[REL] Pretty Baby (1978)

[ghost]

Pretty Baby on BluRay!?!?!

I never expected this with this provocative kind of movie. Really unusual. Even it will be in 1:85 ratio, it's exiting!

Thanks Night for keeping heads up!

[Night457]

I never expected this with this provocative kind of movie.

Me neither! Although Paramount released a DVD in the United States in 2003, and Warner Brothers in 2015. I think they slipped under the radar of censorious groups because it is now a vintage arthouse film directed by some French guy they probably never heard of. (The incredible Louis Malle.)

I noticed recently some FLM-type film (can't remember which) that is actually entirely banned in Australia, and I don't think it is banned in the U.S. Australia more conservative than the U.S.!?! I have a hard time wrapping my head around that notion.

My dream release would be: one 4kUHD disc theatrical ratio with commentaries featuring surviving cast and crew (just imagine Brooke Shields and Keith Carradine reminiscing about the good old days!), one 4kUHD disc full frame with more critical commentaries, and one blu-ray disc packed full of extras including both new interviews as well as behind-the-scenes footage extracted from the Paramount vault.

Thanks Night for keeping heads up!

I actually still buy discs and pre-ordered some September Via Vision releases a few weeks ago. This just popped right up on my usual blu-ray information site!

[deadman]

Wow! Nice catch, Night457. About the only movie it would surprise me more to see on blu-ray is Maladolescenza. Hopefully we'll get the full uncensored cut of Pretty Baby, blu-ray.com lists it as 110 min (the same as IMDb) so that's a good sign.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pretty-Baby-Blu-ray/320706/

Am I being greedy hoping for some deleted scenes?

[Night457]

About the only movie it would surprise me more to see on blu-ray is Maladolescenza.

I would be very surprised by that too! It is very unlikely, as it has actually been banned in some countries. The "Pretty Baby" Ontario ban was repealed in 1995, and I don't know of any other successful bans on it.

Hopefully we'll get the full uncensored cut of Pretty Baby, blu-ray.com lists it as 110 min (the same as IMDb) so that's a good sign.

That is the site where I got the news, on the Home page! However, the entries are frequently user generated and consist of their best GUESS, with correct information to be updated later. That entry also says it is Region B, because it is an Australian disc, but the Via Vision Imprint label releases are USUALLY Region Free. For the runtime they simply copied IMDB. The Via Vision site lists it as 109 minutes. That could mean that it is censored (which makes the disc worthless) or they could just be wrong.

I will be really pissed off if I buy it and it is cut! Motherf...

Am I being greedy hoping for some deleted scenes?

Yes.

There will not be any on this release, but they are an unstated part of my dream release.

[deadman]

For the runtime they simply copied IMDB. The Via Vision site lists it as 109 minutes. That could mean that it is censored (which makes the disc worthless) or they could just be wrong.

I will be really pissed off if I buy it and it is cut! Motherf...

Actually, my guess is the length comes out to 109 minutes and some seconds. Via Vision rounded down, IMDb rounded up. But just because it's the right length doesn't mean they haven't cropped the image - scanning in at 4K allows you to do that while preserving 1080p resolution throughout. Hopefully not though!

[Night457]

Actually, my guess is the length comes out to 109 minutes and some seconds. Via Vision rounded down, IMDb rounded up.

That is what I figured, but I don't have a 24fps version immediately at hand to check the exact runtime. Let me check Uloz ... The 25fps versions run about 105 minutes, and the 23.976fps dvd rips are 109 minutes, 26 seconds. Yup, you are right!

My go-to version for watching is ghost's latest full screen release, but full bluray resolution is very appealing.

But just because it's the right length doesn't mean they haven't cropped the image - scanning in at 4K allows you to do that while preserving 1080p resolution throughout. Hopefully not though!

STOP, JUST STOP!!!! Your are so MEAN!!! These are things I had not even considered and now you are freaking me out! The blu-ray.com forum nitpickers frequently rage about alterations even less significant than that, but they have little influence on changing a release. SOMETIMES a boutique label admits a mistake and implements a replacement program.

[Night457]

Now that I thought to check RARBG, there appear to be several 1080p Webrips released in the middle of June 2022. It looks like Paramount's "newly restored 4K scan" may already be streaming! Huh, how about that.

https://rarbg.to/torrents.php?imdb=tt0078111

[emuler]

Even if it isn't cut, the widescreen aspect ratio will crop some ' interesting ' bits.

[Night457]

I certainly realize that! But for a blu-ray release I can only realistically expect the original theatrical ratio because that is what the director intended. On rare occasions a movie will get a release with multiple aspect ratio options. Like the Criterion Collection edition of "On the Waterfront" (1954) which has THREE aspect ratio choices! Insanity. I watched all three and could see the visual difference, but could not figure out why I should care.

And there were the early 2-sided DVDs with the full frame version on one side (filling up an old TV display) and the matted theatrical version on the other.

I have a very small number of "open matte" movies in my collection, but I don't specifically seek them out in general. I have never found a site devoted to sharing these versions and/or explaining why anyone should care about it for any particular movie. I suppose there are obsessives who want open matte all the time for all movies.

[ghost]

I'm quite sure the Blu-Ray will be in 16:9 like the DVD was before.

In this case, I'd still prefer my upscale of the old German TV recording.