Transcript: Exploring Swamp Thing 4K UltraHD on Blu-ray

Hey, this is Classic Center, my TV fans. This is Jason Lockhart here with you once again bringing you another retro drive-in podcast. And today we are talking about a brand new release from, and actually, really, if you want to be honest about it, it is a upcoming release, really, if you want to be totally honest about it. We got an early release, an early look at it here at Classic Cinema Plus Studios, and I am so excited about this. We are talking about the brand new release from MVD Visual, MVD Rewind Collection, and at long last, after years and years and years and years of hope, uh we have finally seen the release of Swamp Thing on 4k Blu-ray oh yes yes this is so awesome oh I'm so excited about it um so we're we're uh talking about Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is probably um I won't say it's my favorite comic book character but it's up there it's one of my favorites. The human character of Swamp Thing really, really touches you. It really does. It really touches you. It's the heartbreaking tale of a man that loses everything. Everything. You know, his whole life is basically destroyed and how he has to try to survive as this swamp monster, if you will. And yet he still has the character that's that human nature inside of him. It is so awesome. Wes Craven, the great Wes Craven, who created some of the most amazing films on such a tight budget, brought Swamp Thing to life with Swamp Thing, the movie. And, you know, while maybe not completely true to the source material, it's pretty good. It stays pretty close to the source material, and I think that's a good thing. Swamp Thing, of course, stars the great Adrian Barbeau. This was a really, really fun film. A Slump Thing deals with, of course, a scientist who is destroyed. His whole family his wife everything is destroyed and even his own body is destroyed through through evil uh dr arcane and uh you know just transformed into this monster and then uh all kinds of other stuff goes into the i mean it just an amazing tale uh the good folks at mvd visual um on under the rewind collection released a couple years ago the blu-ray dvd release of the return of swamp thing and they have recently done a 4K Blu-ray of this release as well. And this is, the Return of Swamp Thing is a little more campy. It's a campy horror sci-fi comic book movie where the original Swamp Thing more hits the horror element. It really does. It doesn't go for the camp as much. Now, it can be considered camp in a lot of ways, especially in this day and age, But it really was not meant to be that. It was more meant to be the horror. And it is just, it's really cool. I love the fact that with MVD Rewind Collection, what they do, they really go deep into this and really make these releases so spectacular. On the Swamp Thing, the new Swamp Thing 4K Blu-ray, we get all kinds of bonus features in this. there is, of course, the film is, you get two versions of the film, okay? You get the theatrical and the unrated international versions. Some people like the theatrical version and some like the international, depending. Well, you don't have to worry. You got both of them here, so there you go. Whichever one you want, there it is, okay? That's pretty cool. There's tons of bonus features. You get audio commentary with Wes Craven, which is so spectacular. Audio commentary with the makeup artist. You get Tales of Swamp Thing with actress Adrienne Barbeau. That's pretty awesome. Hey Jude is a little featurette interview type thing with actor Reggie Batts. Swamp Thing with the creator. That is really awesome. Swamp Thing Screen, Designing the DC Monster featurette. Just, I mean, there's also Chrome Comics, the mainstream shaping the radical genre voice, photo galleries, theatrical trailer, all kinds of stuff. Now, so there's tons of stuff here. But beyond that, look at this. You got a slipcover. Now, some people go crazy for slipcovers, right? So you got your slip cover Same artwork here Okay But now the interesting thing is what inside Okay You got the 4K disc and then you got the Blu disc and that is very very cool The Blu is more the typical of what MVD does with their Rewind collections Kind of almost looks like a VHS tape with the label, which I think is really, really cool. Uh, the 4k here is, um, in like a, uh, a black and red label type disc, which is pretty cool. Now, in addition to this, which, uh, MVD does all the time. And I love this with their rewind collection. Poster, mini poster. Love that. Look at that. The same artwork that is found on the cover is found on the mini poster. That is so cool. I like it. I like it. I've been wanting to upgrade the DVD version of Swamp Thing for so many years. And I was like, maybe someday 4K? Maybe someday 4K has arrived. It's so awesome. You probably can tell I'm absolutely over the moon about this. because really, literally, Swamp Thing is, this movie is one of my favorites. I really, I love the heart of Swamp Thing, and it's just so cool. And to actually see it now in 4K and see it on the 4K Blu-ray and to see it alongside this, the Return of Swamp Thing like that, it is just amazing. To me, it just makes, it really makes my whole birthday coming up so spectacular. Yeah, so this is really like an early birthday present. I mean, it really is. This is an early birthday present to me. What I look at here, my hope, and this is probably just a pipe dream. I'm sure it probably is just a pipe dream. But my hope is that some way, shape, or form, maybe some way down the line, MVD can do something and the stars will align and everything will come together. And then maybe, just maybe, MVD Rewind Collection can release the TV series of Swamp Thing. because, and this is not to disparage any company. I'm really not. I'm not. But Shout Factory released three volumes of Swamp Thing, and I think the thing that really bothered me about this, I mean, it's better to have it, although I don't have volume three. You just can't find volume three. Oh, that's bad. I got the first two seasons, and what bothers me about what Shout Factory did with Swamp Thing is these are not in chronological order in season format It's like you get parts of season one, and then you get episodes from season two, and they're just all over the place, and it's just crazy. Me, I'd rather it be season one, season two, so on and so forth. I'd rather it be like that rather than volumes and to be all different ways. That drives me crazy because when I'm going to watch a show, okay, I'm the type of person I want to stick the disc in and I want to go straight down the season. Here recently I've been watching Star Trek The Next Generation. Okay, this is kind of letting you behind the curtain here at Classic Cinema Plus Studios. I've been watching Star Trek The Next Generation and I've been doing that. That's what I do. Uh, season one, episode one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, season two, one, two, three, you know, and that's, that's the way I want to watch it. This drives me crazy because I have to, if I want to watch them in succession, then I got to sit there and write it out. Okay, this one's on this, and then I got to switch out the discs instead of just say play all and let it go. Uh, so my hope is somehow maybe the stars will align somehow and MVD may get the rights to do this. And they will, and believe me, if MVD gets the rights to do this, they will do it proper. And they will do it right. And it will be awesome. Well, I suppose you're right in a way, Walt. Sure, I'm right. I hope they do. I hope MVD can somehow make it work and maybe, just maybe, release the complete series on Blu-ray. That would be so awesome. So, we'll see. But until that time comes, I am over the moon with the idea of having Swamp Thing and the return of Swamp Thing on Blu-ray. It is so cool. So, yeah, we're going to have a full written review of the 4K of Swamp Thing coming up at Classic Cinema Plus Studios. I want to thank MVD so very much for this. This really has made my birthday month coming up in August. Ah, it's the greatest thing in the world. This really is the greatest thing in the world for me. So thank you so much, MVD, for sending this my way so I can check it out. So until we see you next time with another retro drive-in podcast, this is Jason Lockhart reminding you that if you want to see a great film or a TV series, check out a classic. And be sure to go to Classic Cinema Plus. We'll see you next time. Have a blessed one. Bye. Thank you.