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More Warner B&W BD plans: Maltese Falcon, Marx Bros., Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Bogart.

#31
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10/13/09 at 12:29pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway View Post

Paul - Interesting idea, but I don't think they would help themselves by undercutting their perceived A/V quality. It would be shooting themselves in the foot.
I'm sure you're right about that, but still, by placing the quality bar so very high, it becomes yet another factor that tends to leave us classic film lovers out in the cold.

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#32
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10/13/09 at 1:21pm
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I have to disagree - at worst it's a slight chill. There are still hundreds of titles available/being released. Then there are the thousands of DVDs that are still of very nice quality. Finances may hinder the same amount of catalog titles making it to BD as DVD, but it's not that bad all things considered. Besides, if relatively low-quality BDs are released, what's the point? Might as well just stick with the very good DVDs.
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#33
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10/13/09 at 4:18pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Penna View Post

If so, how's this for an idea? Release lower-echelon classics in their existing high-def transfers, porting over any DVD extras in standard-def, and pricing them as if they were paperback book reprints - maybe $10-$12 list, with the expectation of normal street price discounting. There'd be lots of film noir titles, for example, that I'd be eager to upgrade on that basis.


I say they already do this for most titles that end up being discounted to $15 in those amazon sales. A lot of titles that are blurry with DNR and EE I suspect were not struck anew but ported across.

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#34
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10/13/09 at 4:42pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Gaertner View Post

I take that Marx Bros. news with a grain of salt... Planning could mean someone saying "we own a few Marx Brothers films right?"

Collectors have been looking for better elements for years. I'm talking Horse Feathers and Night at the Opera (which has been missing footage since WW2). Those obsessed with the Marx Brothers know there isn't much out there. They had a chance to show off what they had back in 2004 on DVD and it wasn't much. Warner has never said anything about going to Hungary to get that complete print of Night of the Opera rumored to be sitting in some vault.
 

Has anyone confirmed that story about a complete print of Night at the Opera in a vault in Eastern Europe?  I hate to think that a complete print exists out there, deteriorating daily, with no effort to recover and restore it.

There MUST be better elements in existence out there of the Marx Brothers films.  I remember seeing Horsefeathers at a university screening in 1989 and my recollection is that the print had considerably fewer splices in it than the DVD version.  If such prints survived to 1989, they may still exist today.
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#35
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10/13/09 at 4:45pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Cheshire View Post

I say they already do this for most titles that end up being discounted to $15 in those amazon sales. A lot of titles that are blurry with DNR and EE I suspect were not struck anew but ported across.

Perhaps. Those are typically the 80s-90s B-grade movies, though (such as Outbreak, Over the Top, Tango & Cash, etc.)
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#36
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10/13/09 at 4:53pm
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The Wild Bunch (1969) for example.

Even though they're not doing it for film noir titles yet, my point is the principle is already in practice; that little to no effort is being put into more obscure catalogue titles.

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#37
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10/13/09 at 7:26pm
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Well, The Wild Bunch was a transfer made for the Jan 2006 DVD that they released on Blu/HD-DVD in Sep 2007. The bar has been raised since those days. And even then I think it's a fine release, even if a bit DNR heavy (which I don't recall a single complaint about 2 years ago, to be honest).
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#38
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10/14/09 at 5:11am
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Well i just saw it for the first time in 2009, and it seems like its dated quite badly as a transfer. It was DNR'd and EE'd to blurriness.

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#39
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10/14/09 at 10:01am
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Which goes to show that expectations are only rising for A/V quality.

I'd be curious in seeing if Robert Harris would say of the disc today, as opposed to then:

"In place of that brilliant 35mm print, I now have a beautiful disc.

The frame is more stable, the color virtually a match, and the image cleaned up. One thing that used to trouble me were emulsion scratches that were built into the OCN of the Mapache sequence. As far as color goes, The Wild Bunch could easily be mis-timed, but this release replicates, with absolute perfection, the precise warmth originally seen in the brilliant blue skies. Dead on perfect!

...

Short of the Intermission and Entr'acte, Warner's new HD and BD variants of The Wild Bunch replicate the film to perfection.

...

What a glorious home video release!

No more needs to be said.

