Network [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Description: Michael Gough turns in a memorable performance as a demented professor in this cult favourite B-movie that takes a skewed look at the King Kong story, transposing the action from New York to London. Also starring teen heartthrob Jess Conrad, Konga is featured here as a High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. The disc presents an up-scaled 3840 x 2160p resolution image with widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and uses 10-bit video depth, High Dynamic Range, a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec for Dolby Vision and HRD10.

Comprises of 20 short/animated films from the Columbia Pictures library, presented in high definition: You’d be hard pushed to tell this was an up-scale, with staples like skin texture and clothing weaves being very prevalent. Paperwork, computer consoles and screen text, notepad drawings, litigation papers: all are clean, clear, and precise. Booklet featuring an article by Barry Forshaw and a short story by Trevor Preston which tells how Frank Ross was arrested eight years prior to the series. Horace Quilby treads a perpetual odyssey through the London streets on behalf of Finklebaum and O'Casey – dealers in 'misfit clothing'. Resplendent in top hat, tails and sandwich board his is a unique angle from which to observe life. Today, however, he is preoccupied – Esmerelda, his racing pigeon, is taking part in the race of her life! Bernard Hedges manages to convince the other staff at Fenn Street Secondary Modern that it's a good idea to take rowdy class 5C on a two-night stay at a country summer camp. It doesn't take long, however, before 5C start wreaking havoc – with both the camp and the snobbish pupils of an upper-class boys' school who are also staying there!Despite these aspects, which ultimately highlight the production context, The Owl Service is impressively rich in its themes and visual composition. As mentioned, there are clashes of class and culture, as well as generations and gender. Though often referenced, Alison’s mother Margaret never appears on screen, her significant absence is felt through artefacts that she leaves indicating her influence and everyone’s concern about her getting upset. Gwyn at one point corners Alison in a summer house in a frankly creepy and unsettling sequence. Roger and Gwyn are both seen weeping but in different situations – Roger alone in a corner but surrounded by images of his father; Gwyn on the stairs of the house which prompts Roger’s contempt. Even flower power gets a reference, indicating the cultural upheavals that might seem distant but are nonetheless felt. For for US fans of Space: 1999, none of these Blu-ray releases has been ideal. For one thing, the UK sets are Region B only. Yet they included significant bonus material not found in the Shout! Factory set. Meanwhile, that US set is Region A and it includes some new extras, but Shout! unfortunately created their own 5.1 mixes for all the episodes—rather than simply utilizing the 5.1 mixes from the UK sets—and they’re not particularly good. (Specifically, the audio in the surround channels is very low. And for some reason the Shout! BDs don’t let you switch from 5.1 to mono with your remote.) So what’s a self-respecting US Space: 1999 fan to do? Well, I’m very pleased to say that I’ve finally got a good answer to that question… Notable guest stars over the series’ run included Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ian McShane ( Deadwood, American Gods), Sarah Douglas ( Superman II), David Prowse ( Star Wars), Brian Blessed ( Flash Gordon), Angus MacInnes ( Star Wars, Rogue One), and many others. For more about Network and the Network Blu-ray release, see Network Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on February 15, 2011 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5. Space: 1999 was originally released on DVD in 2001 by Carlton Media in the UK and A&E in the US. In 2004, Carlton was absorbed in a corporate takeover that resulted in the creation of a new company, ITV Network, who then reissued Season One on DVD in the UK in 2005. The company eventually restored and remastered the series with new HD scans of the original camera negatives and extensive digital clean-up. Network released Season One on Blu-ray in the UK in 2010 and licensed the US rights to A&E/New Video, who released Season One on BD here in the States that same year ( see our review of that set here on The Bits). Unfortunately, it look longer for Network to restore Season Two, a process that began in 2007. It was also more costly because the audio for Season Two needed additional remastering (this work had already been done for Season One). Network wanted to share those costs with New Video, but the US distributor balked. So Network released Season Two on Blu-ray in the UK in 2015 ( see our review here), but no US release was forthcoming until Shout! Factory finally licensed the US rights in 2019, at which point they released Space: 1999 – The Complete Series as a Blu-ray box set ( you can read our review of that set here as well).

As with all biopic films, The Social Network must be taken with a pinch of salt. It is based on the book, The Accidental Billionaires, by Ben Mezrich, which itself can be taken with the same. And with director David Fincher giving his own interpretation of the screenplay such as the emphasis on the situations that take place, the major events that affected the outcome, or indeed bypassing whole occurrences in favour of drama, the result is a story that, whilst having a basis in fact, has more in tune with fantasy than truth. Private Screenings with Sidney Lumet (SD; 54:34) Lumet sits down for an in-depth interview with Robert Osborne, culled from the TCM archives. To speak Chayefsky's Oscar-winning dialogue, Lumet enlisted a powerhouse cast list, including Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch (as 'the mad prophet of the airwaves' Howard Beale), Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty and Beatrice Straight. Five of them would be nominated for Academy Awards, three would win.Tune in Next Tuesday – a visual essay by Dave Itzkoff, the author of Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies Is that Pong? Cos it looks like Pong. You know Pong has already been invented, right? So, you're just gonna steal the idea and make it better? But, it's Pong .... Although not quite as comprehensive as some might have hoped for – arguably losing as much as it gains – this is another strong set of extras from Arrow.

Description: Original Goon Michael Bentine co-writes and gives a memorable performance as an amiable 'Sandwich Man' in this gentle, whimsical comedy that features a Who's Who? of British talent, including Norman Wisdom, Diana Dors, Harry H. Corbett, Dora Bryan, Bernard Cribbins and Terry-Thomas. The Sandwich Man is featured here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. LG 55CX / Denon AVR-X2400H / Q Acoustic 2050's + 2000C + 2070S + 2020's / Sony BDP-S5200 (Region A) / Panasonic DP-UB150 / Nvidia SHIELD 16Gb / Xbox Series X / PS5 As a piece, The Owl Service maintains a sense of tragic inevitability and largely maintained ambiguity throughout its eight episodes. It somewhat botches these aspects with an abrupt and overly convenient finale, but there is enough unsettling atmosphere, interpersonal and social tensions and echoes of folklore to let this time capsule resonate for a time in the memory.There are many big-time actors in the film, but it never looks or feels like they are competing with each other. Their characters become real people with unique identities and legit dilemmas. Obviously, the script from Paddy Chayefsky is outstanding, but the terrific chemistry between the actors is crucial for the film's brilliance. There are a few sequences where the political statements feel a bit dated now, but the dialog is sharp and very witty. The technical jargon also does not alienate, it gives one a real sense of the language and rhythm of work TV professionals are used to. I watched it when it came out (the box set) and enjoyed it fairly good story's to say was for kids.