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More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

#1
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2/17/09 at 1:31pm
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This interview is a gold mine!

Blu About The Slow Release of Classic Titles On Blu-ray? Take Heart! | High-Def Digest

A Star Is Born (1954)
Citizen Kane
The Music Man
Doctor Zhivago
Meet Me in St. Louis
Singin' In the Rain (they're doing a very costly from scratch remaster)

Can't wait for Citizen Kane and Doctor Zhivago myself.
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#2
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2/17/09 at 2:23pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I'm down for each and every one of those titles. The waiting will be the hardest part. And I'm glad George Feltenstein (who should get a Presidential Medal of Honor) acknowledged the problems with the Ben-Hur DVDs.

STOP THE MADNESS! STOP THE BUTCHERING AND ABANDONMENT OF TV SHOWS ON DVD!

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#3
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2/17/09 at 2:25pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
Singin' In the Rain (they're doing a very costly from scratch remaster)
I have a general question in regards to this. Is technology really changing that rapidly that we need new masters done every few years for some of these films?
I'll be happy to buy this but it just seems like they just did a beautiful restoration of this film back about 5-8 years ago and it was stunning. Surely that was mastered in 1080p?

EDIT: I just read the article. It answers my questions.
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#4
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2/17/09 at 3:16pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Yeah, crazy how the tech is advancing.
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#5
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2/17/09 at 8:06pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I was going to say that Singin' was a surprise as the SD-DVD is one of the best quality in my collection.
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#6
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2/17/09 at 9:58pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Anyone know if they found anymore of the missing footage from "A Star Is Born" ? It would be nice if this time we have the option of running the film with the stills or without.
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#7
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2/17/09 at 10:24pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Hope they don't leave out FORBIDDEN PLANET, which has already been mastered in 1080...
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#8
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2/18/09 at 4:06am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Warners pipeline is skewed too much towards Musicals for my taste.

I'm happy Zhivago and Kane are in the works and I anxiously await King Kong, (which I hope it's lack of a mention was just an oversight) North By Northwest, Oz and GWTW this year.

From that article I can't make heads or tails on whether Ben-Hur is still on target for this year or not. If not, that's hugely disappointing.
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#9
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2/18/09 at 9:35am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick
Hope they don't leave out FORBIDDEN PLANET, which has already been mastered in 1080...
They're probably holding off to use that as a tie-in to the forthcoming remake (?) that J. Michael Straczynski is busy writing.

"Niceness is the greatest human flaw, except for all the others."
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#10
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2/18/09 at 10:26am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim_K
Warners pipeline is skewed too much towards Musicals for my taste.

Ditto.

Universal Blu-ray Discs I will not be buying while they're offered only as Blu-ray + DVD 'flipper' discs:

The Jackal, Out of Africa, and Traffic.

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#11
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2/18/09 at 12:03pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I found the response to the "lossless mono audio" question a bit puzzling. Does he not understand the difference between lossy and lossless? It has nothing to do with the number of speakers, i.e. lossless does not equate to 5.1/7.1. 2-channel mono in Dolby TrueHD would be very welcome, and while for many films it may not make much (if any) difference, it couldn't hurt any either.
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#12
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2/18/09 at 12:03pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Arnette
Ditto.


Love those Musicals!!!! Keep them coming!!!!!
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#13
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2/18/09 at 12:40pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_M
Love those Musicals!!!! Keep them coming!!!!!

Mind you that's not to say that I don't want to see musicals coming out, I'd just prefer their to be more balance to their classic offerings.

Universal Blu-ray Discs I will not be buying while they're offered only as Blu-ray + DVD 'flipper' discs:

The Jackal, Out of Africa, and Traffic.

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#14
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2/18/09 at 12:47pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

What ever happened to the titles originally released on HD "Mutiny on the Bounty" "Grand Prix" and "Willy Wonka" shouldn't those be easy to release on Blu-ray???
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#15
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2/18/09 at 12:47pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I knew I made the right decision holding off on Meet Me in St. Louis
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#16
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2/18/09 at 1:21pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_M
What ever happened to the titles originally released on HD "Mutiny on the Bounty" "Grand Prix" and "Willy Wonka" shouldn't those be easy to release on Blu-ray???
Easy to rerelease, probably, but there might not be enough of a market for them.

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#17
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2/18/09 at 1:26pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by ATimson
Easy to rerelease, probably, but there might not be enough of a market for them.

I have a hard time believing there is more of a market for Quo Vadis, An American in Paris, and Gigi than those titles unless they're working off the assumption that the majority of the market that wants them already has them on HD DVD.

Universal Blu-ray Discs I will not be buying while they're offered only as Blu-ray + DVD 'flipper' discs:

The Jackal, Out of Africa, and Traffic.