Extremely Highly Recommended!"


http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/263339/a-few-words-about-the-wild-bunch-in-bd-hd

Now in 2009, would we get a "don't touch it with a 90' pole" Patton-esque review?
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#40
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10/14/09 at 12:21pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Timothy E View Post

Has anyone confirmed that story about a complete print of Night at the Opera in a vault in Eastern Europe?  I hate to think that a complete print exists out there, deteriorating daily, with no effort to recover and restore it.

Yes, some 21 yr. old film buff in Hungary found a version of Night of the Opera that is longer and features some alternate scenes. It contains all the references to Italy intact. He paid $30 to watch the first reel and threaded it on the projector himself (!).... apparently this was a great sum of money for him. He even took some old foreign posters laying around that featured images of the Marx Brothers never seen before to prove he had found this stash.

He explained in great detail his find to anyone willing to listen... mainly fan forums, newsgroups...etc. Someone contacted Leonard Maltin, who then contacted some of his friends at Warner. This was around October 2008. The story ends there.... so far.

The news of Marx Bros. on blu-ray raises a few eyebrows. I don't think they were planning a super-deluxe version of A Night in Casablanca. I'm curious what they are working on...


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#41
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10/14/09 at 1:30pm
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If Maltin and Warner got involved, that sounds promising.
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#42
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10/14/09 at 10:30pm
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Oh heck yes!! Marx Bros movies in Blu-ray!!
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#43
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10/15/09 at 12:27am
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I KNOW! Marxes on VHS and DVD have always been so faded and worn; I can't wait to see them shine like Sunrise!

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#44
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10/15/09 at 12:27am
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When does this get officially announced? I can't wait!

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#45
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10/15/09 at 1:15am
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Apparently, Warner France have let it be known that they have a a release date of November, 2010 for both The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of The Sierra Madre.
So many films, so little time...
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#46
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10/15/09 at 1:24am
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So excited, but can't believe its so late in the year... Hope there's dozens more classics to keep me busy for earlier on...

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#47
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10/15/09 at 9:15am
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With any release date past 4 months (especially unofficial ones) things are VERY subject to change. See: LOTR Trilogy, Ben-Hur, King Kong (1993), all in a flier stating an intended 2009 release.
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#48
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10/16/09 at 2:22am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Conway View Post

See: LOTR Trilogy, Ben-Hur, King Kong (1993), all in a flier stating an intended 2009 release.
 

Add to that list Lawrence of Arabia included on the blu ray promotion video in 2006 (!) then slated for 2009 release...

P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.

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#49
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10/16/09 at 8:23am
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So far I've seen a nice amount of B&W Blus...

Criterion's The 400 Blows, Repulsion, The Third Man, and The Seventh Seal are all gorgeous. Same thing for Sony's Dr. Strangelove and Masters of Cinema's Sunrise. I see that between the 1080p format and the better compression systems allow for vastly superior reproduction than DVD. The Third Man and the Czech print of Sunrise look like they were printed onto silver. There's this wonderful texture to the image that I rarely see on DVD because it simply can't handle the range of grayscale.



Tell The Weinstein Company to release Richard Williams' animated masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler on DVD in Panavision widescreen and uncut! See and hear what you're missing from their Bitsy Award winner of Worst Standard Edition DVD of 2006 on YouTube!
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#50
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10/16/09 at 8:27am
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As long as we're praising b&w BDs, I'll throw in some love for two exceptional discs from the BFI - Saturday Night & Sunday Morning and Winstanley.
So many films, so little time...
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#51
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10/16/09 at 11:52am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Cheshire View Post




Add to that list Lawrence of Arabia included on the blu ray promotion video in 2006 (!) then slated for 2009 release...
 

Different studio, this is about Warner Bros.
And I would rather have Sony working on the title when they feel the movie still needs work, than just bring it out because of the release date. And knowing Sony's pretty good track record, that's probably exactly what they're doing.

Never go out with anyone who thinks Fellini is a type of cheese

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#52
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10/21/09 at 12:36pm
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George Feltenstein on the Dick Dinman show (it's part IV of a series on the Oz blu-ray release), http://media.usm.maine.edu/~wmpg/arc...C%20091120.mp3)

Some good info. The only "new" info I gleaned was:

- A Star Is Born in 2010
- A Streetcar Named Desire being prepped for 2011
- Determining how to release Ben Hur
- Musicals (Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon, Meet Me in St. Louis) are not coming out in 2010, but being prepped
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