All of David Lean on BD - But When? (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

In the DVD marketplace, ALL of David Lean's 16 films were, at one time or another, made available
But in the BD marketplace the stand-alone titles and the 9 title boxed sets have yet to be replenished.
Albeit, BD's require additional time, superior transfers and newly drawn up licensing agreements.
But with that said, I wonder what the hold ups have been; as enough years in the age of BD have clearly transpired.

Criterion has given us "Brief Encounter", "In Which We Serve", "This Happy Breed" and "Blithe Spirit"; but we have yet to see BD transfers from their DVD's of "Summertime", "Hobson's Choice", "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist".
Now there's a Criterion Boxed Set that's crying to be a companion to their currently available Boxed Set of "David Lean directs Noel Coward".

Yup, that would make 8 from Criterion.

But that still leaves us in a search for "The Passionate Friends" (1949), "Madeleine" (1950), "The Sound Barrier" (1952) and "Ryan's Daughter" (1970).

Along with the existing aforementioned 4 titles from Criterion on BD, we have "Bridge on the River Kwai", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago" and "A Passage to India".

So, all in all, we have 8 David Lean titles on BD; and 8 more that have yet to be released.

I wonder what's taking so long and if Criterion or TT could soon step up to the plate.
We've got our BD's of Kubrick, Chaplin and Bergman; but why on earth not more of Sir David Lean?

 

[Robin9]

In the DVD marketplace, ALL of David Lean's 16 films were, at one time or another, made available
But in the BD marketplace the stand-alone titles and the 9 title boxed sets have yet to be replenished.
Albeit, BD's require additional time, superior transfers and newly drawn up licensing agreements.
But with that said, I wonder what the hold ups have been; as enough years in the age of BD have clearly transpired.

Criterion has given us "Brief Encounter", "In Which We Serve", "This Happy Breed" and "Blithe Spirit"; but we have yet to see BD transfers from their DVD's of "Summertime", "Hobson's Choice", "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist".
Now there's a Criterion Boxed Set that's crying to be a companion to their currently available Boxed Set of "David Lean directs Noel Coward".

Yup, that would make 8 from Criterion.

But that still leaves us in a search for "The Passionate Friends" (1949), "Madeleine" (1950), "The Sound Barrier" (1952) and "Ryan's Daughter" (1970).

Along with the existing aforementioned 4 titles from Criterion on BD, we have "Bridge on the River Kwai", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago" and "A Passage to India".

So, all in all, we have 8 David Lean titles on BD; and 8 more that have yet to be released.

I wonder what's taking so long and if Criterion or TT could soon step up to the plate.
We've got our BD's of Kubrick, Chaplin and Bergman; but why on earth not more of Sir David Lean?

I suggest you look at Amazon UK for Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and The Sound Barrier. Summertime is available on a fairly good disc from Japan. It's not as good as I would wish but it's far better than any DVD.

 

[David Weicker]

Great Expectations came out in the UK (and Australia) back in 2008 (all region)

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Madeleine is a favourite of mine, so I'd love a Blu of that title.

 

[PMF]

Well...my emphasis is in having these BD's made available in America.
Indeed, there are isolated BD titles which are currently available in other countries; but, transfer wise, there is still much more room for improvement.
What I find to be most interesting is that South Korea once offered a highly rated 9-disc chronological boxed set on DVD; taking audiences from "In Which We Serve" to "Hobson's Choice".
One would think that David Lean boxed sets would come out of English speaking countries, first.
And from all accounts, South Korea and the U.K. were the only two countries to have had such offerings.
But that was the age of DVD's and we are now in a different place.
On this round, America simply deserves to have David Lean readily available on BD; complete, cohesive, definitive and pristine.
Certainly, Criterion would have the edge; were they to give the BD treatment to their four remaining titles.
We shall see.

 

[willyTass]

i have Summertime from Japan - great film , serviceable transfer

 

[Dick]

HOBSON'S CHOICE is also available on Blu from the UK:

http://www.amazon.com/HOBSONS-CHOIC...id=1463500164&sr=1-1&keywords=hobson's+choice

For the hundredth time, please consider buying a very inexpensive region-free player! All problems solved.

 

[PMF]

I have considered it and it is part of an early Fall plan.
But, currently, the UK "Shane" and "The Quiet Man" are the only BD's I own that require this investment.
I would have to purchase many a disc to deem any Region-Free player as inexpensive.
I suspect we have vastly different budgets, but your advice has not been lost nor will it be wasted.
Nonetheless, my sentiments towards American pressings of the entire David Lean catalogue on BD is not isolated to my needs, alone.
The majority of American households are not as specialized as HTF members within their home set ups. Such a majority wouldn't even entertain the idea of buying Region-Free players and ordering BD's from overseas. And I am simply saying that the entire works of David Lean are deserving of a wider availability within America.
Surely, you wouldn't begrudge the idea of a having a wider accessibility of our great filmmakers made available to all, now would you?

