It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

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MichaelB
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It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

#1 Post by MichaelB » Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:34 am

Full specs announced:
Pet Shop Boys in
It Couldn’t Happen Here
Directed by Jack Bond

Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD set released on 15 June 2020


New trailer here

Unavailable worldwide for 30 years, at last Pet Shop Boys’ 1988 feature film It Couldn’t Happen Here makes its overdue debut on Blu-ray and DVD. Newly remastered by the BFI in High Definition at 4K resolution, it will be released in a Limited Edition Dual Format Edition set (discs in both formats) on 15 June 2020.

Packed full of iconic tracks, It Couldn’t Happen Here is a singularly strange, striking and sensational pop movie par excellence. Numerous extras include a 48-page digi-book that contains a new interview with Neil Tennant, a new feature commentary with director Jack Bond, co-writer James Dillon and cinematographer Simon Archer, and new interviews with Jack Bond and choreographer Arlene Phillips.

Jack Bond (The Blueblack Hussar) originally set out to make an extended pop video based on Pet Shop Boys’ 1987 album Actually. What he ended up with was a flamboyantly full-scale feature film that finds Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe embarking on an outstanding musical odyssey from coast to capital, encountering the eccentric likes of screen legends Joss Ackland, Gareth Hunt and Barbara Windsor along the way. Perfect pop surrealism meets road movie to the sound of hits from the duo’s fantastic first two studio albums, including all-time classics ‘West End girls’, ‘It’s a sin’ and ‘Always on my mind’.

Special features
• Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Limited edition 48-page digi-book includes a new interview with Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys and previously unseen excerpts from his personal production diary, as well as an introduction to the film by director Jack Bond and writing on the film by Anthony Nield, Jason Wood, Omer Ali, John Ramchandani, William Fowler and Vic Pratt
• Comprehensive feature commentary by writer and director Jack Bond, art director James Dillon and lighting cameraman Simon Archer (2020)
• West End Boy: Jack Bond (2020, 27 mins): the director discusses his eclectic career as a filmmaker and his enterprising approach to the making of It Couldn’t Happen Here
• It Can Happen Here: Arlene Phillips (2020, 26 mins): the renowned choreographer reflects upon a life in dance – and the trials and tribulations of working on It Couldn’t Happen Here
• Always on My Mind (1987, 5 mins): the full-length promotional video for Pet Shop Boys’ acclaimed ‘Christmas Number One’ hit, featuring Joss Ackland
• Actually: an unfilmed early version of the script for the film, included here in its entirety for the first time anywhere
• As it Happened: image galleries, including the complete final version of the script, the director’s shot lists, Pet Shop Boys reference lyric sheets and promotional materials for It Couldn’t Happen Here
• Original theatrical trailer (digitally reconstructed for this release)

Product details
RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1378 / Cert 15
UK / 1988 / colour / 86 mins / English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.85:1 / BD50: 1080p, 24fps, 2.0 PCM stereo audio (48kHz/24-bit) / DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio (320kbps)

mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

#2 Post by mteller » Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:07 am

Massive PSB fan here, but boy, this movie is absolute drivel. Hard to sit through. I hate labeling anything "pretentious", but if the shoe fits....

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schellenbergk
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:03 pm

Re: It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

#3 Post by schellenbergk » Tue Apr 28, 2020 10:49 am

I'm sorry to hear that - I love the PSB and the release happens to fall on my birthday so it was looking like it was meant to be - but perhaps not.

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dustybooks
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:52 am
Location: Wilmington, NC

Re: It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

#4 Post by dustybooks » Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:39 pm

I’m going in with relatively low expectations but I’m excited regardless — as a huge fan I would want this anyway the same way I’ll always want the nearly unbearable Magical Mystery Tour on my shelf, so I’m glad it’s getting such formidable treatment and can’t wait to see it.

Craig Wallace
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 9:22 am

Re: It Couldn't Happen Here (Pet Shop Boys)

#5 Post by Craig Wallace » Thu Jun 18, 2020 4:04 pm

The BFI have announced on Twitter that this limited edition is sold out at most stores and a standard edition will be announced soon. The film is available to watch on BFI Player.

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