Heathers

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

Moderator: yoloswegmaster

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Heathers

#1 Post by Ribs » Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:58 am

Image

Widely acknowledged as a true cult classic of modern American cinema, Heathers has captured the imaginations of troubled teenagers the world over with its acerbic satire of the sugar-coated high school movies of the 1980s...

At Westerburg High School, an elite clique of snobby girls known as “Heathers” reign supreme. Smart and popular, Veronica (Winona Ryder, Stranger Things) is a reluctant member of the gang and disapproves of the other girls' cruel behaviour. When Veronica and her mysterious new boyfriend, J.D. (Christian Slater, True Romance), play a trick on the clique leader, Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), and accidentally poison her, they make it appear a suicide. But it soon becomes clear to Veronica that J.D. is sociopath intent on vengefully killing the school’s popular students. She races to stop J.D., clashing with the clique's new leader, Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty), and leading to an explosive final confrontation with her troubled former lover.

Directed by Michael Lehmann, Heathers pushed the teen comedy into dark and nightmarish territory and is distinguished by the career defining central performances of its stars Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. The film is presented here in an exclusive 30th Anniversary 4K restoration with a wealth of extra material, providing unprecedented insight into the making of this hilarious and shocking film.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • New restoration from a 4K scan of the original camera negative by Arrow Films
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original 1.0 mono audio and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary by director Michael Lehmann, producer Denise Di Novi and writer Daniel Waters
  • Newly filmed interview with director Michael Lehmann
  • A newly filmed appreciation by the writer, actor and comedian John Ross Bowie (The Big Bang Theory)
  • Pizzicato Croquet, composer David Newman and director Michael Lehmann discuss the music of Heathers
  • How Very: The Art and Design of Heathers, production designer Jon Hutman, art director Kara Lindstrom and director Michael Lehmann discuss the look of Heathers
  • Casting Westerberg High, casting director Julie Selzer discusses the casting process for Heathers
  • Poor Little Heather, a new interview with actress Lisanne Falk
  • Scott and Larry and Dan and Heathers, a new interview between screenwriting team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs Larry Flint), and
  • Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters
  • The Beaver Gets a Boner, Michael Lehmann’s long sought after student film from 1985 made at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
  • Return to Westerberg High, an archival featurette providing further insight into the film’s production
  • Original trailers
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Robert Sammelin
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Bidisha, Anna Bogutskaya and an archival interview with cinematographer Francis Kenny

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Forthcoming: Heathers

#2 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:20 pm

I'm surprised no one had reissued this sooner, it has such a devoted cult around it.

That said, I'm not exactly a fan - I haven't seen it in a while but I thought it was self-conscious to a fault. It felt like the filmmakers believed what they were doing was very clever and patting themselves on the back for it, but the final result felt pretty smug and superficial.

User avatar
Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Heathers

#3 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:14 pm

Since the August titles have already been announced, I’m guessing this might be September?

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Forthcoming: Heathers

#4 Post by soundchaser » Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:26 pm

I suspect this might be an Arrow Video rather than Arrow Academy title.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Heathers

#5 Post by beamish14 » Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:10 pm

God, I hope this includes Michael Lehmann's unbelievably great USC thesis film, Beaver Gets a Boner, which was directly responsible for
him getting the job to direct this.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Heathers

#6 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:21 am

Confirmed for August, UK only

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Heathers

#7 Post by Luke M » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:39 am

This is one of my favorite movies and happy to see it get the Arrow treatment.

User avatar
Lost Highway
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:41 am
Location: Berlin, Germany

Re: Heathers

#8 Post by Lost Highway » Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:44 am

I liked Heathers well enough but I loved Lehmann's follow up, Meet the Applegates, which unfortunately flopped. I doubt we'll ever see that on BD.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Heathers

#9 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:17 am

A movie that weird is destined to be released by one of the many boutique shitty movie labels

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Heathers

#10 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Jun 22, 2018 2:56 pm

I think we should all just be thankful that there is no way even a boutique label will release Hudson Hawk.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Heathers

#11 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:39 pm

I'm pretty sure Kino Lorber will at some point! If it was Arrow we'd get surely get copious 20+ minute interviews with the cast, Break Me Off a Piece of That Kit-Kat Bard: A conversation with David Caruso, &c

User avatar
rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Heathers

#12 Post by rapta » Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:47 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:21 am
Confirmed for August, UK only
Or September 10th.

User avatar
Banasa
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 12:35 am

Re: Heathers

#13 Post by Banasa » Fri Sep 14, 2018 9:53 pm

I received this mysteriously early directly from Arrow. No more releasing early, it arrived two days after my shipping was announced. Not that I'm complaining.

Sound and audio are very strong with this and far better than the hazy blu ray of the past (I have yet to see the film in any other format). The extra are all very thorough, particularly the interview with Daniel Waters which is predominantly Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski berating him and getting nostalgic about college days.

User avatar
Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
Joined: Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 am

Re: Heathers

#14 Post by Drucker » Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:40 pm

Got this in the sale and it came without a booklet FYI. First time that's happened to me. Must be a quick seller.

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

Re: Heathers

#15 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:10 pm

It is a fairly popular 80s cult film. I wasn't surprised when mine arrived without a booklet.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Heathers

#16 Post by domino harvey » Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:55 pm


David M.
Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 1:10 pm

Re: Heathers

#17 Post by David M. » Sun Apr 07, 2019 4:41 pm

Thanks for the laughs!
But watching “Heathers” is a very different experience in 2019, a time of school shootings and trigger warnings,
Ah yes, trigger warnings - definitely on the same level as school shootings.

