This is a good year for b-movies on DVD

[claws]

I was pretty blown away when I noticed that Galaxy of Terror and Forbidden World were coming out on Blu ray.  Unfortunately Shout Factory isn't doing anything that would make them worth buying on Blu ray, at least judging by what they did with Death Race 2000.  Hi-Def digest gives the picture quality a 2.5/5 and the audio quality a 1.5/5. Judging by their comments they were extremely generous to give the picture quality the rating they did.  Guess I'll save $7 and just get the DVD's.  I see Flash Gordon is out on Blu ray as well, I'll definitely be picking that up.

Blu-ray wins by default because it will always look better than DVD :)
Death Race 2000's picture and audio quality got a higher rating at blu-ray.com btw (3.5/5). Judging by the screen caps it really doesn't look all that bad. Here's a Blu-ray review for Galaxy of Terror: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/galaxy_of_terror_blu-ray.htm

[Andrew]

Is Gamera vs viras ever going to come out?

You can find it here in the US under the alternate title DESTROY ALL PLANETS.

Shout! Factory's double feature DVD of "Gamera vs. Gyaos" and "Gamera vs. Viras" is due for release on 21 September.

I bought a DVD-R of STARCRASH from Cinema de Bizarre a few months ago.  Great trash.  CALTIKI is also available on DVD-R from several online sources, but I haven't bought that one yet.  I bought DEATH RACE 2000 the last time it was released.  I assume the version coming out this year will have more extras?

I have a fair DVD-R of "Caltiki," but a nice DVD with some eye toward quality would be nice.    Also received the Shout! Factory "Death Race 2000" DVD.  It does have a lot of extras listed:

* New Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) High-Definition Transfer From The Interpositive Film Element
* David On Death Race: Interview with David Carradine
* Audio Commentary With Roger Corman & Mary Woronov
* New Audio Commentary With Assistant Director Lewis Teague And Editor Tina Hirsh
* Playing The Game: Looking Back at Death Race 2000
* Ready To Wear: Interview with costume designer Jane Ruhm
* Designing Dystopia A detailed look at the design of the films now-legendary race cars, costumes and futuristic landscapes with members of the production, design and costume crew
* Start Your Engines: Interview with author Ib Melchior
* Killer Score: An all-new interview with composer Paul Chihara on the creation of the films eclectic score
* Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman About Death Race 2000
* Theatrical Trailer
* Theatrical Trailer With Commentary By John Landis
* TV And Radio spots
* 12-Page Booklet
* New World Trailers

And the restored Shaw Brother's films continue to be released

Are you talking region 3 releases (which I own a bunch of), or just American region 1 releases of the existing Celestial versions?  I ask because I thought Celestial had stopped putting them out, which made me sad.  I'd be glad to hear they're doing more.   

Region 1 DVD releases.  I hadn't heard that Celestial had put a hold on restoring and putting out the films.  Everything they have touched has turned out golden.  The quality of the "Five Element Ninjas" DVD is stunning.

[Jim H]

Region 1 DVD releases.  I hadn't heard that Celestial had put a hold on restoring and putting out the films.  Everything they have touched has turned out golden.  The quality of the "Five Element Ninjas" DVD is stunning.

Yeah, it's in large part because Shaw Studios actually has really good facilities.  Even though people think of them as cheap crappy films, the studio is huge and in its heyday had gigantic expensive sets, dubbing and sound studios, apartments for the talent to stay on - the whole nine yards, like Hollywood studios were in the Golden Age.  They also took better care of their prints than anyone else in Asia at the time, except possibly Japan.  But yeah, Celestial did a stunning job on the restorations too.  I just heard about a year ago that sales had started to flounder in the region 3 market, and they weren't going to be doing any more of them (and possibly might end production of existing DVDs as well). 

It might be worth mentioning here that they put out a HUGE chunk of the Shaw catalog in region 3 - I think more than half of the total sum.  And a number of the remaining films were in bad enough shape that they can't be recovered.

But if they're making money in region 1, I think the possibilities are good.

