Home Media Magazine - December 2-8, 2007 - (Page 20) NEW ON DVD from FIRST RUN FEATURES “Where the allusiveness of dance meets the intimacy of film to create a new kind of magic! WITTY AND HILARIOUS!” -NEW YORK TIMES TV DVD Edited by John Latchem (L-R): “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” stars Robert Vaughn, Leo G. Carroll and David McCallum. From a Butoh-inspired portrait of a demented aristocrat, to a sensual bedroom metamorphosis, to an intimate moment interrupted by a burst water pipe, this latest collection of award-winning dance films from around the world will “bewitch, bedazzle and bewilder!” (Dance on Camera Festival) SRP: $24.95 • Catalog #: FRF 913034D • 50 minutes • color Set for Life Time Life has found success with series sets of classic shows By John Latchem secret agents for a multinational intelligence agency known n an era when many studios slap vintage TV episodes as U.N.C.L.E. (the United Network Command for Law and onto discs with minimal special features, Time Life is Enforcement). Leo G. Carroll played their boss, and famed taking the opposite approach — skip the season sets and film composer Jerry Goldsmith provided the theme music. jump straight to the complete series. The $249.99 “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” set includes all 105 Last year, Time Life and HBO Video’s elaborate and award- episodes packaged as individual seasons inside a replica attawinning boxed set of “Get Smart” demonstrated a viable new ché case. Each season includes its own episode-guide booklet, formula for the release of classic TV shows on DVD. and the entire set includes two bonus discs. Studios let Time Life produce the sets with the option to use “We spent six months working on bonus materials,” Peisch the packaging at retail, and Time Life in turn gets to sell the said. “We went to the real fans and experts and hired them sets exclusively for one year. as consultants. It really gives credibility “The pattern we see is season one, then to the set.” season two, and the other seasons, and Extras include a number of retrospecthen the complete series, and studios at tive featurettes, including “The Cloak and that point put in additional bonus mateSwagger Affair,” which traces the history rial, and fans were getting frustrated,” of the series. On-camera interviews insaid Jeffrey Peisch, head of video at Time clude Vaughn and McCallum, director Life. “We figured, let’s take that pattern Richard Donner and others. and turn it upside down. Economically, Another interview features a rare reit makes sense. Why not sell the higherunion between Vaughn and McCallum. ticket item first, and then sell the individOther featurettes look at the guest stars ual sets later? We’ve proven that given the who appeared on the show, including choice, people will buy the whole thing. It Jeffrey Peisch accepts a TV DVD Joan Crawford, Vincent Price, Joan Colwill be interesting to see if any studios try Award for “Get Smart.” lins, Janet Leigh, Carol O’Connor, Jack this configuration at retail.” Palance, Slim Pickens and a young Kurt The one-year agreement on “Get Smart” already has ex- Russell. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy appeared in an pired, but HBO Video has yet to announce a retail strategy. episode two years before teaming on “Star Trek.” The Amazon.com user marketplace has season one starting at Peisch thinks the real treat for fans is the original color pilot $89 (Time Life.com has it for $39.99 plus free shipping). of the show, when it was known as “Solo.” This year, Time Life stayed in the spy genre, teaming with “Among ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ fans, this is like the Holy Grail,” Peisch Warner Home Video on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. — The said. “It’s an entirely different production, with another actor Complete Series, a 41-DVD set now available exclusively online used as the head of U.N.C.L.E. When he wasn’t available, they at ManFromUncleDVD.com. brought in a new actor and re-shot the whole episode in black “The thing I think is unique about ‘Get Smart’ and ‘Man and white. The whole first season was black and white.” From U.N.C.L.E.’ is neither was out on DVD previously,” Being older shows, the demographics for the “Get Smart” Peisch said. “There were some VHS releases of ‘U.N.C.L.E.’ and “U.N.C.L.E.” DVDs tend to skew toward men 45 and several years ago, but they were just best-ofs, not seasons.” older, but Peisch expects “U.N.C.L.E.” to draw increased interTo make the sets more appealing to fans, Time Life adds a est from women, who, according to Peisch, tend to respond considerable amount of bonus materials. more to direct marketing than men. “If you treat the show with the respect the fans feel, they’ll Peisch said every indication is that the “U.N.C.L.E.” set respond,” Peisch said. “These shows have great fans.” should be just as successful as “Get Smart” for Time Life. The 1964-68 NBC spy series starred Robert Vaughn as “We like to think we spared no expense and offered a very Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin, classy product,” Peisch said. “It’s all about the fans.” “A darkly comedic gem!” - METACRITIC.COM Piper Perabo stars as Jen Marshall, an LA girl with a reckless personality and a laundry list of burned bridges. When Jen returns to New York and unexpected tragedy strikes, it is up to her mistreated friends to decide between helping her through this tough time or abandoning her like she did them. I SRP: $26.98 • Catalog #: FRF 5746D • 102 minutes • color “Smart, sassy and compassionate!” - LOS ANGELES TIMES In this coming of age drama from Italy, a young woman (Caterina) moves from a small seaside town to politically-charged, class-conscious Rome, where she finds that her parent’s marriage is disintegrating. A budding romance may help erase the pain and provide comfort, however. SRP: $26.98 • Catalog #: FRF 5326D • 106 minutes • color Prebook: December 11 • Street: January 8 Contact Us at 800-229-8575 or email sales@firstrunfeatures.com 20 Home Media Magazine December 2–8, 2007 http://METACRITIC.COM http://Amazon.com http://Life.com http://ManFromUncleDVD.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.