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11-20-2007, 02:22 PM
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#1 of 83 
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2001
Local Time: 11:17 AM
Local Date: 11-19-2008
Posts: 199
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Classics on HD and BD
I'm a big classic movies fan. 95% of my 900+ DVD collection consists of movies made before 1980 and my HD optical collection is almost exlusively made up of classics. Since I don't think I'm unique in this I thought it might be handy for my fellow classic movie lovers to compile a list of classics that are available and announced on both formats. Especially since both formats currently concentrate on releasing modern action oriented movies and classic movies tend to get snowed under, at least in my perception.
Btw, a lot of people entertain the perception that old movies do not really benefit from the HD treatment. I can reassure all people who think that; I've yet to see a HD or BD release that was not significantly better than its SD counterpart in picture and sound quality. Seeing these old movies in HD is like seeing them for the first time.
So here is what's available and announced as far as I know. If I missed something let me know and I'll add it. (The 1980 cut off date is disputable but you have to end somewhere).
HD=HD-DVD, BD=Blu-Ray
2001 A Space Odyssey (HD & BD)
3 Days Of The Condor (HD Europe, forced subs)
Les 400 Coups (HD & BD France, no English subs)
Abba The Movie (HD & BD UK)
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (HD)
Army In The Shadows (HD Europe)
Battle Of The Bulge (HD & BD)
Blazing Saddles (HD & BD)
Bullit (HD & BD)
Caddyshack (HD)
Casablanca (HD)
Capricorn One (BD Europe, region free)
A Clockwork Orange (HD & BD)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (BD, region free)
The Cowboys (HD & BD)
Dawn Of The Dead (BD, region free)
The Deer Hunter (HD)
Deliverance (HD & BD)
The Dirty Dozen (HD & BD)
Dog Day Afternoon (HD & BD)
The Eagle Has Landed (BD Europe, region free)
Enter The Dragon (HD & BD)
The Fog (HD Europe)
Forbidden Planet (HD)
Les Gendarmes Boxset (HD France, no English subs)
The Getaway (HD & BD)
The Graduate (HD Europe)
Grand Prix (HD)
Halloween (BD, region free)
Jailhouse Rock (HD & BD)
King Kong (1976, HD Europe)
The Last Waltz (BD, region free)
Mutiny On The Bounty (HD)
National Lampoon's Animal House (HD)
The Omega Man (HD & BD)
Rio Bravo (HD & BD)
Rocky (BD)
The Searchers (HD & BD)
Serpico (HD Europe, forced subs)
The Shining (HD & BD)
Spartacus (HD)
Star Trek TOS Season 1 (HD)
The Sting (HD)
Superman: The Movie (HD & BD)
Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut (HD & BD)
Viva Las vegas (HD & BD)
The Warriors (HD & BD)
The Wild Bunch (HD & BD)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (HD)
Announced:
The Sevent Seal (Dec 3, BD apparently going to be region free)
Life Of Brian (Dec 3, BD Europe, US to follow in January)
20 Million Miles To Earth (Dec 4, BD region ???)
For A Few Dollars More (Dec 5, HD Italy, only Italian audio and subs)
My Name Is Nobody (Dec 5, HD Italy, only Italian audio and subs)
Jimi Hendrix Live At Monterrey (Dec 10, HD UK)
That's Entertainment (Dec 18, HD & BD)
Les Avonturiers 40th Anniversary Edition (Dec 21, HD Japan, no English subs?)
Sonny Chiba Double Feature incl The Killing Machine and Shogun's Ninja (Jan 8, BD region ???)
Sister Street Fighter Double Feature (Jan 8, BD region ???)
Road To Bali/Road To Rio (Jan 8, HD)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (Jan 18, BD announced in Japan, from Fox so don't hold your breath)
Bonnie And Clyde (March 25, HD & BD)
Number of classic releases by Hollywood's majors:
Warner: 27 (+2 announced)
Universal: 4
MGM: 2
Paramount: 2 (1 tv series)
Sony/Columbia: 1 (+2 announced)
Fox: 0 (1 announced in Japan)
Disney: 0
Last edited by Danny_N : 12-01-2007 at 02:40 AM.