User avatar
Never Cursed
Such is life on board the Redoutable
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am

Re: Heathers

#18 Post by Never Cursed » Sun Apr 07, 2019 4:54 pm

You don't have to lose too much faith in the 'net, since most of the commentators are trashing the article, though I appreciate less the comments accusing the writer of being a beta male cuck

User avatar
The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Heathers

#19 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:29 pm

I don't appreciate this solipsistic millennial view the world is only recently a terrible place and that it wasn't in 1989 or before.

User avatar
soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 12:32 am

Re: Heathers

#20 Post by soundchaser » Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:35 pm

Once again, Pixelated Boat is the salve in our collective wound:
Image

User avatar
Never Cursed
Such is life on board the Redoutable
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2016 12:22 am

Re: Heathers

#21 Post by Never Cursed » Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:48 pm

He really is the best, and I didn't know until now that this article is what he was referencing!

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: Heathers

#22 Post by furbicide » Sun Apr 07, 2019 10:48 pm

Never Cursed wrote:
Sun Apr 07, 2019 4:54 pm
You don't have to lose too much faith in the 'net, since most of the commentators are trashing the article, though I appreciate less the comments accusing the writer of being a beta male cuck
Verily, as a wise man once said, "Everything Is Terrible!".

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Heathers

#23 Post by tenia » Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:07 am

"Less than 15 minutes into 1989’s dark comedy “Heathers,” a rebel teenager played by Christian Slater pulls out a gun and fires blanks at two homophobic jocks, a move that would get him arrested today. My roommates and I sat there with our jaws open: Was this supposed to be funny?"

No.

Joke aside, the issue at large is how people with seemlingly little skill at reviewing and analyzing movies but lots of will to discuss social topics are currently merging both in a very poor way. Heathers is not that funny at all. It's actually pretty mean, and violent, and crude, and just brutal at times. It's interesting to see both John Hughes' movies (duh) and 13 Reasons Why (obviously) being namedropped her since a lot could be told about those if one would want to question their quality.

I'm seeing more and more of these pieces popping up, and I think it's just part of the freedom of expression people have gotten from the Internet, a freedom that mostly seems to be used to write pieces despite having no skills or enough knowledge to do so. But hey ! I can do it, why shouldn't I ?

User avatar
Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Heathers

#24 Post by Big Ben » Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:18 am

The issue inevitably becomes how a younger generation reacts to previous generations material. It's a poorly written article by someone expressing shock and it really shows. The difference here is that it's not poorly written enough and far too much effort has gone into it for it to be your typical shitpost. He's legitimately sincere here and that's precisely why it's so awful in my opinion. What I find interesting is his lack of perspective outside his own, in the sense that an entire world, with different concepts, ideas and beliefs could not have possibly existed before his. I don't think it's at all irresponsible to look back at past works and say "Wow that's not good." but you know, maybe attempt to understand it all in context?

What is truly remarkable is that this article has been dunked by people from all walks of life online and that's how you know you've delivered something particularly bad. Hopefully Omar learns from this.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Heathers

#25 Post by tenia » Mon Apr 08, 2019 3:48 am

Big Ben wrote:
Mon Apr 08, 2019 2:18 am
I don't think it's at all irresponsible to look back at past works and say "Wow that's not good." but you know, maybe attempt to understand it all in context?
Sincerity is nice but when it's seemingly so badly missing the point and misreading the movie (on top of having wrong expectations), it doesn't seem to do any good and doesn't seem much different from, say, the flack Starship Troopers from people who simply didn't get his irony. Going this route, even the most asinine stuff can be construed this way. Remember Peter Rabbit and its allergic joke ?
As you write, it's a total lack of perspective outside his own, but also seemingly a willingness to read the movie for anything else than cinematographic material first. In this regard, it's not much different from many similar pieces I've read. Take this for instance : "What seemed absurd in 1989 feels entirely plausible after Columbine, Parkland, and too many other school atrocities to list." Heathers was released in the US 2 months after a Stockton, CA shooting that had 6 deaths and 32 wounded. 1988 had at least 7 school shooting, 1989 3. And I'm not sure the writer knows about the University of Texas tower shooting from 66, which had been deadlier than the shootings he's refering.

I'm one who's very much willing to look at older material and think "wow, that's quite some poor writing trope", but most of the pieces I've read are usually looking at the discussed movies out of any cinematographic perspective. All these seems to turn into pure socio-political tracts, and not much else. It's not revising our views on these movies, but rather often, IMO, applying a pre-conceived grid on them, which has always been a poor way to analyse a movie (or a book, etc). It's quite telling than in this regard, the recently discussed writing tropes in Breakfast Club or how 13 Reasons Why's debatable capacity in qualitatively tackling suicide are not even mentioned.

That's how Blow Up becomes misogynistic, for instance. With, of course, no nuance at all :
When it was released in 66, the movie stunned by its aesthetic and the work done on each shot. Now, what's stunning is this violence done to women.
I couldn't phrase properly what my understanding about these pieces is, but I guess it could be summed up this way : I doubt their writers are good at analysing movies as a whole, while it should be an absolute pre-requisite for this kind of work, especially on such hot topics, and them being young or not so much don't seem to come that much into account (the Blow Up's piece writer is 51).

Post Reply