SDE investigates… The Man Who Fell to Earth deluxe edition box sets
Clearing up the box set confusion
If you subscribe to free, weekly SDE Newsletter, you may have read last week in my exclusive editorial about the slightly messy situation around the reissue of the soundtrack to Nicholas Roeg’s 1976 film, The Man Who Fell To Earth, which, of course, stars David Bowie.
The ‘problem’, in essence, is that Universal Music are issuing a rather pricey audio box that doesn’t include the movie, but does include the first ever issue of the soundtrack (on 2LP and 2CD), while StudioCanal are issuing a much cheaper box which does include a new 4K restoration of the film (with plenty of extras – some new) and which may, or may not – read on! – include the two-CD version of the soundtrack…
At first, it seemed that the four disc box would comprise a blu-ray, two DVDs and a CD, but when a few days later Universal announced the two-CD soundtrack (and box set) that didn’t appear to make sense and with no clarification forthcoming from StudioCanal it was assumed by the four-disc box would surely contain a blu-ray, a DVD and both CDs. Well it turns out that this is assumption was actually incorrect.
SDE has finally had confirmation from StudioCanal’s publicity team that there is only one audio CD in the box and the reason it has been described as ‘exclusive’ is as follows:
- • It ONLY contains the John Philips music from the film (recorded in London in 1976), omitting all the pieces by pieces by Stomu Yamashta
- • Two selections on this CD are UNIQUE and are tracks/versions of tracks not on the main soundtrack. They are track 12, Hello Mary Lou (which has vocals), and track 14, Bryce, which isn’t included on the main soundtrack at all.
Although collectors may groan at what could be construed as a rather cynical inclusion of some exclusive audio, if anything it makes this £20 box set even better value than it already was. And with the official two-CD soundtrack less than a tenner on Amazon at present, an outlay of £30 will get you ‘everything’ in terms of audio.
For complete clarity, here is the content of the four discs in the StudioCanal limited collector’s edition box set:
Disc 1 > Blu-ray (region B locked)
- • Feature & extras (as per DVD 2)
Disc 2 > DVD 1 (region 2 locked)
- Feature only
Disc 3 > DVD 2 (region 2 locked)
Extras:
- • New interview with costume designer May Routh featuring original costume sketches
- • New interview with stills photographer David James featuring behind the scenes stills
- • New interview with fan Sam Taylor-Johnson
- • New interview with producer Michael Deeley
- • New “The Lost Soundtracks” featurette, featuring interviews with Paul Buckmaster and author Chris Campion
- • Interview with Candy Clark
- • Interview with writer Paul Mayersberg
- • Interview with cinematographer Tony Richmond
- • Interview with Nic Roeg
- • Extract from David Bowie
- • Trailer
- • Watching the Alien featurette
Disc 4 > CD
- • John Philips’ soundtrack music with exclusives (see track listing below).
Physical items in the box
- • Illustrated Booklet with writings on the film
- • 4 exclusive artcards
- • Original press book for the film
- • A4 poster of new theatrical quad for the 4K restoration of the film
So there you have it. Art Haus in Germany will be issuing this same box for that region. No news yet for US/Canada. Links will be updated as and when. The blu-ray box is out on 24 October, the soundtrack box is 18 November and the two-CD version is 9 September 2016.
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David Bowie
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH COLLECTOR'S EDITION BLU-RAY box with exclusive John Philips CD
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Various Artists
The Man Who Fell to Earth - 2CD+2LP deluxe box set with hardcover book
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Various Artists
The Man Who Fell to Earth - 2CD
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Exclusive John Phillips CD included in the blu-ray box.
1 Jazz II (02:48)
2 Boys From The South (01:45)
3 Rhumba Boogie (02:01)
4 America (01:00)
5 Jazz (00:59)
6 Space Capsule (01:49)
7 Bluegrass Breakdown (01:38)
8 Desert Shack (02:02)
9 Window (01:45)
10 Alberto (01:38)
11 Liar, Liar (03:04)
12 Hello Mary Lou 02:25*
13 The Man Who Fell To Earth 02:42
14 Bryce*
*unique versions/tracks not on the soon-to-be-issued soundtrack
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