MVD Entertainment Group have licensed Wes Craven’s 1982 Swamp Thingmovie for a lavish new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut. The newly restored and remastered presentation is the first release numbered #1 under the “LaserVision Collection” line, and will also come to Blu-ray as MVD Rewind Collection #51 on its July 25th, 2023 release date.
MVD Entertainment Group, through their MVD Rewind Collection, are bringing a 2023 4K Restoration (16-Bit Scan of the original camera negative) of both the US Theatrical PG Version and the Unrated International Version of Swamp Thing to collectors everywhere on July 25.
The release will be available in a two disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray LaserVision Edition ($49.95) and a one disc Blu-ray MVD Rewind Collector’s Edition ($39.95).
MVD’s Director of Acquisitions Eric D. Wilkinson said “As the producer of all things ‘Rewind,’ I couldn’t be more proud of this release. We licensed the title from MGM more than a year ago and my first order of business was to clear the rights of the ‘unrated international cut’ so we could release it here in North America. Adrienne Barbeau was lovely and gracious and her management team was a pleasure to work with. MGM gave us access to the film materials and we worked closely with Duplitech overseeing the 4K high definition 16-Bit scan of the original camera negative along with the remastering and restoration of both versions of the film.”
Wilkinson also pointed out that the new versions will also bring back all of the previous supplemental material from earlier releases “…which includes a commentary from director Wes Craven, a second commentary from makeup effects artist William Munns, interviews with actors Adrienne Barbeau and Reggie Batts, along with comic book writer / editor Len Wein, archival making of featurettes, documentaries and more.”
Fans will also be happy to see that Swamp Thing will “…have our ‘Retro-VHS’ themed packaging for Blu-ray, and because this is our first 4K Ultra HD format release, we’ve created a sister brand I’m calling MVD Rewind’s 4K LaserVision Collection with a new line-look that pays homage to RCA’s long retired SelectaVision VideoDisc format from the early 1980’s.”
Both editions also come with a mini-poster of the classic movie poster from 1982.