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Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration - Page 7

post #181 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:31pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

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post #182 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:39pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Hunt
The 50 mentioned were JUST Warner titles. George Feltenstein tells me that there are dozens and dozens more coming from the MGM, RKO, Allied and other libraries Warner controls, IN ADDITION to the 50 Warner titles.

I'd like to echo the thanks to Mr. Hunt for seeking and receiving clarification on this. This obviously makes a huge difference in the projected 2008 output from WHV. I completely understand WHV not wanting to reveal specific titles/dates but it is good to know that the classic DVD market is still strong for them. With the softening US economy and the stagnant DVD market it was a real concern that we might have seen a pullback this year.

Thanks also to WHV for being so responsive to the concerns expressed over the press release.

Steve
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post #183 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:45pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

I thought they were gonna make another announcement today. What happened?
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post #184 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:46pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey
I thought they were gonna make another announcement today. What happened?
Who told you that?
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post #185 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:47pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rod J
I agree.. I wouldn't buy any of them..
Be nice now.





Crawdaddy
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post #186 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:48pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Edit: Deleted.
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post #187 of 506
2/7/08 at 7:52pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray_R
I figure You're still Region 1 and have no desire become region free. I guess if it's released in another country it doesn't exist yet on DVD.
I'm out of this thread. And I've stopped reading Bill Hunts biased site years ago. Yes, shocking I have other sites at my disposal for news about DVD's!!!
Not a good way to win friends and influence people.





Crawdaddy
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post #188 of 506
2/7/08 at 8:06pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
Be nice now.





Crawdaddy

Sorry - after seeing the incredibly long list of "Golden Harvest" titles, I had to agree with his statement about non-interest.
I'll go back to waiting for "Magnificent Ambersons"..
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post #189 of 506
2/14/08 at 10:00am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Can someone tell me if it is going to be another year to pass without "This Is The Army" to show up when UCLA already has restored elements to work with?

Also, what about Warner's Monogram releases?

Eric
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post #190 of 506
2/14/08 at 12:42pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

I think they nust be napping over at Warners - still no really OH WOW announcements since Dec 07. We are heading into second quarter in about 6 weeks. I guess then we will hear they must be holding off the good stuff until 4th Quarter.

Interesting we are hearing yearly dvd sales are down, yet right here on the forum the news section states Lionsgate's sales are rocking, Fox had a pretty amazing dvd sales year with titles like DIE HARD 4, FANTASTIC FOUR - SILVER SURFER etc which proves - 1. If the studios release solid theatrical product the revenue of dvd sales will be strong and 2. If good dvd product is released customers will step up,


So far this young year I have ordered and or received already

The Song of Bernadette (Fox)
The Betty Grable Box (Fox)
I LOVE LUCY - Complete Series (Paramount)
Charlie Chan 4 (Fox)
The Lubitsch Musicals (Criterion)
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (Warners)
Dairy of Anne Frank(Fox)
Mark of Zorro (Fox)
A Yank in R.A.F. (Fox)
Gangster 3 Collection (Warners)


So far this year that makes 6 for Fox, 1 for Paramount, 1 for Criterion and 2 for Warners getting my money. I will continue to support the studios as long as they release great product.
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post #191 of 506
2/14/08 at 2:29pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Isnt this the year for the Show Boat collection? I'm dying to see the 29 verison with all the sound discs finally in place.
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post #192 of 506
2/14/08 at 2:45pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

And what about the Star Is Born collection with a restored 1937 version and more extras for the 1954 version? This has been talked about for ages!
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post #193 of 506
2/14/08 at 5:56pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertGr
"Finally, studio reps revealed that 4 major catalog titles (The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Woodstock and North by Northwest) are all soon going on moratorium. The good news is, each will reappear in 2009 in day-and-date DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases, complete with stunning new high-definition restorations to celebrate their own individual anniversaries."


Marco - from the quote above from the Bits website it seems it OZ will be reissued yet again "day and date dvd and Blu ray."

I understand Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and North by Northwest are being revisited due to 2009 being the 70th, 70th and 50th anniversary of those films, but what about Woodstock? It was released in 1970, so wouldn't it make more sense to release it in 2010?

Goodfellas, Heat, Once Upon a Time in America, The Departed and True Romance are just repackages, right? Not re-releases?
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post #194 of 506
2/14/08 at 6:52pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by ZacharyTait
I understand Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and North by Northwest are being revisited due to 2009 being the 70th, 70th and 50th anniversary of those films, but what about Woodstock? It was released in 1970, so wouldn't it make more sense to release it in 2010?

Goodfellas, Heat, Once Upon a Time in America, The Departed and True Romance are just repackages, right? Not re-releases?

