Thursday, May 09, 2019

no time to make careful decisions

g'day


yes indeed, look you see. just another post which one might, if they were so inclined, regard as being of little beyond me simply showing off. although if i impress anyone with this then i shall truly be pleased.

much like the previous post to this one, that being all about the Bowie Sound & Vision tape set i obtained, this is another purchase made off of the great digital car boot sale. one that relates, again, to something that i hold quite dear.

in this particular instance, though, it all relates to something arguably not quite so well known as David Bowie. also, unlike audio cassettes, there would not appear to be much of an easy means for me to actually make use of that which i have bought. but, still.



yes, it's Star Struck, or possibly Starstruck depending on your preferred way of stating the title again. i would ask you to note that this is the proper film with that name, it being the wonderful 1982 movie from Australia. other things may well have been released with the same name since, but they are nowhere near as good. i know this because they are not the film i love so dearly.

for some basics on the film you could always click here, and follow the links on the post i did then. or, as an alternative, just keep reading here.

that image above, in Commodore 64 mode, is another copy of the film i have picked up. it is the third one that i have obtained, with my current rate of obtaining them being one new (to me at least) copy every 12 years. a little obsessive, perhaps, but there you go.



and there is an almost complete look at my Star Struck collection. missing from the above is the vinyl lp of the soundtrack, what a dear friend from America got me. yes i was tempted to unpack it, but i felt that the cassette version of the soundtrack was sufficient.

for those interested, the "blue" one is the first one to have been obtained. it is sn Australian VHS copy, obtained by Mum. i may be mistaken, but i believe it was that she rented both this and Flash Gordon from a video rental store in Brisbane (or similar), just the day before we moved back home to England. undoubtedly there was every intention to return it, but alas this did not happen. the middle "pink" one is the DVD i imported from the USA. some copies of this are still out there available.

on the end, then, the "white" one with the "none more 80s" style cover, is the one i just got. this is a Betamax copy, which i cannot actually play due to not having a Beta video. no matter. what interested me was that it was a UK release of the film. up to now, i had no idea at all that the film was ever released in England, or other parts of the UK. evidently it very much was.



some research on the internet gave me a few more details. the BBFC, as is their way, of course found reason to make cuts to the film. no idea what, but if i were to guess there is the briefest glimpse of an actual, real lady nipple at one point, and at some stage someone calls someone a "w@nker".

one certain cut to the video, going on the running time, is the same as the Australian VHS. that would be the removal of one song performance, It's Not Enough. if you happen to like this song or the performance, it is only to be seen in the cinematic or if you will theatrical release, which happily is what one gets on the DVD. no, so far as i can work out, no censorship reasons for it being edited.

perhaps one day i shall get to watch this unexpected UK release of the film and see for myself what differences exist. to do so will, or would, of course require me delving into the world of Beta technology. which may be tricky. having a look on ebay suggests that a working (honest) Beta player will cost significantly north of £100. another, more viable option would be to pay someone with a presumably working Beta to convert it to DVD for me, with costs of that seeming to be north of £10 but generally south of £20. that strikes me as being fair.



where did i get this from? ebay. rather splendidly, and perhaps showing a general lack of interest in both this film and Beta, for a penny south of £5. this i consider a bargain just for the lovely box alone. my fervent bidding and successful purchase of the film were encouraged and condoned by my siblings, which is to say brother and sister, who love the film as dearly as me. and, like me, neither of them have ever met anyone who has seen or heard of this film beyond having being introduced to it by one of us.

if you are someone else that has seen or heard of this magnificent, wonderful film without having me introduce you to it, most happy day! truly, i do dream of one day meeting someone who loves it so dearly but has not had that tempered by my influence.

anyway, there you go. thanks, as usual and as ever, for taking the time to read.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






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