Gave one of the discs a quick spin, To Hull and Back, and it looks absolutely incredible. Rightly so as it's been scanned from the original negatives. Worth the cost of the set alone. Not seen the other episodes yet but heard they are a mix of film negatives and upscaled original broadcast masters (the later 1980's episodes were shot straight on video tape, possibly Betacam?). Not going to be as good as To Hull and Back as that was the only one shot entirely on film. However these have been hailed by everyone so far as the best you will ever see and hear.
The only thing to beat these would be 100% uncut broadcast masters to beat the old partwork magazine VHS tapes that were all uncut but also now impossible to find and cost a fortune. I hope they make more Blu Ray OFAH releases.
Just to follow up on this in case anyone is interested. I watched The Jolly Boys Outing yesterday. This episode is about 80% film and 20% video tape. Like the To Hull and Back episode (which was 100% film), the original film negatives look in incredible shape. The picture quality is the best you will ever likely see. The video tape sections, which are nearly all interior stage shots, do appear very obvious when flipping between a film and video scene. With that said, the source used I would imagine is likely the original master tape(s). The image has been upscaled to 1080 and in fairness looks sensational. Pretty much every possible drop of quality appears to have been squeezed out of the taped scenes. It's just 'noticable' and not hugely off-putting.
There's a lovely bonus extra on the disc that is a couple of deleted sequences from the original negatives. Full frame, perforations and all. There's no audio, but the quality still is absolutely brilliant. Proof if anything that scanning the raw negatives showed that the BBC likely really looked after them in their archives. The all-new opening sequence on every episode looks superb too. By all-new I mean that the exact sequence was recreated frame for frame in HD by the BBC. This came off the back of the original photos and camera negatives that were found from the original studio photography shoots. I think they were presumed lost until they were discovered a year or two ago in the BBC vaults. These look amazing too and even feature a couple of extra frames in original high resolution.
Not checked out the rest of the episodes or extras yet, but from what I've seen so far, from two of the best episodes they ever made, this set is worth the entry fee for those two episodes alone. Fans of OFAH will not be disappointed at all. Just a note as well, the booklet tells you the episodes are all 99.9% uncut. Only two tiny snips were made for a GNR London radio jingle in 2 scenes that the BBC couldn't get the rights clearance for. According to OFAH fanatics, this isn't a major loss and still the best we will likely ever see these episodes in.
Personally I'm going to write to the team that done the work on this box set and to say thank you. Hopefully if enough people do the same and sales are good enough we just might see the rest of the series uncut from start to finish. Fingers crossed.
Some tat arrived today. One item of which ends a quest lasting almost over a decade.
First up, someone here mentioned there was a Kimagure Orange Road music Laserdisc. I was told I had to buy it. So I did as I was told.
Next up, is for me personally, a very special piece. I am not even exaggerating when I say I've been looking for this item for almost 11 years. Today that quest ends with the arrival of the absolutely BIBLICAL deluxe DVD set of Raiden: The Aces High from the masters at INH (Insanity Naked Hunter).
It's probably the hardest title in the INH series to come by. Probably only equalled by the Battle Garegga set (which I did own previously, brand new and sealed but ended up moving on so I'm still missing that title now to be 'INH Complete' so to speak). That's not to say it hasn't cropped up to buy over the past 11 years. It certainly has, but it's either been missing discs or the accompanying book, or the price has been way beyond reasonable.
Until now.
I managed to find The Aces High at a 'sort of reasonable' price (still not cheap but at least not soul-destroyingly expensive), and best of all it's still new and sealed! I know for a fact it's not a re-sealed product as I've actually gone and visited the home of INH, Mikado Game Centre just around the corner from Takadanobaba JR station in Tokyo. On the second floor there is a small retail store full of Mikado and INH items (packaged the same way) as the game centre is part-owned by INH boss Minoru Ikeda (who is also part of the metal band, and tribute act, Heavy Metal Raiden). I've also interviewed Ikeda-san on my blog a number of years ago and he's a great guy.
