Arrow Video Announces February Releases
HomeArrow Video Announces February Releases
Posted November 24, 2023 08:17 PM by Webmaster
Arrow Video has announced its February batch of 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases. They are: Fear Is the Key (1972), The Shaolin Plot (1977), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
Fear Is the Key
Description: From bestselling author Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare) comes a pulse pounding, rip-roaring rampage of revenge starring Barry Newman, the king of existential cool who had previously put the pedal to the metal in Vanishing Point.
Mysterious drifter John Talbot (Newman) arrives in a small Louisiana town, picks a fight with local police and gets arrested. In court it is revealed he's wanted for a number of violent crimes, but nothing is quite what it seems. Staging a daring escape, Talbot abducts seemingly random spectator Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall) and hits the road at high speed for a journey filled with unexpected twists and turns: a crashed airplane, a sleazy private investigator, criminal enforcers, and an oil millionaire. It's a journey toward truth and vengeance and Talbot won't hit the brakes until he gets there.
Director Michael Tuchner (Villain) delivers a crackerjack crime-thriller packed with great performances (including Ben Kingsley in his first movie role), an unforgettable score by Roy Budd (Get Carter), and stunt sequences coordinated by the legendary Carey Loftin (Bullit, Vanishing Point, The French Connection). Fear Is the Key is a white-knuckle winner that demands to be seen!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The Shaolin Plot
Description: In 1977, fight choreographer Sammo Hung made one last film under his mentor, director Huang Feng (Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido) before graduating to the director's chair himself with The Iron-Fisted Monk. That film was the rarely-seen martial arts ensemble thriller The Shaolin Plot, which sees the pair reunite with Hong Kong heavy Chan Sing (New Fist of Fury).
Prince Daglen (Sing) is hellbent on completing his comprehensive collection of Chinese martial arts manuals and mastering each form against his opponents. With only two manuals left to obtain, he sends his most dangerous henchman, a renegade monk (Hung) armed with two golden cymbals acting as flying guillotines, to steal the manual of Wu-Tang. To steal the sacred texts of Shaolin, however, the wicked Daglen will have to infiltrate the temple himself. The stage is set for a clash between Daglen, his cronies and surviving Wu-Tang student Little Tiger (James Tien, The Big Boss), alongside a lethal duo of Shaolin warrior monks (Casanova Wong, Warriors Two and Kwan Yung Moon, My Young Auntie).
Based on a story by legendary storyteller Ni Kuang (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), The Shaolin Plot is a classic tale of martial arts intrigue and deception, combining the incoming new wave of action with the old, resulting in one of the most overlooked and underrated kung fu classics from one of the most prolific Hong Kong film studios of all time!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray
Description: When health official Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) notices that her lover has become strangely distant, this sets in train a series of shocking discoveries that sees both her and colleague Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) fleeing for their lives to the sound of ear-piercing alien screams.
Remakes of great films are usually on a hiding to nothing, but Philip Kaufman's brilliant update of the 1956 classic is a rare and memorable exception. Transposing the action to the heart of San Francisco allows Kaufman to retain all the suspense of Jack Finney's original story while adding caustic social commentary about the selfishness of the 1970s "me generation" that remains all too relevant today.
But it's a paranoid thriller first and foremost, based on one of the most psychologically terrifying of all premises - what happens when you can no longer trust not just the authorities but even your nearest and dearest?
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Fear Is the Key
Description: From bestselling author Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare) comes a pulse pounding, rip-roaring rampage of revenge starring Barry Newman, the king of existential cool who had previously put the pedal to the metal in Vanishing Point.
Mysterious drifter John Talbot (Newman) arrives in a small Louisiana town, picks a fight with local police and gets arrested. In court it is revealed he's wanted for a number of violent crimes, but nothing is quite what it seems. Staging a daring escape, Talbot abducts seemingly random spectator Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall) and hits the road at high speed for a journey filled with unexpected twists and turns: a crashed airplane, a sleazy private investigator, criminal enforcers, and an oil millionaire. It's a journey toward truth and vengeance and Talbot won't hit the brakes until he gets there.
