Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

[KMR]

The DVD includes the feature about the strangeness of each family member--I don't remember what that featurette is called--but I was kind of expecting it to also be included on the Bluray disc so you wouldn't have to change discs to watch it.

Brandon: I believe that the special feature on the DVD is actually one of the several "focus point" features on the Blu-ray.

All: Be aware that watching the "focus point" features is not the same as watching "Maximum Movie" mode. The latter is a picture-in-picture commentary/documentary thing, which looks like it has a lot of great stuff in it (I only watched the first couple minutes so far; I had to finally turn the thing off and get to bed...)

I find it kind of odd that no trailers for the movie are included on either the Blu-ray or the DVD. Maybe they figured that having them on there would only highlight how off-the-mark their marketing campaign for the movie was!

[KMR]

This being the third time I've seen the movie, I definitely enjoyed it much more. As a whole it is a solid film when you don't compare it to the original series. Watching it with my boyfriend helped me actually get into the film and forget about comparing it so much because he didn't know anything about the series. He did think that the puking and the werewolf things in the climax of the movie were both stupid and came out of nowhere, especially for the latter plot point.

Brandon, I totally agree with both you and your boyfriend! This was my third time too, and I actually love it now, even though it has a couple of very irritating attributes. (Hmm... just like we can love some people in spite of their irritating attributes!  )

I have not been able to get "Nights in White Satin" out of my head...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

"Maximum Movie" mode...looks like it has a lot of great stuff in it

Now you have me salivating for my DVD/Blu-ray Combo to arrive! 

I only watched the first couple minutes so far; I had to finally turn the thing off and get to bed...

I can relate because more times than I care to get into I've still been up at 2-3am watching extras when I should have been in bed, and I finally have to just shut them off and pick them up at some other time. 

I find it kind of odd that no trailers for the movie are included on either the Blu-ray or the DVD. Maybe they figured that having them on there would only highlight how off-the-mark their marketing campaign for the movie was!

Possibly. But if so, if only they'd realized how off-the-mark their marketing campaign was before they'd actually set it in motion. But I suppose that's all water under the bridge at this point. 

145 days 16 hours 53 minutes 11 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[madscntst]

All: Be aware that watching the "focus point" features is not the same as watching "Maximum Movie" mode. The latter is a picture-in-picture commentary/documentary thing, which looks like it has a lot of great stuff in it (I only watched the first couple minutes so far; I had to finally turn the thing off and get to bed...)

I find it kind of odd that no trailers for the movie are included on either the Blu-ray or the DVD. Maybe they figured that having them on there would only highlight how off-the-mark their marketing campaign for the movie was!

Thanks for the tip on this, KMR!  I got home late last night after a ~13 hr. workday, and only got a chance to watch the "focus points" and the "deleted scenes", hoping I'll have more time tonight.  Like Brandon, I was a little confused at first and didn't realize the "focus points" were actually featurettes that I could watch by themselves.  I thought they were some sort of interactive pop-ups that occurred during the movie or something, and almost didn't watch them, thinking I didn't have time.  But I finally figured it out (mainly, I knew there was supposed to be an extra about Alice Cooper, and didn't see it at first and I was getting mad, until I realized that it was one of the "focus points").  So now I will look to see how to find the "maximum movie mode", which I don't even think I saw last night so I might not have even known it existed! 

Haha, I didn't even realize there weren't any trailers.  I don't like too many trailers on a DVD, but sometimes I do like to watch a few that may look interesting, and sometimes I learn of movies I didn't even know about.  But I guess this proves that if they're not there, I don't miss them too much 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you're someone who hasn't watched many Blu-rays, their menus can be very confusing at times because they're often so different from DVD menus. Normally with WB Blu-rays, Maximum Movie Mode is accessible through the Special Features sub-menu and it tends to be the first selection either at the top or to the left. At least that's the way it's been on WB's Sherlock Holmes and Batman Blu-rays that I've watched. And you may also be asked to make some decisions on how Maximum Movie Mode works before you enter it. But not having the DS Blu-ray yet, I don't know if WB has changed their method.

