Warner Unveils Aggressive Catalog Initiative for 2006 (1 Viewer)

[Jeff_HR]

It is great to know that there is at least one other person in the world who appreciates this wonderful & touching & funny little film that is fairly unknown.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Please do not put words in my mouth. I'm just saying that a lot of what Vitali said is inconsistent with other sources. He doesn't seem to have a good grasp on some technical stuff, though. He mentions that 1.66:1 is fullscreen and describes 16x9 enhancement as a Panavision-like process.

I just think that Kubrick would rather have his flat films to be shown without mattes on the low-res laserdisc format. With DVD, 100% of the resolution can be used for 1.85:1 films. Even if he wanted videos to be open matte, it's very obvious he composed everything for 1.85:1 primarily. It's silly to think he'd put 1.33:1 ahead of 1.85:1. He just protected it so either ratio would be fine.

With HD looming, I really don't think Kubrick would be happy with his last three films being windowboxed, missing out on 33% of the extra resolution they'd gain by being properly matted.

Also, the remastered DVD's of Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon are exactly 1.66:1. Given how the prior DVD's were barely matted (exposed to the hard-mattes), I find it interesting that the remasters would be cropped further in order to stay in line with "showing all possible picture". Columbia even made sure Dr. Strangelove was 1.66:1 16x9 enhanced on their 40th anniversary DVD.

I just don't see why Kubrick's films shot for 1.85:1 should be left open matte now that they can be 16x9 enhanced.

 

[Steve...O]

If this was already mentioned, I apologize, but this tidbit in an article at Video Business caught my eye



This is great news and much appreciated by this consumer. Shelf space is a major issue with my Warner boxes and this will help. Plus it will keep my wife happy that boxes aren't spilling onto the floor

Steve

 

[Jeff_HR]

This is not GOOD news for this consumer! I ABSOLUTELY HATE the really thin keepcases. I guess I'll be keeping InetDVD in business.

 

[george kaplan]

In fairness, it's not good news for you, but most consumers prefer the slimmer cases, so, yes, in general terms, it is good news for the consumer.

 

[ElijahS]

By thinner Amaray cases, do they mean the slimcases, or do they mean something marginally smaller than normal cases? The reason I ask is because I remember some of Buena Vista's television sets (Felicity comes to mind) had its later seasons released in slightly thinner DVD cases.

 

[Adam_S]

Yeah I think the slim cases, not a regular sized DVD case with a leaf inside.

There used to be a debate over the leafed dual DVD cases versus the thicker dual alphas. Today about the only releases that use dual alphas are the walt disney treasures.

I guess the next debate is over a slim 1/2 thickness DVD case versus a regular thickness DVD

From an economic perspective, all DVD releases should be in slim cases, and the studios are effectively paying double to ship a lot of empty space, because twice as much product could be shipped in a single box if slims were used, box sets are probably the top priority to convert because they take up a lot of valuable shelfspace. I would not be surprised if catalog releases begin shipping packed in slim cases as HD comes in, so that eventually all DVDs are regular released slim cases and HD have the more thicker case that promotes an idea of increased 'value'.

To counter this, the reason catalog titles aren't in slim cases is because reading the spine titles is too hard with a 14 point font, if people can't find a title they're not going to buy it, so it's probably better economic sense to use the regular sized case and ship half as much product.

 

[John Hodson]

Agreed; Warners - I thank you, my wife thanks you, and my groaning shelves thank you.

 

[Anthony Thorne]

If Warners ever revisit THE ROAD WARRIOR, maybe they could try to dig up the uncensored cut of it completed by director George Miller prior to Australian OFLC censorship cuts. Miller delivered a strong Australian R-rated version of the film (Australia's version of the NC-17 - the original MAD MAX was rated R down here) and Village-Roadshow requested some or three pages of censorship cuts prior to release to obtain a more lenient Australian M-rating. (There's one such cut/speed-up, for example, when the blonde character early in the film gets a boomerang through the forehead - that scene, along with many others, was originally more graphic). Numerous extensions of scenes and some whole sequences were removed, all toning down content featuring various scenes of violence and mayhem. The cut-down M-rated version of MAD MAX 2 that Village-Roadshow finally released in Australia is the same version that Warner eventually released as THE ROAD WARRIOR in the US, and I don't think the uncut version of the film has been screened anywhere since those pre-censorship previews. The smoking gun here is that Australian filmmaker Mark Savage (working for Village-Roadshow at the time) saw the full-strength preview version of MAD MAX 2/THE ROAD WARRIOR (fully scored, fully post-produced) before VR demanded cuts, was completely blown away by it, and then was the very person handed the three pages of censorship cuts to take upstairs at VR for trims to the movie prior to the eventual cinema release. When the film finally came out, Mark noticed several memorable scenes cut down or removed. I have no idea if the full-strength version of THE ROAD WARRIOR still sits in the vaults at Kennedy-Miller(?) in Sydney, but I suspect Warner could do worse than enquire, especially since if it was found they'd have a brand new unseen director's cut of a longtime home-video favourite to market worldwide.

