Manhunter blu ray question

[mj0012]

Does anyone have the UK optimum or German Studio Canal blu ray release of Manhunter? I just watched it streaming through Amazon prime and amazingly it's a 1080p version of the old "wrong" theatrical cut that was on the 2001 Anchor Bay dvd. I know the US MGM blu ray is the correct theatrical version so I was curious if this edit was on the European blu rays or if this was just some weird thing for VOD.

[MrBrown]

I do not own them, but according to the informations at ofdb.de the UK and German Discs contain the normal TC in HD and the remastered DC in SD as Bonus. But none ABTC version. They seem to be released on DVD only. (And VOD, according to your post.)

[The Aluminum Falcon]

FWIW, I'm not sure how accurate the "accurate" theatrical version on all the BD releases is.

I watched Michael Mann's personal 35mm print of Manhunter at the Mann retrospective at BAM. Like the Anchor Bay theatrical cut, it also had the lines about Lecter's other victims ("One's on the respirator at a hospital in Baltimore. The other is in a private mental hospital in Denver.") excised, but it didn't include any of the extra footage in the Anchor Bay theatrical cut.

Keep in mind, though, that this was Mann's personal print and could have been a custom cut. Strangely enough, it didn't have end credits.

[mj0012]

Well, fair enough, Michael Mann certainly enjoys re-editing his films. But I was definitely surprised to see an HD version of that old Anchor Bay (I guess technically Studio Canal) edit show up. Also I'm mainly curious because there's a new Shout Factory Blu Ray due out this summer in the US, and I'm wondering which version it's going to be. I guess in the meantime I should buy the MGM Blu Ray while it's cheap and available just in case....

[The Aluminum Falcon]

There is no HD version of the Anchor Bay edit. I believe the Shout Factory Blu is going to be like all the other HD versions- the "true" theatrical cut, possibly with worse encoding.

[mj0012]

There is no HD version of the Anchor Bay edit. I believe the Shout Factory Blu is going to be like all the other HD versions- the "true" theatrical cut, possibly with worse encoding.

Well, that's what I thought as well, until I watched it streaming on Amazon Prime last night and it was the Anchor Bay edit in 1080p.

[jerryshadoe]

Just in case the new BD is not going to be the version playing on Amazon right now, someone should capture it while it's still available since it would be a massive upgrade from the DVD.

[Valeyard]

I have the UK Optimum, the video looks wonderful. It isn't degrained and over-sharpened which is probably why some people complain about the encoding - it looks nice and natural. Anyway it is the "true theatrical cut" as we know it.

[The Aluminum Falcon]

Well, good news, the Director's Cut of Manhunter is on BD now. The 2-disc version by Shout has both theatrical and director's, as well as good encoding, making it almost identical to the MGM.

But, unfortunately: the release ain't perfect and here's why. The Director's Cut of the Shout BD, based off of the version on the 2003 Anchor Bay Divimax DVD, omits a scene between Will Graham and Dr. Chilton shown in the 2001 original release of the Director's Cut. BUT, the Shout Director's Cut is not a perfect version of the 2003, containing dialogue seemingly only in the theatrical cut (Shout actually may have done right in doing this, for reasons explained below). Furthermore, the added scenes (SD inserts in Shout's version) have been filtered, appearing poorer quality than they did in 2003 (http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d...49&i=4&l=1)!

An ideal fan preservation, if one were to occur, would involve reinserting the Director's Cut scenes in their full quality- a small but tangible improvement.

Beyond that it would be worth considering reinserting some of the cut material from the theatrical cut (particularly the "heart bleeds for him as a child" speech), which Mann inexplicably mentions in his Director's Cut commentary. The 2001 Director's Cut is literally from a pan-and-scan tape of a Showtime Cut further cropped to 2:35 widescreen (more info here: http://www.manhunter1986.com/miss00.html). It's highly probable that Mann did not intend a lot of the Director's Cut's omissions, including the censored language reinstated for Shout's Director's Cut. He also probably did not intend for the credits to be awkwardly imposed over his footage (to save runtime for Showtime) If only they could get Mann to supervise a new release!

Shout apparently did not have access to any film elements for the director's cut. AFAIK, a lot of the Director's Cut extensions were taken from that same old Showtime tape. But, at least some would appear to exist in their original film. The 2001 Anchor Bay release of the "theatrical cut" was erroneously taken from a "workprint" IP containing some of the extended scenes but also deleting some dialogue (http://www.manhunter1986.com/rg1rg202.html).

Final note: at the Michael Mann retrospective, they showed yet another cut! It was Michael Mann's personal print of the film. It had the original opening credits but omitted the end credits entirely. More notably, they didn't include the expletive when Graham attacks Lounds nor Graham talking about Lecter's two surviving victims. These omissions are like the 2001 workprint pseudo-theatrical version. The "heart bleeds for him as a child" speech was certainly there, though!

[dvdmike]

I have the UK Optimum, the video looks wonderful. It isn't degrained and over-sharpened which is probably why some people complain about the encoding - it looks nice and natural. Anyway it is the "true theatrical cut" as we know it.

I have them all but the shout, the optimum like most if their crap, is degrained