And some important words of advice: if Maximum Movie Mode on the DS Blu-ray is anything like it is on other WB Blu-rays (and on the other studios' comparable feature) be sure that you keep your remote handy because you'll probably be called upon to use it frequently. That's why the feature is referred to as "interactive." 

145 days 18 hours 30 minutes 16 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[Nicky]

I stopped at Target after school yesterday to pick up the BluRay ... and it was sold out!  I had to go to -- shiver -- Walmart.  But it was worth it.   

[dom]

Well, I'm thrilled that I am staying at a place with a niced sized TV and a Movie On Demand channel showing Depp Shadows. Will probably watch tomorrow. Rented at a 24 hour stretch, I should be able to watch it multible times. Finally!! I am very excited.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's unfortunate that because Target was old out Walmart got a sale - especially considering that once again in my area of the country a big story is that Walmart is being accused of unfair labor practices. But I fully understand that when it comes to DS, sometimes one just has to grit one's teeth and do something one might not otherwise do. If I'd gone out to buy the Blu-ray and the only store I found it in was a Walmart, I would have probably made the same decision, as much as it might have pained me. But on the plus side, the Blu-ray was sold out at Target - and that's a very good thing. 

And, dom, I'm so excited for you that you'll be able to watch the film tomorrow. 

145 days 23 hours 25 minutes 47 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oh wow. As if it wasn't bad enough that WB's Project X, a film that grossed like half of what DS did domestically and like a quarter of what DS did internationally, got an extended cut on video, I just saw where WB's Rock of Ages, a film that for all intents and purposes actually was a flop for WB and one that didn't even gross half of what Project X grossed worldwide, is coming out next week as an extended cut that adds like 30 minutes of footage that brings the film to two and a half hours! 

This is quite possibly proof that there is no God! 

146 days 0 hours 6 minutes 5 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[David]

Rock of Ages was a true flop, it didn't earn back it's production costs in theaters, which DS did, plus $90 million.
It's proof of anti-DS bias in the biz.
Even a piece of shit like The Swarm got an extended cut!

I'd be interested in what people here think of my Fangoria essay Why Dark Shadows Matters, it's up at the Fangoria site now.

[David]

 
And the film FINALLY opened in Venezuela this past weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. It came in at #2, grossing just under $381,000.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't know that I'd say that the lack of a DS extended cut is due to anti-DS bias. After all. WB didn't release an extended cut of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - and that's one of their most successful films this year. Nor have they ever released extended cuts of the Christopher Nolan Batman films - and every last one of them has been huge for WB. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to what films get extended cuts and what don't - but it apparently has nothing to do with whether a film is a big hit or not - or even a flop. 

146 days 11 hours 17 minutes 24 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!

The Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is now out on DVD/Blu-ray!!

[The Doctor and K9]

I think the WB are confident DS will sell well on DVD.  I believe they want to sell it twice, theatrical and extended cuts.  This was done most notably with Watchmen.  In that case THREE versions were released: theatrical, director's and ultimate cuts.

[KMR]

I think the WB are confident DS will sell well on DVD.  I believe they want to sell it twice, theatrical and extended cuts.  This was done most notably with Watchmen.  In that case THREE versions were released: theatrical, director's and ultimate cuts.

I certainly hope you're right! Hey, maybe they'll come out with an extended 2012 Dark Shadows as well as the restored version of Night of Dark Shadows on the same day! (I can dream, can't I?)

[michael c]

i just picked up the DVD on the way home. i'll watch it at some point this weekend.


what's notable is that the film's packaging, much like the ill-conceived trailer, touts the film as a comedy and nothing else. even though we know it had many other elements.

"wickedly funny" and "hilarious" are the review quotes. for some reason somebody, somewhere, really wanted this to be marketed as being funny from start to finish.