 

[Keith Cobby]

It must be obvious by now that there is no guarantee a title will be released in our own territory. As with DVD before, probably at least half of my blu-ray collection are from other regions. A region free player was very high on my personal expenditure.

 

[Robin9]

The majority of American households are not as specialized as HTF members within their home set ups. Such a majority wouldn't even entertain the idea of buying Region-Free players and ordering BD's from overseas. And I am simply saying that the entire works of David Lean are deserving of a wider availability within America.

"The majority of American households" is not interested in buying Blu-ray discs from anywhere.

 

[PMF]

THAT is something I did not know.
With news like that, why should any of us bother vying for our favorite titles at all?
I will tell you why.
Because it's a lot more interesting than quitting.
We rightfully bid daily on a wide range of films, or enter voluminous and undying annual Posts in favor of "The Alamo", "Raintree County" and "Around the World in 80 Days".
And, rightfully, we even call for further fixes on "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music".
Keeping discs and restoration alive.
This is what we're about.
And that is a good thing.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I'm most interested in seeing Criterion's blu upgrades of "Hobson's Choice", "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist"

 

[atfree]

I'm most interested in seeing Criterion's blu upgrades of "Hobson's Choice", "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist"

I'd be interested in seeing Criterion blu upgrades of ANYTHING, as they haven't been doing many at all lately.

 

[Robin9]

THAT is something I did not know.
With news like that, why should any of us bother vying for our favorite titles at all?
I will tell you why.
Because it's a lot more interesting than quitting.

You're going round in circles.

Those of us who are determined to have our favorite films in the best possible condition have bought Zone-free Blu-ray players. You have said you're not going to do that. You're going to demand that the films be released in Zone 1. Yet you ask us who have gone multi-zone why we should "bother vying for our favorite titles" and you presume to lecture us.

We who have gone multi-zone are the ones who haven't quit. Watching high quality Blu-ray discs from foreign countries is much more interesting than quitting.

 

[Dick]

I have considered it and it is part of an early Fall plan.
But, currently, the UK "Shane" and "The Quiet Man" are the only BD's I own that require this investment.
I would have to purchase many a disc to deem any Region-Free player as inexpensive.
I suspect we have vastly different budgets, but your advice has not been lost nor will it be wasted.
Nonetheless, my sentiments towards American pressings of the entire David Lean catalogue on BD is not isolated to my needs, alone.
The majority of American households are not as specialized as HTF members within their home set ups. Such a majority wouldn't even entertain the idea of buying Region-Free players and ordering BD's from overseas. And I am simply saying that the entire works of David Lean are deserving of a wider availability within America.
Surely, you wouldn't begrudge the idea of a having a wider accessibility of our great filmmakers made available to all, now would you?

Of course not. And I still think that Criterion will bring us its remaining Lean DVD catalog to Blu-ray (OLIVER TWIST, GREAT EXPECTATIONS and SUMMERTIME & HOBSON'S CHOICE, maybe as a box set. (BREAKING THE) SOUND BARRIER is now out in the UK. Warner Bros. is well aware of our interest in RYAN'S DAUGHTER, and that will emerge, probably through the Archives. The only title I have not seen anywhere and do not expect anytime soon is THE PASSIONATE FRIEND, a rather obscure film of which I know nothing.

 

[Dick]

"The majority of American households" is not interested in buying Blu-ray discs from anywhere.

True, but that only makes the rest of us more passionate about keeping the format alive.

 

[Dick]

I'm most interested in seeing Criterion's blu upgrades of "Hobson's Choice", "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist"

And SUMMERTIME.

 

[Allansfirebird]

Either Criterion or their ersatz budget line Eclipse needs to do a David Lean Directs Ann Todd set, so we can finally have all of Lean's films on DVD in region 1.

 

[PMF]

You're going round in circles.

Those of us who are determined to have our favorite films in the best possible condition have bought Zone-free Blu-ray players. You have said you're not going to do that.

No, I never said that.
In my opening sentence from Post #15 I stated that the upcoming purchase of a Region-Free player was "...part of an early Fall plan."
I am very, very eager to go Zone-Free.
Clearly, Zone Free will open up the floodgates for me.
And I am chomping at the bit to do so.

 

[PMF]

You're going to demand that the films be released in Zone 1. Yet you ask us who have gone multi-zone why we should "bother vying for our favorite titles" and you presume to lecture us.

The "demand" for Zone 1 was not intended to be solely about me.
Even with a Zone-Free player in my possession, I would still hope that the films currently available in other countries would also be made available for an entire populace, who will continue to live in a Zone One world.
Nonetheless; as cited in Post #10; I found it disheartening to learn that Americans weren't interested in buying discs, at all.

We have never met and for that we are, regretfully, both at a disadvantage. The written word lacks the benefit of having before us our facial expressions and the inflections of our verbal delivery. Were these two elements available to us, you would see and hear that "lecture" was not within the intended delivery. If anything, I was rallying a cheer and a support for us all, at HTF, who have kept this love of film alive.

Believe it or not, we are on the same page.
And how do I know this?
Because we both believe that "Ryan's Daughter" is an underappreciated masterpiece.