Spinal Tap: Criterion vs. MGM

[Ratboy]

I know that the September 12th rerelease of Spinal Tap will have a lot of previously unavailable content, but what material on the Criterion edition of Spinal Tap is not going available on the MGM version? Why shouldn't I sell my Criterion copy of Spinal Tap to fund my future purchase of the MGM release?

[manigrasso]

Ratboy,

I haven't seen a press release for Spinal Tap yet, but lately MGM discs have been pretty much bare bones. Don't be surprised if this one is as well. The Criterion edition rocks, if you must sell it, sell it on ebay and make some beau coup bucks.

[Jon]

The new MGM disc is going to be pretty much all new supplements, with a 5.1 remix and a new commentary (with the band members 'in character'), and it's only $25, so pick it up as well as the Criterion edition (which is FAR superior anyway).

[TheMovieKid]

I posted the details on disc vs. disc at the Home Theater Forum. If you didn't see the post... here are the details for both discs.

MGM DISC
- 1.70:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
- Audio Commentary With Spinal Tap
- An Interview with Martin DeBergi
- An Hour Of Deleted Scenes and Extra Footage
- "The Joe Franklin Show" TV Appearance
- Photo Gallery
- Theatrical Trailers
- Television Spots and Commercials
- Four Music Videos

CRITERION DISC
- 1.70:1 Non-Anamorphic Widescreen
- Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
- Audio Commentary With Director Rob Reiner, Producer Karen Murphy, and Editors Robert Leighton and Kent Beyda
- Audio Commentary With Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
- 20 Minute Demo Reel for Spinal Tap: The Final Tour
- Fake Commerical for Spinal Tap's Heavy Metal Memories
- Video for Hell Hole
- Deleted Scenes
- Alternate Takes
- Abandoned Subplots

[Sid]

I'm getting really sick of MGMs shit. I only own 1 MGM disc (Kingpin) and if they even think of putting out the Terminator SE non 16X9, theres gonna be some very pissed off people.

And how come they did a SE of Species 2, but not of the upcomming Platoon and Fargo

[brian]

I dont think MGM has anything to do with terminator, but i could be wrong. I thought artisan was dealing with Term., but i could be wrong, even though they made the first release.

[manigrasso]

I guess I could just edit out my opinion, that seems to be wrong this time. But that would just seem very Orwellian/Ministry of Information-esque of me, so I leave my original post her up with apologies to my ignorance.

Now if they could just put this kind of interest towards the Princess Bride...

I have both the Criterion LD & DVD(the LD has more extras then the DVD) and I love them both but this MGM DVD has a new anamorphic transfer,5.1 & the topper for me is the fact that this commentary track will be by the stars In Character, that will be something to hear ("uhh, can we just go past the cucumber scene please!").

Not being a huge Princess Bride fan I didn't see this DVD but the 14 other MGM DVD's I have look fantastic to me anamorphic or not.
Also MGM is in big finiacial trouble right now since they broke from Warner Brothers so I'll cut them some slack until they get on their feet.

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-Dougpirana
" It's not my damn planet, MONKEY BOY!"

[This message has been edited by dougpirana (edited 05-23-2000).]

[Ratboy]

I guess I will be keeping my Criterion edition and buying the new MGM edition. I'm not happy about it, though. It wouldn't bother me if the first edition was a no thrills, make-everyone-happy-until-we-can-really-do-it-right version. But this feels a little like when a musician realeases a greatest hits album with two new songs on it. You already have every album, but you have to pay for the best songs a second time just to get the two new songs. I have a hard time believing that it is a good value because I already bought most of the material once before. On top of that, all of the material is no longer in the same place. I have to switch between two disks to access all the extras. I'm not saying that I don't want the studios to improve their products, but it is frustrating when even the movies I buy need to be upgraded.