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North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

post #1 of 48
1/12/09 at 6:19pm
Thread Starter 
Is Warner Bros still planning on releasing a 50th anniversary edition of North By Northwest this year? Will it be out by Spring or later in the year?

Also, are other Alfred Hitchcock films in the works for blu ray?

I saw the dvd reissues of Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho last summer, but figured they should be coming to blu ray shortly?
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North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]
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post #2 of 48
1/13/09 at 12:48pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

I don't think anything has been announced about Hitchcock on Blu-Ray, although there are indeed rumors about North by Northwest. It would've been a perfect time to release Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo when the 2-discs were released, but Universal didn't take the opportunity. Too bad.
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post #3 of 48
1/13/09 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

I believe the HTF chat with WB in 2007 mentioned that a restoration was in the works for North By Northwest for release in 2009?
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post #4 of 48
1/14/09 at 6:07am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

I hope this gets released this year and is done justice since it is one of my favourite films.

If it comes out and is DNRed to the point lost detail is clearly missing then I will be maaaaaad.
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post #5 of 48
1/14/09 at 8:16am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

The standard DVDs of North By Northwest, Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind, and Woodstock went on moratorium last year in anticipation of being released on blu-ray and rereleased on standard DVD in 2009. I assume this is still the plan. It was mentioned as part of the Warner Bros 85th Anniversary press event posted 2/6/08 per link below.

"A few other titles that were notable were also discussed. These titles will go into moratorium soon to be re-introduced in HD in 2009: Gone with the Wind, Woodstock, The Wizard of Oz and North by Northwest. As Bill Hunt and I talked about later, its titles like these that will help to drive people to HD."

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ess-event.html
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post #6 of 48
1/14/09 at 11:04pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Knowing the problems with the ON of North by Northwest, it will be interesting to see what they can do with it now that the technology is significantly advanced. I believe this was one of Lowry's earliest titles, and they worked miracles, with it at the time. I'd love to see what they can do now.

Doug
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post #7 of 48
1/15/09 at 9:10am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Monce
Knowing the problems with the ON of North by Northwest, it will be interesting to see what they can do with it now that the technology is significantly advanced.


My bet is that North By Northwest will be given the same treatment that The Searchers was given. That is the separation masters will be scanned, cleaned up, and combined via the Ultra-Rez process to form the final product. I don't know anything, this is just my gut feeling.

I'm looking forward to the results.

-R
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post #8 of 48
1/15/09 at 12:54pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Wasn't North By Northwest cropped on the original dvd, like the Searchers was? I imagine this will be fixed for the new version?
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post #9 of 48
1/17/09 at 2:59pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reagan
My bet is that North By Northwest will be given the same treatment that The Searchers was given. That is the separation masters will be scanned, cleaned up, and combined via the Ultra-Rez process to form the final product. I don't know anything, this is just my gut feeling.

I'm looking forward to the results.

-R

Could very well be, assuming that the separation masters were prepared correctly in the first place, and even still exist.

Doug
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post #10 of 48
4/3/09 at 7:44am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

The Heights Theatre in MPLS MN area will be doing a screening of NORTH BY NORTHWEST April 16th tix may still be avalaible

Here is their link

Heights Theatre


Here is what their webpage states:

The Heights Theatre and Jazz88 presents
"NORTH BY NORTHWEST" (1959) 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL SCREENING!
THURSDAY APRIL 16, 2009. One Show Only! 7:30pm.
All Seats $8.00.
Advance tickets available


The Heights Theatre and Jazz88 presents a very special 50TH ANNIVERSARY screening of

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" (1959) Starring CARY GRANT, EVA MARIE SAINT and JAMES MASON.

In addition to the screening of this VISTAVISION and TECHNICOLOR classic we also will have...
* HARVEY GUSTAFSON at the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer!
* ULTRA RARE Never seen before 35mm Hearst Metrotone Newsreel footage of ALFRED HITCHCOCK and EVA MARIE SAINT promoting the 1959 opening of "North By Northwest" in Chicago, courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive!
* A special screening of the LONG trailer for "MARNIE" hosted by ALFRED HITCHCOCK himself!
* PLUS, Prize drawings and other giveaways!
SO DON'T MISS IT!

