Playing Play It Again, Sam Again

They say physical media is dying, but there have been a lot of exciting blu-ray upgrades in 2025.  And it may not've been high up on the list of fancy, boutique label cult titles, but one of the ones I was most excited to see announced was Play It Again, Sam, a film by... no, not Woody Allen, Herbert Ross.  It stars Woody Allen, and is written by Allen, based on his own Broadway play from 1969.  Allen plays a film critic going through a break-up when he's visited by the spirit of Humphrey Bogart who gives him romantic advice.  It's as silly as it sounds, and some of it's naturally a bit dated, but it still largely holds up as smart and funny.  Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts also reprise their roles from the Broadway version, and Messiah of Evil's Joy Bang plays a small role.

Paramount first released Play It Again on DVD back in 2001.  It was barebones, which frankly most Woody Allen DVDs have been anyway, but at least it was anamorphic widescreen.  They released it the next year in the UK, and reissued it here in the US in 2017, but apart from the British disc being PAL, it's always been the same disc.  It was fine for the time, but it's been feeling pretty creaky for the past decade.  And finally, 2025 was the year.  It was restored in 4k and released on blu in the US by Kino and Australia by Imprint.  I see a lot of people went with the Imprint because it comes with a bonus documentary, but I went Kino.  I'll get into why below.

2001 Paramount DVD top; 2025 Kino Lorber BD bottom.

To Paramount's credit, the old DVD and the new 4k restoration don't look worlds apart.  The color timing is essentially the same, except the blu has slightly deeper blacks.  The framing is very similar, too.  The aspect ratio has shifted from 1.77:1 to 1.85:1, which mostly comes down to fixing a slight pinch.  The benefit all comes in the jump to HD.  Finer edges replace the typical softness of SD, and yes, more detail comes into focus.  We can now read the title of that book on Woody's desk ("THE COLLECTOR").  The DVD also has some light haloing, which the BD fixes.  Film grain is visible for the first time and fairly distinct.  It's captured a little unevenly, something that would surely come off much better on an actual UHD.  But for a 1080, this is pleasingly film-like.

Paramount's DVD offers the original mono track in Dolby 2.0 with optional English subs and a mono French dub.  Kino keeps the subs and bumps the audio up to DTS-HD, but dumps the dub.

As I said, Paramount's DVDs were all barebones, but the blu-rays give us something.  First of all, both include their own expert audio commentaries.  I've only heard Kino's, but I can tell you it's a solid mix of informative and fun.  Critic Justin Humphreys is joined by writer/ director Alan Spencer (Sledge Hammer, Tomorrow Man).  There's some joking around but they're also prepared to break down the differences between this and the original play and well researched historical info (you'll be surprised who was originally intended to star in this... it wasn't always Woody Allen).  Kino also located the original theatrical trailer (which neither Paramount nor Imprint have) and threw on some bonus trailers.  Both blus also come in slipcovers.  But as I mentioned earlier, Imprint does have one thing Kino doesn't...

2011's Woody Allen: A Documentary was directed by Robert B. Weide, who produced the Marx Bros doc In a Nutshell (which, you may recall, is the one that features an interview with Woody Allen), this is a made for TV, three and a half hour film that originally aired on PBS in two parts.  There's also a cut-down theatrical version that lost over an hour of material, but fortunately, every home video release seems to be the full TV edit, so we can forget all about that hatchet job these days.  This is essentially a career overview, it's not especially biographical, and definitely not interested in his scandals.  They do spend a lot of time with Woody, revisiting his old neighborhood and stopping by the set of his then latest film, You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger; but this mostly consists of interviews with practically all of his collaborators over the years: Diane Keaton, Jack Rollins, Scarlett Johansson, Tony Roberts, Mariel Hemingway, Martin Scorsese, Louise Lasser and so many more.  This is the documentary we'd all hoped we were getting when Allen handed us us Wild Man Blues.

Docurama first released this in a nice, 2-disc DVD set in 2012.  It has special features and everything.  But the doc did air in HD, so us die-hards naturally wanted a blu-ray.  And fortunately, there were a couple of import options who had our backs.  I went with the UK blu from Soda Pictures because it had an additional, exclusive interview.  And now, of course, it's available as a special feature on Imprint's Play It Again blu, but the doc must be in SD, if they're squeezing all 3 and a half hours onto the same disc with the feature and the other extras.

2012 Docurama DVD top; 2012 Soda BD bottom.

There really is a strong difference between the SD and the HD.  Both discs present the film in 1.78:1, although the DVD is slightly off at 1.73:1.  Just like with Play It Again, the DVD's a little pinched.  In this case a little bit moreso.  The DVD colors are also very slightly more feint, which is especially clear in some close-up interview shots, where the subjects appear a bit paler on the DVD.  But mostly it's about the clarity.  You can really see the difference in steady HD shots like that set second above (there's also plenty of vintage footage and film clips from different sources in varying degrees of quality).  Just like you could only read the book title before, here you can clearly read the visible license plate numbers next to those girls on the blu but not the DVD.  And there's some funky compression noise on the DVD when you get in close, that just gives the whole thing a low quality sheen.

