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R.I.P. BCI Entertainment

post #1 of 21
7/10/09 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 
This is the first time I have started a thread on a message board and I wish it was happier news. BCI Entertainment, the company that has slowly been relaesing the Crown International film library on DVD is no more. Some of their notable releases were the Drive-In Cult Classics series and Welcome to the Grindhouse. Their product was sometimes middling in quality but the price was always right. I have cherished my Drive-in discs and devoured the Exploitation Cinema Collection (a repurposing of the Grindhouse discs after the Weinsteins told them to cut it out). So if you have not yet picked these puppies up, please do. Some Amazon sellers are already asking $80 for the Exploitation box which can be found at Best Buy for $20. Not every flick was a gem but there were always diamonds in the rough. I shall miss them.
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post #2 of 21
7/10/09 at 4:57pm
They've been dead for awhile. Honestly, they brought this shit on themselves.
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post #3 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Really? I just found out myself. I'll agree that a chunk of their crap was...well, crap, but for being affordable and having decent transfers I dug them. Was their business model fucked? Or did they "borrow" material from other companies too often (I'm thinking of the SWV watermarks on some of the trailers)?

Slapping down $10 and getting 8 flicks always made me happy even if 5 were turds. And I'll always be indebted to them for allowing me to see The Pink Angels. And Chain Gang Women. And Malibu High. Though I now have purchased The Pick Up four times.

I first heard about it here:
http://dvddrive-in.com/reviews/i-m/m...hdevil7074.htm

Which at least means Code Red will be keeping the faith.
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post #4 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:14pm
I was under the impression that the BCI collapse took out Code Red as well.
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post #5 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
Well, my information is coming from the first paragraph of the review I linked. So take that for what it's worth. I really am curious as to why they folded. Demand not there? Poor quality? I dunno. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Edit: I hope Code Red is still around next month. They were going to release Stunt Rock!
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post #6 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Judson View Post
Well, my information is coming from the first paragraph of the review I linked. So take that for what it's worth. I really am curious as to why they folded. Demand not there? Poor quality? I dunno. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Edit: I hope Code Red is still around next month. They were going to release Stunt Rock!
Code Red was doing the best out of all the imprints. I stopped following BCI/Crown/Samurai Cinema/What Have You when they announced the collapse. If Code Red somehow found a home in spite of this, more power to them.
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post #7 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:40pm
What killed me is that when BCI went under, they were literally weeks away from rolling out the beginning a series of long-buried Hong Kong titles that they'd licensed from Miramax Films. So much for definitive releases of DRAGONS FOREVER and WHEELS ON MEALS and SWORDSMAN and PRISON ON FIRE parts 1 and 2 and TIGER ON BEAT and DR. WAI IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS and WING CHUN and who knows what else we didn't get? I know Miramax is sitting on the only high-quality transfer of PEKING OPERA BLUES complete with the missing end title cards and a sorely needed new translation - it ran on the now-similarly-dead Kung Fu HD, a channel I was never able to get, so it's not just the stuff of rumor. I've seen photos of people watching it. (link shows a minor PEKING OPERA BLUES spoiler, the second-to-last shot of the film)

Did we lose that? We'll probably never know; nobody's talking. It breaks my heart.
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post #8 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by reggie-wanker View Post
What killed me is that when BCI went under, they were literally weeks away from rolling out the beginning a series of long-buried Hong Kong titles that they'd licensed from Miramax Films. So much for definitive releases of DRAGONS FOREVER and WHEELS ON MEALS and SWORDSMAN and PRISON ON FIRE parts 1 and 2 and TIGER ON BEAT and DR. WAI IN THE SCRIPTURE WITH NO WORDS and WING CHUN and who knows what else we didn't get? I know Miramax is sitting on the only high-quality transfer of PEKING OPERA BLUES, complete with the missing end title cards and a sorely needed new translation - it ran on the now-similarly-dead Kung Fu HD, a channel I was never able to get, so it's not just the stuff of rumor. I've seen photos of people watching it. (link shows a minor PEKING OPERA BLUES spoiler, the second-to-last shot of the film)

Did we lose that? We'll probably never know; nobody's talking. It breaks my heart.

Aw FUCK! I didn't know any of that. POF 1 and 2 are personal favorites.
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post #9 of 21
7/10/09 at 5:59pm
I had a feeling this happened when I stopped getting review copies. The Code Red and Demos stuff was great, and it will be missed. They never got 'The Hunchback of Rue Morgue' out. I guess I'm glad I have the German release. I'm also glad I didn't try harder to get a job at their Minnesota offices.

PS: If you live in MN you can find a lot of BCI overflow stuff at Half Price Books. They've got a set of Paul Naschy flicks in a cool box for only $10.
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post #10 of 21
7/10/09 at 9:14pm
Damn, I'm going to have to pick up that Exploitation set next time I'm at Best Buy. If it's still there.
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post #11 of 21
7/10/09 at 11:12pm
FYI, the thread about this on DVDTalk made me think they had seriously restructured, not that they'd completely shut their doors (unless this is a brand new development). Navarre owns BCI, and it sounded like some product was just going to come out through Navarre now, and that the BCI branding was all that was really dead.