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11-21-2007, 12:45 PM
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#2 of 83
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Local Date: 11-19-2008
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Saw a trailer/add for Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray Disc on my Ratatoulle disc the other day...
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11-21-2007, 01:19 PM
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#3 of 83
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Local Date: 11-19-2008
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
I cant agree more....I'm sure there are many people (with discretionary income) that are waiting precisely for classic catalog films in HD. Apparently the studios think that HD is for the young who are CGI addicts and like to watch AEON FLUX over and over again!
Ken
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11-21-2007, 02:16 PM
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#4 of 83
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ken Koc
I cant agree more....I'm sure there are many people (with discretionary income) that are waiting precisely for classic catalog films in HD. Apparently the studios think that HD is for the young who are CGI addicts and like to watch AEON FLUX over and over again!
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I am not so sure there is that much interest by the average HT enthusiast either.
I asked a question regarding lists of released and announced titles with info about the production year as I wanted to filter those for older movies and got no answer - on AVS that is. Not really encouraging that nobody seems to think it would be nice to keep track of older movies.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by DaViD Boulet
Saw a trailer/add for Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray Disc on my Ratatoulle disc the other day...
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Wow Dave, that would be something 
How did it look ?
Oliver |
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11-21-2007, 02:51 PM
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#5 of 83
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Member
Location: The Land of Oranges, Mickey Mouse, and foreclosures
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Sleeping Beauty looked great, but IIRC it had a Fall 2008 release date.
"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick
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11-21-2007, 02:56 PM
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#6 of 83
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2000
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Local Date: 11-19-2008
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman
Sleeping Beauty looked great, but IIRC it had a Fall 2008 release date.
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Damn - talk about a teaser ! |
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11-21-2007, 02:56 PM
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#7 of 83
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Member
Join Date: Feb 1999
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Local Date: 11-19-2008
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Actually, I wasn't all that impressed with the SB trailer. Lots of "strobbing" of hte image fading from light/dark. Also pretty soft compared to what I'd expect a large-format negative to have delivered.
I hope that the wizards as LDI (DTS digital images) haven't lost all the detail in their "restoration" process. And of course, the image of the trailer could be a far-cry from the final product that's optimally mastered (as all of Disney's BDs seem to be optimally mastered thus far).
dave
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11-21-2007, 03:14 PM
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#8 of 83
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Danny_N
Btw, a lot of people entertain the perception that old movies do not really benefit from the HD treatment.
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Many people I've talked to have that same idea. In fact, I've been told by numerous people that movies from the 90's wouldn't benefit from HD (one person even stated only movies made in the last couple years would benefit).
Sadly, I think classic film fans will get shortchanged when it comes to HD releases. It gets exponentially worse for fans of classic foreign films (where's my Bergman, Fellini, Fassbinder, Truffaut, Godard, Tarkovsky, etc?). |
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11-21-2007, 05:19 PM
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#9 of 83
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Join Date: Feb 1999
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
I think that the Fox musicals will help change that impression. The restored prints of Sound of Music, Hello Dolly (70mm is fantastic, the DVD looks like shit next to the colors and clarity of this print), Fiddler (Ok, that's MGM), King and I, and even Singing in the Rain (Warner) look STUNNING in HD.
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11-21-2007, 10:47 PM
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#11 of 83
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Re: Classics on HD and BD
Quote:
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I think that the Fox musicals will help change that impression. The restored prints of Sound of Music, Hello Dolly (70mm is fantastic, the DVD looks like shit next to the colors and clarity of this print), Fiddler (Ok, that's MGM), King and I, and even Singing in the Rain (Warner) look STUNNING in HD.
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I would love to get the R&H musicals on Bd. Given the priority that Fox places on catalog releases, I believe we will see these in Q2 and Q4 of 2018...but they'll get announced in the next two years of | |
