Warner Archive Discussion Thread (FEEDBACK)

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Lots of good discussion on this thread but much is still based on speculation and incomplete or vague information. We won't see the official press release until tomorrow which should clear up some of the questions regarding media used, etc. FWIW, someone on another board called WHV's help line and was told these were DVDs and not DVD-Rs so who knows?

This is WHV we're dealing with and I have every bit of confidence that whatever is released will be of high quality. They are not going to risk their professional reputations issuing garbage.

Regarding Bowery Boys, Andy Hardy, etc. intuitively I would think those would be headed towards retail because their market is bigger and because of the volume of titles involved. 48 BB films @ $10 each (assumes double features) = not many sales.

Agree that our non USA friends need to be accommodated somehow.

On the whole, I remain very enthusiastic about this concept and am anxious to hear more about it tomorrow.

Steve

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Hi , I am new to this forum. I have been reading this forum for several years before jumping on board. It wasn’t until this announcement that made me register. As a fan of classic movies living north of the border, all I can say is that this has got to be the worst thing I have heard. I am sitting here, sick to my stomach, just looking at what appears, on my computer screen.

I have supported Warner’s all these years and have waited years for many of these titles, only to learn they are not available in Canada. Even if this changes in the future, these certain titles will not be available. All of the classic movies available in Canada come from the US. We don’t even have Canadian owned DVD companies that could ink a deal with Warner’s to bring some titles here.

The titles I have waited for over the years have been to silent films. Warner’s have promised us for many years that silent films would be coming, Now this appears not to be the case. We might get the “Big Parade”, but that will be about it. Only the biggest of movies will be available to the masses, with the lesser known films will be only for the privileged few.

With the chat tomorrow, I was really looking forward to hearing about upcoming titles. I was getting worried since there has been a major drop in classic film releases. Warner’s even has no classic films scheduled after the beginning of April. Now, can I even bring myself to sit for 3 hours, so I can read about of all these wonderful movie releases I can’t even buy.


Well, if it has to be, my days of collecting classic movies have ended. Unless Warner’s realizes what is happening and fixes it. Or, maybe other studios can increase their classic film releases. After all, Warner's seems to be pulling out of the regular DVD market.

Sorry to come on board, miserable and negative, but then consider the news.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

I was talking to a friend that has some inside information. I don't know what is what since things can change, but he says that these won't be new transfers. This may be true on the later Warner stuff (post '48) as they look pretty good when shown on TCM, so I think Warner, like Columbia, has been upgrading their library.
I did order 4 titles, among them is ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN from 1944. I will know instantly if this is an upgrade from the transfer still shown on TCM. At $20 a pop, I would hope they are upgraded from the old transfers that have played on TCM for the last several years.
Some of the TCM transfers have been upgraded from previous showings. I think it preparation for some kind of DVD or foreign sales. Just a new transfer, without a lot of restoration, from original elements would be great as all those Columbia films playing on TCM show. I think most of the pre-48 Warner titles were originally mastered from 50s fine grains that have been around for years, with a lot of flaws and bad sound built in. Just making a new master from the nitrate material can yield an incredible increase in quality and detail.

I was also told that we can expect a bunch of BOMBA titles...since Warners has the Monogram/Allied Artists catalog, and what was to be a John Garfield box set with films such as DUST BE MY DESTINY, FOUR DAUGHTERS, etc., also the Lex Barker Tarzans, although if I have to pay $20 for every BOMBA film, I will be in the poor house sooner than later.

But this is wonderful news if done right....I am sure the WB chat will be filled with questions on this.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Totally agree with your assessment of the situation
I have complete faith in WHV.

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I jumped on the RKO Lost and Found Box Set when that was released and unfortunately 1 out of the 6 titles was defective (Rafter Romance) and froze about 12 minutes in to the film.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

While the anger and frustration are understandable, any additional reference to illegal downloading (or other copyright violations) in this thread will lead to suspension. There will be no further warnings.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

To be fair, Disney sent replacement discs for the More Silly Symphonies discs to the UK a couple of years ago, so it does depend on the studio.


Exactly...

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Well, writable media are inherently less stable than stamped. If they weren't, they wouldn't be writable! Certainly, they are less robust (a good dose of sunlight will wreck a DVD-R).

Of course, the rub is, will they make sure they use good quality media? Will they check to make sure that the DVD-R's are all Japanese manufactured Taiyo Yuden grade dyes...? Will they run a full disc verification on every disc that is burnt before shipping it out?


I have to admit, I really don't like the idea of this type of media.

Not that I can buy them anyway.

And $20 a pop seems very expensive for burnt, vanilla discs.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Great and exciting news. It's too bad about the non-US customers not being able to order them, but perhaps the fact that there's no official announcement yet has a bit to do with that. I'm sure if the demand becomes large enough Warner will want to sell to that market.