The Aces High is the only release to have such deluxe treatment. 2 x DVD's and 2 x CD's. Plus a lovely full colour book. All of the INH STG DVD releases have an accompanying book and all are gorgeous, but usually only have 1 DVD and nothing more in the disc department. The only INH release I think that rivals this would be the lovely digipack box of Mushihimesama: The Secret Lover (which I also have in my collection). Cave put out a nice Espgaluda II DVD box and book, and N-Pro had a couple of releases that were very well made, including a lovely DoDonpachi Black Label DVD. But INH were the true masters in my opinion.
I think this ranks up there with a Progear no Arashi doujin VHS I owned in the past that was signed for me by the legend Clover TAC himself at a convention in France about 10 years or so ago. Not so much the rarity of it (though it is certainly one of the hardest INH titles to find), but because it took nearly 11 years of waiting to get it, and that when I did it was brand new and sealed, so it's a great day for me personally in that respect. I understand if noone gives a s**t though, I just wanted to share some history on this title and these discs for those that may be keen to know more.
Also, if you are ever in Tokyo, do pay Mikado a visit some time. Come out of Takadanobaba JR station and go back on yourself up a small alleyway. It's about halfway up the alley, you can't miss it. Ikeda-san has another Mikado in Tokyo that they opened a few years ago, but that opened long after I was in Japan.
More anime, purchased over the course of this month with the Sentai Filmworks order having just arrived yesterday morning.
- Picture 1 Digimon Adventure tri.: Determination (BD/DVD Combo) Fireworks (DVD) Liz and the Blue Bird (BD/DVD Combo) Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (BD/DVD Combo) Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (BD/DVD Combo)
- Picture 2 Ascendance of a Bookworm (Seasons 1 & 2): Complete Collection Blue Spring Ride: Complete Collection Redo of Healer (Season 1): Complete Collection Sagrada Reset: Complete Collection The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors & Hostel Behavior: Complete Collection The Life of Budori Gusuko Utano Princesama: Legend Star Complete Collection Utano Prince Sama Revolutions Complete Collection
Newest addition to my Nokia Collection. The legendary N93.
I owned this phone when it was new. It is still as badass as it was then. A camera with 3x optical zoom, DVD quality video recording, Wifi. It was a beast of a phone when it came out.
A small selection of tat today, along with stuff for my pressure washer and triathlon stuff nobody will give two hoots about.
This is the book of Michael Palin's excellent Around The World In 80 Days adventure. It's the same imprint as the copy of Pole To Pole that I already have. That copy is signed and dedicated to me from when I met him in person on a tour he did several years ago discussing all of his travels. A genuinely nice man with incredible stories to tell, the book version of 80 Days goes in to much more detail than what we saw in the television series.
Talking of television, I also got the 20th anniversary DVD set of Around The World In 80 Days. You can already see the show on iPlayer, Britbox and so on. However what makes this set special is it includes a special episode from 2008 where Michael is reunited with the crew of the Al Sharma dhow he sailed on from Dubai to (in 1988) Bombay. You can't get this episode anywhere else at the minute, even on dodgy corners of the Internet, even YouTube.
As an aside, I wrote to BBC Studios recently to thank them for the excellent work done on the Only Fools And Horses Blu Ray set. I also asked if it's possible we will see a Blu Ray restoration of 80 Days for Blu Ray. It would look incredible as the whole series was shot on 16mm film. Prime for an HD edition! I doubt they will reply but hopefully take on board the positive feedback.
Just by way of coincidence, the BBC wrote back to me today. Appreciated the OFAH Blu Ray feedback. Whoever monitors that mailbox said they checked the 2022 and 2023 BBC Studios release schedules, and a Blu Ray release of 80 Days isn't on them.
Alas.
The 20th Anniversary DVD set I received today is the best edition to date then.
I watched the reunion episode earlier, which was excellent. I'd forgotten a lot of it from when it originally aired in 2008. Great to see the Al Sharma crew again. Those still alive anyway.
Interesting to see Dubai too and the different construction projects ongoing at the time. I remember being in Dubai and Muscat when the foundations were broken on the Burj Kalifa, coming back a few years mid construction, and the metro line being built too. Then visiting both again several times post-completion. Dubai (and Abu Dhabi for that matter) doesn't stand still even for 5 minutes, such is the rate of change in the Emirates. This DVD set is a great time capsule of a time when both the UAE and China were on the cusp of colossal change.