35mm print courtesy Warner Bros.
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post #11 of 48
4/11/09 at 12:00pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Powell&Pressburger
The Heights Theatre in MPLS MN area will be doing a screening of NORTH BY NORTHWEST April 16th tix may still be avalaible

Here is their link

Heights Theatre

I e-mailed the theatre. The print they are getting is not a newly restored print but a 5-6 year old print. There's is nothing wrong with that as I saw NBNW in NYC a couple years ago and the print looked great. However, it is not a sign that newly restored prints are making the rounds.
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post #12 of 48
4/11/09 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

I noticed that WB has not said anything further about this film coming to blu ray this year. Is it still in the works? I was wondering if maybe it's going to be delayed until next year, as WB already has a number of older catalog titles coming this year?
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post #13 of 48
4/11/09 at 9:24pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Borst
Wasn't North By Northwest cropped on the original dvd, like the Searchers was? I imagine this will be fixed for the new version?

The DVD has considerably more image on the sides than the laserdisc.
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post #14 of 48
4/12/09 at 5:55am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Well, I saw some images somewhere that showed that the latest dvd was missing some image information. And of course I can't find that link now, that always happens when you're looking for it.
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post #15 of 48
5/19/09 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Is there any further news on a blu ray release date? I hope this film is being released in 2009.

Side question, are any of the other Alfred Hitchcock films on the way?
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post #16 of 48
5/20/09 at 3:35pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
The DVD has considerably more image on the sides than the laserdisc.

Oh, I meant this link but it seems it was mentioning the Laserdisc as the faulty one, I think.
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post #17 of 48
5/25/09 at 2:36pm
Thread Starter 

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Has the restoration and blu ray release of North By Northwest been delayed?

Thanks.

Warner Previews 2008/2009 Blu-ray Slate | High-Def Digest

Warner Bros. has unveiled plans to celebrate its 85th birthday in grand style, promising Blu-ray release of such beloved titles as 'Gone with the Wind,' 'The Wizard of Oz' and films from the Batman and Dirty Harry series.

Revealed by top studio execs at a media event held last night on the Warner lot, the studio says it will honor its 85-year legacy with an extensive slate of DVD and Blu-ray releases of major theatrical and catalog titles throughout 2008 and early 2009.

Many titles mentioned have already been hinted at in previous public statements, including films from the Batman and Dirty Harry franchises, the upcoming theatrical hits 'The Dark Knight,' 'Speed Racer' and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' as well as the first high-def release from Warner's new direct-to-video premiere label Raw Feed, 'Otis: Uncut.'

The studio went on to say that several of its most beloved classics will go into temporary moratorium on standard DVD in 2008 in anticipation of a series of lavish re-issues on both DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, including 'Gone with the Wind,' 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'North by Northwest.'

The list of titles previewed at last night's event are as follows (note that the studio stressed that this is not a complete list of planned Blu-ray releases, simply the highlights):

Q2 2008: 'Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collection' (includes 'Dirty Harry,' 'Magnum Force,' 'The Enforcer,' 'Sudden Impact,' 'The Dead Pool' and bonus disc "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows')

Q3 2008: 'Batman Anthology' (includes 'Batman,' 'Batman Returns,' 'Batman Forever,' 'Batman & Robin,' 'Batman Begins'), 'Batman Begins'

Q4 2008: 'Otis: Uncut'

2009: 'Gone with the Wind,' 'North By Northwest,' 'The Wizard of Oz,' 'Woodstock'

2008/2009 Theatrical Releases: '10,000 B.C.,' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' 'The Dark Knight,' 'Get Smart,' 'Speed Racer'' and 'Where the Wild Things Are.'

Warner has not released specific street dates or technical specs, but full announcements are expected over the coming months as the studio rolls out its complete 2008/2009 line-up.
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post #18 of 48
5/26/09 at 7:46am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Haxton
Has the restoration and blu ray release of North By Northwest been delayed?

Thanks.

Warner Previews 2008/2009 Blu-ray Slate | High-Def Digest

2009: 'Gone with the Wind,' 'North By Northwest,' 'The Wizard of Oz,' 'Woodstock'

It seems that we have heard about Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Woodstock but not North By Northwest coming this year to blu-ray.
Of course exact release dates for GWTW and WOZ have not been announced but should be in the forth quarter. so it is possible that NBNW could be announced at a later time.
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post #19 of 48
5/26/09 at 8:32am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Garysb
Of course exact release dates for GWTW and WOZ have not been announced but should be in the forth quarter. so it is possible that NBNW could be announced at a later time.
Actually, release dates have been out for GWTW (December 1) and TWOZ (October 27), although they may be unofficial.