My only concern is that the price seems a bit much. I would have expected a price of closer to $10, not $20. As someone who has seen very few of these films $20 is a bit much for blind buys, and the business model prevents a way to rent them, from what I can see.

In any case, I hope it ends up being a success, as there are literally thousands of titles in the WB library that could possibly make it to home video via this service.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

The Associated Press has filed a report on the program which you can read here.

Who's this Robert Crawford quoted in the article? (just kidding, congrats Crawdaddy!)

To give one an idea of WHV's committment to this program, read this:

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Putting aside the maddening fact of these being exclusive to the U.S (and I've real sympathy for Canadian buyers: you really get treated like crap, considering you're right next door)....

This is as good a compromise as classic/catalogue film lovers are likely to get in these straitened times and Warner should be commended for at least being imaginative.

However, whilst I can see the sense in doing it for truly obscure movies that no-one could dispute will sell very little, it's not necessarily good news for films like DOC SAVAGE, THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, LEPKE, ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE or any of the Cary Grant films to name but a few. Those movies wouldn't sell in vast quantities but I'm sure they'd compare favourably to many catalogue titles and could certainly work in larger box sets.

Isn't buying them in this form just going to dilute what buyer-base there might have been, ensuring that they never see retail release?

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

It makes monetary sense to cut out the retailers who take as much as 60% profit.
But these DVD's are overpriced, especially to those of us who want to buy a lot of them.
If the DVD's at least had trailers along with the feature, they'd be worth about $12, although that's a little high, too.
Economically this is the time when people are spending less, not more
The scarcity of these titles isn't to going to prompt sales if customers don't have the money.
If sales turn out to be slow, it's because of the steep price, not due to a lack of interest.
Warner Home Video should not misinterpret slow sales as a lack of interest.
Warner Home Video needs to give more thought to the pricing.
They also need to open payment options up to debit and paypal users.
They'll sell a lot more that way.
To rely strictly on credit cards and only on credit cards in this day and age is tantamount to reducing your sales before you start selling.

Richard

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

I just wish the article gave a plug for the HTF and the many classic film enthusiasts that participate here as members.






Crawdaddy

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

So you are saying that Canadians buyers being left out is a good compromise. Well thanks, maybe Warner's can release movies up in Canada only for Canadian buyers. This of course would be movies you all want and can't get. Maybe "The Big Parade" or "The Crowd" could be exclusive in Canada with no chance of an American release.

With that being said, I will be looking forward to the chat. It will be interesting now that this news is out and no longer secret. This might have been what Warner's was hoping would fill up the 3 hour chat. That and Blu-ray releases. I just hope Warner's can clear up the issue of not releasing these films in Canada.

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With the infrastruture in place (for producing/packaging the discs, as well as fulfilling the orders) Warner will have a lot of opportunity to tweak this to a workable model. If people balk at the $20 per disc cost, maybe they can come up with a type of subscription service where you pay a monthly fee (towards a year contract) and you get to choose a certain number of titles per month. Or they could really push the coupons or run a twice yearly 'blowout' sale.
But I agree that if the integrity of the media is suspect, I don't see this flying for long. If everything is kosher though, I'll be wishing mighty hard that the other studios do the same- how cool would that be?

I'm interested to hear peoples deep catalog want lists from Warner- now that it looks like we actually have a good shot at getting them.Should a new thread be started or do the mods want that kind of stuff kept in this one?

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

I'm looking forward to finding out more about this tomorrow night. There has been some understandable excitement about the program and some good questions about the execution, cost, etc. There are a few questions that have come to my mind too, but I imagine they'll be answered shortly. For the most part, I've decided not to form a solid opinion until we hear more about the details of the program.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

You need to read his post again becasue he doesn't think that Canadians not being able to get these releases is a good compromise, but that a good compromise is this new sales concept versus not having many of these titles available at all on dvd.






Crawdaddy

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Firstly, in these uncertain time of economic instability, I understand Warners’ initiative. As an Australian who has been a loyal customer for many years, owns over five hundred Warner Bros DVDs (almost half my collection), I am fairly disheartened that I will miss out.

There are large numbers of customers in Europe (many customers even risk a customs fee to import), Canada and yes, there are many Australian and New Zealand (hell, even Universal are letting more and more film noir onto our shelves at reasonable prices) customers who spend thousands of dollars on importing DVDs despite the terrible exchange rates. Why? Because we love classic and eclectic film and we WANT more.

I am a perfect market. I am young, single, live on my own (I don’t even have a cat!!), and work full time. I am cashed up and willing to spend!!! I just adore my classic films. I went out yesterday and purchased another bookcase with the hope of being able to fill with more of the films that I love.

