Towering Inferno (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey Bane]

I did a search, but could find no comments on this film. I know that it was released, but see that it's out of print. Any news on a re-release?

 

[Hank]

Maybe they'll do a Five Star Edition. The first release was a bare bones disc with an alright transfer that was not 16:9 enhanced. I don't remember how good the 5.1 sound was though. The only extra was a trailer.

 

[Scott David]

Maybe they'll do a Five Star Edition.

That would be sweet. I would definitely pick it up. I didn't know the original disc was OOP; no wonder I haven't been able to find it at Best Buy for the longest time.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Not to overstate the obvious, but I'm guessing this is a flick that Fox won't be revisiting any time real soon.

Cool movie. I'd buy a Special Edition, though I suspect this one's on the back BACK burner for right now.

 

[Ernest]

The Fox Movie Channel brodcasts this title on a regular basis in letterbox and I recorded it recently to a DVD-R from DirecTV. The video quality is excellent and the audio is Digital Stereo.

 

[David Lambert]

Keep in mind that, per Peter Staddon at the last chat, that A) the 5-Star series has been discontinued, and that B) he's not even sure Fox still has these titles in their lineup:

{Tony_Scello} Thanks for coming Peter. Will we finally see SE's of The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno in 2003? Two of my all-time favorites that I would love to see get the royal treatment on dvd.
{peterstaddon} I am not sure that we still retain the rights for both of those titles. They are not being worked on now, so I wouldn't expect anything out in the near future.

 

[Tony Scello]

I asked Peter Staddon of 20th Century Fox about the possibility of a special edition of The Towering Inferno(and Poseidon Adventure)during the most recent chat with him here at HTF. He basically said that he wasn't even sure if Fox owned the rights to these anymore and that nothing was being worked on so don't expect anything. If Fox doesn't own the rights to one or both of these movies anymore, who does?? The current Towering Inferno DVD (non-anamorphic,bare-bones) is lackluster, OOP and commanding some good amounts on the auction sites. These movies deserve better(TTI was a best picture nominee) treatment and there is a ton of material that could be included in any special edition of these two. TTI has quite a few deleted scenes that are sometimes incorporated back into the movie when shown on TV(aka "The TV Version")which would be great to have on disc. Anybody have any accurate info on who may currently own the rights to these movies? I guess I can only dream that Criterion is currently working on SE's of these but that would be too much to be believed
Oops! See above post-Dave Lambert beat me to the punch

 

[David Von Pein]

"Now you know damn well there's no sure way for us to fight a fire above the seventh floor! .... But you architects, you just keep buildin' 'em higher and higher!"

 

[Rob W]

INFERNO was quite unique at the time as it was a co-production between two major studios at a time when such deals were unheard of. Fox and Warner Brothers partnered on the project when it was discovered that both had purchased books about burning skyscrapers.
As such, the rights would surely reside with one of the two studios since they put up the cash.

Peter only said he wasn't sure - he didn't say Fox DIDN'T have the rights.

And much as I like the film, it's surely one of the most undeserving Best Picture nominees in Oscar history.

 

[Randy A Salas]

I'm not sure folks have caught on to what Scott wrote. This title quietly disppeared after the World Trade Center attacks and is unlikely to be revisited soon by Fox.

As far as the rights are concerned, I'm sure Fox still has them. Why would The Poseidon Adventure still be in the catalog, at steep discount and regularly promoted in sales, if not?

 

[CapnSharpe]

I'm not sure folks have caught on to what Scott wrote. This title quietly disppeared after the World Trade Center attacks and is unlikely to be revisited soon by Fox.

I caught on but I'm not necessarily convinced. If they pulled it because of 9/11, then why does Fox keep showing it on television? I realize that Fox is a large corporation and different groups may make different decisions. I would expect upper management to make a more sweeping decision regarding movies that could remind people of the WTC.

Personally speaking, I never took the movie seriously until after 9/11. Now I healthy respect for the movie and would very much like to own it on an anamorphic DVD.

 

[Lee Bombard]

I could be wrong here but I got the impression from Peter during the chat that Fox had perhaps licensed some older catalog titles to another entity (perhaps Image or Anchor Bay?) but wasn't yet prepared to talk directly about it. Maybe "Inferno" and "Poseidon" are part of that package of films? Just a thought.

Regards,
Lee

 

[Steve_Klein]

FWIW, Towering Inferno is available 16x9 enhanced from Warner in Japan (Region 2, NTSC). Decent quality and reasonably priced as I recall (unusual for Japanese DVD), but with no extras save for maybe a trailer. I think I got mine from Laser Exchange, but I don't know if it's still in print. If not, you should be able to find it used somewhere.

Good luck!

 

[Steve_Klein]

Just watched the R2 Towering Inferno from WB. It is indeed 16x9 (and looks really good), but only has a DD 2.0 surround track instead of the 5.1 track Fox apparently sprung for on the R1 release (according to IMDB; I don't own that disc). So if you're R2 capable, you basically have a choice: 16x9 video or 5.1 audio, but not both in the same release. Gotta love it...

 

[Geoff_D]

The UK R2 of TTI from Warner is also anamorphic and looks sweet indeed. And just so you know, the UK R2 Poseidon Adventure is anamorphic, DD2.0 and comes with a 10 minute featurette and a trailer. I sold my non-anamorphic R1 and picked the R2 up dirt cheap.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

So if you're R2 capable, you basically have a choice: 16x9 video or 5.1 audio, but not both in the same release.

If forced to choose, I'd definitely go with the 16X9. I haven't watched it in a while, but I re-read my review, and when I last checked out the movie, I didn't notice anything particularly special about the 5.1 track. As such, I'd think the 2.0 would suffice for a nearly 30-year-old flick. An anamorphic transfer would be sweet!

 

[Mike Heenan]

They could have included the featurette on the original disc, which shows some great behind the scenes footage and stuff, and the making of the scene where they knock over the water tower.

 

[Glenn_Jn]

I rented the R2 TTI when I was still living in the UK and while the disc is anamorphic and does look quite good for a 20+ year old film I thought there were a lot of picture anomalies (scratches, dust specs etc) and it could really use a good restoration job as most movies from that era could.

 

[Paul_Scott]

i was also pretty disappointed in the chat response when this title came up. i had heard strong rumours it was on deck for a nice '03 SE.
i was also quite surprised when i sold my R1 copy a few months ago and it went for $30.
i was not expecting that, especially since i had picked it up from columbia house just a couple months earlier.
i have the R4 disc, which is also anamorphic and 2.0.
i'm a little disappointed by the pic quality, as i was expecting a bigger leap over the non-a R1.
just wasn't the case. lots of moire, shimmering, etc
not terrible, but not a quantum leap either.

a great movie-movie, BTW.
i caught up with it again in 2001 after not having seen it since the seventies.
thought it held up quite well, and i much prefer it to the kind of Bay/Bruckenheimer drivel that represents big budget action today.