I've been hearing rumors for over a year that MGM was going to restore and release this to DVD as part of their MidNite Movies line...what happened?
shareApparentely Sony recently bought the MGM film library and they hold the key to releasing "Conqueror Worm" on dvd. There is a petition going on about the remaining Midnite Movies line at
http://dvddrive-in.com/reviews/i-m/midnitemoviessave05.htm
Just signed it myself.
*signed*
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*signed*
shareWho knows when Sony will get around to doing anything worthwhile with the MGM/UA library. Lord knows that they've been sitting on those restored/remastered Sergio Leone movies long enough.
If you want to tide yourselves over until Sony starts the Midnite Movies line back up, you might check out the region 2 version of "Witchfinder General," which is available on Amazon.co.uk. It's a region 0 disk, which means you don't have to worry about owning a multi-region dvd player. However, it is in PAL video format rather than the United States' NTSC video format. But you can still view it on any computer with a DVD drive. Right now, it's fairly cheap, and it has a few nice extras.
That's not to talk anybody out of signing this petition. The British dvd could be improved upon. (For instance, it doesn't offer the alternate beginning for the US cut, where Price recites stanzas from Poe's poem "The Conqueror Worm. I prefer the British cut, of course, but it's the sort of thing that deserves to be included as an extra.)
The biggest problem with the UK dvd is the low quality of the scenes that very added in the extended version. I don't now if MGM has the same scenes and in a better quality.
shareOh, I agree. Like I said, the British DVD could stand some improvement. But it's not bad for the price. (Including shipping, I think the total cost came to the equivalent of about $8 or $9.) And those low-quality restored scenes are only a few seconds each -- though they're definitely distracting. To be honest, though, I don't know whether MGM has better quality versions of those scenes. Years ago, I saw "The Conqueror Worm" version, and I seem to remember that the axe finale was all good quality, but I don't know whether or not it was the full-length version of that scene.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see....
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