Things are going well with the production.

Severin has a load of extras lined up that'll kill you.


This came from Mr. Gregory yesterday.

Release date September 29?
If the image quality is better than the UK BD, i'll also get this Severin release.
Haven't watched the UK BD yet, but flipped through some chapters and it looked amazing compared to the DVD from Germany.

I can't wait for the Region 1 release! (Maybe I'll have a job by then and buy the Blu-Ray!)

I've held off on getting the UK release, cause I've got a pretty strong feeling the US disc is going to be better, what with Severin & Norm Hill behind it.

it's nice to hear how good the Optimum release turned out, though it really shouldn't have been that hard to beat the quality of the German DVD (as welcome as it was at the time, seeing as I sold my old VHS copy around the time the Miramax DVD was announced )

still remember getting to see Hardware at the cinema during one annual 24hr SF festival, the first time I'd actually found myself in the same room as other fans of the film - they made themselves known by singing along with William Hootkins just before, you know...

Ok,

This is something some people call an exclusive.

The Hi-Def master was color-corrected last week and it apparently looks amazing. Richard's audio commentary has been recorded, as have video interviews with him, cinematograpgher Steve Chivers and Stacey Travis.

That's right, Glurrk. Stacey Travis will co-memorize the Hardware experience on the Severin/Subversive disc.


And that's not all, but that's all for now.

My "pretty strong feeling the US disc is going to be better" would appear to be a mild understatement...

I saw this back during its original run in 1990! It was a double-bill with Dolph Lundgren's "I Come in Peace" (aka Dark Angel) and it was a hell of an afternoon. The theater wasn't terribly crowded, and I believe many people left before Hardware began.

Their loss.

I've just received the finalized artwork for the upcoming US release:



UPDATES:

The release date is confirmed for September 29, 2009.

The Limited Edition two-disc DVD and Blu-ray will be packaged in a limited edition metal case - and can be pre-ordered from Amazon here. Note -- I have received information that only 10,000 copies of this Limited Edition Tin will be made -- when they're gone, they're gone. It has been suggested that the only way to (essentially) guarantee possession of this Limited Edition is to pre-order, as I expect many DVD Houses will be stocking up ... so if you want the sweet Tin, you better git while the gittin's good ...

Another interesting tid-bit: Severin's disc will be completely region free.


Updated Features:

• Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
• Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Rating: UNRATED
• Audio Commentary with Director Richard Stanley
• Exclusive Making-Of Documentary Featuring All-New Interviews with Cast and Crew
• 'Incidents In An Expanding Universe' - Early Super 8 Version of HARDWARE
• 'The Sea of Perdition' - 2006 Richard Stanley Short Film
• 'Rites of Passage' - Early Richard Stanley Short Film
• Richard Stanley on HARDWARE 2
• Theatrical Trailer(s)
• Deleted, Extended & Behind-the-Scenes Footage

Wow ... I really like their new cover art.

So Stanley's audio commentary is not the same as the one on the UK disc - since that one also had Paul Trijbits on it, right?

Any idea about the length of the new documentary? And about the HARDWARE 2 segment?

The commentary track is most likely separate, as it diminishes any possibility of unnecessary legal wranglings between Severin and Optimum, something they both'd rather avoid. You can't knick a special feature from another company's disc without express permission, unless you're sourcing your material to bootleggers (which is what basically happened with the Dust Devil Making Of - it came from the Laser Paradise disc, but it's good to have around regardless).

Hardware 2 segment is likely Stanley walking us through the thematic concepts of the screenplay, with possible storyboards et al thrown in the mix. While he's refurbished the script over the years, in essence the fireants and the Hopi Indian mythology was there from the get-go. Those who've read the script shouldn't expect too much, but it's likely a good venue for him to make the project a bit more prolific.

Don't know the actual length of the docu, can always ask.


The release effectively clears Stanley's backlog of unreleased, finished material; only lacking now are Children of the Kingdom (released on the 99€ Films 2 DVD in Germany), as well as a post-synched version of Black Tulips. Between this and Dust Devil, everything else is pretty much wrapped up.

would've much preferred the old poster/video art (as used on the UK release), but really, it's the content that counts... and the Severin release looks to definitely have been worth the wait

I think Stacey should have been featured on the cover, but that's just me.

(Okay, you all saw that one coming, right?)

see, Stacey Travis on the cover would be so much better than a monochrome green Mark-13, with a transparent cows udder stuck to its chin.

I'm guessing there were maybe rights issues over using the old art?

EDIT: though I do have the upmost respect in general for Wes Benscoter's DVD art (ie Synapse Films' releases), so I do want to make sure the above seems like the joke it was. Still not entirely sure I like the cover art, but it's never easy to be sure what a dvd looks like until it's in your hands. Computers do funny things to images sometimes. They're a different way of looking at visuals, that don't quite gel with an actual print...