Also worth noting, Code Red is a separate company that is unaffected.

Prices may have been high on Amazon for that set before, but now they're back down. There are two listings for it, and one has the prices around $20 and the other one starts at $30. In the meantime, Amazon still has stock on the first three Drive-In Cult Classics, so buy while you still can.
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post #12 of 21
7/11/09 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyler Foster View Post
FYI, the thread about this on DVDTalk made me think they had seriously restructured, not that they'd completely shut their doors (unless this is a brand new development). Navarre owns BCI, and it sounded like some product was just going to come out through Navarre now, and that the BCI branding was all that was really dead.

Also worth noting, Code Red is a separate company that is unaffected.

Prices may have been high on Amazon for that set before, but now they're back down. There are two listings for it, and one has the prices around $20 and the other one starts at $30. In the meantime, Amazon still has stock on the first three Drive-In Cult Classics, so buy while you still can.
Yeah. I found out about Code Red after checking into it. The whole deal with Navarre and BCI is rather complicated. Navarre started the reconstruction and then they made the decision for BCI. But, Navarre is not the strongest distributor out there. Outside of Code Red which is independent now, that leaves us back to the current situation.


Dead as Dillinger.
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post #13 of 21
7/30/09 at 5:16pm
I liked their Shaw Bros. releases. They will be missed.
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post #14 of 21
7/30/09 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Well, it looks like some other companies will be picking up their releases. Mill Creek has their label on some Drive-In Cult Classics Volume 1 sets at Best Buy. So the sky didn't quite fall as much as I expected it to. God bless Mill Creek and their cheap ass releases of Sam Kinnison and Ernest!
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post #15 of 21
7/30/09 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Judson View Post
Well, it looks like some other companies will be picking up their releases. Mill Creek has their label on some Drive-In Cult Classics Volume 1 sets at Best Buy. So the sky didn't quite fall as much as I expected it to. God bless Mill Creek and their cheap ass releases of Sam Kinnison and Ernest!
That was already released, right? Was it an actual Mill Creek sticker on BCI's existing packaging? If so that merely sounds like existing inventory being cleared out with Mill Creek as liquidator.

Goddammit, I want DRAGONS FOREVER.
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post #16 of 21
7/30/09 at 6:29pm
These are the guys who needlessly exploited a flaw in Tsubaraya's overseas contracts to make some quick cash, now the rights to most of their shows will likely never make it here. Good riddance.
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post #17 of 21
8/1/09 at 7:38pm
Mill Creek has apparently gotten rights to much of the BCI library and has hired a number of their former employees. I will find out about their Miramax and Shaw Brothers/Celestial Pictures titles if I can; those were pretty much the only things in their pipeline that I gave much of a shit about.
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post #18 of 21
8/2/09 at 1:58am
Don't expect quality releases. BCI released the Ultraman series while they were still in business. The show was put in two, three disc sets. Mill Creek is re-releasing the show (Even though they don't have the rights) in a four disc set for $10. The reduction in price and disks (Screwing the video quality) is probably a sign to stay clear of their future releases.
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post #19 of 21
8/3/09 at 3:54am
Thread Starter 
I see your point. Quality is an essential element in home entertainment releases. Using Mill Creek as an example we can look at their release of a cropped, cut print of Deep Red on many of their budget packs of horror films, usually compressed on one disc with four other movies. Compare this with Anchor Bay's and Blue Underground's handling of the same title. Actually you really shouldn't because there is no comparison. The money spent on the BU/AB release is money well (and better) spent.

However, when titles such as Masters of the Universe, Dungeons and Dragons and, yes, even Ultraman (though the issue you have raised regarding them not having hte rights to distribute Ultraman gives me pause. I don't necessarily doubt what you are saying but a link to more information on this would help me make a more informed choice as a consumer) are up for grabs for such low cost I will likely go with those over the vastly more expensive (and out of print) earlier releases. It is a conundrum that we face as film fans who actually stock our libraries with purchased product. Ultimately, quality should take precedence over quantity, but sometimes...I'm weak.

The real good news here is I can continue to stock up on Crown International titles, though it looks like I will be double and triple dipping some titles when I pick up the Mill Creek releases. Guess some things haven't changed since the BCI days.
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post #20 of 21
8/3/09 at 1:20pm
Quote:
though the issue you have raised regarding them not having hte rights to distribute Ultraman gives me pause. I don't necessarily doubt what you are saying but a link to more information on this would help me make a more informed choice as a consumer
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2...a-productions/

I'll try to summarize the article as best I can. Back in 1995, a company called Chaiyo claimed that they owned the distribution rights to the original Ultraman series, and a court actually believed them. Their claim was false, but they did not lose the rights until 2007. During that time, Chaiyo gave BCI the rights to the first Ultraman series, and they released their DVDs. However, since then, the rights to the show have reverted back to the original owner, Tsubaraya Productions. Currently, no American distributor owns the rights to any of the shows.
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post #21 of 21
8/3/09 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Mac. I can't get behind that kind of shadiness on the part of a releasing company. Its crap like this that keeps more and better product from being released from overseas. I won't be picking up Ultraman now. It sounds like it might as well be sold out of someone's trunk.
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