Thanks to ABBAMAILer Robert Verbeek/abbaplaza.com for scan
ABBA - THE MOVIE:
DVD Times Review
Robert Hughes Interview!
Tom Oliver Interview! Universal Music's ABBA - The Movie Sydney screening: 3 Galleries of photos! ABBA - The Movie on DVD:
two releases, then one..and now it's finally here! ABBA - The Movie is finally available on DVD. It has been a long and winding road and some fans thought it would never happen. It is being treated as a major release by Universal Music - promotion and media events have been organised in various countries and a special range of promotional items (including a shoulder bag and a headband) have been produced. Two versions of the DVD are being released - but not all countries will release both versions. The 2-disc version comes in a deluxe fold-out digipak and the second disc has bonus features including a brand new interview with Björn, Benny & director Lasse Hallstrom which was filmed in New York.There is also a 20 page colour booklet written by Carl Magnus Palm. The 1-disc version is just The Movie itself in a standard DVD case and is available at a cheaper price. Fans will definitely want to go for the 2 disc version. Single disc version contents:
The fully restored widescreen film. Sound in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo.
Two disc version contents:
Disc 1: The fully restored widescreen film. Sound in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo.
Disc 2: Bonus features: Carl Magnus Palm interviews Lasse Hallström (who directed ABBA - The Movie ), Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (Swedish language, subtitled), filmed in New York; the original ABBA - The Movie trailers; an ABBA - The Album television commercial; a memorabilia picture gallery; plus a gallery of the original tour programme. Although the Swedish Film Institute completely restored the picture of ABBA - The Movie in 2003, Universal Sweden decided not to use this version. The arranged for another clean-up operation and it is this version that you will see on the DVD release. The sound has been completely remastered by Bernard Lohr along with a little help from Benny himself! ABBA - The Movie has had a chequered history during 2005 with two separate major record companies announcing their own release! ABBAMAILer Ian Cole tells the story... On 8 May 2005, this DVD cover appeared on DavisDVD.com, immediately sending ripples through the ABBA fan world - what is this? The cover is hideous! Why hasn't Universal Music announced this?A week or so after the image first appeared, a short news item on DavisDVD.com mentioned that Warner Home Video had announced a release date for ABBA - The Movie of August 16th. Warner Bros. had the distribution rights for ABBA - The Movie for much of the world when it was originally released in 1977/78. MGM/UA, whose back catalogue is now owned by Time Warner (Warner Bros. parent company), released The Movie in several video formats in the UK during the 1980s. A Warner Bros. "WB" logo can be clearly seen on the spine of the original image. But when these contracts were negotiated and deals were done, DVD had not been invented and obviously was not covered. Home video was a concept still years away when the film was released. And it's almost a certainty that a film distribution deal made in 1977 was not intended to still be valid 28 years later. Generally, any contracts between Polar Music and other companies were three or five years, or maybe up to ten. This is the same reason why it took so long for Universal Music to release any ABBA DVDs - the rights had to be renegotiated with the ABBA members to cover the new format. Most likely the deal favoured the ABBA members. It seems that Warner Bros. USA believed they still have the rights to distribute ABBA - The Movie, and thus chose to release it on DVD. The print used for this DVD will most likely be about the quality of the version screened over the in 2005 on TCM (another Time Warner company) and INHD (where it is screening again during June) in the US. This DVD had nothing to do with the long-planned worldwide release by Universal Music Sweden. The team at Universal Music Sweden investigated exactly what is going on, and whether Warner Bros. did indeed have the rights to release ABBA - The Movie in the US (or anywhere). It seemed strange (or sheer bastardry) that Warner Bros would choose to release this DVD in the same period as Universal's announced release. In the meantime, the Warner Bros DVD was now been listed for pre-order on various on-line stores, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Borders (Amazon), CD Now (Amazon), CD Universe, DVD Empire, DVD Planet, Laser's Edge, My Video Store, VH1, VideoETA, Virgin Mega (Amazon). Amazon.ca and HMV Canada (Amazon) listed it as a "Ws Sub Amer [Import]". All these sites gave the August 16 release date. On June 3 Warner Bros. own site finally listed the DVD for pre-order for release on August 16. ABBAMAILer Ken Griffin found the following PR blurb which he forwarded to ABBAMAIL's mailing list on 26 May: ABBA: The Movie (1977) - Fans of the Broadway musical "Mama Mia" -- which is now in its fifth year in a record 20 cities around the world and has grossed more than $1 billion to date -- will love this DVD. Academy Award(r)-nominated director Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, My Life as a Dog, Chocolat) captures an Australian tour of the international singing group who were the musical sensation of the '70s. This lighthearted look at the lives of the pop stars takes you
