Slade

Odds and sods about the British rock band Slade

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Slade In Flame Collectors Edition

Union Square Pictures is now releasing the Slade In Flame Special Collectors Edition DVD Package. This is really a beautiful piece of work. The package includes:

  • a new Cinemascope transfer of the film ”Flame"
  • a documentary featurette including interviews with Noddy, Jim, Don, Dave, Tom Conti and Richard Loncraine
  • the remastered ”Slade in Flame” soundtrack
  • a 16 pages booklet including 21 photos shot by screenwriter Andrew Birkin during Slade’s mid-1974 US–tour, all with commentary from Jim.
To start off with the film: I won’t go into the story-line as I guess most people reading this will know it already, if not you can find something about it here.
This new transfer is really good. The images are so much brighter and clearer than in the 2003- edition and this means that now you can actually SEE what is happening in the darker scenes of the movie. On the other hand the sound is as lousy as ever, making it close to impossible to hear what the actors are saying when they turn away from the camera. Well, I know what they’re saying, anyway, so I’m just glad that now I’m able to see what is happening as well!
The featurette is what many fans have been waiting for in connection with this collectors edition as this is really something new. Sort of, anyway. The interview with Noddy is the one from the 2003-edition, but all other interviews were conducted in 2006 and have been cut together with the Noddy-sequences to a beautiful 10 chapter run-through of all aspects of the film. Well done!
As for the soundtrack album it is the same as Union Square Music’s “Slade In Flame” CD re-release, although the artwork on the CD itself is different. It’s brilliantly remastered but as with the February re-release there are no bonus tracks, not even the promised alternate lyrics-version of “This Girl”. That’s a bit disappointing, especially as now there’s no difference between the 2 releases, so if you have one, there’s no need to get the other.
Finally there’s the booklet which comes in colour except for Birkin’s 21 black and white shots. All shots have been featured in bigger and better versions in the Slade Box etc. so what makes this booklet interesting is Jim’s commentary to the pics. Jim is honest, revealing, and you may even get to learn a thing or two about Slade that you didn’t know in advance.
All in all this Special Collectors Edition is a very attractive package, to me mainly because of the clearer images of the film, the featurette and Jim’s booklet commentary. I rate the package a must for fans, a thorough glimpse into the Slade-universe for non-fans and I strongly recommend it.

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