WE ARE BACK

Wednesday 27th November 2024 - posted by Ulrich

Hi everyone.

Sorry for the long outage, but Rewind DVDCompare is at this point quite an old site. In fact, we are 25 years old as of this month. Unfortunately, there have been a bit of stuff around the site, that have running out of date for some time, and it was finally time for something to truly break.

Once that happened, we have been working on fixing site stuff, so that we could move to a newer setup, and here we finally are.

We have a two week backlog of titles and reviews to add, but rest assured the site will continue to be active. Thank you for the patience!

RADIANCE'S FEBRUARY RELEASES INCLUDE A THRILLER, A WORLD PREMIERE, A SUNDANCE AWARD-WINNER AND TWO CLASSICS BY A HONG KONG NEW WAVE MASTER

Wednesday 13th November 2024 - posted by Robert

Coming to the UK and US on February 24th/25th: Dominik Graf's (who may be Germany's best-kept secret) heist thriller The Cat, a delirious mix of Die Hard and Michael Mann precision.

Two robbers hold up a bank and its employees, demanding 3 million marks for their ransom. The police plot to storm the bank but are unaware the robbers have an accomplice on the outside, anticipating their every move. Genre master Dominik Graf specialised in crime films and The Cat is one of his greatest. A heist film of the highest order, it grabs you from its opening scenes and doesn't let go. Winner of Best Direction at the German Film Awards, The Cat is an undiscovered treasure and Radiance Films is proud to present it on Blu-ray for the first time outside Germany.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a High-Definition digital transfer newly graded by Radiance Films and overseen by director Dominik Graf, interviews with Dominik Graf (2024, 62 mins), screenwriter Christoph Fromm (2024, 31 mins), and producer Georg Feil (2024, 31 mins), a select-scene commentary by Dominik Graf (2024), a trailer and a new English subtitle translation, along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Radiance (direct)


Coming to the UK and US on February 24th/25th: The latest Kinji Fukaksaku yakuza classic is the director's swansong to the genre and one of his very finest films. Newly restored in 4K and featuring new extras with writer Koji Takada and Yoko Takahashi, it is presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the world.

Loose-cannon gangster Kawada rebels when his two-timing boss forms an alliance with a major crime syndicate. The syndicate's main rivals see Kawada as their perfect proxy, but his furious temper quickly rubs them the wrong way, leaving Kawada to face overwhelming forces. Fukasaku's final yakuza film features some of the strongest women’s roles in his career, plus a raucous central performance from Hiroki Matsukata (Cops vs Thugs) and support from the legendary Sonny Chiba.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a High-Definition digital transfer, uncompressed mono PCM audio, new interviews with actress Yoko Takahashi (2024, 15 mins) and with screenwriter Koji Takada (2024, 19 mins), Yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito on the real-life Hokuriku Proxy War murder case (2024, 15 mins), a trailer and a newly improved English subtitle translation, along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow and a limited edition booklet featuring newly translated archival writings on the film, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Radiance (direct)


Coming to the UK on February 24th: A multi-award-winning masterpiece, What Happened Was... is a brilliantly observed comedy-drama on dating in the big city, anchored by two stunning performances.

Jackie (Karen Sillas) and Michael (Tom Noonan, Manhunter, also writer-director) are co-workers at a New York law firm who, after months of flirtation, agree to meet for a 'first date' at Jackie's apartment. Their initially charged and playful interactions eventually evolve into a long, dark night of the soul, as the two would-be lovers get to know each other properly for the first time, and discover that all may not be as it seems. Winner of the Sundance Festival Jury Prize in 1994, What Happened Was... is a landmark work of American independent cinema anchored around two stunning performances, presenting an often hilarious, often bleak, but always excoriatingly honest exploration of dating in the big city. Radiance is proud to present the film on UK home video for the very first time.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a 4K restoration by Oscilloscope Films, uncompressed stereo PCM audio, interviews with director Tom Noonan and producer Scott Macaulay (2021), Karen Sillas (2021), and with critic Charles Bramesco (2024), a trailer and optional English SDH subtitles, along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Adam Nayman, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Radiance (direct)


Coming to the UK on February 24th: Two inspired classic masterpieces by Patrick Tam (mentor to Wong Kar-wai), and starring Hong Kong's finest, Nomad and My Heart Is That Eternal Rose, in their UK Blu-ray premiere across two discs.

