Mr. Holland's Opus on Blu? (1 Viewer)

[Bryan Tuck]

Has anyone heard anything about the possibility of this film on Blu-ray? I guess it would probably be a Mill Creek budget title, but even a merely serviceable HD presentation would be nice, since it never even got an anamorphic DVD in R1.

A special edition probably wouldn't happen, but if it did, a commentary could be great. As for other bonus content, the very worthwhile charity organization the film inspired is definitely deserving of some recognition, so a featurette on it might be nice.

 

[Dick]

Mill Creek's Disney output (and its Columbia output) seem to have come to a screaming halt lately.

 

[Harry-N]

What is this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...42e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=XDMTV8YTRPZSFMS8GZW5

 

[Rick Thompson]

What is this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...42e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=XDMTV8YTRPZSFMS8GZW5

Caution: Here's a september 2019 comment on this release, of which Amazon does NOT list releasing organization, from an Amazon customer: "Very disappointed -- just received the blu ray and it is nothing more than a DVD transfer. It has not been upgraded in any way. It is the same video as the DVD - widescreen format WITHIN a full frame format. You have significant black borders on all 4 sides! The picture is very grainy. I feel ripped off. I was expecting a significant upgrade to blu ray format from the original poor DVD transfer."

 

[Harry-N]

I thought it was something a little shady since there wasn't much info on trusted sites.

 

[battlebeast]

Disney owns it and it’s not yet on Disney+, so I wonder if they can’t release it on Blu.
Not like they release much of their back catalogue...

 

[yimitz]

I took a gamble and ordered this. It's the Australian/New Zealand release. Even though it's labeled as Region B it plays just fine in my Region A player (Sony BDP-S6500).

It's listed as 1.85:1, but it's actually 2.35:1. I've only watched a few minutes of it, but it's about on par picture-wise with the version that shows up on TCM every so often. In any event, it's a vast improvement over my non-anamorphic DVD.

Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1. No subtitles.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I took a gamble and ordered this. It's the Australian/New Zealand release. Even though it's labeled as Region B it plays just fine in my Region A player (Sony BDP-S6500).

It's listed as 1.85:1, but it's actually 2.35:1. I've only watched a few minutes of it, but it's about on par picture-wise with the version that shows up on TCM every so often. In any event, it's a vast improvement over my non-anamorphic DVD.

Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1. No subtitles.

That's enough to make me want to pull the trigger...

The Amazon review quoted by Rick above (about the "sea of black" around the picture) was in relation to the DVD of the film. That would make sense because of the non-anamorphic nature of it.

Are we expecting there NOT to be a region A release any time soon?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Are we expecting there NOT to be a region A release any time soon?

I asked that wrong.

The DVD of Mr. Holland's Opus only came out in 1999(!). So there's no reason based on that that we should be expecting a Blu release anytime soon. But sometimes, people can draw conclusions based on other criteria.

 

[Taylor * D]

Disney owns it and it’s not yet on Disney+, so I wonder if they can’t release it on Blu.
Not like they release much of their back catalogue...

It is on Disney+ and looks great! Finally an anamorphic presentation, and a 5.1 surround track.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It is on Disney+ and looks great! Finally an anamorphic presentation, and a 5.1 surround track.

 

[battlebeast]

It is on Disney+ and looks great! Finally an anamorphic presentation, and a 5.1 surround track.

View attachment 65403

I was right.

 

[battlebeast]

It is on Disney+ and looks great! Finally an anamorphic presentation, and a 5.1 surround track.

It’s not 2020 yet. Don’t know how you already saw it...

 

[Taylor * D]

You're not completely right. As I said, I have access to it on Disney+ in Canada. As a longtime fan of the movie, I wouldn't make it up

 

[Rick Thompson]

That's enough to make me want to pull the trigger...

The Amazon review quoted by Rick above (about the "sea of black" around the picture) was in relation to the DVD of the film. That would make sense because of the non-anamorphic nature of it.

Are we expecting there NOT to be a region A release any time soon?

Uh, no it wasn't a review of the DVD. It specifically refers to the blu-ray ("just received the blu ray and it is nothing more than a DVD transfer"). Whether it's accurate or not I can't say, as I immediately deleted it from my cart. Has anyone else bought the blu-ray besides yimitz to break the tie? If it's actually a new transfer, I'll put it back in the cart.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Sorry, Rick. Hope I didn't get you mad. Didn't mean to.

I just saw that the item reviewed by the customer was listed by amazon as "DVD." Should have been more careful about the review's wording.

You know how Amazon lumps all of its product reviews (Prime Video/Blu/DVD/even VHS) into all the ages for each medium for a film.

 

[battlebeast]

View attachment 65423

You're not completely right. As I said, I have access to it on Disney+ in Canada. As a longtime fan of the movie, I wouldn't make it up

IN CANADA? I have to go watch this. BRB.

 

[Harry-N]

I decided to bite the bullet and order that Blu-ray. It is indeed from Australia.

I can tell you that it is fully anamorphic, if that term even applies to Blu-rays, and it is a very nice high-definition presentation of the movie. Anyone who's still holding on to the old non-anamorphic DVD would do well to upgrade to this or a subsequent US release. It appears to be a 2.3x:1 aspect ratio.

This disc plays just fine in my Sony Blu-ray players which have not been hacked or altered in anyway, so it appears to be Region A-safe.

As stated, the extras are thin. There's a 5-minute featurette that looks to be 4:3, and a widescreen trailer lasting about 3-minutes.

So, yes, I agree with @yimitz above. The reviewer mentioned from Amazon is flat-out wrong.

 

[MatthewA]

Then what disc did that reviewer get?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I decided to bite the bullet and order that Blu-ray. It is indeed from Australia.

I can tell you that it is fully anamorphic, if that term even applies to Blu-rays, and it is a very nice high-definition presentation of the movie. Anyone who's still holding on to the old non-anamorphic DVD would do well to upgrade to this or a subsequent US release. It appears to be a 2.3x:1 aspect ratio.

This disc plays just fine in my Sony Blu-ray players which have not been hacked or altered in anyway, so it appears to be Region A-safe.

As stated, the extras are thin. There's a 5-minute featurette that looks to be 4:3, and a widescreen trailer lasting about 3-minutes.

So, yes, I agree with @yimitz above. The reviewer mentioned from Amazon is flat-out wrong.

Nice to hear.

It's likely like the other Disney-owned films released in Oz (Splash, Turner and Hooch, Quiz Show, et al)... region-free and strangely absent from US releases.

Think I'll go order me one. Haven't seen the movie in a few years and I want to.

EDIT: Actually, I'm going to hold off on ordering it, since the Australia version from Madman is not due to be released until December 4 (that I can see from Amazon AU and Ezy DVD), so I don't know what the hell this Blu might be.

Was it the one from Amazon US?