Arrow has announced its Arrow Video and Arrow Academy titles for September with the release of the greatest work and autobiography of a French cinema pioneer, a glorious 4K ULTRA HD debut of a beloved Oscar-winning masterpiece about the beauty of cinema, and a pair of blood-splattered Yakuza classics. This outstanding selection of films include pristine restorations, hours of rare bonus features, brand new commentaries, unseen cuts of the films, as well as collector’s booklets with incisive writing on the filmmakers, and limited edition deluxe packaging and striking new artwork.

First up we have a limited edition Blu-ray package, George Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon & Autobiography cotain this cinema visionary's boldest and best known film, A Trip To The Moon, supplemented by the phenomenal documentary, An Extraordinary Voyage, along with a beautiful hardback edition of Méliès’ unpublished autobiography. Also in September is a the UK's first 4K Ultra-HD release of Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore’s loving homage to the cinema, and winner of awards across the world. At the start of September, Arrow Video will release Graveyards of Honor, with two peerless masters of Japanese cinema – Kinji Fukasaku (Battles without Honor and Humanity) and Takashi Miike (Audition) – presenting their own distinctive adaptations of yakuza expert Goro Fujita’s gangster novel Graveyard of Honor. Finally on Blu-ray in Sepetember, Arrow Video will release Ivansxtc, a biting look behind-the-scenes of the Hollywood film industry, with all its drink and drug-fuelled excess, and Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, an absurd, audacious mix of Afro-futurism, Cold War paranoia, the dystopian world of Philip K. Dick and 60s exploitation cinema, along with a hefty dose of Lynchian surrealism. 

GEORGE MÉLIÈS' A TRIP TO THE MOON AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1902)
Limited Edition Blu-ray | 21 September 2020 | £49.99

Georges Méliès was not just a pioneer of early cinema, he was central to what we know as film today. An illustrator, magician, filmmaker, and inventor he paved the way for animation and multi-media filmmaking.

Of all of Méliès films, his boldest and most well known is certainly A Trip to the Moon [Le Voyage dans la Lune], loosely based on the writings of Jules Verne. A Trip to the Moon follows a group of travellers who jet off to the moon from earth on an exploration mission only to end up in peril and captured by the local inhabitants, the Selenites. Featuring a who’s who of theatrical cast from the era, with Méliès himself taking a lead role, this is one of the very first forays into sci-fi cinema, and spawned one of the most iconic images of cinema – the man in the moon with a rocket in his eye.

Presented here in both black and white and its original colours, and supplemented by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange’s phenomenal documentary, An Extraordinary Voyage, along with Méliès’ unpublished autobiography, A Trip to the Moon can now be fully celebrated in this deluxe package.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

• Limited Edition of 1,000 copies 
• Deluxe limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork
• 214-page hardback casebound book of George Méliès’ autobiography, previously unpublished in English

BLU-RAY:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation 
• Original uncompressed Stereo 2.0 and 5.1 surround audio 
• Optional English subtitles 
• Multiple scores by world renowned composers 
• The Innovations of Georges Méliès - new video essay by Jon Spira exploring A Trip to the Moon and Méliès’ career 
• An Extraordinary Voyage – Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange’s 2011 documentary on the film, its rediscovery and preservation for future generations, featuring interviews with Costa Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet 
• Le Grand Méliès (1952) – a short film directed by Georges Franju about the life and work of Méliès
• 2020 re-release trailer 

BOOK:

• The Long-Lost Autobiography of Georges Méliès: Father of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Cinema - Available for the first time since 1961, finally translated into English by Ian Nixon, with annotations and supporting material by Jon Spira, Méliès filmography, illustrations by Lucy Collin, interviews with filmmaker Serge Bromberg, silent film expert Bryony Dixon, and filmmaker Michel Gondry

CINEMA PARADISO (1988) | 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray & DVD | 29 September 2020 | £29.99 / £24.99 / £15.99

A winner of awards across the world including Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, 5 BAFTA Awards including Best Actor, Original Screenplay and Score, the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and many more.

Giuseppe Tornatore’s loving homage to the cinema tells the story of Salvatore, a successful film director, returning home for the funeral of Alfredo, his old friend who was the projectionist at the local cinema throughout his childhood. Soon memories of his first love affair with the beautiful Elena and all the highs and lows that shaped his life come flooding back, as Salvatore reconnects with the community he left 30 years earlier.

The original award-winning theatrical version of Tornatore’s classic is presented here for the first time on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. This edition also includes the expanded Director’s Cut, which delves deeper into Salvatore’s backstory [Blu-ray].

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the 124 minute theatrical version (UHD edition)
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the 174 minute Director’s Cut (UHD edition)
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of two versions of the film: the 124 minute theatrical version and the 174 minute Director’s Cut (Blu-ray edition)
• Standard Definition presentation of the original award-winning 124 minute theatrical version (DVD edition)
• Uncompressed original stereo 2.0 Audio and 5.1 surround sound options 
• Optional English subtitles 
• Audio commentary with director Giuseppe Tornatore and Italian cinema expert critic Millicent Marcus 
• A Dream of Sicily – A 52-minute documentary profile of Giuseppe Tornatore featuring interviews with the director and extracts from his early home movies as well as interviews with director Francesco Rosi and painter Peppino Ducato, set to music by the legendary Ennio Morricone 
• A Bear and a Mouse in Paradise – A 27-minute documentary on the making of Cinema Paradiso and the characters of Toto and Alfredo, featuring interviews the actors who play them, Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio as well as Tornatore 
• The Kissing Sequence – Giuseppe Tornatore discusses the origins of the kissing scenes with clips identifying each scene 
• Original Director’s Cut Theatrical Trailer and 25th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer

GRAVEYARDS OF HONOR (1975/2002) | Blu-ray | 7 September 2020 | £44.99

Two peerless masters of Japanese cinema – Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike – present their own distinctive adaptations of yakuza expert Goro Fujita’s gangster novel Graveyard of Honor, each tapping into the zeitgeist of a distinct period of Japanese history.