Director Michael Tuchner (Villain) delivers a crackerjack crime-thriller packed with great performances (including Ben Kingsley in his first movie role), an unforgettable score by Roy Budd (Get Carter), and stunt sequences coordinated by the legendary Carey Loftin (Bullit, Vanishing Point, The French Connection). Fear Is the Key is a white-knuckle winner that demands to be seen!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- High Definition presentation
- Original lossless mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- New audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Howard S. Berger
- A Different Kind of Spy Game, a new visual essay by film critic and author Scout Tafoya
- Fear in the Key of Budd, a new appreciation of composer Roy Budd and his score for Fear Is the Key by film and music historian Neil Brand
- Bayou to Bray, an archive featurette in which crew members look back on the making of the film
- Producing the Action, an archive interview with associate producer Gavrik Losey
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
- Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh
- Illustrated collector's booklet with new writing by filmmaker and critic Sean Hogan
The Shaolin Plot
Description: In 1977, fight choreographer Sammo Hung made one last film under his mentor, director Huang Feng (Lady Whirlwind, Hapkido) before graduating to the director's chair himself with The Iron-Fisted Monk. That film was the rarely-seen martial arts ensemble thriller The Shaolin Plot, which sees the pair reunite with Hong Kong heavy Chan Sing (New Fist of Fury).
Prince Daglen (Sing) is hellbent on completing his comprehensive collection of Chinese martial arts manuals and mastering each form against his opponents. With only two manuals left to obtain, he sends his most dangerous henchman, a renegade monk (Hung) armed with two golden cymbals acting as flying guillotines, to steal the manual of Wu-Tang. To steal the sacred texts of Shaolin, however, the wicked Daglen will have to infiltrate the temple himself. The stage is set for a clash between Daglen, his cronies and surviving Wu-Tang student Little Tiger (James Tien, The Big Boss), alongside a lethal duo of Shaolin warrior monks (Casanova Wong, Warriors Two and Kwan Yung Moon, My Young Auntie).
Based on a story by legendary storyteller Ni Kuang (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), The Shaolin Plot is a classic tale of martial arts intrigue and deception, combining the incoming new wave of action with the old, resulting in one of the most overlooked and underrated kung fu classics from one of the most prolific Hong Kong film studios of all time!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 2K RESTORATION from the original film elements by Fortune Star
- Original lossless Mandarin and English mono options
- Optional English subtitles
- Commentary by martial arts film experts Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
- Commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
- Alternate English credits
- Original theatrical trailers
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
- Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Peter Glagowski
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4K Blu-ray
Description: When health official Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) notices that her lover has become strangely distant, this sets in train a series of shocking discoveries that sees both her and colleague Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) fleeing for their lives to the sound of ear-piercing alien screams.
Remakes of great films are usually on a hiding to nothing, but Philip Kaufman's brilliant update of the 1956 classic is a rare and memorable exception. Transposing the action to the heart of San Francisco allows Kaufman to retain all the suspense of Jack Finney's original story while adding caustic social commentary about the selfishness of the 1970s "me generation" that remains all too relevant today.
But it's a paranoid thriller first and foremost, based on one of the most psychologically terrifying of all premises - what happens when you can no longer trust not just the authorities but even your nearest and dearest?
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- Original uncompressed stereo 2.0 and 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio sound
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with director Philip Kaufman
- Discussing the Pod, a panel conversation about Invasion of the Body Snatchers and invasion cinema featuring critic Kim Newman and filmmakers Ben Wheatley (Kill List) and Norman J. Warren (Satan's Slave)
- Writing the Pod, an interview with Jack Seabrook, author of Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney about Finney's original novel The Body Snatchers
- Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod, a documentary on the making of the film featuring Philip Kaufman, Donald Sutherland, writer W.D. Richter and more
- The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod, a look at the film's pioneering sound effects
- The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod, cinematographer Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) discusses the look of and influences on the visual style of the film
- Practical Magic: The Special Effects Pod, a look at the creation of the special effects from the opening space sequence
- Original theatrical trailer
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
- Six postcard-sized artcards
- Illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by David Cairns and Charles Freund, and archival interviews with director Philip Kaufman and writer W.D. Richter
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
