US release Ringu Collection Blu-ray set from Arrow Video

[Shokara]

The subject title says it all. I'll just put this right here.

[lhb412]

Very happy about this! Love the first film and it's been unavailable for ages.

Interested in the sequels, but not sold on buying the big set. Hopefully, the others will be available to rent.

[Garasharp K7]

That's pretty cool. I picked up the UK version a few months ago, but still haven't watched it yet. Glad I pre-ordered it too, since it disappeared not long after it was released. Nice to see it's turning up in your neck of the woods.
It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but calling the film 'Ringu' instead of just 'Ring' bugs me a little. (kind of feel the same about calling the '54 Godzilla 'Gojira' as well) I'm not sure why, but it does.

[Shokara]

I know for certain the original movie from this set will also be available individually. Here it is for anyone that's not interested in the whole set but just the first film.

[H-Man]

[lhb412]

[Dai]

This is probably heresy, but I prefer the US remake of Ring over the original. It's mainly because the cinematography is so much better in the remake, especially for scenes shot on location.

[lhb412]

[H-Man]

Yeah it’s been ages since I last watched the U.S. remake but I have a strong memory of an ugly blue color grading on every shot. I think the Japanese version is visually a very strong movie.

But like I said it’s been forever and I wouldn’t mind checking out the ‘02 movie again.

[klen7]

i strongly prefer the US version for the same reason Dai states. The cinematography elevates that flick

[Shokara]

With all the attention lately on the Criterion Collection set for the Showa Godzilla movies and the Mill Creek release of Ultra Q and Ultraman, understandably this box-set kinda got missed in the shadows. My copy of this set arrived late last week, and I'm just now finding the time to look through it.

For now I'm only going over the first movie. Arrow Video's new 4K scan of the original camera negative looks beautiful. The colors aren't eye-popping; however, this movie was never meant to look like that, its color palette always having looked natural to slightly drab, befitting the movie's cold and eerie atmosphere. The picture detail is remarkably sharp with excellent film grain texture which is to be expected from a scan from the original negative.

Also, for those of you concerned about the American release using the literal title translation "Ringu" rather than simply "Ring," don't worry. The usage of "Ringu" is only on the package and disc labeling as well as the included booklet. The actual video content, both the main menu and the English subtitles for the movie itself, use "Ring" instead of "Ringu," and there's a reason why. While watching the movie, it becomes quickly apparent that Arrow Video simply used the exact same menus and English subtitle script for their original UK release where they weren't legally obligated to use "Ringu." As proof, the subtitles use the occasional British phrases like "snogging" instead of "making out" and "Mum" instead of "Mom."

Yeah, it's a little weird and funny as an American viewer reading subtitles that are so clearly British, but for me that's a gripe that is beyond small compared to the positives of this set: the beautiful HD picture and video content that doesn't bother with the ridiculously unnecessary "Ringu" transliteration. On top of that are the bonuses including trailers, interviews about the impact and legacy of the original three Ring movies with various critics and filmmakers, and the audio commentary by David Kalat. You may remember his audio commentaries for Classic Media's DVD release of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and the Criterion Collection's Blu-ray and DVD release of the original 1954 Godzilla and the 1956 American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

I've only skimmed some of the early portion of that commentary, but it sounds just as informative and enthusiastic as his other commentaries. Some people complained about David Kalat laying the enthusiasm on a little too thickly on his Ghidorah commentary which is perhaps true. He took a more restrained approach with Godzilla (1954) since, naturally, it was the more serious movie, and it was being sold through the movie buff boutique label Criterion. He takes the same, more scholarly approach with his Ring commentary, and just like in his Godzilla commentary where he addresses the whole how and why of the name/title differences between "Gojira" and "Godzilla", early on he addresses the "Ringu" transliteration and makes clear what most of us here already know, that it's just an excessive and unnecessarily literal wording of the written Japanese title (which is actually an English word), and thus he explicitly calls the movie "Ring" instead of "Ringu" for the rest of the way.

So far I'm quite pleased with this, and anyone in North America that's interested, I say don't wait up and get it as soon as you can.

[lhb412]

^ Awesome! I'll be getting that for Christmas.

Is the original Japanese poster art on the reverse sleeve?

[Shokara]

^ Thanks for reminding me about that! I forgot to mention it. Yes, much like Arrow Video's other releases, as well as Shout! Factory's stuff under their Scream Factory label, the Blu-ray covers do feature the original promotional artwork on the other side. I don't know if the imagery was used on the original Japanese theatrical posters. I simply remember it being used for the original Japanese VHS release.

This is it:

[lhb412]

^ Nice! I'm annoyed at the 'Ringu' title and will be happy to flip that cover!