A Few Words About A few words about...™ Warner Bros. Home Video & The WB Archive Collection -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[atfree]

I'd hardly call Cat's Eye a classic. More like a failed attempt at a Twilight Zone/Creepshow anthology flick whose one saving grace is the appearance of a very young Drew Barrymore.

Warner's words, not mine

 

[Everett S.]

Raintree County will be on tonight on TCM,
restored with overture and intermission @ 3am. Just thought u would like to know.

I watched it, no way the picture quality was restored ! It was quite soft.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Yes, they didn't say it was going to be a "restored" version.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Over at the other forum, just announced:

Street Date: 9/20/2016

THREE STEPHEN KING CLASSICS FOR THE FIRST TIME ON BLU-RAY™

NEW 2016 HD MASTERS CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR THESE BLU-RAY PREMIERES

SALEM'S LOT

IT

CAT's EYE

I would have rather had the underrated TV Miniseries The Shining instead of Cat's Eye. I will get the first 2 but pass on that one.

 

[atfree]

Well, with 2016 soon coming to an end (and assuming no WAC releases in December), I guess my hope for a 75th Anniversay blu-ray release of Howard Hawks' Sergeant York is dashed. 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with 2 wins and as of yet, no blu-ray.

 

[Edward Weinman]

It would be nice to have two WB suprises for the holidays: "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Brigadoon." And, while I'm at it, bring on all those MGM 3-strip Technicolor musicals to blu-ray (even if the ratios are 4:3). They are too wonderful to loose to just plain DVD versions.

 

[trajan007]

I have been reading seemingly constant complaints on line regarding Warner Bros. and presumed non-activity or lack of interest in bringing important catalog titles to the home video market.

Wrong.

Several weeks ago, I had a meal with friends from WB, and while I cannot report titles, I can report that things are alive and well at both Warner Home Video, as well as the Warner Archive Collection.

2015 portends to be their biggest year since the start of the format.
sorry error post.
A quick overview.

Three-strip Technicolor. Minnelli. Bogart. Flynn. Davis. Astaire. Garbo. Sinatra.

Hammer Horror is a high priority.

The immense amount of work (and expense) that must go into each film to make it right for Blu-ray can sometimes hold things up, but what's coming represents some of the finest productions from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

I would start saving up now. For those who love classic cinema, it's going to be an expensive year.

RAH

 

[Astairefan]

It would be nice to have two WB suprises for the holidays: "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Brigadoon." And, while I'm at it, bring on all those MGM 3-strip Technicolor musicals to blu-ray (even if the ratios are 4:3). They are too wonderful to loose to just plain DVD versions.

I'd love to see both of those as well (although I would prefer to see a few more Fred Astaire film musicals represented on blu from WB before they release more Gene Kelly musicals).

 

[Michel_Hafner]

WB has cleaned up their act since the new management is in charge but I wish they would fix the bad cases of the past and reissue proper versions (such as for "Tequila Sunrise" with one reel in SD, the DNRed "Amadeus" and lots of notoriously low bit rate/filtered stuff from years ago), although I can wait for an UHD edition to get it right.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I'd love to see both of those as well (although I would prefer to see a few more Fred Astaire film musicals represented on blu from WB before they release more Gene Kelly musicals).

Couldn't agree more. Three Little Words and The Belle of New York for me.

 

[Nick*Z]

WAC has been very aggressive in giving us a lot of classics looking utterly superb in hi-def. I see no reason to suspect the trend will cool in 2017, primarily because the archive has shown the merit as well as the feasibility of doing pristine restorations of their vintage catalog. Some titles need more work than others. I would absolutely love to see Seven Brides, High Society, Three Little Words, Brigadoon and the like make their way down the pipeline. Ditto for Around the World in 80 Days, Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), Selznick's version of The Prisoner of Zenda, Dinner at Eight, Random Harvest, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mrs. Parkington, Weekend at the Waldorf, The Valley of Decision, San Francisco, Red Dust, China Seas; more Tracy/Hepburn, more Garland/Rooney, more Astaire/Kelly/Debbie Reynolds/Jane Powell, some Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Great Ziegfeld, pretty please), Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette, or Romeo and Juliet...anyone?!?) and on and on.

The tragedy herein is a lot of these movies on my wish list are not really up to snuff for a hi-def release. That isn't to say Warner isn't working on new masters to satisfy in the upcoming year. We'll see. But I tend to have more respect for the studio because they have shown a willingness to spend both their time and the money to release quality to Blu-ray, unlike Fox, which has steadily exploited its third party distributors as merely a dumping ground for some outdated transfers and well-worn plunk. Quality takes time, folks. The outpouring of goodies we were given in 2016 by WAC is, I suspect, but a prelude to the flood that's a coming in 2017. We'll keep our fingers crossed for another banner year and turn hopeful toward the future. But for now, I think a lot of well-deserved and very sincere thanks to George Feltenstein, WAC and Warner Home Video proper is due. Permit us to worship.

 

[Race Bannon]

Exciting. I'd do a monthly subscription if they had a club.