The DVDs give you an option between a 5.1 and 2.0 mix with optional English subtitles.  Soda just gives us the 5.1 (which is fine, as that's the actual original mix, and it'll just down mix on your stereo TV anyway) in lossless DTS-HD, also with optional English subs.

Docurama's set includes five deleted scenes/ featurettes ranging from an interview with Weide, 12 questions with Woody to the shortest, a 45-second clip of Allen's mother.  It's not massive, under half an hour's worth of stuff, but any Allen fan who enjoyed the doc will appreciate these.  And these core extras are featured on just about every Woody Allen: A Documentary release, including Soda's and even Imprint's Play It Again blu.

But Soda goes further, with two additional featurettes.  The first is called Woody's Favourite Actor, an interview between Weide and John Doumanian, the actor who's actually been in more of Allen's films (sixteen!) than anyone else.  And the other is a a 16-minute pre-screening Q&A with Weide.  It covers a lot of the same ground as the first director's interview, but hey, I'll take it.  Obviously the Doumanian interview is the bigger prize.  And you won't find either of these on the Docurama set or the Imprint disc.  Soda's blu also includes a bonus trailer for Eames: The Architect and the Painter.

So Imprint's doc is a nice bonus for many viewers, but if you're serious about it, you need the Soda blu anyway.  And at that point, you might as well get whichever Play It Again blu is easier to obtain in your region.  I suppose, if you're really hardcore, you might even want both for the two commentaries.  But they're just experts and presumably cover most of the same ground.  So I'd recommend the Kino/ Soda route, it's how I went myself, but if you're just mildly interested in the doc, I'm sure you'll be more than satisfied with the Imprint and saving the extra cash.

Serious Upgrades for Silly Movies: Troll and Troll 2

Boy, I can't believe I double-dipped on Troll and Troll 2. You know what? It was the new documentary on Troll 1 that got me. I just had to see it; I couldn't live with my barebones DVD. But actually, now that I've done it, I'm glad I did. I was expecting essentially the old MGM DVD transfers just with better compression because they were being placed on an HD disc, but I was wrong. This is a big improvement.

Troll 2 is downright infamous as one of the better known, "worst movie ever made"s. It's earned a reputation for itself right alongside Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Room and Manos: The Hands of Fate. And it's funny how it's eclipsed the first one, because that was the much bigger film in its day. Troll is a fun Empire Pictures film, with actually some of their biggest production value outside of Re-Animator movies. It's got some top, high end special effects that still hold up to this day (and some cheap ones, too), a great cast including Michael Moriarity, Julia Louise Dreyfus, June Lockhart and even Sonny Bono, and a whimsical story with some genuine laughs.

It's a first time direction by John Carl Buechler, who'd made his rise as a special effects artist (hence the amazing looking troll in this picture), and has gone on to a lengthy career directing low budget films (most famously, probably, would be Friday the 13th part 7, the one with the psychic girl). And I get a big kick out of it. This is really the film I bought the Troll/ Troll 2 combo for, both when I got the original DVD, and now the blu. Sure, it's silly and some of the characters are playing cartoons more than actual humans, but it all somehow works. Or mostly works. Enough works to keep up the whole movie afloat, anyway. Buechler went on to make Ghoulies 3, which has very similar looking creatures, but none of the charm. Troll is actually a good little movie.

Troll 2, on the other hand, is a film you laugh at rather than with. It's an Italian, well, I was going to say Italian knock-off, but to it's credit, it's story is actually fairly original. It's written and directed by Claudio Fragasso and his wife, who gave us Zombie 4 and Monster Dog. But as cheesy as those films were, Troll 2 takes it too unparalleled ridiculous heights. And it has no connection to Troll; it was originally filmed under a different title, and only given the Troll 2 moniker by its US distributor that had the rights to the Troll name. There are no trolls in Troll 2.

I first saw Troll 2 on VHS when it was a brand new release, and too be honest, I got what was funny about it. It largely boils down to the fact that Fragasso was shooting in American with English speaking actors, so their dialogue actually wasn't replaced in post like every other Italian film of its type. And Fragasso didn't speak English, so everyone sounds completely ridiculous. That, plus it's a ridiculous script. But I was pretty much over it after my first viewing. However, it's ever-increasing reputation has lead it to cross my paths multiple times, from double feature DVDs to Rifftrax. It's high camp, it's a goof. But I'd be fine if I never saw it again.

So yeah. Troll's one of those movie I was always asking about on forums, "when's Troll going to come out on DVD?" It seemed like kind of a big movie (by indie horror standards) not to have a release, but it sure took its time coming out. Eventually, MGM released it as a barebones DVD in 2003 as a double-feature with Troll 2, so I snatched it up. Thanks to its rising cult status, Troll 2 got an upgrade to blu-ray in 2010, but I wasn't enough of a fan to bother with it. But when Scream Factory got the pair of them as a blu-ray double feature, and this time with some solid special features, I had to double-dip. And I think I mentioned at the top that this was an impressive upgrade, right? Well, let me show you what I meant.

