movies during September - high profile titles available should include Tomorrow Never Dies, Contact, The Postman and Conspiracy Theory.

24/8 Titanic to sail from the UK after all?

PLEASE NOTE - THIS STORY IS SPECULATION!

Several rumours and bits of information are starting to indicate that when the mighty Titanic is released, it may be one of the first global tie-in DVDs. The rumour from inside the industry here is that Fox will announce support for DVD - as they already have in the US and Japan - within the next fortnight or so. Further, it is known that James Cameron has supervised both widescreen and pan & scan masters of the blockbuster in the US, presumably in both NTSC and PAL. Another piece of the jigsaw - the release date in the US is being held back for some reason(s).

One theory that would explain all of this is that talks between Paramount and Fox (who own US and foreign rights respectively) have been going on to give the title a joint push, sharing authoring and massive duplication costs and resources. Just maybe we'll see Titanic sail here on DVD this year after all. But then again, maybe we won't...

22/8 Pioneer are first with Region 2 Dual Layer

Stargate is the disc, out on 7th September, beating Warner's Contact by 2 whole weeks. The title also features Dolby Digital 5.1 and an animated menu. Review up now.

21/8 Polygram embrace Dolby Digital

Sleepers has just been released, and is the first movie from Polygram to feature Dolby Digital 5.1. The movie, in happy contrast to The Usual Suspects and Four Weddings, is a dual sided widescreen / fullscreen affair. Credit where it's due, Polygram have been one of the only UK studios to embrace this perfect solution. A review should be up soon.

Meanwhile, Polygram's Trainspotting has had manufacturing difficulties - there is no confirmed release date.

21/8 Shawshank Redemption - "3 weeks max" (!)

Don't moan, the delay on the widescreen re-release is in a good cause. VCI have had difficulties in sourcing an original print of high enough quality, and they definitely want to be sure we're happy this time! The company are now confident that this disc will be something to really get excited about. All good things...

21/8 Cutthroat cut

The Region 2 release of Cutthroat Island from Pioneer has been indefinitely shelved. Meanwhile, Stargate should be available 7th September, and more title information should be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks.

19/8 - Universal / Paramount / CIC latest

Well, the published region 2 release list (copied onto the Studio page) certainly looks to be inaccurate. CIC / UIP have stated that they don't even own the rights to some of the titles! It is still, however, a matter of major curiosity as to how at least one distributor received the list though - CIC / UIP just said something to the effect of "there are loads of lists all over the place". Maybe, but not many of them make it to the distributors with RRPs and order numbers! I will keep the list up until some definite confirmation comes my way as to what has happened - meanwhile if there are other retailers or studio employees out there with any light to shed on this, I'd be grateful to receive it.

Meanwhile, CIC confirmed that as and when Paramount release region 2 discs, they will be distributing them. As of now, however (and unlike Universal), they have made no firm commitment to region 2.

12/8 - LATE UPDATE 2 - No European Fox DVD for "the time being"

Confirmation today direct from Fox that there are no immediate plans for European DVD (although their eventual support seems beyond doubt). So that means no Titanic here for the immediate future - and no Porky's.

12/8 - LATE UPDATE 1 - Universal confusion!

Well, chaos certainly seems to be reigning over at CIC and Universal. I spoke to CIC's PR department today, who knew nothing of the release dates (see story below). The original information was passed on via the normal distribution chains to the video retailers (hence the DVD Gaming source), so I assumed - not unreasonably - the accuracy wasn't in question. However, Andy Hawkins from DVD-UK has spoken to someone from Universal today, who said that the title and price information was inaccurate, and only 6 or 7 titles may make it out this year.

So what is going on? I (and I suspect Universal) sure would like to know... How did the original list get to the video companies? Over the next day or two, hopefully things will become clearer - I certainly don't want to make a habit of posting inaccurate info. Learning rapidly here, you can be sure that from now on, all release information will be confirmed DIRECT from the studio concerned or via an official press release (as all the other information up until now has been), otherwise I'll flag as rumour ONLY. So, apologies for the moment, and thanks to Andy Hawkins and DVD Gaming for all the info. Wouldn't life be dull if things like this didn't happen? Of course, stay tuned...

12/8 First wave of UK Universal titles announced

Just when you thought region 1 had all the news this week... the first 36 titles have been announced by Universal, scheduled for release between October and December, including Apollo 13, Daylight & The Nutty Professor. The studio page holds the complete list - thanks to DVD Gaming for the info.