An icon of the Hong Kong New Wave and mentor to Wong Kar-wai, Patrick Tam worked with icons including Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love), Leslie Cheung (Days of Being Wild), Kenny Bee (Armour of God) and others in these two inimitable classics. In Nomad, two couples, equal parts rich and working class, bond and experience the frolics of youth. The arrival of a Red Army deserter brings violence and disruption prompting incredible plot twists and inspired set-pieces. My Heart Is That Eternal Rose finds Tam in the more familiar Heroic Bloodshed genre. A young couple are torn apart by a botched Triad job that forces Rick to relocate to the Philippines and Lap to become a gangster's moll. Six years later they meet again but their reunion only reignites the danger that drove them apart. Stunningly shot by David Chung (Once Upon a Time in China) and Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express), both films are newly restored and made available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a 4K restoration of the Nomad director's cut, a 2K restoration of My Heart Is That Eternal Rose, interviews with critic Tony Rayns on Nomad (2024), assistant director Stanley Kwan on Nomad (2024), Nomad producer Dennis Yu (2024), a visual essay on Patrick Tam and the Hong Kong New Wave by author David Desser (2024), an audio commentary on My Heart Is That Eternal Rose by Frank Djeng (2024), an interview with producer John Sham (2019), two episodes of C.I.D. directed by Tam (1976, 49 mins each), a trailer and newly improved English subtitle translations by Dylan Cheung, along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow and a limited edition booklet featuring an archival career-spanning interview with Patrick Tam by Arnaud Lanuque and a new essay by Kambole Campbell, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Radiance (direct)

RADIANCE'S JANUARY RELEASES DEBUT THREE WORLD BLU-RAY PREMIERES

Saturday 26th October 2024 - posted by Robert

Coming to the UK and US on January 27th/28th: A world-exclusive Blu-ray release of Weak Spot, the paranoid thriller from Peter Fleischmann, newly restored in 4K by Studio Canal.

Ugo Tognazzi (La grande bouffe) is an innocent playboy holiday rep in Greece who is picked up by two secret agents (Michel Piccoli, Le Mépris and Mario Adorf, The Italian Connection). Suspected of being part of an underground resistance, he is to be transported by the agents to Athens where he will be interrogated by superior officers. Their journey is the start of a cat-and-mouse game that beautifully plays on Tognazzi's screen persona with the thrilling tension of Costa-Gavras' Z.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a new 4K restoration from the original negative by Studio Canal, uncompressed mono PCM audio, an audio commentary by critic Travis Woods (2024), an archival TV interview with Michel Piccoli discussing Weak Spot (1975), soundtrack expert Lovely Jon discussing the Ennio Morricone score (2024) and a newly improved English subtitle translation, along with a reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Kat Ellinger, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Radiance (direct)


Coming to the UK and US on January 27th/28th: Seijun Suzuki's Underworld Beauty makes its world debut on Blu-ray, featuring new extras with William Carroll, Mizuki Kodama and Suzuki's 1959 40-minute film Love Letter.

Retrieving the diamonds he stashed before his arrest, thief Miyamoto hopes to help his old partner Mihara, crippled during the heist. Their former boss, crime lord Oyane, offers to mediate with a foreign buyer, but secretly wants the stones for himself. The deal goes awry when gunmen appear on the scene. Mihara swallows the diamonds but dies in the chase, leaving a valuable corpse in the police morgue. Miyamoto forms an uneasy alliance with Mihara's wildcat sister Akiko to keep the gems away from gangsters, cops and even Akiko's greedy boyfriend. This wildly inventive early noir sees Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill, Tattooed Life) infectiously playing with genre rules and gender stereotypes.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features a new 4K restoration of the film by Nikkatsu Corporation, uncompressed mono PCM audio, a new interview with critic Mizuki Kodama (2024, 15 mins), the bonus feature Seijun Suzuki's Love Letter (1959, 40 mins), an audio commentary on Love Letter by Suzuki biographer William Carroll (2024), trailers and a newly improved English subtitle translation, along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Claudia Siefen-Leitich and an archival review of the film, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Radiance (direct)


Coming to the UK on January 27th: A two-disc, double-bill release of films from the legendary Ermanno Olmi, Il posto + I fidanzati, bring two newly restored classics to Blu-ray in 4K, for the first time.

Domenico is thrust into the big city by his family to find a job for life. He's up for an exam to secure a post along with many hopefuls. There he meets Antonietta (played by Olmi's then wife Loredana Detto) and the two strike up a friendship and experience the world of work for the first time together. Stunningly shot on the streets of Milan, Ermanno Olmi's (The Tree of Wooden Clogs) Il posto is a touching and often funny portrait of modern life and work. Winning numerous awards on release, it is recognised as a classic of world cinema. Giovanni works in a manufacturing plant and takes a promotion that will send him to Sicily. His transfer causes him to leave his fiancée, Liliana, his father and friends behind. Once in Sicily, he begins to wonder if he made the right choice. Stunningly shot, I fidanzati channels the industrial isolation of Antonioni with a dreamy and heartfelt lyricism.

The Limited Edition Blu-ray features 4K restorations of both films from the original camera negatives by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Titanus, presented on two discs, with uncompressed mono PCM audio for both films, an appreciation by filmmaker Maurizio Zaccaro (2024), interviews with cinematographer Lamberto Caimi (2024), with author Richard Dyer on the films (2024), and with programmer Ehsan Khoshbakht on Ermanno Olmi (2024), along with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Filippo Di Battista and a limited edition booklet with new writing by critic Christina Newland, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings.

PREORDER LINKS:
- Amazon UK
- Radiance (direct)

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