TWILIGHT RELEASES LACK OF INTEREST (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

I've heard that Disney was turned off by the weak sales of catalog titles like Babes in Toyland (1961) and Adventures in Babysitting (1987), which is what led them to outright cancel plans for other such catalog releases like The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and While You Were Sleeping (1995). Frankly, I'm stunned they are releasing their Spike Lee films in a couple months, even if the oldest one is from the mid 90s. Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

You're likely right about the sales of those titles being anemic. The former is a very poor film. I wish they had tried Swiss Family Robinson or The Parent Trap or Old Yeller or Treasure Island as their trial balloons.

 

[ahollis]

I think they could ruin their reputation by taking what Universal give them, i wouldn't expect Universal to do it right with catalog, the odd title maybe but mostly not right, of course if they have the power to tell Universal to lay off the DNR and Edge Enhancement then it's all good but i doubt they have that power. Universal and catalog are usually not good with regards quality.

Agree completely. I would rather see a Disney deal than a Universal.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Universal's releases have been generally good for a couple years now. Should be interesting to see how their April titles turn out.Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

 

[bruceames]

I think they could ruin their reputation by taking what Universal give them, i wouldn't expect Universal to do it right with catalog, the odd title maybe but mostly not right, of course if they have the power to tell Universal to lay off the DNR and Edge Enhancement then it's all good but i doubt they have that power. Universal and catalog are usually not good with regards quality.

That would be sad if the rest of the HD DVD exclusives started showing up on Twilight Time because Universal doesn't want to bother with them anymore. They've already licensed Cat People out to Shout Factory and that's wasn't a huge success transfer-wise.

 

[ahollis]

Universal's releases have been generally good for a couple years now. Should be interesting to see how their April titles turn out.Sent from my VS920 4G using Tapatalk

Gee, I haven't found them that good. At least not up to Twilight standards.

 

[OliverK]

Universal's releases have been generally good for a couple years now.

Universal has not been voted worst studio year after year for releases that are generally good.What separates them from other studios is that they do not even bother to get higher profile titles right as evidenced by their releases of the Jurassic Park and BTTF trilogies, the inconsistent Hitchcock collection and Spartacus.Recently there have been promising releases like High Plains Drifter (with kind of a modern color palette that seems wrong to me) but then there are still the old edgy transfers like Fried Green Tomatoes and better but still mediocre ones like Far and Away.So there is a bit of an upward curve but not enough to consider Universal catalog releases to be generally good, maybe I would go for not generally horrible anymore

 

[classicmovieguy]

You're likely right about the sales of those titles being anemic. The former is a very poor film. I wish they had tried Swiss Family Robinson or The Parent Trap or Old Yeller or Treasure Island as their trial balloons.

Oh I was afraid of this. "Babes in Toyland" is a solid little film, beautifully designed, and with a lovely Annette in the lead, but is hardly Disney's most 'recognisable' deep-catalogue title. I would have hoped the success of "Mary Poppins" would have allowed a few more classics to sneak out the vault... can keep hoping.

 

[Ethan Riley]

They can't do wrong if they try "20,000 Leagues."

 

[Kevin EK]

Interesting to hear the Universal haters jump into this thread to keep the party going. And it really has nothing to do with what Twilight Time is doing at the moment.

But we should keep in mind that Twilight Time doesn't get to tell the license holders how to conduct their transfers, timing, etc. They are simply offered a film (or several) for which a 1080p transfer exists, and they can release that title if they choose to do so. The other work involved is done long before they get there.

And let's not kid ourselves about Universal got that "award" this year or even last year. As one who has actually reviewed a fair amount of Universal catalogue titles over the past several years, I'm prepared to answer a couple of the statements from above. Universal has been getting that razzie over and over again for reputation, not for actual basis. 2013 was certainly not a bad year for Universal, unless we're going to get into the quality of the movies themselves at which point all the studios would be in trouble. And while some have opined that that they did not like the blus of the Back to the Future trilogy and the Jurassic Park movies, those were not disasters by any means. There were just some people insisting they could see excessive edge enhancement in JP, or that they thought they saw too much DNR in BTTF, when we were able to show this was not necessarily the case. I agree that Spartacus was botched, and I'd love to see that title redone correctly.

