Blue Velvet Special Edition inc Lost Footage [DVD]

Blue Velvet the movie is 5 stars and everyone has been talking up the blu-ray release as really improving on the DVD releases so I decided to buy it on Blu-ray to improve upon my DVD version. After doing research on the item's description I learned that Blu-ray.com list only one release of Blue Velvet in the U.S, which is this 25th anniversary release, as Region Free. People in the comments section also have said it's Region Free. People in the comments section of Amazon also constantly talk about Amazon not being accurate always with their Imports as with some they assume it is maybe region locked, and are unsure about it being region free. So with all this I confidently bought my item to be imported. Unfortunately for me, I then learned there was in-fact, two different releases of this title, one is Region-A locked and the other is Region free, not sure why this is as it seems to make no sense but there you have it. There is also no region free listed version of the 25th anniversary edition so that also is annoying. My item had already dispatched before I realised this, but just to warn potential buyers to clarify with the seller, or ensure they're getting the correct version of the film before you end up like me. The 25th Anniversary edition includes 51 minutes of unseen footage which was supposedly lost but now is included on the disk restored which makes this version the definitive version of Blue Velvet. The film itself is great and for people who enjoy films dealing with adult viewing material, the struggle of good vs evil and in this case, good seemingly having no hope against the flame that burns ever so strongly (You'll get that reference when you watch the film) in Frank Booth, then this film is certainly one you won't want to miss. EDIT -- Ok, so the item arrived from America today and as anticipated it has a Region A on the back of the Blu-ray. I thought I'd give it a try anyway for a last resort and the disk had no region on it which was strange as the case specified A. Inserted it into my B-locked player and wouldn't you just know it, region free. Not sure if every disk is like that but turned out so in my case. Seller informed me it was A locked, case also confirmed that, but the disk played. Probably the most unpredictable blu-ray purchase I've made.

Great film

The Blu-ray disc arrived swiftly and safely.

Just thoroughly enjoyed watching the , "lost footage"!!! (Yeah, lost in the cookie jar next to David's coffee maker!? How do you "lose" footage for almost 30 years? Good marketing ploy! ) Much of it consists of prequel scenes that add quite a bit to Jeffrey's being in Lumberton. There are also some really weird, pointless scenes that I cannot believe the studio funded! DO NOT get me wrong! Most of these bizarro scenes are quite clever and VERY funny, but do little to contribute to the film. Then there are a few rather strong, pertinent scenes that fill in some blanks and give the viewer a better vision into the story. Gotta love ANY extra footage of Frank! It's a shame that these scenes were not properly inserted into the body of the film and presented as a "director's edition" or something along those lines. At least they seem to be presented in the proper order, had they been inserted. Finally, why has this dvd not had a U.S. (region 1) release? Shame shame. Definitely a 52min. GOLD MINE for B.V. fans. Highly recommended!

This Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and the recently found footage makes this a must buy for the film's fans. EXTRA FEATURES: - Mysteries of Love (SD; 1:10:45) is a comprehensive retrospective which gives a lot of background on Lynch's formulation of the project. Interviews with most of the principal cast as well as Lynch are included, along with behind the scenes footage. - Newly Discovered Lost Footage (HD; 51:42). This will be the big calling card in terms of supplements for longtime fans of the film. As Lynch somewhat cheekily includes as a prologue, "It's like the song 'Amazing Grace,' the footage was lost but now it's found." There's some expectedly outré stuff here, including several sequences featuring full frontal female nudity (which may have had at least something to do with those scenes not making it to the final cut of the film, since Lynch was already pushing the envelope to the breaking point with regard to Rossellini's nudity and other elements of her character). Keep an eye out for a very young Megan Mullally, replete with Farrah Fawcett hair, as Jeffrey's erstwhile girlfriend Louise. - A Few Outtakes (HD; 1:33) offers some ad libs and silly moments. - Siskel and Ebert 'At the Movies' (SD; 1:30) is the pair's 1986 summation of the film. One of them didn't exactly love the film. - Vignettes offers I Like Coffee Shops (SD; 00:22), The Chicken Walk (SD; 00:55), The Robin (SD; 1:33), Sita (SD; 00:45), four snippets mixing moments from the film with interviews with Lynch, MacLachlan, Rossellini and others. Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:31) TV Spot 1 (SD; 00:32) TV Spot 2 (SD; 00:31