BluRay versions? Isn't The Departed one of the HD-DVD exclusives?
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post #195 of 506
2/14/08 at 7:30pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
BluRay versions? Isn't The Departed one of the HD-DVD exclusives?

What I gather from the press release is that these titles are being packaged into a Gangsters promotion.

I'm wondering if the titles are the old DVDs bunched together or new DVDs?
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post #196 of 506
2/15/08 at 8:36am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

I thought the 1937 A STAR IS BORN is owned somehow by Disney? I thought they restored that title and also 1937's NOTHING SACRED although maybe it was only NOTHING SACRED that Disney has restored but never issued on disc.
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post #197 of 506
2/15/08 at 8:45am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

As I understand it, Warners bought Star from David O. Selznick for remake purposes, resulting in the Garland picture. This was a practice he did often later in his career, selling off older properties to other studios so they could be remade. This is how Paramount got Nothing Sacred for the Martin & Lewis comedy Living It Up, and how MGM got both The Prisoner of Zenda and Little Women for their color remakes. In fact, Selznick was goinmg to do a color version of Little Women starring Jennifer Jones as Jo March but a labor strike scuttled the project, so he sold the property to MGM:

Greenbriar Picture Shows
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post #198 of 506
2/15/08 at 10:41am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
BluRay versions? Isn't The Departed one of the HD-DVD exclusives?
The Departed was released on BD the same day as the HD-DVD.
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post #199 of 506
2/15/08 at 11:06am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Interesting post, if Warners owns 1937's A STAR IS BORN then why even when TCM shows the film all we get is a VERY VERY substandard transfer you would think they have all the negs or seps. On NOTHING SACRED Disney did the restoration as I recall a few years back.

Here is part of a piece by Scott McQueen in 2000.

"Nothing Sacred-a 1937 screwball comedy directed by William Wellman, produced by David O. Selznick, filmed by W. Howard Greene, and starring Carole Lombard and Frederic March-was among the first three-strip Technicolor feature films ever produced. Within five years of its release, the film changed hands, setting in motion a long chain of printing compromises that degraded the integrity of the original film elements over the last 63 years. As a result, audiences have not seen the film as the filmmakers intended, and the original negative was rendered unsuitable for rerelease, DVD mastering, or even long-term archiving.

When the Walt Disney Company acquired the ABC/Capital Cities film library, it became clear that Nothing Sacred and other David O. Selznick-produced films required intensive restoration to provide the best possible masters for home video and cable delivery and to guarantee long-term viability of these assets in the company's library."
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post #200 of 506
2/20/08 at 1:34pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

from Barrie Maxwell at the Bits today

The Digital Bits - Celebrating Film in the Digital Age

Quote:
Speaking of Warner, our very own Barrie Maxwell chimes in today with this little gem of a news nugget for you classic film fans:

Warner Bros. has Quo Vadis in the lab now and a 2008 release is planned, most likely in the fourth quarter. Raintree County is less certain as to timing as the studio is intent on releasing the road show version. To that end, it has involved dealing with a collector's print and marrying various portions to Warners' master. The studio continues to look for even better elements, so at this time it is impossible to gage the release date. A BD release for these titles cannot yet be confirmed, but it is Warners' intention to release as many special editions day and date SD and BD as possible.

Both of these titles are examples of the imprecise timeline that bringing classic titles to market is subject to. Warners has tried to be candid about their release plans and sometimes it's been to the studio's detriment as classic enthusiasts get wedded to a specific release year or quarter that the studio has mentioned in a chat and then are upset when a particular title doesn't appear. Such changes are due to any number of things including legal issues, imprecise restoration and remastering timelines, element surprises/availability, market opportunities, and so on. Classic fans should be aware that the studio is intent in bringing the many classic titles that they are looking for to the market as quickly as it can and in a condition that fans will be happy with.

Warners has also confirmed that they are working on This Is the Army right at this time. Quite a bit of work is needed, however, so release timing is not possible to tell at present.

Thanks, Barrie! We get a lot of questions about these titles, so it's good to know what's happening.
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post #201 of 506
2/20/08 at 2:19pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Both of these titles are examples of the imprecise timeline that bringing classic titles to market is subject to. Warners has tried to be candid about their release plans and sometimes it's been to the studio's detriment as classic enthusiasts get wedded to a specific release year or quarter that the studio has mentioned in a chat and then are upset when a particular title doesn't appear. Such changes are due to any number of things including legal issues, imprecise restoration and remastering timelines, element surprises/availability, market opportunities, and so on. Classic fans should be aware that the studio is intent in bringing the many classic titles that they are looking for to the market as quickly as it can and in a condition that fans will be happy with.

Barrie hit the nail on the head with the above comment. If we don't get a chat this year with Warner this was why because of the lack of appreciation that has been posted here and other sites.





