Indicator July Slate Will Be ‘Offbeat’ And ‘Oddball’

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Things might be slowly re-opening, people might want to go out as the days warm up. However we still want those cosy nights in watch some great films. Indicator‘s July slate will be offbeat and the oddball, with an idiosyncratic quartet of films, all released on UK Blu-ray for the first time.

On 19th JulyMike Nichols’ one-of-a-kind THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN (1973). Filmed in the Bahamas, this science-fiction thriller stars George C Scott (Hardcore) as a scientist teaching dolphins to speak who becomes embroiled in a shadowy plot to assassinate the US President.

Also released on 19th July is Jeremy Paul Kagan’s THE BIG FIX (1978). Produced by and starring Richard Dreyfuss, following his successes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Goodbye Girl, this quirky comedy-thriller tracks the exploits of a sixties’ radical-turned-private eye as he investigates a case of election interference.

19th July also provides more comedy in the shape of Elaine May’s ISHTAR (1987). In a nod to the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road to… movies, Warren Beatty (Mickey One) and Dustin Hoffman (Straw Dogs) star as brilliantly awful songwriters who find themselves mixed up in Cold War shenanigans whilst in Morocco. Much maligned for decades, this wonderful film is now increasingly, and rightfully, recognised as one of the unsung greats of eighties’ American cinema.

Finally on 19th July, celebrated director Werner Herzog’s INVINCIBLE (2001) arrives in a new 2K restoration. Upon its original release in 2001, this was the great German filmmaker’s first fictional work in a decade. Set during the rise of Nazism, this fictionalised account of the life of Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbart stars Tim Roth (Meantime) and Udo Kier (Exposé).

THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN DRAMA, MYSTERY

The third and final collaboration between director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry, following The Graduate and Catch-22, The Day of the Dolphin, is a true one-off. A science-fiction thriller filmed in the Bahamas, and adapted from Robert Merle’s best-selling novel, the film concerns a scientist (George C Scott, Hardcore) who is teaching dolphins to speak but finds himself embroiled in a shadowy government plot to assassinate the US president.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • 4K restoration
  • Original stereo audio
  • Selected scenes commentary with academic and film historian Sheldon Hall (2021)
  • New interview with actor Jon Korkes (2021)
  • Archival interview with screenwriter Buck Henry (2003)
  • Archival interview with actor Leslie Charleson (2003)
  • Archival interview with actor Edward Herrmann (2003)
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Larry Karaszewski trailer commentary (2016): short critical appreciation
  • Radio spot
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
  • New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Neil Sinyard, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray
  • Limited edition of 3,000 copies

THE BIG FIX COMEDY, DRAMA

Richard Dreyfuss, riding high on the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Goodbye Girl (for which he won an Oscar), produced and starred in this quirky 1978 comedy-thriller, adapted from Roger L Simon’s cult novel. Playing Moses Wine, a sixties’ radical-turned-private eye, Dreyfuss is ably supported by a wealth of soon-to-be-famous co-stars, including Bonnie Bedelia, John Lithgow and F Murray Abraham.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • High Definition remaster
  • Original mono audio
  • Audio commentary with Little White Lies editor David Jenkins (2021)
  • New interview with director Jeremy Paul Kagan (2021)
  • New interview with novelist and screenwriter Roger L Simon (2021)
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • TV spot
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
  • New and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Will Harris, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray
  • Limited edition of 3,000 copies

ISHTAR ACTION, ADVENTURE

Once the byword for expensive Hollywood failure, Ishtar is slowly – and rightfully – becoming recognised as one of the unsung greats of eighties’ American cinema. In a nod to Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road to… movies, Warren Beatty (Mickey One) and Dustin Hoffman (Straw Dogs) star as brilliantly awful songwriters who find themselves mixed up in Cold War shenanigans whilst in Morocco. Another comedy gem from Elaine May’s sadly small, but utterly perfect directorial career.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • 2K restoration
  • Two presentations of the film: the 1987 Theatrical Cut (107 mins) and the 2013 Director’s Cut (105 mins)
  • Original mono soundtrack
  • Optional 5.1 surround sound
  • Audio commentary with ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May editors Dean Brandum and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (2021)
  • Elaine May and Mike Nichols in Conversation (2006): archival video recording of the two friends and collaborators discussing their careers following a retrospective screening of Ishtar at New York’s Walter Reade Theater
  • New interview with songwriter Paul Williams (2021)
  • New appreciation with actor, comedian and filmmaker Richard Ayoade (2021)
  • Waiting for Ishtar (2017): Jonathan Crombie and John Mitchell’s charming documentary, featuring interviews with Williams, actors Charles Grodin and Carol Kane, journalists Peter Biskind and David Blum, film critic J Hoberman, and others
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
  • New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jessica Kiang, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray
  • Limited edition of 3,000 copies
  • MORE EXTRAS TO BE ANNOUNCED

INVINCIBLE DRAMA, WAR 

Invincible was the first dramatic work by Werner Herzog in a decade. He assembled a typically eclectic cast – including Tim Roth (Meantime), Udo Kier (Exposé) and two-time World’s Strongest Man Jouko Ahola – and blended the lives of three equally eclectic real-life figures – Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbart, Austrian clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen, and German chief of police Count Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorff – to blend fact and fiction in his typically idiosyncratic way. This Indicator Blu-ray edition presents the film in a new restoration from a 4K scan with both its English and German soundtracks.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • New 2K restoration from a 4K scan
  • Original English and German soundtracks, available in 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo
  • Audio commentary with director Werner Herzog, in German with optional, newly translated English subtitles (2002)
  • New interview with director of photography Peter Zeitlinger (2021)
  • UK theatrical trailer
  • German theatrical trailer
  • US theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
  • New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
  • Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Jason Wood, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
  • UK premiere on Blu-ray
  • Limited edition of 3,000 copies