First up some stuff for my training. The pizza slice is a steering system for Zwift that works with my smart trainer. The other is a foot pod that I can use on a 'dumb' treadmill to run in Zwift. Useful stuff for training.
Some light reading material next. Probably not everyone's cup of tea/coffee/vegan soy latte. But hey, it's up to you if you take the orange pill or not.
Finally some assorted tat. The Shawscope box set was a bit of a whim. Wasn't going to get it but then the price dropped significantly recently. That combined with a few weeks of research on the box set and the quality of the contents twisted my arm. Definitely a few double or triple features await in this box! By the way, the blue texturised foil on the cover that replicates the Shaw gong is just magnificent. This is a really well put together set.
I bought Corruption on a total whim. The trailer freaked me out a bit and nudged me towards getting the Limited Edition box. I adore Indicator sets. They are always really well made with lots of thought put in to them. Always nice to get one blind and see if the film(s) is any good.
I also got another blind buy in Sorcerer, which I was on the fence about for a while until I listened to a podcast the other day between Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo. Kermode literally gushed over this film which somehow convinced me to pick it up completely blind. I finished watching all my Australian buys earlier this week, so I'm going to watch this tonight I think. I'm moderately excited for it, but trying to play it right down to prevent disappointment. Hopefully Sorcerer is as good as Kermode has lead me to believe it is! Aside, I reversed the cover already to the one in the photo. The other side it ships with is an orange cover that I didn't really like. Much prefer the original design!
Lastly I upgraded my old blower to an S22 Ultra. Just waiting on a case to arrive for it before I set it up.
Shaw Bros box and Sorcerer this is like two ends of taste.
I love Shaw films but they are so cheesy, and Sorcerer is just amazing on its own. Shaw box would be run 20/7, I do need time to sleep
Don't think of any other films but Sorcerer while watching it. The music the film its just amazing, I really can't believe you haven't seen this one before, if you like the stuff you like and love the stuff you love you should be in awe of this one, there are some moments but it took me a while to own a copy but its an amazing film in such an odd way, and don't even think or compare this to Wages of Fear, great film but this really blows it away 100%
I wish it were longer is all I can say to give even more details on everything.
Watched Sorcerer yesterday. Haven't tucked in to the Shawscope set yet, saving that for a while. Corruption could be tonight's feature presentation. Might do it as a double feature and watch the excellent Death Line again (one of the best films I watched last year).
Got another Blu Ray today, 1970's martial arts action from South Africa! Joe Bullet, from 1973, which was released by 88 Films. Considering it was banned in the apartheid era, it's incredible to think it survived as the government apparently held on to all the prints and locked them up. Could pair this one with Corruption, but Death Line is just sooooo good it needs a rewatch.
First some more light reading along with the screen protector for my new S22 Ultra. The screen protector installs super easy, works great especially on the curved glass. If you are in the market for an S22 Ultra, this is a great screen protector in my opinion.
Next up a bunch of Nolan films, all in 4K HDR and all from Italy. Tenet is a lovely steelbook too. It started when I was looking for Tenet, wanting specifically to avoid the UK/Ireland releases because they are all censored. The USA release would come with added heartbreak tax and the German release is too expensive because that's the release everyone in Europe seems to gravitate to because of the censorship issue with the UK/Ireland release.
The censorship isn't a huge deal, it's literally a few seconds, but I don't agree with it and like my films 'au naturel' and untouched. So I found Tenet for an incredible price in Italy along with a stack of Nolan 4K's that were all part of some weird time-limited flash sale. So I figured what the hell and took them all except for the Batman films as I don't really enjoy all those tedious superhero films one after the other that dominate the box office for all these years, it's boring.
Anyway, it turns out the sale really was time limited and not some scam to get you to spend as I returned to Jeff's shop later on in the day to check something and sure enough the price had gone back to normal. A genuine bargain and a genuine case of right place at the right time.
Last up is a mix of DVD and Blu's, all from Network.