I'd also agree that several of the Hitchcock titles had issues, as I pointed out in my review. But we shouldn't forget that the Hitchcock collection also saw some terrific transfers, and that 2012 overall for Universal was marked by some really nice catalogue work, including Pillow Talk, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Jaws, ET, and the Monsters collection. Yes, there were problems in some releases - I wasn't happy with what I saw in The Sting, with the 3D in Creature from the Black Lagoon, or with a registration error in Phantom of the Opera. But I'm not going to hit the studio with "Worst Studio" for that when there's plenty of good work going on. And I'm frankly nonplussed that they got it for 2013, when they put out solid Blus of Schindler's List and of High Plains Drifter. That in a year when both Paramount and Disney distinguished themselves by releases that really stuck it to Blu-ray fans and 3D fans.

That said, I recognize everyone has different opinions. I just didn't want to let the "not generally horrible anymore" idea just stand. Granted, I realize that Oliver has reason to be frustrated with Universal. But I think we can politely differ over this.

Going back to Twilight Time, I think they've shown very good taste in what they've gone after, and we've been given some really nice Blus that would otherwise never have existed had Twilight Time not existed. Simply, they're people who really love movies. Their presentation, their insert booklets, their selection speaks for themselves. And I love Shout as well, and I love Criterion. Frankly, these companies are getting most of my entertainment dollars these days, and for good reason. I'm perfectly happy to have a balanced Blu-ray/DVD collection salted with titles from all three of these companies. They are not making 5 dollar Blus for the discount bins. They are making a product I am interested in collecting, and I'm happy they're here to do so.

 

[FoxyMulder]

And while some have opined that that they did not like the blus of the Back to the Future trilogy and the Jurassic Park movies, those were not disasters by any means. There were just some people insisting they could see excessive edge enhancement in JP,

I'd also agree that several of the Hitchcock titles had issues, as I pointed out in my review. But we shouldn't forget that the Hitchcock collection also saw some terrific transfers, and that 2012 overall for Universal was marked by some really nice catalogue work, including Pillow Talk, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Jaws, ET, and the Monsters collection.

I sincerely disagree with your assessment of Universal releases, check out the 3D edition of Jurassic Park and note the edge enhancement halo's ( in a handful of scenes ) isn't there in the parts you see it in the 2D edition, now sure the 3D edition has had all the film grain removed but that's a known thing when converting to a 3D release and they chose to not put any back in.

You might praise To Kill A Mockingbird or All Quiet On The Western Front, i would not, i don't think they are great, watchable but not as good as they could be due to Universals love of overusing the digital tools, you know how i feel about The Wolf Man with it's excessive edge enhancement, you also know i actually like the use of 3D in Creature From The Black Lagoon but the parts you considered bad were parts i considered good. Phantom has more than registration errors, it has edge enhancement issues too.

Universal deserve the title of worst studio because they are very inconsistent and make enough mistakes to warrant that award, the day Universal re-visit Spartacus and do it right and the day most of their catalog releases are consistently film like without added sharpening is the day i will vote for them as best studio, until then their inconsistency annoys me and they still get far too many great titles wrong, a few very good releases doesn't make up for all the poor ones.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I think Universal did a great job with "Pillow Talk".

 

[Robert Crawford]

I sincerely disagree with your assessment of Universal releases, check out the 3D edition of Jurassic Park and note the edge enhancement halo's ( in a handful of scenes ) isn't there in the parts you see it in the 2D edition, now sure the 3D edition has had all the film grain removed but that's a known thing when converting to a 3D release and they chose to not put any back in.

You might praise To Kill A Mockingbird or All Quiet On The Western Front, i would not, i don't think they are great, watchable but not as good as they could be due to Universals love of overusing the digital tools, you know how i feel about The Wolf Man with it's excessive edge enhancement, you also know i actually like the use of 3D in Creature From The Black Lagoon but the parts you considered bad were parts i considered good. Phantom has more than registration errors, it has edge enhancement issues too.

Universal deserve the title of worst studio because they are very inconsistent and make enough mistakes to warrant that award, the day Universal re-visit Spartacus and do it right and the day most of their catalog releases are consistently film like without added sharpening is the day i will vote for them as best studio, until then their inconsistency annoys me and they still get far too many great titles wrong, a few very good releases doesn't make up for all the poor ones.

Let's remember that many people aren't sensitive to edge enhancement as you might be so I expect some difference in opinion regarding that issue.

 

[Alan Tully]

They can't do wrong if they try "20,000 Leagues."

