Warner Archive Discussion Thread (FEEDBACK) - Page 74

That might, in fact, be the case.  Of course, anything one reads on IMDb must be taken with a grain of salt.  

But since Warners has said that all the titles would be in their OAR, I think it's safe to assume that 1.33 is the correct AR here. Why would they decide to pan and scan one title?

CHEFS is definitely not a 1.33 film. 

 

I'm guessing that the info on the Archives site is just incorrect and the disc will actually be in widescreen as it's supposed to be.   Warners possibly pulls data off the imdb while writing up the tech aspects for each title - and therefore, since the imdb info is wrong, so is the Archives page.

 

When Warner first discussed this program with me they promised all films would be released in their original aspect ratio. Therefor I would bet that's a misprinted spec.

Also, a possibility. Either way, I'm willing to bet that the disc is in its intended AR whether it's 1.33 or 1.85.

I've pre-ordered the disc (streeting, or, rather, printing, on Tuesday) and will report back. I suspect the specs were given in error.

Whatever complaints any of us have about "The Program," I do think that the Archive aspect ratios have been correctly employed.

HEART BEAT (1980) is slightly odd, in that the credits look close to 2:35-1, while the body of the film looks closer to 1:85-1.  I don't think that HEART BEAT was shot in scope, so I am willing to accept the aspect ratio used for its Archive disc, and to assume that it is correct.

I agree, it will be in its OAR and that will definitely not be 1.33.  How anyone can think this 1978 theatrical film may have been intended as full-frame is beyond me.  It's simply a spec-info mistake.  I'm sure Bob will report back that the disc is in its original widescreen aspect ratio. 

I purchased the Warner Archive 1940s Musical Set and I am very happy with my purchase.  Just got them in today. The only complaint was that they shipped to me in a envelope and the cover on one of them was a little warn because of this.

My favorite movie in the collection is Luxury Liner.

Overall I am very pleased!

The following titles are now available:

Green Mansions
Get To Know Your Rabbit
The Man I Love
Juke Girl
Who's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe
The Hard Way
The Moon is Blue
Nora Prentiss

What about the Warner Archives titles now exclusively at Amazon: "The Strawberry Blonde", "The Unsuspected:, "Crime School", etc.? Will they be available from www.wbshop.com? Peter Donolo

You got your wish. Archive listed 13 new titles today (July 7), including its Jolson titles.

Boooo....hiss...

Four Elizabeth Taylor films were released today as part of the Warner Archive collection: The Girl Who Had Everything, Cynthia, Conspirator, and Love Is Better Than Ever. It was previously thought that her 1954 film, Beau Brummell, would also be released with these films. I'm also surprised to see that these films haven't been bundled together and sold at a discount. Maybe they're waiting for Beau Brummell to do that?

Just a short while ago there were 13 new titles, including another Elizabeth Taylor film, Rhapsody, as well as The Story of Three Loves.  However, Cynthia wasn't listed among the newest items.  Now Cynthia is there, but Rhapsody has disappeared, as has The Story of Three Loves.  And I noted that Mammy was briefly listed the other day, only to disappear - though now we have six other new Jolson titles.

They really are making this up as they go along.  As for new bundles - I expect them soon.  Otherwise why release so many Jolson and Taylor titles at one time?

The new Jolson's and Taylors are listed under "preorders" so I'm hoping that maybe they'll be bundled and also have those other titles addedby the time they become "official''  (2 weeks??).  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the info, Richard and Alan! Hopefully we'll see the four films up for pre-order now bundled with Rhapsody and Beau Brummell!

I want those Jolson DVDs, but I won't buy them unless they're bundled. I can make do with the laserdiscs I already have until they give us a break on those. We know going in the quality is going to really be poor.

I'm not sure why Warner is playing musical chairs with archive titles.  They plan to add a few Elizabeth Taylor and Ann Sheridan titles, only to actually have just a few of them for pre-orders.  I would think it would make more sense to add a star's titles and a bundle at the same time, like they did with Tarzans.  I just checked and the following titles still have covers:
Beau Brummell
Deep Valley
Fox, The
Midwinter's Tale, A (added and removed a few days later)
Story of Mankind, The
Story of Three Loves, The (I think at one point it was also up for pre-order)
Unfaithful, The

Another two titles came and went, both can be fitted into any of the bundles they choose to make - Rhapsody (Elizabeth Taylor) and The Mammy (Al Jolson).  I wonder if it's quality control at work or they are just not sure yet what to do...