Rather than try to write a critique of the movie itself, to display amongst dozens of other (much better observed) reviews here, I would simply like to comment on the product itself. This Blu-ray 2-disc special edition (cat no. HFR0325B) offers stunning picture quality when compared to the DVD version of the film that I have been watching (repeatedly) over the past ten years or so. The DVD looked very much like the film that it was shot on - grainy (especially in the shadow areas) and slightly poorly defined around the edges of objects. The remastered Blu-ray, however, has somehow managed to eliminate nearly all of the graininess, sharpen up the details tremendously and uses a higher contrast ratio to make the shadow areas blacker and thereby, less prone to graininess and colour distortion. Equally, it doesn't look overly pixilated or over-softened, as some Blu-ray conversions I've bought recently have. It's a testament to the improved picture quality to admit that I had never noticed before (in the DVD version) that the lead male character (Jeffrey) wore an earring throughout the entire picture! That and many other details are revealed in this improved version. I have yet to watch the extra footage on the second disc, but I would already state that the disc is worth purchasing on the merits of the remastering and picture quality alone. Surely, the definitive version of the early classic David Lynch movie! Now, if only someone would remaster 'Mulholland Drive' to the same standard ....

Blue Velvet is about a young boy, Geoffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) who finds a human ear on his way back from visiting his father in hospital. He takes this to the local detective. The detectives young daughter (Laura Dern) catches up with him as he is leaving, she tells him she overhears things and mentions a female singer Valerie (Isabella Rossellini). This starts his mind racing, as he loves a good mystery. The more he finds out about the case, the deeper he gets. But he has to be careful of the madman, Frank (Dennis Hoppers most memorable on-screen charector) for he is very dangerous man and wont let anyone stand in his way. Timeless scenes and unforgettable performances by the entire cast make this David Lynchs finest film to date. Playing with the idea of voyeurism he creates a world that Hitchcock would be proud of. This film gets better every time i come back to it, giving it any less then 5stars would be a travesty

Having watched this again recently, I have to say that I've unknowingly become desensitised to the horror that I vividly remember when I first viewed it in 1986. At the time it made a huge impact on me and watching it now I can understand why. I suppose it's been dissected and discussed so many times since then that it's kind of lost something in the translation. It was an odd sensation to find my mind wandering to things like household chores etc while simultaneously watching Frank Booth inhale Amyl Nitrite and scream that he wants to f#@k anything that moves, maybe that says more about me than Blue Velvet. Anyway, a startlingly realised masterpiece and the second bluray disc houses 52mins of ' lost ' footage

DVD BIEN RECU

Che dire, un MUST HAVE.

A must have for the Lynch fans. This is the only Lynch movie available for the people in India to own (bluray). The disc is perfect. Entirely uncut with all the fabulous extras.