I wonder if Disney will release a Blu this year, the 60th anniversary, but a cinemascope film from 1954, it's probably never going to look that great.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I would have thought we'd be seeing at least a few of the live-action Disney titles on Blu this year... :/

 

[ahollis]

Interesting to hear the Universal haters jump into this thread to keep the party going. And it really has nothing to do with what Twilight Time is doing at the moment.But we should keep in mind that Twilight Time doesn't get to tell the license holders how to conduct their transfers, timing, etc. They are simply offered a film (or several) for which a 1080p transfer exists, and they can release that title if they choose to do so. The other work involved is done long before they get there.And let's not kid ourselves about Universal got that "award" this year or even last year. As one who has actually reviewed a fair amount of Universal catalogue titles over the past several years, I'm prepared to answer a couple of the statements from above. Universal has been getting that razzie over and over again for reputation, not for actual basis. 2013 was certainly not a bad year for Universal, unless we're going to get into the quality of the movies themselves at which point all the studios would be in trouble. And while some have opined that that they did not like the blus of the Back to the Future trilogy and the Jurassic Park movies, those were not disasters by any means. There were just some people insisting they could see excessive edge enhancement in JP, or that they thought they saw too much DNR in BTTF, when we were able to show this was not necessarily the case. I agree that Spartacus was botched, and I'd love to see that title redone correctly. I'd also agree that several of the Hitchcock titles had issues, as I pointed out in my review. But we shouldn't forget that the Hitchcock collection also saw some terrific transfers, and that 2012 overall for Universal was marked by some really nice catalogue work, including Pillow Talk, To Kill a Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Jaws, ET, and the Monsters collection. Yes, there were problems in some releases - I wasn't happy with what I saw in The Sting, with the 3D in Creature from the Black Lagoon, or with a registration error in Phantom of the Opera. But I'm not going to hit the studio with "Worst Studio" for that when there's plenty of good work going on. And I'm frankly nonplussed that they got it for 2013, when they put out solid Blus of Schindler's List and of High Plains Drifter. That in a year when both Paramount and Disney distinguished themselves by releases that really stuck it to Blu-ray fans and 3D fans.That said, I recognize everyone has different opinions. I just didn't want to let the "not generally horrible anymore" idea just stand. Granted, I realize that Oliver has reason to be frustrated with Universal. But I think we can politely differ over this.Going back to Twilight Time, I think they've shown very good taste in what they've gone after, and we've been given some really nice Blus that would otherwise never have existed had Twilight Time not existed. Simply, they're people who really love movies. Their presentation, their insert booklets, their selection speaks for themselves. And I love Shout as well, and I love Criterion. Frankly, these companies are getting most of my entertainment dollars these days, and for good reason. I'm perfectly happy to have a balanced Blu-ray/DVD collection salted with titles from all three of these companies. They are not making 5 dollar Blus for the discount bins. They are making a product I am interested in collecting, and I'm happy they're here to do so.

Well I guess I'll get us off topic again. I voted Universal as Worst Studio this year because they are one of the largest entertainment companies and have monies that should allow for their releases to be more than passable. They have the resources to make every release as good as Warner and Sony strive for. Now back to Twilight. Cold Turkey please.

 

[bruceames]

Let's remember that many people aren't sensitive to edge enhancement as you might be so I expect some difference in opinion regarding that issue.

Yeah I've noticed that those with really big displays tend to be the most vocal critics on this.

 

[John Hermes]

Yeah I've noticed that those with really big displays tend to be the most vocal critics on this.

Plus different problems bother different people. Everyone talks about the distorted perspective in The Big Country. I didn't even notice that. What bothered me in that film was the flickering brightness in the second half. That bugs me way more than edge enhancement. I was so glad when they fixed the flickering in the DVD for the BD of Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.

 

[Keith Cobby]

John, I have been holding back on The Big Country after all the negative comments and in the hope it will be re-released, but after reading your post I am going to take the risk and buy it.

 

[Persianimmortal]

We're drifting off topic now, but briefly, I'll have to admit I also didn't find the stretching on The Big Country noticeable until it was pointed out. However, It appears the newly released UK version of the BD has fixed the stretching, and is also region free.

 

[FoxyMulder]

We're drifting off topic now, but briefly, I'll have to admit I also didn't find the stretching on The Big Country noticeable until it was pointed out. However, It appears the newly released UK version of the BD has fixed the stretching, and is also region free.

Do you have solid info that this is true because i haven't heard a thing and had to do something else to get a corrected version. ?

:EDIT: Okay i see it's a person on the Amazon site saying so, i'm dubious, some people are not bothered by the issue, which is good for them as it won't affect their viewing but i'd like to see a comparison made, this is when a few screencaps can help out.