Since purchasing Wilt and Death Line, both on the Network label, last year, they have rapidly escalated to the top of my favourite boutique labels. It's not just the titles they put out, but the additional content that's packed in. The booklets are well worth reading with heaps of information. They do superb restoration jobs (on the titles they restore, not rights grabs). I love the way they present their films with original BBFC title cards too, no messing around and just presented properly like they were back in the day they were first shown.
I picked up more Nicholas Lyndhurst excellence with season 1 and season 2 of his obscure MI5 espionage comedy The Piglet Files. Remember Network also released his other smash hit show Goodnight Sweetheart (which I also got a while back) on 11 DVD's and all uncut. The Piglet Files is another you should probably buy as it is heading towards OOP status apparently (I can't find Season 3 in stock anywhere for starters). There's a lot here that could be cut out, music cues as well as some scenes that may not be considered entirely PC in 2022. Grab them before they disappear, it's a hilarious show.
Also got The Sweeney and The Sweeney 2, both presented uncut and with their original BBFC X rated title cards! I watched Minder now and again years ago, that starred Dennis Waterman too but not John Thaw (George Cole instead). The Sweeney just didn't appeal for some reason. I've read both the films though are reportedly excellent and ultra violent. The closest thing to a British Poliziotteschi perhaps? NOBODY can touch Mario Merola in Napoli La Camorra Cfida La Cite Risponde though! (UPDATE: Raro USA STILL haven't released it on Blu yet!).
Lastly in the pile is 1966 'bondesque' film Deadlier Than The Male. This one was a blind buy off of a trailer I saw on YouTube. Network have also presented this from the original X rated print. Network are such a good label, don't forget to put their Death Line Blu Ray (and Wilt too!) on your shopping list if you haven't already!
Have some more irons in the fire (don't we all, it never ends!) but heaps to watch and read until next time. Hope some stuff inspires some blind buys for someone.
Edit: just to add, both Sweeney and Sweeney 2 are brand new scans from original camera negatives and both restorations and scans were carried out by Network. Deadlier Than The Male is scanned from original film elements.
First up, a new PAL Laserdisc! First PAL disc in quite a while but a very important one (in my opinion). This is the 1992 film Fortress starring Christopher Lambert. Did you know that Arnold was originally cast to lead this film? He buggered off though to do Last Action Hero instead so Lambert stepped in.
Why the PAL disc? Apparently this version is completely uncut. The USA, Japan and Hong Kong discs are (as far as I know, please someone do correct me if this is not true) all the same USA theatrical cut, which is censored in a couple of places. It's a shame that the PAL release is pan and scan though. Interestingly, the film is available on Blu completely uncut, however the cut scenes are SD inserts, most likely from the very same source as this PAL print I would imagine. I'll get the film on Blu at some stage, but it's silly money at the moment and to me at least, the Laserdisc is a higher priority purchase between the two. Surprisingly the PAL uncut disc isn't exactly super easy to get. I would imagine this is because of it's uncut status? Such a shame it's 4:3 though, the only bad mark against this disc I think.
More tat to toss on my reading and Blu piles of stuff. Starting with a nice used copy of Ronald J. Deibert's Black Code. Some poolside reading there. A bit of a tricky one to get new and at a good price recently. Maybe it's about due a reprint? Either way it's in very good shape, for a great price.
Next is the 21st ( ) Anniversary edition of Peter Howitt's magnificent octopus, Sliding Doors. It's a bit of a naff film and hasn't aged that well (the scene on the boat anyone? ). I still like it though. One of the few romantic comedies I can stomach when forced to watch it (which I was forced at Rambo-esque knifepoint to do earlier this week). I should point out though that this disc has a really good making of featurette on it. It's quite unique too because it's a short documentary made by Sliding Doors director Peter Howitt. The documentary is made from around 25 hours of analogue footage he shot himself, like a video diary of sorts, that captures the moment he struck a deal and the script was greenlit by the studio, to the wrap up of shooting. It's done in a kind of video diary style, with Howitt talking to camera in his home and describing how nervous he is not to mess this golden opportunity up to direct a film. He comes across as very sincere and humble. Fair play to the guy, he done a great job because despite the film not aging that well and being a bit naff, Sliding Doors has taken on it's own meaning now as people across the world refer to some of their own life decision-making times as 'Sliding Doors moments' (bit of trivia for you, although everyone knows this term from the 1998 film, the term was actually coined in 1932!). This is a good disc by the way, and with decent audio too. It's super cheap and well worth getting while still in print. Oh and I do love the theme song Have Fun Go Mad by Blair (oddly NOT AVAILABLE on music streaming services, so I best go looking for a CD single asap), and Jeanne Tripplehorn is great in it!