 

[atfree]

WAC has been very aggressive in giving us a lot of classics looking utterly superb in hi-def. I see no reason to suspect the trend will cool in 2017, primarily because the archive has shown the merit as well as the feasibility of doing pristine restorations of their vintage catalog. Some titles need more work than others. I would absolutely love to see Seven Brides, High Society, Three Little Words, Brigadoon and the like make their way down the pipeline. Ditto for Around the World in 80 Days, Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), Selznick's version of The Prisoner of Zenda, Dinner at Eight, Random Harvest, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mrs. Parkington, Weekend at the Waldorf, The Valley of Decision, San Francisco, Red Dust, China Seas; more Tracy/Hepburn, more Garland/Rooney, more Astaire/Kelly/Debbie Reynolds/Jane Powell, some Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Great Ziegfeld, pretty please), Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette, or Romeo and Juliet...anyone?!?) and on and on.

The tragedy herein is a lot of these movies on my wish list are not really up to snuff for a hi-def release. That isn't to say Warner isn't working on new masters to satisfy in the upcoming year. We'll see. But I tend to have more respect for the studio because they have shown a willingness to spend both their time and the money to release quality to Blu-ray, unlike Fox, which has steadily exploited its third party distributors as merely a dumping ground for some outdated transfers and well-worn plunk. Quality takes time, folks. The outpouring of goodies we were given in 2016 by WAC is, I suspect, but a prelude to the flood that's a coming in 2017. We'll keep our fingers crossed for another banner year and turn hopeful toward the future. But for now, I think a lot of well-deserved and very sincere thanks to George Feltenstein, WAC and Warner Home Video proper is due. Permit us to worship.

You forgot Errol Flynn! [emoji26]

 

[Nick*Z]

How could I. Shame on me. I also forgot Bette Davis and Joan Crawford and Elizabeth Taylor!!! National Velvet? Anyone. I know I have at least one vote for Raintree County. Another, perhaps, for A Date With Judy and The Girl Who Had Everything. Oh, now I really need to bury my head under the covers and pray for forgiveness!!!

 

[Astairefan]

WAC has been very aggressive in giving us a lot of classics looking utterly superb in hi-def. I see no reason to suspect the trend will cool in 2017, primarily because the archive has shown the merit as well as the feasibility of doing pristine restorations of their vintage catalog. Some titles need more work than others. I would absolutely love to see Seven Brides, High Society, Three Little Words, Brigadoon and the like make their way down the pipeline. Ditto for Around the World in 80 Days, Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), Selznick's version of The Prisoner of Zenda, Dinner at Eight, Random Harvest, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mrs. Parkington, Weekend at the Waldorf, The Valley of Decision, San Francisco, Red Dust, China Seas; more Tracy/Hepburn, more Garland/Rooney, more Astaire/Kelly/Debbie Reynolds/Jane Powell, some Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy, Eleanor Powell, William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Great Ziegfeld, pretty please), Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette, or Romeo and Juliet...anyone?!?) and on and on.

The tragedy herein is a lot of these movies on my wish list are not really up to snuff for a hi-def release. That isn't to say Warner isn't working on new masters to satisfy in the upcoming year. We'll see. But I tend to have more respect for the studio because they have shown a willingness to spend both their time and the money to release quality to Blu-ray, unlike Fox, which has steadily exploited its third party distributors as merely a dumping ground for some outdated transfers and well-worn plunk. Quality takes time, folks. The outpouring of goodies we were given in 2016 by WAC is, I suspect, but a prelude to the flood that's a coming in 2017. We'll keep our fingers crossed for another banner year and turn hopeful toward the future. But for now, I think a lot of well-deserved and very sincere thanks to George Feltenstein, WAC and Warner Home Video proper is due. Permit us to worship.

I couldn't agree more! They have given us so much this year, and I am grateful for it (although my wallet may not be, since it has been hard to keep up with their releases)! The question now pending for 2017 is whether they can top this year! Obviously, between WAC and Criterion (assuming they still have more of WB's films licensed), we should have a good year, but the question remains, whether they can release more films faster (doesn't seem like they could, but then again, they sure surprised me this year). I personally hope they can start releasing some earlier MGM musicals, since they seem to have focused mostly on the 50s and later for them (don't get me wrong, I hope they continue on with more of them too)!

 

[Mikey1969]

While we can all bemoan the fact that WAC hasn't released this or that film, I'm glad they're releasing them properly and at a decent pace, and I'm happy to support them to encourage them to dig deeper in their vaults and to maybe even consider doing more thorough restoration work where needed (i.e. Seven Brides...)

 

[PODER]

Does anyone have a guess as to whether there'll be another 4 for $44 Warner Archive Sale before the holidays?
My Wish List is building up again!

 

[Cranston37+]

Does anyone have a guess as to whether there'll be another 4 for $44 Warner Archive Sale before the holidays?
My Wish List is building up again!

There's one going on right now at Deep Discount that, with 10% off coupon (SNOW), puts them at about that price...

 

[Alan Tully]

You forgot Errol Flynn! [emoji26]

Yeah, it's been a good year for Bogie, let's hope it's Flynn next year, & thinking of Errol Flynn, Warner have quite a few swashbucklers (mostly from MGM), let's hope a few of them make it out next year...& with The Sea Hawk, it's two birds with one stone!

 

[PODER]

There's one going on right now at Deep Discount that, with 10% off coupon (SNOW), puts them at about that price...

Sadly, it's only Warner Archive Blu-rays, and the 10% off is only for TV shows. But my wallet is giving a big sigh of relief!