behind the scenes and also gives you a front row seat for the down under concerts in all their shimmery-costumed, platform-shoed glory. "Dancing Queen," "Mama Mia," "Waterloo," "Money Money Money" and 15 other favorites are included. DVD Special Features: * New Introduction and Commentary by Director Lasse Hallström
* Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1
* Theatrical Trailer
* Subtitles: English, French and Spanish (Feature Film Only) Further technical information from Warner Bros. site: Synopsis:
ABBA, the international music sensation of the '70s, is captured on tour by director Lasse Hallstrom in this lighthearted look at the lives of pop stars. The mega-hits performed include "Dancing Queen" and "S.O.S." Screen Aspect:
Original Aspect Ratio - 2.40
Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
Sound Quality:
English: Dolby Surround 5.1 -
Francais: Mono 1.0 -
Subtitles: English, Espanol, Francais
Media Quantity: 1
Packaging Type: Amaray Case Around 8 July, the listing for ABBA ‑ The Movie disappeared from the Warner Bros. site, and in following days also disappeared from many of the on‑line store sites. Best Prices.com's page said “Unfortunately this product is no longer available and has been discontinued. On 11 July, Amazon.com sent an e-mail to all who had pre‑ordered the DVD “Though we had expected to be able to send this item to you, we’ve since found that it will not be released after all. Please accept our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience we have caused you. We have cancelled this item from your order.” On 13 July, Barnes & Noble advised customers that their orders had been cancelled (though they didn't remove the listing from their website for some time). It would seem that finally Universal Music has proved to Warner Bros. that they do not have the rights to release ABBA – The Movie in this format. 
On 8 June 2005, Universal Music Sweden released the Swedish cast recording of the MAMMA MIA! musical. Inserted with the CD was the usual advertising flyer with the ABBA catalogue on one side, and an advertisement for ABBA - The Movie on the other, showing the planned DVD cover and announcing "DVD-Release September 2005" .Universal Music have released ABBA - The Movie globally, beginning on September 26, 2005 in Sweden and parts of Europe. The blurb from Universal Music...
"The movie follows ABBA at the height of their career on a tour of Australia in March 1977 and remains one of the precious few opportunities to experience ABBA live on stage. ABBA - The Movie is now available for the first time on DVD.
The release will feature a limited edition digipack featuring two DVDs, and also a regular single disc version.
Single disc version contents:
The fully restored widescreen film. Sound in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and
Dolby Digital Stereo.
Digipack contents:
Disc 1: The fully restored widescreen film. Sound in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1
and Dolby Digital Stereo.
Disc 2: Bonus features:
- An interview about the film with Lasse Hallström (who directed ABBA - The Movie ), Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, filmed in New York this year;
- the original ABBA - The Movie trailers
- an ABBA - The Album TV commercial
- a memorabilia picture gallery
- a gallery of the original souvenir tour program
Catalogue numbers
Regular single disc: 987 170-0 PAL version, 987 170-3 NTSC version
Limited Special Edition: 987 169-9 PAL version, 987 170-2 NTSC version" 
| NEWS UPDATES
***************
US RELEASE DATE FOR ABBA - THE MOVIE WAS MARCH 26, 2006. THE US HAS RELEASED THE SINGLE DISC EDITION ONLY.
***************
U.S. fans can also order the NTSC version from Canada:
One online source is:
www.amazon.ca
The 2-disc version is not released in Canada but may be ordered in NTSC from Japanese on-line stores. It is, however, expensive:
JPY6,000 (about USD51).
Also the Japanese liner notes are written by the Japanese representative of the ABBF Fan Club, Mr. T. From his presence on the Internet, quite a few Japanese fans are of the opinion that he is not qualified to write
about ABBA.
Universal Australia has released two
formats of ABBA - The Movie on DVD:
2 October Limited edition digipak – 2 disc, second disc containing bonus features
9 October Standard amaray – 1 disc, featuring movie only
There was an invitation-only promotional screening of the film in Sydney on October 10 to celebrate the DVD launch in Australia.
UMA hired out a cinema and unveiled a brand new promotional poster for the DVD. The movie is now available in Sweden, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and some other parts of Europe. ABBA The Movie debuted on the UK
Music DVD charts at No. 1! The two-disc version
debuted on the Australian DVD
charts at No. 12. The single disc version
was released in Canada on October 11.
(Canada will not get the double disc version) The layer change in "Why Did It Have
To Be Me" is not considered a fault.
The difference in volume levels between the concert and "acting" sequences of the movie
is deliberate. If you find the picture too dark, try watching it as you would in a cinema: in the dark! Fans are very annoyed that chapter points have not been set properly and occur in random places - often during the middle of a scene or a song. Universal Sweden have made no statement about this.
ORDER ABBA-THE MOVIE: in Australia:
http://www.hmv.com.au/product/dvd_music.asp?sku=994960 in the UK:
http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=285;5;-1;-1&sku=417721 |