Crawdaddy
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post #202 of 506
2/20/08 at 3:10pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
If we don't get a chat this year with Warner this was why because of the lack of appreciation that has been posted here and other sites.
Yep. No chat means there's no timetable for people to whine about.
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post #203 of 506
2/20/08 at 5:25pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
Yep. No chat means there's no timetable for people to whine about.

Agreed. So WHV .... don't come to chat.

We're only getting this stuff second or third hand, but if WHV either can't deliver on their timetable or are concerned about putting out a timetable that is wrong the answer is simple, don't do a timetable. Thus no timetable, no need to have a chat. Then they can put things out in the press when they are good and ready to put things out to the press. What have we lost? Nothing worth discussing.

That said, if the criticisms posted on forums is getting to the good people at WHV, I would suggest they are in the wrong business and sure the heck are in the wrong town.
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post #204 of 506
2/20/08 at 5:42pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Well, that's an uplifting response....

Warner - Rich doesn't speak for all of us. Even though I want The Crowd and Bachelor Mother as much as anyone, I understand if they've fallen on the back burner for any number of reasons, and I will be more than happy to see other films you release that may also end up being favorites, so keep 'em coming while also letting us know which ones you are also trying to get out!
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post #205 of 506
2/20/08 at 5:47pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
...If we don't get a chat this year with Warner this was why because of the lack of appreciation that has been posted here and other sites.

Too bad. I'd be disappointed but would understand. WHV do get what I would respectfully submit is unwarranted criticism for not doing enough or not getting to someone's personal favorite, etc. But I would add that many more people than not certainly do appreciate their time and effort to attend the chat.

As for them being sensitive, well they are the last man standing, so to speak, with regards to coming to the forum, so I don't think there's anything to that charge.
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post #206 of 506
2/20/08 at 5:55pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

While I appreciate the WHV guys coming onto this site for their chats, I've never been a fan of the WHV chats...it's almost impossible to get your own personal question asked, the people who do get through usually ask questions about a lot of cheesy "B" movie titles or "A" list titles that everyone already knows the answer to (Will "Ben Hur come out on Blue Ray?" Duh...)at the expense of other more historically/important titles that are never addressed, and the WHV guys end up shilling for their latest "big" promo...when not answering questions with: a) we currently have no plans for/to revisit that title; b) it's under consideration c) work is slowly progressing on it d) We can't say anything about it right now and finally, d) look for a release sometime in the future.
I'd much rather have the opportunity to submit questions in writing to our site administrator and have the WHV submit the answers which could be published here...then everyone's question could be answered!
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post #207 of 506
2/20/08 at 6:14pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimin70mm
I'd much rather have the opportunity to submit questions in writing to our site administrator and have the WHV submit the answers which could be published here...then everyone's question could be answered!
I agree that it can be hard to ask a question. I am so far away, and there is so much lag in my connection that I have to start "yoing" a few seconds before I see the request for yoing! Else I end up 40th.

Perhaps a better system would be if we have a thread where we all list our question. Then we vote on the top 20 or 30 questions.

Then those questions are given to Warner in advance, and they just come and discuss the answers.

Just a suggestion...
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post #208 of 506
2/20/08 at 8:02pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

I appreciate Warner Brothers for being the only big studio who takes the time to communicate with its consumers and let us know of the product that they've got coming.

That being said, with the level of ingratitude being shown, I can't blame them if they do not back for a chat. Of course, those who have ruined it for everyone else will be the same people who bitch that WB doesn't come around though.
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post #209 of 506
2/20/08 at 9:05pm

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

It's always hard for me to understand those who always have to find something negative to say about every release or news or studio, rather than to celebrate ALL the good points instead. So many catalog titles, including some very rare ones have been released in the past few years or soon will be - personally, I am constantly overwhelmed!

And heaven knows, of all the studios, Warner has done more to make fans happy than any other (IMO). I'm sure I cannot even begin to imagine all the work that goes into remastering all the catalog titles, but I am so grateful whenever more are released, whether they are actually favorites of mine or not!!! I do hope Warner and all the studios know how much their efforts are genuinely and most enthusiastically appreciated.
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post #210 of 506
2/21/08 at 7:54am

Re: Speculation for Warner Bros. 85th Anniversary Celebration

I have to sheepishly say that I have never participated in the chats (my computer is too slow for live connections especially with dial-up) but have always appreciated someone from Warner (and other studios years past) doing this.

I feel that most of the ready or easy projects have already been tackled over the years and now films that need extra attention or complete restorations are what is left and you have to weigh cost vs. sales. But I am willing to wait as long as I "know" something is on its way!

Just a bit puzzled as to "This Is The Army" because UCLA did a restoration years ago in anticipation for an official DVD release and now see Warner is working on it now but elude to it being a major project?

Eric
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