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#18
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2/18/09 at 1:30pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_M
What ever happened to the titles originally released on HD "Mutiny on the Bounty" "Grand Prix" and "Willy Wonka" shouldn't those be easy to release on Blu-ray???
I'm sure it's just a matter of getting the right production and marketing windows.
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#19
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2/18/09 at 1:34pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by ATimson
Easy to rerelease, probably, but there might not be enough of a market for them.

Maybe not for the first two, but Wonka should be an easy sell. Perhaps they're saving it for its 40th anniversary or scheduling it so as not to conflict with the remake.

Wasn't that one of the 1080i improperly deinterlaced titles?

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#20
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2/18/09 at 2:04pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Arnette
I have a hard time believing there is more of a market for Quo Vadis, An American in Paris, and Gigi than those titles unless they're working off the assumption that the majority of the market that wants them already has them on HD DVD.
I do. And I'm happy to have kept my 130 or so HD DVD titles and two players.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes time, and it annoys the pig.

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#21
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2/18/09 at 3:27pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

This is the chance to fix the mistake from the last GWTW release where a couple of frames were mistakenly cut out at the end of a shot (when Ashley follows Scarlett into the library at Twelve Oaks.)

Oh, and to include the REAL mono soundtrack to Oz.
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#22
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2/18/09 at 6:40pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

No mention of Raintree County. Sigh.
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#23
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2/18/09 at 11:17pm
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

As Mr Feltenstein & his colleagues are no doubt reading this column, I'd like to thank him for his hard work over the years and for taking the time out to chat with the forum in the past.

But having said that I am rather disturbed by his denial/unawareness of EE/DNR/Compression issues that have plagued many WB releases, inc the latest casualty "Amadeus" - and if that doesn't come under the WB classic label, what does?

Also the comments surrounding Hi Def audio are also of concern, regardless of whether the BD audio is in mono,stereo or 10.1 it should be lossless or PCM, there is just no excuse for a 192 kb mono track on a high def disc, even if the mono audio source is from the 1930's. If we wanted lossy audio we'd watch the film on our ipod's!

I would welcome his responses or even a follow up interview to HDD to clarify these points as I fear it may well have damaged his reputation in the on-line community.

M
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#24
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2/19/09 at 1:55am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

These discs take years to make, so his comment about EE and DNR is true for the titles they're making now. Also, The HD version of Amadeus was delivered by the Saul Zaentz Company, so they probably couldn't do much with it (plus the fact that that must've been about six years old, which is huge from a technical standpoint).

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#25
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2/19/09 at 2:31am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I'd be disappointed if BEN-HUR was not coming out this year too (besides, it'll be the 50th Anniversary this year).

As for the Musicals -- not my cup of tea either. No interest there.
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#26
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2/19/09 at 2:59am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi
I'd be disappointed if BEN-HUR was not coming out this year too (besides, it'll be the 50th Anniversary this year).

As for the Musicals -- not my cup of tea either. No interest there.
We will be having a chat with Warner in the near future so let's not assume any bad news before we talked with Warner. I'm just please they're doing a new transfer for Ben-Hur on BRD.

As far as the musicals, it's not my favorite genre, but I'll be buying some of those titles because I enjoy those particular films like Singin' in the Rain and Meet Me in St. Louis. Plus, those technicolor films are going to look great in 1080p.






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#27
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2/19/09 at 8:39am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

I was never a big musical fan but watching them in HD has turned me around. I have the BDs of Gigi, An American In Paris and the boxset of That's Entertainment and enjoyed them all tremendously.

I do hope we'll get more classic movies from Warner in the next three years than the ones mentioned in the interview though. While it's nice to see what's in "the works", it is a very very short list for a three year period. Warner has by far released the most classics of all studios on BD. I hope they're not cutting back the number of releases of classics per year now.
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#28
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2/19/09 at 9:53am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

To me, the great news from this interview is how Warner is re-doing Gone With the Wind (and some others) because the most recent transfer (done with the ultra-rez process) isn't up to Blu-ray standards. I'll be ready to buy when it's released.

-R
The truth doesn't care whether you believe it.
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#29
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2/19/09 at 11:00am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny_N
While it's nice to see what's in "the works", it is a very very short list for a three year period. Warner has by far released the most classics of all studios on BD. I hope they're not cutting back the number of releases of classics per year now.
It's surely only representative of the type of titles and investment, not the quantity.
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#30
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2/19/09 at 11:00am
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Re: More Warner classics revealed as in the works for 2010-2012

What did they do with the completed frames? The Wizard of Oz for example was restored at 4K resolution. There should be more than old 1080P masters surviving from these restorations.

I believe that they made a new negative for Singin' so they definitely have more than a 1080i master.

I personally love the old MGM musicals, chances are that they along with definitive classics such as Casablanca and Gone with the Wind are considered to be the most likely best sellers making them prime for release first.
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