Looks good, from what I'm reading.


THE STENDHAL SYNDROME available Sep. 25th

I wonder if they've fixed the sound on that new SUSPIRIA disc....

I doubt it. All of BU's re-releases of AB's Argento titles have been straightforward ports so far, so I strongly doubt that we'll see anything different with Suspiria.

Wasn't it recently announced that Weinstein Company acquired SUSPIRIA? I was hoping that version may restore the correct sound mix.

Maybe Lustig has a few more months to milk it before he loses the rights?

The Weinstein Company acquired the rights to the restored SUSPIRIA. I'm no expert on copyright law, but I guess this could be considered an "alternate version" if the copyright was renewed*, and perhaps Bill Lustig still has the rights to the version he released on DVD.

It's interesting that the STENDHAL announcement mentions the film as being "uncut" with both English and Italian soundtracks. Does this mean the additional scenes in the Italian version will be present? And if so, if we chose the English option, will it revert to subtitles for those scenes, like DEEP RED? I still think it's a tragedy that we will never apparently get to hear the original on-set vocal performances of the cast, in particular Asia Argento. This is a case were I really wish a bootleg workprint copy of the film would surface someday.

Vincent

* I do know that the opening credits are supposed to credit Philip Glass along with the Goblin for the music, so technically this restored SUSPIRIA is an "alternate version".

Are those original tracks really gone forever? I always kept hoping that they would be found in storage and presented as an alternate audio track or something.


I would assume that all of Bill Lustig's rights to the Argento films are expiring. Isn't that the main reason for the current rereleases?

I thought it was simply because Anchor Bay's license finally expired on them, and BU's kicked in...

If he follows Anchor Bay's example, then they'd be reissued in box sets resembling six packs with very broad theme titles when they're about to go out of print.

More info, menu screens and a couple of screen grabs.

If anyone has any specific questions that I can answer by looking at, or listening to, the disc, I'm happy to field them.

It appears to be a new transfer. I haven't received the disc yet but the caps I've seen have 1.66:1 side mattes. How's the DTS mix?

Dread Central has posted a very positive review of the new DVD.

I just picked it up today. I haven't watched it through yet, but it looks gorgeous - so much better than the Troma DVD. The Italian track sounds great too. I can't swear to it, but it sounds like Asia's voice. Can't wait to watch it in Italian with English subs.

D.

Yes, but how does it compare to the Medusa 2-disc set...

The Italian track is Asia's voice, however the English track is a terribly inappropriate voice actress. I know that Asia was very upset when they replaced her voice with this abomination, as I'd asked Dario several years ago if there was any possiblity of hearing Asia's original English language track and he said something to the effect that it would probably never happen.

The BU transfer is also at the correct NTSC speed. This is noticeable in the running time compared to the Italian disc as well as the pitch of the voices which sound slightly lower (most noticeable during Asia's heartrending screams at the end when she virtually relives her rape as grasping hands reach in that are actually trying to help her). It's too bad she didn't dub the English track.

Blue Underground (left); Medusa Disc 1 (right)


The color balance is also slightly different with the BU veering towards the warmer. It is also slightly grainier but I've read that the Italian disc has heavy noise reduction so that's why it looks smoother.

Note that there is a slight audio pop during the zoom in to the Caravaggio Medusa shield that is present on all of the audio tracks. It is also present on the tracks on the Italian DVD so I think its an error in the original recording.

I finally got around to watching this last night. I don't have the Medusa disc so I can't compare, but I watched the whole thing in Italian with English subs and found it to be much more satisfying than the English dub. I haven't seen this film since the Troma DVD was released and I'm glad I waited for a better presentation to revisit it. It really is a remarkable film - maybe Argento's "smartest" movie.

D.

Over the years I've grown more appreciative of Giuseppe Rotunno's photography (I was initially unimpressed) and there are some striking 1.66:1 compositions (notably the one in the screencap I've included which gains more balance in its OAR than cropped to 1.78:1) and the scene in the art studio is impressively photographed though I can't help wondering how much more delirious the Stendhal Syndrome sequences would have been if shot by another cinematographer such as Ronnie Taylor with his gliding and craning movements or Luigi Kuveiller with his sometimes cubist-looking framing (his eighties and nineties work that I've seen was rather uninspired, though). Then again, Argento and crew probably would not have as much freedom or room to rig camera tracks and cranes in the Uffizi (that said, Rotunno's use of some steady handheld movements and very judicious use of the zoom is admirable in the Uffizi sequence).

I'll take Rotunno over Taylor any day - not a real big Ronnie Taylor fan. Now, Luigi Kuveiller I wish had done more work with Argento - he's great.

I'm referring to Taylor's work for OPERA not PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and SLEEPLESS.

Of all the releases I've seen, I think the Troma DVD had the best menus which made use of Morricone's score, the artwork and motion images from the film, and nice related transitions. The 2.0 surround mix was also very good. I think the video aspect of Troma's release should be blamed on Medusa. Neither the Dutch release (from the caps I've seen) or the anamorphic French release from around that time looked that much better.

The Medusa DVD does look smoother and somewhat sharper than the BU disc and the cooler color balance of the Italian release is nicer but its really in the artwork onscreen that you can see that the BU disc perhaps better represents their colors and textures.

A copy of the Troma version just arrived via Netflix.

It's full-screen. Having never seen this movie before, should I just send it back and wait for the BU version?

On a side note, is there any way on Netflix to tell what version of a DVD they're offering?

Send it back and wait. It really is one of those films where a good, widescreen transfer is really essential. The Troma DVD also does not have an Italian track with English subs, which I think is the preferred way to watch the film.

D.

Will do, thanks!

Troma's disc was 1.66:1 and offered more balanced compositions than the 16:9 cropped Medusa release. It may not have looked good (but that was a combination of Medusa's earlier sub-par master and compressing it on disc to allow for all of the usual Troma "special features".

Here is my comparison of the BU, Medusa, and Troma discs at DVDBeaver.

Just wanted to mention that I much prefer the coloring of BU's new disc to the cooler bias of Medusa's (I own both). The new disc has an almost 'oil-based' texture that I find most appropriate and also very pleasing personally.

I prefer the BU transfer, too, but was surprised by the amount of edge halos I saw (i.e., the dreaded "edge enhancement"). It doesn't look as artificially sharpened as the Medusa disc, but there is plenty of regrettable edge-enhancement just the same, and that's a bit of a pity. But, the colors are better and for the most part it's a more natural looking image, I just wish they laid off the "sharpness" control so we didn't have those damn halos, especially in long shots.

On another note, listening to the English track on this edition- sans PAL speed up as in previous editions- is a noticeably better viewing experience than watching the English track in PAL (or similarily time compressed as in the Troma DVD and Japanese laserdisc). While I'd obviously still much prefer to hear Asia's complete* actual on-set English-language performance, the English dub track does work a bit better playing at the correct speed and audio pitch compared to previous PAL versions.

Vincent

* I say "complete" because unless I'm imagining things, Asia's actual voice does creep into the English track in a few places. Listen in particular to whenever her character says "No" and tell me that's not Asia's voice.

I also thought the compression was a bit below-par for BU - though it seemed less filtered for noise reduction than usual.

Vincent-
I've noticed that too, as well as anytime Anna is crying or screaming it is clearly Asia and not the dubtress, that's what I'll call the voice actors (dubtor and dubtress accordingly. Lame I know, but I just woke up, so cut me some slack.)

:D