Note that the album version of Have Fun Go Mad (below) differs to the version used in Sliding Doors. The intro version on the film is a LOT longer than both the Radio Mix and Album Version. There's another mix called the '12 Version' which does have a slightly longer intro but not the same as the mix used in the film. Possibly a custom edit specifically for Sliding Doors? Intriguing!
It's not this (absolutely brilliant) version anyway...
Also opted to get a couple of 4K discs with True Romance and Cinema Paradiso. Both are standard editions, though the latter comes with a nice slipcover. I haven't watched True Romance since I rented it on VHS way back in 1993 so skipping all those generations and going straight to 4K HDR will be great I hope. Cinema Paradiso I watched last year but that was via streaming. Something to point out for anyone keen to buy it (and you should, it's one of the best films I've ever seen in my entire life) is that the cover is reversible to the original poster art.
InTo The Night I bought blind and watched a couple of nights ago. It's brilliant. Now firmly in my all-time favourite films list. Definitely check this one out if you've not seen it, you (hopefully) will not be disappointed.
Heli is another release from those juicy beauties Network On Air (behind the brilliant Wilt, Death Line, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2 Blu Ray releases). The story drew me in so hoping this film will be as whopper as it sounds. Plus it's on Network On Air so should be a whopper release hopefully. Radio On was a total blind buy. It's apparently the kind of film that forms a straight love it/hate it opinion. Going by it's premise and the music featured I hope I will love it. Also, some of the early copies come with a nice thick booklet packed inside. I was lucky enough to get one with the booklet inside so will enjoy reading that. Do love a good booklet, a proper one, not just photos but one's where they are packed with information so you can learn more about the film. Indicator and Network On Air set a pretty high bar for booklets, I've not tried a BFI one yet.
Talking of booklets, I got the limited anniversary edition Blu of Kind Hearts and Coronets. Another total blind buy based off of someone telling me that Alec Guinness plays 8 different characters in this film, plus everyone I asked about it IRL says it's a whopper film. Decided to pay the extra for the packed in tat. Studio Canal appear to not disappoint on the aul booklet front, the one in this set is the size of a bloody telephone directory! One to look forward to on a rainy Sunday afternoon while doing the ironing unless Airport 75, 77 or 79 is on television. That said, Sky Riders is currently the official rainy Sunday afternoon while doing the ironing film!
Last up is Godzilla 3D. Still haven't seen this film despite being a Gojira fan (Godzilla vs Megalon is my favourite of them all because Jet Jaguar is my favourite). Plus the 3D version suffers from price volatility, like all 3D Blu's seem to be at the minute. One for my Sony HMZ-T3.
It is a really well put together set. The slider disc pockets are a bit of a love/hate thing (same as elephant johnnies on Laserdiscs I suppose ) but they really compliment the design. Minimal tat too, always a good thing. Both for storage and environmental reasons imho.
Looking forward to seeing what Volume 2 will contain!
Some hypertat arrived today, all the way from Greece!
I didn't even know this existed, it was a total stumblebuy. Here is, a VCI International, Greek edition of Fabio Testi hyperfilm.... SPEED DRIVER!!!
Never seen it before. Never knew it even reached Greece. It's not even mentioned as such on IMDB! So this was an instabuy to add to my growing collection of 4 different versions of hyperfilm Speed Driver. I now have editions from Japan, France (SECAM ), Italy and now Greece!
Here's the thing though, the seller even included a DVD backup of the film, so I've had a little preview of what it's like. It's bloody amazing! This is the best version of Speed Driver I've seen to date.