I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed at this strategy of selling to the US only. The idea of selling online on demand makes sense, but please, please, please, don’t forget those of us who live overseas. I have to work tomorrow (Australian time) and therefore won’t be able to participate in chat, but I really hope someone addresses this issue. I found at least forty films I would purchase from their archives. I have money, but I can’t buy.

P.S – Thanks to Robert for his terrific post to Warners to not bypass the International customers. It was much appreciated.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Firstly, let's get through the chat scheduled for tomorrow night then we'll deal with lists of titles.





Crawdaddy

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

This is wonderful news! So many films I already want in that list. And a promise to have some many more available in future time!
But come on people, you are already complaining of something that can be easily fixed. As far as I remember, WB did not have a chat with us last year because of people negativity here. Now they share with us this big effort and all you will can talk about is that they won't ship outside USA?
I live in Brazil, and always imported WB american dvds and I'll try to find a way to get them. Other thing I am concerned about is the fact that they are DVD-Rs and not pressed DVDs, but these are very minimal issues when compared with this new huge possibility of getting all the titles we always wanted on dvd!
And, knowing the care and concern that WB has with ALL its consumers, I am sure they won't let us down. Regarding the Out of USA shipping matter, I am sure they can solve it (maybe they didn't think of it before, and now is the time for studying this possibility) and for the longevity of the DVD-Rs (if they are really DVD-Rs and not Pressed Dvds) I am certain they made a lot of studies for delivering us high quality products, not only regarding the transfers but also the dics durability.
Thank you Warner, Can't wait for the Chat tomorrow!!!!!

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Gee, that would have been nice...wouldn't it have?

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

I just placed an order for five titles and I am looking forward to their arriving. However, I found that WB website to be slow and exasperating. I tried to order a few more and it kept saying I did not complete the billing part correctly, but in checking, I did. I have heard that others have had the same problem, but received an email saying it went through. I guess I will wait for that email.

I am very excited about this development. There are many titles on this list that I want and I am sure it will grow. With the loss of the Brick & Mortar stores (Virgin, Tower, Circuit City) and other outlets cutting back on older titles (Best Buy, Borders) then this may the answer to us fans of older classic films. I never thought I would see On Borrowed Time on DVD let alone some of the Garbo silents. Right now, it is three cheers to WB.

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If the consumer doesn't speak up - then how does the seller know what we want? I think it is a legitimate issue and one that people (apart from one or two) have discussed rationally. I also understand that there could be rights issues or legal issues with distributing overseas.

As I have mentioned, the way the economy is going at the moment, it makes better business sense for Warners to head in this direction - it is a very clever idea. Just don't discount the international market as well

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I will be buying this ecause it is my favorite film, and I can't watch my vhs I bought over 10 years ago anymore.

I was going to say that too, set up a specific
section of HTF just for these dvds.


Daniel font too small, bigger please.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

I own an audio commentary recorded with three original crew members of Moulin Rouge (1952) and was thinking of burning audio files of them on disc to play on a program like Sharecrow and selling them but I thought DVD-Rs would never be regarded as satisfactory. This changes things.

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It's a nice idea, but the price is too expensive. $20 is a bit too much for one film. Most of these films have also run on TCM. With so high a price point and little extras, I think I'll probably hold onto my TCM copies for the time being.

I would prefer to see them group similar films together, liking grouping all the Crawford films, or the Gable films together, and offering them at a lower price, like they do with their box sets.

A lot of these films I think could have been released as part of box sets and still be profitable for them. Also, some like ALL FALL DOWN and MR. LUCKY could have stood alone as a single release.

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This sounds like a great idea but I gotta agree about the price! 20 bucks is kinda pricy, especially for a blind buy. I hate buying movies I haven't seen! I still think some of these movies could have been placed in a box set but I still give Warners credit for releasing classic movies! And I feel bad for people in Canada, they still use the region 1 dvds like us!

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Yeah $20 is a tad bit high. I definitely don't want to spend $100 on 5 movies. They should have a deal where if you buy 5 to make a set, you only pay $50.

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

This article will be in tomorrow morning's USA Today. WHV is definitely putting a full out marketing blitz on this.

Several interesting things in this article. Mr. Feltenstein indicates the plan is to eventually make virtually their entire catalog available. He also notes the influence that bootlegging has in terms of helping WHV identify high demand titles that aren't available.

Classic Flix also has a nice chart showing the 150 initial entries in alpha or chronological order.

You can bet I'll be checking HTF from work tomorrow looking for the official press release

Steve

re: Warner Archive Discussion Thread

Regarding people making orders yesterday and today: since the website was not supposed to go live until Monday, I would not be surprised if there are hiccups with orders from this weekend. I have no idea, really, but it crossed my mind.