More films are being sucked onto DVD by the gravitional wake of Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. Aside from the previously announced original, The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young (the real one), Universal will market a double feature of Toho’s King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes on 11/29 (SRP $19.98). Both titles will be in anamorphic widescreen, which is a boon. KKvG was previously available on a dreadful pan ‘n’ scan DVD, and I don’t think KKE has ever been on home video in this country. Of course, in a perfect world we’d get the Japanese cuts too (especially for KKvG, which was extensively reedited for release here), ala Sony’s recent Godzilla DVDs, but hey, two films, widescreen, for probably under $15 street price. Sweet.
And damn, Konga‘s coming out too! Awesome! It’s due on 12/6.
Meanwhile, another auxiliary title is The Frightners: Peter Jackson’s Director’s Cut (also 11/29), which will include over four hours of bonus material produced by the director himself.
Sadly, though, Warner’s has apparently cancelled the release of The Last Days of Pompeii, a film by the makers of the 1931 King Kong and originally due to come out the same day as that movie’s upcoming DVD. One can only assume that sales looked very weak, or else that rights issues arose. Hopefully this will reemerge at some point.
TV fans will be glad to learn that the first season of The Rockford Files is due on 12/6. Now where’s Maverick?
Get this: Fox will release a FORTY DISC set covering all seven seasons called Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Chosen One, which will street sell for only about $140. Damn! A bonus disc includes seven new featurettes. It’s due out on Nov 15th. Time to curse if you’ve been buying the sets as they come out.
