Revised Version: I’ve just discovered that when I said there are no plans to release Grindhouse on DVD, that statement only applied to the United States. It turns out that the good people at Alliance-Atlantis have taken the liberty of releasing their own version of Grindhouse on DVD in Canada, which is currently available on Canadian store shelves as we speak! HOWEVER, before you get too excited, the all-new special features for the film are still only available on the Blu-ray version and have not been transported over to DVD. While you do get the full Grindhouse movie and the fake grindhouse trailers have finally been included, the rest of the special features are exactly the same as what you get on the individual Planet Terror and Death Proof DVDs. Also, since the original theatrical cut of Grindhouse is being presented, the extra footage that was included on the Planet Terror and Death Proof extended DVD cuts won’t be there any more. In the Blu-ray version, I believe the extra footage is included as a seperate special feature, but not so on the DVD version. So if you want the Vanessa Ferlito lap dance sequence, you’re kind of outta luck! Now, if you don’t already own Planet Terror and Death Proof, I’d still recommend picking up the Grindhouse DVD, but if you’re like me and already have the individual DVD versions, you may still want to hold off until you have your own Blu-ray player.
With my massive DVD collection, I’ve never been that interested in investing in a Blu-ray player just yet, but this early review of the new Blu-ray Special Edition of Grindhouse, set to be released on October 5th, makes a pretty convincing case. As Grindhouse fans know, Miramax was not happy with its underwhelming box office performance, so they decided not to include the entire film on one single DVD set, choosing to release Planet Terror and Death Proof as separate DVD editions instead. The most unforgivable part of this decision is that the fake grindhouse trailers for Don’t!, Werewolf Women of the S.S. and Thanksgiving were not included on either DVD! Well, this new Blu-ray edition includes all those trailers and tons of other terrific new special features. According to the review, it basically delivers everything a Grindhouse fan could possibly want. Oh, and did I mention that there are currently NO plans to release this Special Edition on DVD?! ARGH! Damn you, technology!