The VHS seems a bit unstable, or the transfer process was done using shoddy kit as it's a bit jumpy and the ending cuts off early (seen that before on a hooky copy of Terminator 2 from Greece back in 1992 that ended early with the second half of a match on Mach Of The Day replacing the ending!).
Anyway, this is brilliant regardless. I'll explain why.
The killer punch though is the source used. It's dirty, full of scratches and looks as rough as a night out with Pat Butcher and Jo Brand. Yet this is the clearest, sharpest source picture yet. It looks like it's a straight telecine of the negatives. Whatever negative was used it's in Grindhouse-style rough shape, but the clarity underneath is all there AND, although still a 4:3 presentation, the black bars are not all janky and messed up. Dirt and scratches aside, this is the best I've seen Speed Driver to date! Next best would be the Italian VHS which is scratch and dirt free but has janky masking and a softer image.
REALLY pleased with my find and to add another copy of Speed Driver to the collection.
I've started to rip tracks from my DVD-Audio collection, so I needed something to portable to play those (large) lossless FLACs back (phone doesn't play them without some tinkering.)
Saw this little gizmo on Techmoan's channel some time back and though it was pretty neat. Plus I love the Sega Saturn, soooo . . .
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Might also get a gray one just for the helluvit (and for a backup.)
Works really well. My only concern is how light it is. I'm afraid I'm going to break it!
I bought a new TV two weeks ago. it is an 86 inch 8K Mini LED TV set manufacured by LG. I am extremely impressed with the picture quality. It is better than anything I had seen in my life up to that point. The black is almost perfect and both HDR and Dolby Vision look fantastic. Dolby Vision is even more impressive.
This TV truly shines when watching a 4K source. 4K Blu Ray Discs look fantastic on it. You can clearly see the difference between both Full HD and 4K even though Full HD already looks really good, especially Blu Rays upscaled to 4K via my 4K Sony Blu Ray Player but 4K is a class on its own even without HDR/Dolby Vision. Even the Netflix 4K stuff looks great. There are many great 4K videos on YouTube, too, but also a lot of mediocre stuff in terms of both quality and contents.
The good thing is that I was already able to retrieve a couple of 8K video files in an mkv container. Those are all direct rips from the NHK BS8K channel and the picture quality is even more impressive than 4K. I got a rip of the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony and it is extremely impressive. You can see so many details. You can play these files by copying them to a USB stick and playing them using the TV's internal media player which is extremely nice because I wouldn't know how to play these otherwise.
This was a good purchase however I still need to get used to HDR/Dolby Vision. They most certainly work in a different way than SDR. It would be nice to find a good 480i -> 1080p upscaler for my Laserdisc player. I am not expecting miracles but it would be nice nonetheless. I want to have all of my video/audio equipment in one room for the future.
I used to have a 4K Benq Beamer but the bulb blew and I was tired of hearing the constant sound of the beamer's fan when watching something. However the 4K from the TV looks much much better and also the HDR stuff looks a thousand times better.
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Thanks list
) Anniversary edition of Peter Howitt's magnificent octopus, Sliding Doors. It's a bit of a naff film and hasn't aged that well (the scene on the boat anyone? 
). I still like it though. One of the few romantic comedies I can stomach when forced to watch it (which I was forced at Rambo-esque knifepoint to do earlier this week). I should point out though that this disc has a really good making of featurette on it. It's quite unique too because it's a short documentary made by Sliding Doors director Peter Howitt. The documentary is made from around 25 hours of analogue footage he shot himself, like a video diary of sorts, that captures the moment he struck a deal and the script was greenlit by the studio, to the wrap up of shooting. It's done in a kind of video diary style, with Howitt talking to camera in his home and describing how nervous he is not to mess this golden opportunity up to direct a film. He comes across as very sincere and humble. Fair play to the guy, he done a great job because despite the film not aging that well and being a bit naff, Sliding Doors has taken on it's own meaning now as people across the world refer to some of their own life decision-making times as 'Sliding Doors moments' (bit of trivia for you, although everyone knows this term from the 1998 film, 
), Italy and now Greece!