2003 MGM DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory blu-ray underneath.

Whoa boy, what a difference! Even after watching the blu-ray, I wasn't expecting that broad a distinction until I went back and looked at my old DVD. It looks like they've laid a thin layer of wax paper over the film or something, it's so soft, dull and smoothed out. It's almost like video tape. Meanwhile the blu is so much bolder, sharper and detailed, with a solid grain pattern. Both versions are slightly matted to 1.85:1, but the one thing you can say for the DVD is that it has a little more picture on all sides. But if that transfer is the price I have to say for those four slivers, no thanks!

2003 MGM DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory blu-ray underneath.

The difference isn't quite as dynamic on Troll 2, but it's still pretty much the same thing. The DVD looks substantially softer and duller than the blu; it's definitely a lot more than the same master slapped onto a blu. You'll also notice in the second set of shots that someone's clearly adjusted the framing, and for the better, and they've got a little more image on the sides.

MGM's DVD was also a 2-sided disc, so it's nice not to have to live with that hassle any longer. Scream Factory has also boosted the old 2.0 tracks to DTS-HD Master audio tracks, and kept the optional English subtitles for both films, though it dropped the Spanish and French ones.

For extras, the DVD just had trailers (one for each film), but Scream Factory has added a few really nice pieces. They've got the trailers, too; and they added a photo gallery for the first film. But they've also given the film one big new thing apiece. On Troll one, is a substantial, almost hour-long documentary on the making of the film, including interviews with Buechler, producer Charles Band, Richard Band (who made one of his best scores here), the writer Ed Naha (I wish more DVDs would bring the writer into the supplements), and visual effects artists John Vulich, Kevin Kutchaver, Linda Drake, Jim Aupperle, James Belohovek, and Gino Crognale. It's a really great telling of the making of this film; the only thing they could've added is cast interviews, but I imagine this particular cast would be pretty tough to wrangle up.

Then Troll 2 has an all new commentary by stars George Hardy and Deborah Reed. Hardy played the father and the commentary is 90% his; he even calls it "my audio commentary." But they've added it comments from Deborah Reed, who played the goblin queen, during her scenes or when Hardy runs low on steam. It's a little awkwardly edited, you can sometimes hear someone whispering to Hardy during Reed's portions, which I think they just forgot to cut out, and they try to make it sound like the two actors are in the room together, but they're clearly not. That said, however, what they did succeed in doing is making a very affable, entertaining commentary track that stays upbeat and engaging the entire time. And even hardcore fans who've seen the documentary will learn a thing or two.

Did I mention a documentary? Yeah, there was a great one released by Docurama in 2009 called Best Worst Movie. And, if you got one of the first 5000 copies (5000 is a lot for a film like this; I'm sure they're still available as of this writing), you got it as a bonus disc. It's directed by the guy who played the main kid in the movie, and centers primarily on George Hardy, but really talks to just everybody, from the rest of the cast to Fragasso and his wife. Much more than just a DVD feature with talking head interviews, it follows them around the world as they tour with the film and visit the original locations and find the cast in their homes. It's a pretty great little film, even if you have no interest in Troll 2; it's just a really well-made documentary.

Now one real concern I had was whether Scream Factory's DVD of Best Worst Movie was going to include all the extras on the original Docurama DVD, because it had a lot. Some of it went a little overboard (like a music video or a 90 minute audio-only Q&A with the documentary filmmakers). But a lot of the deleted scenes and extra interviews were as entertaining as what was in the film itself. Heck, in the film they never got to talk to Deborah Reed, but she's in the extras and gives a great interview. Well anyway, I'm happy to report, yes it's all here, too.

2010 Docurama DVD on top; 2015 Scream Factory DVD below.

And it's the same transfer on both discs, too. It's literally the exact same disc, with the original label on it and everything. If you put the Docurama disc into your player, watch half the movie, then take it out and put in the one that came with the Scream Factory blu, it will ask if you want to continue where you left off. It's the exact same disc.

By the way, I've read a few grumblings of disappointment that this is just a DVD and not a blu-ray. But this looks to be shot on standard definition digital video, with unfortunate interlacing baked right into the footage and all. So I don't think there'd be much use in putting this on an HD disc. So just enjoy the film; it looks as good as it can.

So, if you're a fan of either of these films (though I'd understand if you weren't), I highly recommend this release. Scream Factory has a done a stellar job, with great new extras and transfers that blow the old DVD out of the water (I understand that barebones Troll 2 blu-ray from MGM uses the same master, though, and looks virtually identical). And definitely try to get one with Best Worst Movie included (the back cover says explicitly that the doc is included, and there's a sticker on the front, so it's easy to tell), because it's probably actually the best of the three films. But if you can't, you can always get this blu-ray and the Docurama DVD separately. As of this writing, it's selling super cheap on Amazon. This is a double-dip I'm really pleased with.