‘Swamp Thing’ Re-Issue Details Announced

Courtesy: MVD Entertainment Group

A new Swamp Thing movie is allegedly in the works as part of the changes happening in the DCU, but before it arrives, the original 1982 movie from SwampFilms is going to get the re-issue treatment.

Officials with MVD Entertainment Group announced Thursday, the original movie is scheduled for re-issue July 25 separately on 4K UHD/Blu-ray combo pack and standalone Blu-ray. The re-issue is part of MVD’s “Rewind Collection.”

Thursday’s announcement came roughly two months after the company re-issued the movie’s 1989 sequel, The Return of Swamp Thing on 4K UHD/BD combo pack.

Directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise), the movie is based on the DC character by the same name. It stars Ray Wise (Robocop, Dead End, Batman: The Killing Joke) and Adrienne Barbeau (Escape From New York, The Fog, Back To School) as Dr. Alec Holland and government agent Alice Cable. The pair have developed a formula that has the potential to end world hunger, but unknown to them the evil Dr. Arcane (Louis Jordan– Octopussy, Gigi, Letter From An Unknown Woman) wants the formula for his own selfish reasons.

When Arcane tries to steal the formula, he ends up covering Dr. Holland in the formula and then leaves him for dead in the swamp. Holland ends up becoming the movie’s titular character and sets out to stop Dr. Arcane while also saving Alice. While Wise takes on the role of Dr. Holland, Dick Durock (Stand By Me, The Enforcer, Runaway Train) takes on the role of the movie’s titular character.

Also starring in the movie are the likes of David Hess (The Last House on the Left, Cabin Fever, Body Count), and Nicholas Worth (Darkman, No Way Out, Heartbreak Ridge).

While both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray platform offer audiences the same commentaries as bonus content, the Blu-ray platform offers much more in regard to its bonus content. The Blu-ray platform also includes extras, such as a featurette examining how the Swamp Thing comic made the leap from the printed page to the big screen, a bonus titled “Tales From The Swamp” with Adrienne Barbeau, and another titled “Swamp Screen: Designing DC’s Main Monster.”

The full list of each platform’s bonus content is noted below:

DISC 1: SWAMP THING 4K LASERVISION COLLECTION –
SPECIAL FEATURES: 

• 2023 4K Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the Original
Camera Negative) of both the US Theatrical PG Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio in Dolby Vision / HDR 

• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono 

• Optional English Subtitles 

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven
moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version) 

• Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist
William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version) 

• Collectible “4K LaserVision” Mini-Poster of cover art 

• Limited Edition “4K Laservision” Slipcover (First Pressing Only) 

DISC 2: SWAMP THING REWIND COLLECTION BLU-RAY –
SPECIAL FEATURES: 

• 2023 HD Restoration of both the US Theatrical PG
Version and Unrated International Version of the film presented in its original
1.85:1 Aspect Ratio 

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Wes Craven
moderated by Sean Clark (Theatrical / PG Version) 

• Audio Commentary with Makeup Effects Artist
William Munns moderated by Michael Felsher (Theatrical / PG Version) 

• DTS-HD Audio 2.0 Mono, Spanish Mono Audio 

• Optional English Subtitles 

• “Tales From the Swamp” (Remastered) with
Actress Adrienne Barbeau (HD, 16:56) 

• “Hey Jude” with Actor Reggie Batts (HD, 14:30) 

• “That Swamp Thing” with Len Wein, Creator of Swamp Thing (HD, 13:19) 

• “Swamp Screen: Designing DC’s Main Monster” featurette (HD, 20:32) 

• “From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream
Shaped a Radical Genre Voice” featurette (HD, 17:34) 

• Posters & Lobby Cards – Photo Gallery 

• Photos from the Film – Photo Gallery 

• William Munns’ Behind the Scenes Pictures – Photo Gallery  

• Behind the Scenes Photos by Geoffrey Rayle – Photo Gallery 

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:31) 

• “REGION A” LOCKED 

Swamp Thing will retail for MSRP of $49.95 on its 4K UHD/BD combo pack platform. The standalone BD platform will retail for MSRP of $39.95.

