Tartan Video has decided to go with Blu-ray exclusively for their high-definition releases. Tartan is a UK distributor of mainly independent cinema, as well as the Tartan Terror and Tartan Asia Extreme labels. Releases begin August 27th with Paul Verhoven’s Black Book and the 50th Anniversary Edition of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. These will be followed on September 24th by the Asian cinema release Oldboy.
Tartan plans to encode their videos using AVC and audio will be DTS Master Audio and Dolby Digital. Tartan will include the DVD version of the films, bundled with the BD releases, for £29.99.
From DVD Times by way of Blu-ray.com.
The press release:
As the home entertainment industry prepares to enter a new world of technology, Tartan Video announces the release of its first High Definition titles. Tartan has chosen three of its most enduring and popular titles to demonstrate the full power of the Blu-ray Disc (BD) format: Paul Verhoeven’s stunning war epic, Black Book; the cult Asia Extreme revenge thriller, Oldboy; and a special 50th Anniversary edition of Ingmar Bergman’s all-time classic, The Seventh Seal.
All three releases are worldwide Blu-ray premieres, the format with broader industry support, a picture quality six times that of current DVDs, and fully uncompressed audio all set to increase consumers’ viewing pleasure beyond their wildest expectations.
Tartan Video’s owner and self-professed early adopter, Hamish McAlpine, says, “To go with Blu-ray was a no-brainer for Tartan. Not only is the format superior to HD-DVD, but also the fact that 7 out of 8 studios have chosen to release their films on Blu-ray means that this so-called ‘format war’ is over before it has really begun.â€
In an exciting move, Tartan Video’s Blu-ray releases will be uniquely packaged with the DVD edition of each film to allow consumers who have yet to invest in Blu-ray technology the opportunity to enjoy the films on existing players at no additional cost as they invest for the future.
Both Oldboy and The Seventh Seal contain original English-dubbed soundtracks. All three titles receive their fist appearance on Blu-ray anywhere in the word!
BLACK BOOK
Paul Verhoeven’s epic World War Two drama about a young Jewish woman who joins the Dutch Resistance and gets entangled in a deadly web of double-dealing, betrayal and romance with a Nazi general. This is a stunning, sexy thriller from the internationally acclaimed director of Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, and Total Recall, featuring Sebastian Koch (The Lives Of Others) and a star-making debut from Carice Van Houten.
THE SEVENTH SEAL – 50th anniversary remastered edition
One the most influential movies of all time by one of the greatest directors of world cinema, Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal is a timeless classic and this newly remastered version is an ideal way of celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary. A battle-weary knight (played by Max Von Sydow) returns from the Crusades to find a land ravaged by plague. When Death appears and challenges him to a game of chess, it becomes a fight for survival and a search for the meaning of life.
Release date for both films: 27 August
OLDBOY
Park Chan-Wook’s classic genre-defining revenge tale of a man who’s wrongly been imprisoned for 15 years and is then suddenly released. Given money and a mobile phone, he’s challenged to discover who incarcerated him in the first place, but he only has five days to uncover the truth. Even with a mysterious young girl to help him, his tortures have just begun. Cannes-winner championed by Tarantino, Oldboy has become a cult favourite, regularly appearing in top ten best movie polls. Brutal but imaginative story-telling.
Release date: 24 September
Black Book (BD/DVD) and The Seventh Seal: 50th Anniversary Edition (BD/DVD) are released on 27 August, whilst Oldboy (BD/DVD) is released on 24 September, 2007. All three titles retail at £29.99 each.