10/8 And about EXPLETIVE time...

Call off the dogs, diffuse the bombs and shed your clothes in delight, Fox and Paramount have finally put us all out of our misery by announcing US titles. And what a barnstorming collection they are, with Porky's and, er, Jingle All the Way from Fox, and... what's this... oh yeah, The Odd Couple II from Paramount. Ah well, Rome wasn't built in a day, and the excitement reputably brought Yahoo and half the Internet to a screeching halt anyway. Try The Digital Bits (or almost any other Internet DVD site you can think of for that matter) for a "full" list of the first titles. This now leaves just the mighty Dreamworks SKG to be out in the cold - but don't laugh. You'll all be wanting Saving Private Ryan soon enough, mark my words. Meanwhile ye Europeans, I shall now try to establish exactly what our position is, now that Fox have announced in both the US and Japan. Watch, as "they" say, this space...

7/8 Director's commentaries from new 007 discs

Full details of MGM's first titles are now available. Both Bond movies and Thelma & Louise feature filmmaker commentaries, with the latter title also featuring a chance to see the original ending. All discs are Dolby Digital 5.1 and anamorphic widescreen, but no pan & scan alternative is offered. Full format details on each of the titles, now pushed back a week to September 25, are available on the studio page.

4/8 Paramount... almost official news...

Most readers will be aware that Paramount, who announced support of DVD in America some months ago, have still yet to release details of any actual titles. The US trade magazine Video Store (August 2-8) now reports that some of the first titles, available this October, will be Top Gun, Face/off, The Saint, Kiss the Girls, Twilight, Star Trek: First Contact, In & Out and Clear and Present Danger. The Titanic struggle between Fox and Paramount regarding the big old ship movie seems to keep pushing that particular release date back - current dates mooted are early December or mid-January 1999. In the UK, CIC plan to release Paramount titles, hopefully by year's end. Titanic is distributed here by 20th Century Fox. Thanks to The Digital Bits for the US info.

July 1998

28/7 Widescreen Shawshank Redemption "within 4 weeks"

Great news for all who have waited patiently - dual sided versions of both The Shawshank Redemption and Hellraiser are to be made available "within the next 4 weeks". The widescreen side will also be anamorphically squeezed, and contain the plot threads - flip the disc for the interviews. VCI would liked to have included the director's commentary also, but don't own the rights. Congratulations and thanks to all at VCI who have worked to make this possible. Come on now, Polygram - it's make your mind up time on The Usual Suspects and Four Weddings and a Funeral...

24/7 20th Century Fox release Region 2 DVD

It's true, it's September 18th, and... they're Japanese. 24 titles including The Abyss (not director's cut), Chain Reaction, Courage Under Fire, Edward Scissorhands & Broken Arrow (all released on the 18th), and True Lies by the end of the year. All will play on a UK machine, and cost around £20 (locally). Look out for imports, but maybe we won't be too far behind here in the UK with our own releases...

24/7 MGM release dates and prices, Columbia delay

MGM changes from the provisional list, final title and price details on the studio page. 27/7 Columbia titles delayed until 10/8

23/7 Delay on Sleepers & Trainspotting

These titles put back to August. A Life Less Ordinary has been postponed.

22/7 New Polygram titles announced

5 new movie titles announced by the end of the year - see studio news

17/7 UK DVD rental news

Some rumours have been circulating that Blockbuster Video's DVD rental program would start in February, but this has been denied by the company at this time. At the moment, Blockbuster are looking closely at the whole area, but the timescale is not yet fixed. Meanwhile, to coincide with their new titles in September, Warner Brothers plan to launch a rental tie-in using Philips DVD players for rental outlets.

13/7 "Home Entertainment" Magazine code-free story complete rubbish

I have already had one alarmed enquiry from a reader regarding a gibberish story that appeared in this month's Home Entertainment magazine. The story said that, because studios were making their DVDs "pirate proof" (!), people with early modified Panasonic A100 machines would now have to throw them away! I have e.mailed the magazine regarding this shoddy journalism - the story is six months old and totally inaccurate. Check this question and the following one in the FAQ for the real facts. Then, if you want a true modification, just get a new chip installed as described here.

12/7 No announcement from 20th Century Fox or Dreamworks SKG

For months, the DVD world has been waiting for an announcement from these two studios announcing support of the format at a trade show held last week in Las Vegas. Nothing! Seems like it's us in Europe who've been getting all the good news lately. Still, it's surely only a matter of time before these last luddites join the merry throng.