[JPickettIII]

The Green Slime is out on DVD.  I rented it a long time ago when I was commuting to work.  Unless there is a special edition DVD coming out????

Later,

John

[Andrew]

The Green Slime is out on DVD.  I rented it a long time ago when I was commuting to work.  Unless there is a special edition DVD coming out????

Later,

John

There is not a legitimate Region 1 (US, Canada) release that I know of.

[JPickettIII]

The Green Slime is out on DVD.  I rented it a long time ago when I was commuting to work.  Unless there is a special edition DVD coming out????

Later,

John

There is not a legitimate Region 1 (US, Canada) release that I know of.

I am not sure what happened.  I used to commute to Denver and watched movies on the laptop.  We got the Green Slime on DVD.  We got it from NetFlix, maybe it was a computlation DVD or a possible Bootleg DVD???  Oh well, I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.  Great movie.

Later,

John

[Jack]

I was pretty blown away when I noticed that Galaxy of Terror and Forbidden World were coming out on Blu ray.  Unfortunately Shout Factory isn't doing anything that would make them worth buying on Blu ray, at least judging by what they did with Death Race 2000.  Hi-Def digest gives the picture quality a 2.5/5 and the audio quality a 1.5/5. Judging by their comments they were extremely generous to give the picture quality the rating they did.  Guess I'll save $7 and just get the DVD's.  I see Flash Gordon is out on Blu ray as well, I'll definitely be picking that up.

Blu-ray wins by default because it will always look better than DVD :)
Death Race 2000's picture and audio quality got a higher rating at blu-ray.com btw (3.5/5). Judging by the screen caps it really doesn't look all that bad. Here's a Blu-ray review for Galaxy of Terror: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/galaxy_of_terror_blu-ray.htm

Hi-Def Digest just reviewed Galaxy of Terror and gave it good marks (3.5/5) as well, so that's very good news    Well, not good news for my wallet 

[Andrew]

I was pretty blown away when I noticed that Galaxy of Terror and Forbidden World were coming out on Blu ray.  Unfortunately Shout Factory isn't doing anything that would make them worth buying on Blu ray, at least judging by what they did with Death Race 2000.  Hi-Def digest gives the picture quality a 2.5/5 and the audio quality a 1.5/5. Judging by their comments they were extremely generous to give the picture quality the rating they did.  Guess I'll save $7 and just get the DVD's.  I see Flash Gordon is out on Blu ray as well, I'll definitely be picking that up.

Blu-ray wins by default because it will always look better than DVD :)
Death Race 2000's picture and audio quality got a higher rating at blu-ray.com btw (3.5/5). Judging by the screen caps it really doesn't look all that bad. Here's a Blu-ray review for Galaxy of Terror: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/galaxy_of_terror_blu-ray.htm

Hi-Def Digest just reviewed Galaxy of Terror and gave it good marks (3.5/5) as well, so that's very good news    Well, not good news for my wallet 

My DVD arrived yesterday.  I watched some of the film last night to get a feel for the quality, and watched the featurette about making "Galaxy of Terror" that is included as an extra.  The making of is quite good, with a lot of the cast and crew talking about their experience.  Sid Haig had me laughing, because he has hard feelings over being forced to say the line, "I live and die by the CRYSTALS!"  Oh, and the blonde who gets her clothes sucked off by the giant worm is completely nuts.

I'd agree with Hi-Def Digest.  If you factor in that this is a high-quality transfer of an old low-budget movie, and not a restored version, I'd rate it even higher.

[skuts]

Attack of the Crab Monsters was supposed to be released on a double bill with It Conquered the World this month, but, alas, the release was canceled at the last minute.
Sigh.

[Andrew]

Attack of the Crab Monsters was supposed to be released on a double bill with It Conquered the World this month, but, alas, the release was canceled at the last minute.
Sigh.

As I understand it, "Attack of the Crab Monsters," "Not of this Earth" (1957), and "War of the Satellites" are due out from Shout! Factory in "early 2011."