The Forbidden Planet Special Edition DVD that was scheduled for 2004? Time is running out! In this year anyway.

Huzz

Very little info on this. If you go to thedigitalbits and click on the cover art you get no link at all. Which means it ain't gonna' happen anytime soon.

A quick Amazon check produced disappointing results. "F.P." is slated for re-release, but not as a special edition. Rather, it's being double-billed in a "two-pack" with "Soylent Green" (no, I'm not making this up). Amazon doesn't list a release date, but honestly, who cares.

Thank God for the Criterion laserdisc...

A quick Amazon check produced disappointing results. "F.P." is slated for re-release, but not as a special edition. Rather, it's being double-billed in a "two-pack" with "Soylent Green" (no, I'm not making this up).
Gee, that's sort of like packaging "Gone With The Wind" with "Mandingo". No respect.

Hey, are you putting down "Soylent Green"? It's PEOPLE! I'm a people person.

Hey, are you putting down "Soylent Green"?

I love "Soylent Green" for what it is: a bad movie with a terrific ending that's generally a lot of fun to watch (I mean, c'mon, Charlton Heston and Chuck Connors in the same movie -- not to mention Whit Bissel, Leonard Stone and Dick VanPatten... who can resist a cast like that)? What I find disappointing is the fact that the long awaited special edition of "Forbidden Planet" has seemingly fallen between the cracks. I can't help but wonder if the recent sale of MGM didn't have something to do with de-railing this project.

By the way, it was announced in the trades recently that David Goyer ("Blade", "Batman Returns") is penning a remake of "Soylent Green".

I can't help but wonder if the recent sale of MGM didn't have something to do with de-railing this project.


Has this movie reverted back to MGM? Although originally an MGM movie I note the DVD (like a boat load of old MGM titles including SOYLENT GREEN) is from Warner Brothers.

I must add that I think one problem with the FORBIDDEN PLANET Special Edition is that EVERYBODY announced it...EXCEPT Warner Brothers! When the SE "announcement" started making the rounds more than a year ago, I never saw anything from WB. I kept reading a thread on this subject at hometheaterforum and there were always people asking, "Where did Warner Brothers mention this title?". You can trace this story back to a number of websites and a number of individuals but it always stops just short of Warner Brothers.

The current DVD is actually pretty decent. It's certainly lacking in extras...as it had none :). The color is rather muted (of course, it's Eastman Color so you can only do so much). The soundtrack is also somewhat lacking.

That being said, the dvd is anamorphic widescreen and looks pretty good on the 16x9. This is one of those DVD's that was actually mislabelled...a sin of omission in this case. Although the DVD is anamorphic, WB neglected to include the words "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" as they normally do on ther anamorphic discs.

While I certainly hope for an SE, I don't think anybody should be dissuaded from buying the current DVD.

As far as the cast for "Soylent Green" goes, what's Edward G. Robinson ...................... ................chopped liver?

Has this movie reverted back to MGM?

Of course not; don't know what I was thinking. The most recent DVD was released by Turner, wasn't it? The upcoming two-pack with "Soylent Green" will, I assume, be Warner.

A remake of "F.P." has been languishing in development hell for over a decade, first at NewLine and most recently at DreamWorks. At one point Syd Mead was brought aboard as design consultant; a number of his illustrations have since been published in one of those insanely expensive portfolio books of his (Mead's take on the C-57-D is pretty ho-hum IMO).

I'm not usually keen on remakes, but in this instance the concept is strong enough, and the original is dated enough for it to actually make sense. In any event, it's not likely to happen any time soon.

I was anxiously awaiting the Forbidden Planet SE as well. I understood it to be a July 2004 release, when originally announced. So far, nothing.

... when originally announced.

And therein lies the big question.

Was this DVD, in fact, EVER announced?

I still don't recall seeing WB announce a Forbidden Planet SE.

I do remember lots of people all over the internet claiming it was going to happen.

With all due respect to thedigitalbits, they aren't Warner Brothers. Is this another example of stories getting repeated on the 'net until they become fixed in our minds as fact?

I will tell you that there are certain other DVDs that I'm waiting for that have been "announced" on this forum...but I haven't heard a whisper about them anywhere else. I don't want to name names or give titles because, to be honest, I forgot who made the announcement and I don't want to embarrass anybody or put them on the spot. But I can say that I've been told here that, "Don't worry, COMPANY X is working on a DVD of MOVIE X for next year"...yet there is no mention of it on their website or anywhere else.

Warner Bros. listed the Forbidden Planet SE on their 2004 schedule of planned releases given to the media at the end of last year. They had it scheduled for release the same day as Village of Damned/Children of Damned, Bad Seed, and Dead Ringer. These lists are "proposed" schedules and subject to change. So actually the talk of the release did originate from Warner Bros. I usually don't consider something a definate until you can actually pre-order it. Even then they can get cancelled. What happened to Paramount's THE KEEP? Announced for 11/30 and even up for pre-order at dvd planet but now there is no listing of it anywhere. The only consolation I get from proposed releases, "supposed to be working on", "planned for future release", etc. , given the enormous volume of titles in the studio libraries, is that the title is not completely off their radar. My personal dvd nightmare is studio decision makers who may never have heard of a movie, let alone that they own it.
"CRACK IN THE WORLD? We own that? Never heard of it."
The answer to the question of whatever happened to the Forbidden Planet SE is that a year ago WB was "considering" releasing it this year and for whatever reason decided not to. Happens all the time.

What I always wondered with "CRACK IN THE WORLD" was the rocket, with fins pointed down into the hole. Why did it need fins?