Warner Archive Discussion Thread (FEEDBACK) - Page 73

Is there a new coupon code?  WBSURVEY7 seems to have expired.  DOH!

XB792 seems to work as of today.

I believe during the last chat Warner mentioned that they are working on a blu-ray of Garland's A Star is Born for 2010 or 2011. They also said they would release the rest of Garland's films on DVD at the same time as a Star is Born . Hopefully this has not changed and that the Garland films will be released as regular pressed DVDs.

The Western bundle has semi-disappeared from the site today--I get this message when I try to click on it for details: We are sorry! The product you are looking for couldn't be identified. Please look for an alternative selection in our catalog

Wonder if it'll come back?  I'd like to get it (even though I already bought Wichita ).

Also, I think an Ida Lupino/Ann Sheridan bundle is a great idea--how do we get them to do it?

I ordered the Western bundle yesterday (6-30) with no problem, but I see what you say is true.  Who knows why it has disappeared.

I also just noticed that a new title has been added:  Al Jolson in MAMMY (1930)

Does anyone know if Warner's video master of MAMMY has the color fragments that was restored sometime ago?

I can't say for sure but my guess is that they probably are there since I think the restored version was shown on TCM. I'm wondering if they'll release all the other Jolsons (minus Jazz Singer) and bundle them like the old laserdisc box set.

I'm new at this so you'll have to excuse me if i seem a little nervous. I've been collecting films since 1961, it started with  8mm and went through every format since then. I've always insisted that the quality of these films were worth what i was paying for. Now warner's has released some really terrific titles through their archive collection. however all is not right . It seems the quality of a lot of these titles is vhs quality or worse.Plus we're asked to pay $20 a pop. As much as I want most of these titles I refuse to pay this price. After all these years striving to get the best  quality we can from these  film companies, are we now taking a giant step backwards. I'm not saying a major restoration of these films, a decent print at a fair price.  By the way ,what's with the Amazon exclusives at $30.,is this some sort of cruel joke. Also we should insist on getting these films usps it's a heck of a lot cheaper. If we accept these films as they are now the companies will throw anything at us---the movie fan who keeps  these companies going.

Edited by montag - 7/2/2009 at 10:23 pm GMT

MAMMY and THE SINGING FOOL, as well as the notorious WONDER BAR, all came out on vhs,  The Archive might well be low profile enough to justify bringing all the Jolson films out on dvd.

I'm curious if Jolson's follow-up to The Singing Fool, Say it With Songs, will ever show up. I have never seen it on TCM and I hear some of the musical numbers may be lost. Would be an intresting rareity.

Btw, I just noticed MAMMY is no longer listed on the Warner Archive page. Hopefully it will return soon.

This might not have no bearing on the archive program but I was in my local big lots and noticed a number of Warner's TV shows for $6.00 a piece including Smallville.

As well as on laserdisc. "The Jolson Collection" included The Jazz Singer, The Singing Fool, Say It With Songs, Mammy, Big Boy, Wonder Bar, Go Into Your Dance and The Singing Kid - and the last time I checked, could still be had fairly reasonably on eBay.

I was hoping when Mr. Harris referenced future happenings in the WB Archive in post #1945 by stating "You ain't seen nothing yet" that it might be a hint about the Jolson films. I really want WONDER BAR.

I am still waiting for an announcement that the Archive will include the older Warner TV series.  I desperatley want more Cheyenne, plus Sugarfoot, Bronco, Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, etc, etc.

10-4, Willard.  I'm for that along with a few others over on the Std TV/DVD forum.

Here is an article that might make some of you very unhappy.


http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6668680.html?nid=4756&source=link&rid=5784328

Hopefully the rising consumer interest the article speaks about is just a curiousity factor, and once people realize what there're getting, less than standard picture quality at hugely inflated prices, there will be a backlash.

The biggest mistake Warner has made with this program is to release each title "as is," and not guarantee some sort of digital remastering for each and every release. If that would have made this program impossible, then so be it; do it when the technology is there to make this possible. This just sets a very bad standard. It could give an idea to a company like Universal that maybe they should start dusting off those old MCA-TV prints that ran in the 80s of all their old Universal and Paramount films, and maybe start selling them onto DVD-Rs, for $39.99 each, why not? Hopefully people will pick up and support the Universal Backlot series, where each film is digitally remastered, to maybe give them a second thought about going this way. And hopefully people will pick up the new sets that Sony is releasing too, to deter them.

OK, I just tried to place my first order with the WB Archives, and of course I get the classic "An unexpected problem occurred and your order could not be submitted.  Please try again in a few seconds or call customer service at 1-866-373-4389 for help."  And of course, when I call I get a message that says they'll be closed on Tuesday, July 4th, and will reopen Wednesday, July 5th.  I guess they're closed today too, since it's Friday, July 3rd.  Grrrrrrrrrrr...slow, useless website, and their customer service calendar is still set for the year 2005.  Extremely professional.  I pressed the PLACE ORDER button a few more times, and same result.  I really hope it's not secretly charging my card multiple times.

They've got quite a ways to go in terms of professionalism and functionality.  It's been four months; you'd think they'd have their act together by now.  Nope.  What's really sad is that there are bootleg websites that are more professional and functional than this official WB product website.

And, thank you for this code!  I hope I eventually get to use it...

I know Netflix doesn't carry these, but are they for rent anywhere else?

ClassicFlix has them to rent.  They're obviously a smaller operation than Netflix.  The plans are a touch pricier and their distribution seems to only come from California, so turnaround times can be longer, especially to the east coast which is almost a week.  But they do have titles available that Netflix doesn't.

FYI, WBShop put a handful of Archive titles on sale for $5 until Sunday night.  They are:

Angel Baby
A Dream of Kings
Drums of Africa
Dusty and Sweets McGee
Outlaw Blues

Thanks for the information, Pete!

For several years now, we've grown accustomed to nothing but bad news about the prospects of continuing availability of classic films on video: the shrinking sales of DVDs in general; the shrinking interest in classic films generally; the shrinking consumer base for classic films on video; the questionable profitability of classic films on video.

Now something's happening that's countering that trend, that's actually increasing market awareness of classic films on video, that's making more classic films available and that's showing that classic films on video can be a profitable proposition for the studios.

So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

It is not perfect, but it is a very good thing. In the time frame of 3 months we have over 200 classic/older films available.  There are titles that I thought I would never see of DVD let alone see at all. 

Most of the Warner archive titles are now available on the TCM website but the shipping costs are still really expensive.

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/vault/default.asp?cat=wb

jdee28 and Traveling Matt actually sound like they live on Planet Earth. Guess someone has to around these parts.

The idea is great, in principle. But these Archive discs contain crappy, antiquated ancient masters and don't even meet the most basic standards of a DVD pressed in 1999.


Edited by Kevin Martinez - 7/4/2009 at 10:45 pm GMT

I was about to try WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE until I saw it is 4:3 full-screen.

Seeing there's a gorgeous 16:9 full HD version running on HDNet at times, I have no interest in this whatsoever. :(

This is very disturbing.  I was under the impression that WB stated the Archive titles would be in the OAR.  I wanted this film also, but not in 4:3.

I just checked on IMDB and they have the film listed with a 1.33:1 ratio which would make the full screen mode totally appropriate.  It is very possible that the HDNET version was "zoomed" out.