Edited by GregoryMesh - 7/8/2009 at 10:50 am GMT

GET TO KNOW YOUR RABBIT is one I am glad they released. Brian DePalma's early work, and fun performance by Tom Smothers! Too bad no extras, but at least it is finally out.

The Story of Mankind is now up for pre-order

Those who have been monitoring the Warner Archive thus far  - like me, for instance - have seen the bundles appear a few days or weeks after the bundled titles initially appear.  I missed out on the bundled price of some of the Marie Dressler titles and I don't want that to happen again if I can help it.

It's smart to wait for a Jolson bundle.  I'm hoping for a Randolph Scott bundle, too.  The only thing that could affect my "wait and see" strategy would be an attractive coupon offer.

But it is kind of amazing to see them post/unpost titles, as if the decision on what to make available is almost spur of the moment.  I hope they can stabilize this process a bit, but I think it is evident that they are still getting the "kinks" out of how they want to market the archive.

I also find it a little strange that Mammy is not included in the Pre-Order titles along with the other Jolson films.  I do hope we see it added and they are bundled.  As for the other Jolson titles, I am there with a bundle or coupon offer.  Wonder Bar is a favorite of mine.  I am also glad to see The Story Of Mankind, Weekend At The Waldorf and It's A Big Country up for pre-order.  All three are very interesting in their own right, though you either like them or you don't. 

The Taylor films are an interesting slice of titles and a must for any true fan of her talent.  Conspirator and Cynthia are the films that started her move from teenage roles to more adult roles. 

There is one thing about Warner Archive, they continue to impress and amaze me with the titles they release.  Thank you WA, now I can not wait to see what is in store for August.

Actually aren't the announcements scheduled twice-monthly? I believe another announcement is schedueld for Tuesday, July 21.

The titles that are up for pre-order are the ones that will go on order for the 21st, so I guess we will have the first batch of August releases up for pre-order on the 21st or 22nd

Hopefully WB decides to release some genre titles as October nears. But at this point, I'm not holding my breath any longer.

I'm still waiting for them to package the Crawford/Gable and Turner/Gable pairings together and hopefully they do the same with Ida Lupino and Ann Sheridan.

If this is really the future of home video, it will be virtually impossible to resell an Archive title for more than Warners will charge to burn one for you.  But think of what will happen when the pressed DVDs begin to go out of print (I'm not talking the cash-cows like WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, or TERMINATOR 2).  If it costs anywhere from 19.99 to 28.99 to have a DVD-R burned of a title like RYAN'S DAUGHTER, for which a legitimate pressed DVD can now be had for $3 or so at places like Big Lots, just think what people will be able to charge on Amazon for the pressed DVDs they have accumulated over the years---the ones that will never again be available in any format but a bare-bones DVD-R.  I don't buy DVDs to resell, but I'd much rather go slow on the Archive titles until I've purchased everything I could possibly ever want on pressed DVDs, most of which are still available on Amazon or e-bay for much less than the Archive titles.       
Fortunately, Warners is making this an easy choice by now releasing a slow trickle of very old, unrestored titles in which few people are likely interested at $20-plus a pop.  I've learned the hard way that it's buyer beware on some of the old titles from the '20s, '30s, and '40s; some of them are not just poor in picture quality; they are virtually unwatchable.

Funny, I say the same thing about the majority of more recent films ;)

It's really hard to be impressed or amazed by anything that ends up in the Warner Archive. First, they stated that they're eventually going to put everything they have that's not going to be released commercially into the Archive. The wonder and amazement should be for what doesn't end up in there. Second, there's the quality. Take the Al Jolson fims for example. These are the same prints that they show on TCM; the same prints that were released on VHS; the same prints that were released on laserdisc. Now the same prints will be released to DVD-R at $20 a pop. Where's the amazement in that? How does that make a big impression? Disappointment is more like it.


Edited by jdee28 - 7/9/2009 at 01:22 am GMT
Edited by jdee28 - 7/9/2009 at 01:23 am GMT