 

[seanOhara]

I'm not too pleased by the switch to slimline cases. They're going to look funky mixed in with all the standard amarays on my shelves.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Better slimline than going back to those stupid snapper cases! Slimline cases work best for TV show season sets. If a DVD film set has titles which can be sold separately, they should have regular-sized cases.

 

[Dale MA]

Great news about the slimcases, sure they might not look uniform with the usual amaray style case but they'll save me a hell of a lot of space

 

[eric tengren]

I hope people are cool to Warners reps this time,A lot of guys were slagging them off after the chat last year and it was pissing me off, because the Warners guys seemed to be having fun with it and are into movies like all of us.I mean it's WB, not Universal.

 

[FrankXS]

As part of the "aggresive Warner promotions" for 2006, I hope that San Francisco, Test Pilot and Idiot's Delight will be included in the Clark Gable Promotion. Possibly Somebody Up There Likes Me will be in the Paul Newman set. This title is one of the few left from the original DVD Decision voting from a couple of years ago that have not been released. I don't envy George Feltenstein and his supporting crew with the decisions they have to make.... the wealth of titles/genres/stars they can pick from is overwhelming. I know one of my priorities would be a Judy/Mickey musical set. How about The Picture of Dorian Gray ? The David Copperfield/A Tale of Two Cities/Anthony Adverse titles?
Do we not need some representation of Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy? On Borrowed Time ? with death stuck in a tree and no one dies. Lionel Barrymore was exceptional in this picture. George and Warners...keep rolling them out !!!

 

[Vincent-P]

I also think that going to slimcases is not cool. I hate the look of them and it is going to make me reticent to buy Warner box sets if the same DVDs are available separately in regular cases. I mean, would you want King Kong in a crummy little double slim case when you could get it in a nice 2-disc amaray with a slipcover?

 

[RafaelPires]

Frank, I have the same hopes about the Gable box set, regarding the releases of San Francisco, Test Pilot and Idiot's Delight. But I also wanted Manhattan Melodrama to make the cut. In fact Gable has good titles enough in his filmography to make at least 3 sets.
I asked in the last chat about Jeannet MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, along with other titles, and theys answered that most of what I asked was planned for future releases. Don't know if "most" included MacDonald and Eddy's operettas.
I also hope the Born to Dance, Vivacious Lady, The Shopworn Angel, Mortal Storm and The Stratton Story will be part of the James Stewart Collection.

 

[Michael Elliott]

The slimcases is the best move of this thread. If they're going to release 50+ box sets this year who on Earth will have shelf room? I've converted all my DVDs to slimcases so this will also save me some money and time.

Hopefully Warner will release a Loretta Young set this year or next. TAXI! could be added to that set or a Cagney set.

 

[dana martin]

just for the Bowery boys multi box set this would help

 

[Patrick McCart]

I like the slimline idea. They rarely include inserts, so it's not like it's a big deal.

Also, I'd like to see them switch to slimlines for the Looney Tunes Golden Collections and future multi-disc sets (like Ben-Hur and The Wizard of Oz).

 

[Paul_Scott]

Taxi would be great and i would be very happy to see some of her other pre-code movies make it out.
last chat or two they mentioned that Petulia would be out this year, so i wonder if they will put together a Julie Christie set (with Far From The Madding Crowd?)

slim cases for the box sets sound great to me.
i was happy to pick up the Thin Man set last year, but to be perfectly honest it was a drag to clear off space on the shelf for it. i know some people with smaller collections or larger living spaces don't have this problem, but space is a huge premium for me. slimcases, especially when they are housed collectively in a slipcase, would be a great asset.