Set during the turbulent post-war years, Fukasaku’s original 1975 film charts the rise and fall of real-life gangster Rikio Ishikawa (Tetsuya Watari, Outlaw Gangster VIP). Shot through with the same stark realism and quasi-documentarian approach as Fukasaku’s earlier Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Fukasaku nonetheless breaks new ground through his portrayal of a gangster utterly without honor or ethics, surviving by any means necessary in a world of brutal criminality.

Meanwhile, Miike’s 2002 retelling transplants the story to Tokyo at the turn of the millennium. Less a direct remake of Fukasku’s film than a radical reimagining of the same overarching premise, Miike’s film captures both the hedonism and nihilism of the modern Japanese crime scene in deliriously stylish fashion, resulting in a fascinating companion piece to the original that nonetheless stands as its own entity.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

Exclusive two-disc set featuring two different versions of Graveyard of Honor: the 1975 film by Kinji Fukasaku and the 2002 film by Takashi Miike

• Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on both films by Jasper Sharp

DISC ONE – GRAVEYARD OF HONOR (1975)

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless Japanese PCM 1.0 mono soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles
• New audio commentary by author and critic Mark Schilling 
  
• Like a Balloon: The Life of a Yakuza, a new visual essay by critic and Projection Booth podcast host Mike White 
• A Portrait of Rage, an archival appreciation of Fukasaku and his films, featuring interviews with filmmakers, scholars, and friends of the director
• On the Set with Fukasaku, an archival interview with assistant director Kenichi Oguri
• Theatrical trailer
• Imagery gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan

DISC TWO – GRAVEYARD OF HONOR (2002)

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless Japanese PCM 2.0 stereo soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles
•  New audio commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes
• New visual essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger
• Archival “interview special” featuring Miike and cast members Goro Kishitani and Narimi Arimori
• Archival “making-of” featurette
• Archival “making-of” teaser
• Archival press release interviews featuring Miike, Kishitani and Arimori
• Archival “premiere special” featuring Miike, Kishitani and Arimori
• Theatrical trailer
• Imagery gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ian MacEwan

IVANSXTC (2000) | Blu-ray | 14 September 2020 | £24.99

Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Lisa Enos star in this biting satire on the behind-the-scenes of the Hollywood film industry, with all its drink and drug-fuelled excess, from director Bernard Rose (Candyman, Paperhouse).

Opening with the death of its titular protagonist, ivansxtc goes back in time to chart the final days of hot-shot Tinseltown agent Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston) and his fast-paced, wheeler-dealer lifestyle, which will ultimately lead him to an early grave after a shock cancer diagnosis.

Loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's celebrated 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and featuring a searing performance by Danny Huston at its core and wonderfully sleazy turn from Peter Weller as Ivan’s biggest client, ivansxtc is a powerful meditation on life, death and morality set against the glitzy backdrop of La La Land.

Special Edition Blu-ray contents:

• High-Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD MA options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Q&A with director Bernard Rose, actress/producer/co-writer Lisa Enos, actors Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Adam Krentzman from a 2018 screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Robert J Simpson

JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY (2019) | Blu-ray | 14 September 2020 | £24.99

What do you get when you cross Afro-futurism, Cold War paranoia, the dystopian world of Philip K. Dick and 60s exploitation cinema, along with a hefty dose of Lynchian surrealism? The answer: Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, the second feature by Miguel Llansó (Crumbs) and one of the most striking and original films you’ll see all year.

The year is 2035, and Special Agent Gagano (Daniel Tadesse, Crumbs) dreams of leaving the CIA to open a business with his wife Malin (Gerda-Annette Allikas). Before he can hand in his resignation, however, a strange cyber virus attacks Psychobook, the CIA’s operating system, forcing Gagano to enter cyberspace via virtual reality to combat the threat. Before long, however, the virus starts to reach out into the real world, destabilising the fragile socio-political order for its own ends, and Gagano, trapped in the VR world, must find a way out before it’s too late.

Featuring encounters with an Irish-accented Joseph Stalin, a kung-fu-fighting Batman, and Jesus Christ himself, to name but a few, Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway is absurd, audacious and like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.

2-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray contents:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• New audio commentary by critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Anton Bitel
• From Talinn with Love, a new visual essay by critic Will Webb exploring the influence of exploitation cinema on Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway
• Exclusive audio interview with director Miguel Llansó, conducted by critic Josh Hurtado
• Crumbs (2015), Miguel Llansó’s feature directorial debut and spiritual predecessor to Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (Limited Edition Exclusive)
• Chigger Ale (2013) and Night in the Wild Garden (2015), two short films by Miguel Llansó
• Original proof-of-concept trailer
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Austin Hinderliter
• Double-sided fold-out poster
• Limited Edition illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway by Barry Forshaw and Crumbs by Anton Bitel
• Limited Edition of 2000 copies