2002 Anchor Bay DVD vs. 2004 Disney DVD
Just if someone could clarify, before I go online to buy this DVD...
Is the 2004 DVD free of extras? Not even the two alternate endings? Is it all on the 2002 DVD?
I believe the Disney DVD has the alternate endings and a couple of theatrical trailers, but it doesn't have the commentary by John Hough and is missing one or two trailers/television ads. I own the Anchor Bay release and it is a great set- it also comes with a pretty thick booklet with interviews from several cast members. If you can (and granted the price isn't through the roof), get the Anchor Bay release. It's much better in terms of bonus material and treatment of the film.
shareIn addition to the trailers, TV spots, commentary, and great booklet, the Anchor Bay release uses the original artwork for the film, unlike the bizarre Di$ney cover. Also, the alternate endings are NOT anamorphic (enhanced for 16x9 TVs) on the Di$ney DVD. The Anchor Bay release is THE way to go. If you search thorough enough, you should be able to get one about $20. It's worth the extra cost than the Di$ney release.
shareYes; well, I bought the Disney DVD off amazon, after being assured it had two alternate endings to look at, plus two trailers ( interestingly, the trailer you can find online on YouTube - the one that hooked me - isn't on here.) So I am satisfied at least. The Anchor Bay DVD is hard to find, and where it is offered, VERY expensive. I wasn't quite willing to shell out that much.
shareUnderstandable. I bought the Anchor Bay edition around 7 years ago from the electronics section of a local department store for 15 bucks. It was still in print then, but I don't believe it stayed in print for very long. At the time, I had an old VHS copy that my mom had bought for me on ebay when I was a kid (I rented this movie so often from the local video store that I'm surprised I didn't ruin their tape), and I had no idea they had put it on DVD. It was really exciting for me at the time to be able to revisit the movie, and I still own the DVD all these years later. It's one of my childhood treasures that I'll probably never be able to part with.
I remember looking on Amazon a couple of years ago at the Anchor Bay edition, and people were selling sealed copies for $200; crazy! It's difficult to find, but the demand for it went down once Disney released it on DVD themselves.
Yes, now that the Di$ney version is available easily, the Anchor Bay copy can be gotten for around $20. The extra money is worth the extras you get...hands down. And I wouldn't give Di$ney a dime of profit for their disc. Anchor Bay paid for the restoration and it would have been much longer before the film was EVER released on DVD. And I guarantee that there would be NO alternate scenes included - look at all Di$ney DVDs for proof of that. Di$ney only included them on their release because they were previously paid for & released - albeit, they are not anamorphic on the Di$ney DVD. Di$ney never pay the extra expense to include what the fans and collectors want to see. I am hoping that the bureaucracy at Di$ney changes soon - especially while John Hough is alive and willing to restore the film for free - before a Blu-ray is released.
shareDisney seriously pisses me off! years ago they gave/sold rights to Anchor Bay to re-release some of their movies. Anchor Bay went so far to get the original alternate endings and even the commentary on them! If youlisten to the commentary on the alternate endings, he says that they literally had to dig into the disney vault to find these and if i remember correctly, Disney was NOT very helpful at all. Why Disney pisses me off, is because they then take all of the hard work that Anchor Bay did with this GORGEOUS film (that anchor bay did all the restoration work on) and re-pacage it through the Disney label. they did scam us out of some moeny and left a couple extras out as was stated earlier in this thread. I COMPLETELY agree with Grinnygog, Disney would NEVER have given us the alternate endings that is a give in! I would LOVE this to hit bluray, unfortunately since disney now has their rights to distribution back and nor anchor bay, I'm sure a blueray would not contain anything that isnt already on the dvd. I've seen many companies do this with movies that gave rights for distribution/restoration to films just like the Stepford Wives, anchor bay did an awesome job! Then Paramount years later when a remake of the film came out, decided to re-print the dvd of the original. keeping ALL the extras and work Anchor Bay did and slapping their names on it, in the case of the SW they even kept the exact same Menue artwork and music, LITERALLY slapped a new picture on the dvd and a new insert. anyhow, im done ranting :)
shareI'm going to have to track down the Anchor Bay version.
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