Having just viewed this latest version of Blue Velvet I come away with mixed feelings. Sure the film is still an iconoclastic original that still has a potent shock value that hasn't lost it's sting nearly thirty years (can't believe it's that long ago) on now. Seeing it in blu-ray is as stunning an experience as my initial viewing back in '86. I must confress that I did not love it and it took a few more screenings to appreciate the layered strangeness of the story. By the 80's I had had my fill of typical Hollywood product and was hungry for something radically different. I had seen David Lynch's previous films The Elephant Man and Dune in theaters and had rented Eraserhead on VHS by this time---as well as seeing El Topo, Liquid Sky, and Repo Man. Hollywood movies had absolutely no appeal after this. When I heard that lost footage had been found I was very eager to buy this version and was the first thing I watched when it was delievered (a whole day before the estimated date given--very nice) and settled in for-----a dog eating from a bowl at the Slow Club, the worst stand up comedian imaginable, Jeffery watching a frat boy nearly rape a female student, a very very long dinner at Sandy's house as Jeffery, Sandy, and her boyfiend watch a show with girls in bridal gowns running while tethered to chairs. The few scenes of Frank Booth are really worth sitting through this junk. I am kind of glad that David Lynch was contractually obligated to deliver a film that was two hours long. The inclusion of ninety percent of this "lost" footage would have certainly diminished the power of the film. Do we really need any backstory for Jeffery or scenes of him at school? Not really. With a little creative mental editing one can reconstruct the film and insert these scenes where they might have happened in the film and judge for one's self if they play any vital part in the overall story. It is wonderful that these were discovered and can be seen (I'm still dying to see the twenty minutes Kubrick cut from 2001 or Brando barking like a dog to scare off a salesman in Last Tango In Paris) and judged for their true worth. There is really only one scene which should have been reinstated. It is a very brief scene in which Jeffery calls Dorothy Valen's apartment. Someone picks up the phone but does not answer. It cuts between Jeffery on one end and Frank on the other until Frank barks: "Talk to me f---ker!!!" and Jeffery quickly slams down the phone. It would have been an even scarier moment if we do not see who is on the other end until that jump scare moment of Frank's. Overall I am glad I now have this to my collection although I doubt very much that I'll watch the lost scenes with any great frequency. It is still (in my own opinion) David Lynch's last true masterpiece before his descent into what I like to call "pop surrealsim". In Blue Velvet he created a cinematic universe where all these strange occurances feel plausible. There are also a few outakes and the very interesting documentary Mysteries of Love which has been included in previous DVD releases. I enthusiastically recommend this film to anyone I meet who has not seen it yet.

effrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) ist von der Oak Lake Highschool in seine Heimatstadt Lumberton zurückgekehrt, weil sein Vater bei der Gartenarbeit einen Schlaganfall erlitten hat, der beinahe tödlich endete. Nun ist er für einige Zeit beurlaubt und hier in Lumberton scheint die Zeit irgendwie still gestanden zu haben. Alles scheint wie in den 50er und 60ern auszusehen in dieesr amerikanischen Kleinstadt, wo sich alles ums Holz dreht. Im Radio sagt der Sprecher mit "Beim Fällen des nächsten Baums ist es acht Uhr Dreißig" an. Die Stadt ist süß, der Himmel ist strahlend blau, die Gartengitter sind weiß wie Schnee und die Blumen in den Gärten blühen wunderschön und haben satte Farben. Der Feuerwehrmann, der mit seinem Wagen vorbeifährt, kann nicht anders als freudlich zuzuwinken. Doch unter der klinisch sauberen Oberfläche wuchern Geheimnisse. Jeffrey findet auf seinem Spaziergang von Zuhause ins Krankenhaus im Waldstück ein abgetrenntes Ohr. Dies zeigt er dem örtlichen Polizeidetektiv John Williams (George Dickerson) und damit trifft er auch wieder auf Sandy (Laura Dern), Williams Tochter und Jeffreys frühere Schulkameradin. Sandy ist genauso neugierig wie Jeffrey und sie erzählt ihm von einer verdächtigten Frau namens Dorothy Valens (Isabelle Rossellini). Sie zeigt ihm auch wo die Verdächtigte wohnt. So wird von den beiden die Idee geboren, in dem Fall auf eigene Faust zu recherchieren. Jeffrey hat sogar die waghalsige Idee im Kopf als Kammerjäger in die Wohnung von Dorothy zu gelangen, um dort in einem günstigen Moment ein Fenster zu öffnen, wo er später - wenn die Frau ausser Haus ist - einsteigen kann. Es läuft sogar noch günstiger, da Jeffrey sogar beim Ungezieferjagen an einen Ersatzschlüssel für die Wohnung herankommt. So beginnt ein waghalsiges Spiel mit dem Feuer. Er dringt in die Wohnung ein, dann beobachtet er die Frau heimlich vom Schrank aus - wie sie sich auszieht und sieht sogar ganz unverhofft zu, wie Dorothy mit einem gewissen Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) ein bizarres sexuelles Spiel ablaufen lässt. Als Voyeur sieht er zu wie der mann ein nicht identifizierbares Gas dabei einatmet und sich dabei immer mehr einem perversen Sadomasochismus hergibt. Dabei lebt sich der Soziopath an seiner Partnerin äusserst gewalttätig aus. Jeffrey findet heraus, dass Dorothys Mann und ihr kleiner Sohn in der Gewalt des Gangsters sind und die verzweifelte Frau deshalb leicht erpressbar ist für alle erdenklichen Perversionen. Jeffreys eigene - der hemmungslose Voyeurismus - bleibt allerdings nicht unentdeckt und es kommt nach dem Verstecken im Schrank zu einem sexuellen Spiel zwischen Jeffrey und Dorothy. Darüberhinaus verlieben sich Sandy und Jeffrey ineinander. Gemeinsam sind sie irritiert vom Bösen, dass sie gerade versuchen aufzudecken. Sandy erzählt ihm von einem wunderbaren Traum mit Rotkehlchen, die sie als Zeichen der Hoffnung für die Menschen interpretiert. Ihre Freundschaft mit Mike gerät zunehmend ins Hintertreffen. Dorothy übt weiterhin eine starke Anziehung auf Jeffrey aus, doch die beiden werden von Frank und seiner Band erwischt. Jeffrey wird zu einer Spritztour durch die Stadt gezwungen, wo sie in der Wohnung von Ben (Dean Stockwell) Halt machen. Dort gibts eine musikalische Einlage von Ben, als er zu Roy Orbisons "In Dreams" die Lippen bewegt und am anderen Morgen wacht Jeffrey auf der Müllhalde auf. Er wurde übel verdroschen. Jeffrey hat sich aber fest vorgenommen Dorothy aus der Gewalt von Frank zu befreien. Kein leichtes Unterfangen... Den Bösewicht spielte Dennis Hopper so genail, dass eine Oscarnominierung dabei heraussprang. Frank, der kranke Schwächling, der in Gewaltorgien seine verkorkste Sexualität herausheult und herausprügelt. Um zu seinem Höhepunkt zu kommen, hält er sich ein Atemgerät an Mund und Nase - eine Sequenz, die unvergessen bleibt und zu den großen Momenten des 80er Jahre Kinos gehört. Dabei ist es schwer herauszufinden, ob "Blue Velvet" tatsächlich auch in den 80ern spielt und alles so wirkt als wäre die Zeit stehengeblieben. Zumindest scheint dies zwar die wahrscheinlichste Option zu sein, die Geschichte könnte aber auch in den 60ern spielen. Unterlegt wird der gemeine Psychoschocker jedenfalls mit melancholischem Songs der 50er und 60er "Blue Velvet" von Bobby Vinton, "In Dreams" von Orbison oder "Love Letters" von Ketty Lester, die die morbide Geschichte über das verlogene Kleinstadtidyll atmosphärisch perfektioniert. "Blue Velvet" ist ein Film, der seinem jugendlichen Paar eine verquere Reifeprüfung auferlegt. Zwei Kinder erleben eine Welt, wie sie den meisten Erwachsenen verschlossen bleibt. Eine der intensivsten und herausragendsten Szenen dieses Films ist die Nachtfahrt mit Frank, wo sie in dem schäbigen Bordell absteigen und später Jeffrey halbtot geschlagen wird, während auf dem Autodeck eine dralle 50jährige Frau selbstversunken tanzt. Diese schrecklichen Momente unterbricht Lynch immer wieder auch mit einer komischen Sequenz, etwas dann wenn Jeffreys Tante Barbara (Frances Bay) auftaucht. Auch wird neben der sexuellen Perversion eine Liebesgeschichte platziert, die am Ende sogar ein HappyEnd bekommt. Umgeben von Eltern, Tanten, Nachbarn, Rotkehlchen, wunderschönen Blumen und weißen Gartenzäunen ist aber auch nicht ausgeschlossen, dass mit diesem glücklichen Paar ein weiterer Alptraum entstehen wird. Wer weiß es schon...die halluzinatorische Nachwelt , in der Angst und Gefahr auftauchen, ist möglicherweise eine logische Folgeerscheinung dieses unendlichen Glücks. Einer der besten Filme der 80er und für mich DAS Meisterwerk von David Lynch, der mit "Lost Highway" oder "Fire walk with me" ebenfalls weitere ganz große Film-Klassiker geschaffen hat.