6/7 Disney / Buena Vista Titles coming to Europe!

Under a new deal, Disney are to release their European DVDs through Warner Home Video. The agreement encompasses over 100 titles from Walt Disney, Touchstone & Hollywood Pictures, and runs from the Autumn until 2000. Look for Autumn releases including Con Air, Air Force One, The Rock, Face/Off, Ransom, Crimson Tide, Phenomenon, While You Were Sleeping, 101 Dalmatians (live action), Pretty Woman and Dead Poet's Society. Future releases will include animation classics, the first released on DVD anywhere in the world, including Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo. Hopefully a full list of titles will soon be available.

6/7 Carlton DVDs in September

3 classics from the Rank archives listed on the studio page. Also look out for TV titles Sharpe's Rifles and Inspector Morse - The Dead Of Jericho.

6/7 BIG NEWS! UK Universal and Paramount titles are coming...

These will be distributed here by CIC video. A spokeswoman told me to expect titles "by the end of the year" and firm announcements on what they may be by the end of September.

6/7 Region 2 Contact: Special Edition on the way

It has been confirmed by Warner Brothers that this title will indeed be the astounding version released in the States. Released on September 25, visit the studio page for a full list of other Warner titles. Go here for a review of the US version.

4/7 New titles from Pioneer, including the first 24bit 96khz release

Movies are Cutthroat Island and Stargate, with more promised later in the year. The 24 bit thing is a classical disc called Golden Silver Gala - being as it's a first, I stuck it in with the movie release info. All details on the studio page.

4/7 The latest on The Usual Suspects soap opera

Well, it's in the shops, and it is an absolute fiasco. I am still hoping that Polygram might recall and re-press the disc, but in the mean time I'd reluctantly advise people not to buy this title. It has a faulty sound transfer, making the dialogue come from all five speakers in a pro-logic set up! Polygram, I beg you - get a new authoring company! I have also asked for some explanation as to how their press releases states that all their titles will be widescreen AND pan / scan, and also Dolby Digital, when this disc is neither. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode...

2/7 New titles from MGM

GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and 8 more. Full title listings on the studio page - no other details on these discs yet.

1/7 Upgrade Heaven - company asks customers to bear with them

If any readers have been trying to contact Code Free DVD company Upgrade Heaven and not getting through, the company has asked me to pass on it's regret. They have had server problems and are snowed under with a backlog of faxes and e-mails - they promise they will answer them ALL ASAP. Meanwhile you can fax them on 0113 2935705 (office hours), or e-mail at either upgrades@mcmail.com & upgradeheaven@mcmail.com.

1/7 Speilberg Schmeilberg

Er, it turns out that The Color Purple was released in the US before the meister banned his films from DVD. So, on it's arrival on these shores in September, there is no Region 2 scoop. Knew it was too good to be true... item below corrected.

 

June 1998

30/6 New Warner Brothers titles announced

25 in September, then 8-10 more per month! Congratulations to Warners, and stand by for LA Confidential and Contact. Full list on the Studio page.

30/6 Usual Suspects correction

A small correction to the ongoing saga - whatever else the problems are, labelling, isn't one of them!

26/6 New Columbia Tristar titles announced

Among many new titles are As Good As It Gets and The Devil's Own. Full details on the new Studio News page.

26/6 More news on The Usual Suspects UK release from Polygram.

There are, at present, a number of problems with this disc, including a possible faulty sound transfer and incorrect labelling on the packaging - Polygram are investigating and a further delay seems likely. Depositions have been placed with Polygram to take the opportunity to release the title in a double sided format - at present the disc is a Pan & Scan affair only. However, it has since come to light that the film is shot in Super 35, not Panavision, so the fullscreen framing is not as bad as first feared. Nevertheless, for those with widescreen sets (many DVD owners), it'll still be widescreen or nothing...

VCI to release widescreen Shawshank Redemption and Hellraiser DVDs

Old news for some, but following correspondence by some of us in the fledgling DVD community berating that these titles were not in widescreen, I received a letter from Robert Callow, Managing Director of VCI. He stated that:

"I have taken on board all of your comments, and am currently investigating the conversion of both Shawshank Redemption and Hellraiser to DVD10s [Double sided discs] which will feature both pan and scan and widescreen versions.".

Blimey! Thanks to Robert for this, and I'll keep you all posted as to progress.

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.All reviews / articles copyright Guy Rowland (1998)