More information on this and other titles from MVD Entertainment Group is available online at:

Website: http://mvdentertainment.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MVDEntertainmentGroup

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mvdentgroup

To keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and ‘Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

Sapphire And Steel Proves To Be One Of TV’s Most Underrated Sci-Fi Dramas

Courtesy: Shout! Factory/itv

Shout! Factory has made quite the name for itself in recent years by releasing some of the twentieth century’s greatest TV shows and movies.  Partnerships with variety of companies have resulted in the release of classic 90s Nicktoons and some equally beloved older movies including: The Producers, Swamp Thing, and They Live just to name a few.  While many of Shout! Factory’s releases in recent years have been relatively well known to American audiences, there have been those releases that are far more obscure.  Earlier this year, Shout! Factory partnered up with an Australian company to release the Dr. Who spinoff, K­–9: The Complete Series.  Now as the year winds down, Shout! Factory has partnered with British network itv to release another more obscure classic series in the form of Sapphire and Steel.  Sapphire and Steel was a show well ahead of its time.  An examination of its writing and production values proves this.  A side-by-side comparison with the likes of Fox’s hit sci-fi series The X–Files and Fringe shows just how far ahead of time Sapphire and Steel was in its original run from the late 70s into the 80s.    That comparison will prove in the grand scheme of things just how important Sapphire and Steel is today, despite its original short, roughly four-year run.

Sapphire and Steel was in its original run, one of very serials on the air at its time.  Other than soap operas, most networks during the 70s ran very few primetime serials.  This applies even with British television.  That aspect alone puts Sapphire and Steel far ahead of its time.  Putting it even far more ahead of its time is that despite audiences’ desire to compare the two, this series is nothing like its fellow British sci-fi series, Dr. Who.  The only concrete similarity that the two share is the fact that Sapphire and Steel are able to travel through time with ease as they investigate various cases.  Other than that, there are no similarities between the pair.  If anything Sapphire and Steel can be more easily compared to Fox’s The X–Files and Fringe.  All three shows see their main characters investigating experiences that defy any logical explanation.  In the case of Sapphire and Steel, audiences see its two main characters investigating most notable the case of a man who had the ability to trap people in photographs in one episode.  Another saw them investigating a haunted train station that was already being investigated by a self-proclaimed ghost hunter.  And in one of the most interesting of the short-lived series’ episodes, Sapphire and Steel have to deal with a pair of time travelers from the future.  The dialogue between the characters is simple enough for any viewer to follow.  And the music written in as a bed for each scene helps make each one even more gripping.  One must not forget the manner in which each episode ends, too.  The show’s writing staff made no bones about the fact that this show was a serial.  The semi-cliffhanger episode endings were expertly written.  They kept viewers really wanting to know what will happen next.  This is a tribute to the work put into each episode by the show’s writers even with each episode being split into so many episodes.  That writing made having so many episodes per story enjoyable, rather than annoying as some critics would like to believe.

The writing behind Sapphire and Steel is the series’ key point of success.  The show’s writers crafted stories that were largely unlike anything that other British, and even American dramas of the time were doing.  Also to be factored into the show’s importance is its production values.  The general production values of Sapphire and Steel are by today’s standards rather low grade.  However, when one looks at the production values in a larger picture, those behind the show used what they had at the time.  The result is that it led the show to rely on its writing and acting for its success.  That’s not to say that in hindsight the special effects are low budget.  There is something about the show’s production values that in comparison to so many of today’s TV shows and movies that makes one appreciate them.  Today’s movies and TV shows are so over the top in terms of their production values that it makes them feel boring.  Classics such as this show though, have more substance.  It uses the production values as a companion tool to the writing, thus giving audiences a truly full viewing experience.  Whether one is familiar with Sapphire and Steel or not, it proves with its combination of solid writing and its production values that it’s a show that any sci-fi fan should see at least once.  Perhaps in doing so, said viewers will gain a new appreciation for not just the one show, but classic science fiction television and film making as a whole.  Sapphire and Steel is available now on DVD in stores and online.  It can be ordered direct from the Shout! Factory online store at http://www.shoutfactory.com/catalog/search/?uc_search_word=Sapphire%20and%20Steel.  More information on this and other titles from Shout! Factory is available online at http://www.shoutfactory.com and http://www.facebook.com/shoutfactoryofficial.

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.