The issue here may be that the restoration work for North by Northwest may not be complete yet, whereas the others have already been done. IIRC, there's a leadtime of several months "in the pipeline" (i.e., licensing of extras, transfering, encoding, master discs, replication, and so forth) for major releases. If restoration isn't complete, they can't give us as specific a time as they can for the other two.
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post #20 of 48
5/26/09 at 9:05am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
The issue here may be that the restoration work for North by Northwest may not be complete yet, whereas the others have already been done. IIRC, there's a leadtime of several months "in the pipeline" (i.e., licensing of extras, transfering, encoding, master discs, replication, and so forth) for major releases. If restoration isn't complete, they can't give us as specific a time as they can for the other two.

I'm not going to speculate about NBNW other than to note that the factors you mentioned are nothing more than project management 101 for a DVD producer. That said, it's only May. If we get to the end of August without a release date ... that's an issue.
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post #21 of 48
5/26/09 at 10:51am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by rich_d
I'm not going to speculate about NBNW other than to note that the factors you mentioned are nothing more than project management 101 for a DVD producer.
Perhaps, but 1) this isn't DVD, and 2) every insider mention of the process has indicated something like 2-3 months minimum leadtime for a big title (from start of production, not announcement).
Quote:
That said, it's only May. If we get to the end of August without a release date ... that's an issue.
I'd probably give it 2-3 weeks more leeway, but that's pretty much my feeling on it as well.
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post #22 of 48
5/26/09 at 7:56pm

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Blacklow
Perhaps, but 1) this isn't DVD, and 2) every insider mention of the process has indicated something like 2-3 months minimum leadtime for a big title (from start of production, not announcement).

Well, what's the point? If there is a difference worth noting on managing a DVD project and a Blu-Ray project, enlighten me.
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post #23 of 48
5/27/09 at 6:10am

Re: North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray??

Quote:
Originally Posted by rich_d
Well, what's the point? If there is a difference worth noting on managing a DVD project and a Blu-Ray project, enlighten me.
Among other things, parts of the duplication process are different (and constrained to a degree, especially in comparison to DVD), and the programming of menus and such is not the same process as DVD at all. I would imagine the encodes are lengthier as well, in order to process 6x as much data. And it stands to reason that the DVD process isn't short either. I'd imagine most big-name releases (catalog and day-and-date) have a fairly significant lead time as well, given that the announcement scheduling for DVDs is hardly any different than that for BD.
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post #24 of 48
7/14/09 at 3:22am
"North by Northwest" will be available in Great Britain on 11/16/09. Here's the Cover (bigger version):


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post #25 of 48
7/14/09 at 4:55am
Digibook?  Nice.  If only we could be so lucky in the States.

Can't wait to see what useless crap they stuff in our $85 Box-O-Junk Edition.
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post #26 of 48
7/14/09 at 4:59am
That likely is the artwork for the US edition; not only do we not get Warners digibooks in the UK, but there's no BBFC certificate on that art.
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post #27 of 48
7/14/09 at 5:34am
Well I hope you're right.

I have no use for a toy Bi-Plane or a plastic replica of Mt Rushmore.
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post #28 of 48
7/14/09 at 6:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hodson View Post

That likely is the artwork for the US edition; not only do we not get Warners digibooks in the UK, but there's no BBFC certificate on that art.

I found the cover artwork tied to the British Blu-ray, but I wondered about the lack of the BBFC certificate, too.

We never had a digibook from Warner in Germany, too, but at the end of July "300" will be released with a digibook. Maybe Warner is changing their policy about this in Europe?


Edited by ChristianLiemke - 7/14/2009 at 01:51 pm GMT
Edited by ChristianLiemke - 7/14/2009 at 01:51 pm GMT
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post #29 of 48
7/14/09 at 6:52am
Maybe, but Warner UK has a long history of distributing artwork that has originated in the US.
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post #30 of 48
7/14/09 at 10:53am
Odd how the arrows are pointing in the wrong direction in the title lettering on the cover, which otherwise is based on the titles as they appear on screen. In the film, they point north and west, I believe.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

North by Northwest (50th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Book) [Blu-ray]
$16.25 at
See it »
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