Warner Archive Discussion Thread (The Announcements/The Films) - Page 45

Like the Archive or not you might as well accept it and not lose sleep over it since it is the future for all studios releasing titles. DVD sales have been down for two years and all major chain stores are reducing or clearing out DVD's. Its a pretty clear picture. Archive MOD's and Downloads will be the future.

Edited by Randy Korstick - 10/27/10 at 10:26am

 

It is a real shame Warners never did another Chaney set after its first in 2003. I remember those rumors for years of them coming out with a second set. I guess that isn't happening now. I hope these films have had at least some work done to them, maybe in anticipation of that cancelled second set, and aren't from telecines 20 years old.

 

It is really sad that Warners was never able to release its truly classic silent films like "The Big Parade," "The Wind," "Greed," etc on pressed, retail discs. No doubt they will end up in the Archives now. Hopefully they'll at least be remastered.. Maybe they could do something special for them, and release them in the Archive as pressed discs?

 

 

 

Bob, THE TODD KILLINGS has always looked soft.  It was a low-budget National General Pictures release, not a Warner Brothers studio product.  The new MOD is superior to the old Warner VHS tape.

 

My package of six WA titles arrived in Seattle yesterday.  However, there was some confusion over the online tracking.  Here's the poop: the package did cross the country via UPS (Mail Innovations), and was delivered to the local UPS depot yesterday morning at 3 AM.  Around 6 AM, UPS then delivered the package to the local post office.  At that point, the online tracking stated "Out for delivery," so I was all prepared for my letter carrier to bring the parcel to me.  However, he had no package for me.

 

Here's the rub: the package was considered to be "out for delivery" by UPS, but NOT by the local post office!  The post office would probably have delivered the package to me today, but that wasn't good enough for me.  I drove over to the local postal branch and picked up my package in person.  I wanted to be certain of receiving it before Halloween, due to the horror content. 

 

I still don't like this handing-off of packages between UPS and the USPS.  It will cause a delivery delay of at least a day, and there's more chance of a package getting lost (especially during the busy holidays).  In the future, I think I'll avoid these "free shipping" deals.

 

Warner, please consider returning to UPS ground.  It's faster, more direct, offers more reliable online tracking, and presents less chance of a package going missing.

I couldn't agree more. In the past I've bought shed loads of WB product - this year I've bought the Chan and Flynn sets (and I'll pick up Noir 5 when the price is right) on real, pressed DVDs...and that's it. My money has been going to R2 and R4 and those US companies still issuing pressed discs.
 

I never quite understood why people have a problem with DVD-R but then would by another region DVD with PAL speed-up...the PAL thing would bother me more than any DVD-R I could buy. On one hand you get the movie as intended but not pressed and in another you have the film close but just a bit off. I'll take the former, thanks. With Blu-Ray not such a big deal anymore but regular DVD if I had the choice I would take the non-PAL.

Well, GREED is something I still expect released in a regular retail, just because WB representatives have assured that this one is being worked on. 

 

And while I agree that it is a shame, silents have always been a tough sell, so I wont mind if it goes archive too much.  Outside of a few, WA silents have been from very good masters, and I expect the same from the Chaneys, with an increased possibility that they may have gone under some restorative processes for the aborted DVD release.  I've noticed that just because they are not listed as "remastered" doesn't mean that a sharp, recent master won't be used.

 

Well the PAL speed-up issue has never bothered me - I simply can't hear it but others say they can. Whatever. With DVD-R, it boils down to my just not trusting them. I've had too many give up the ghost in the past.

 

Got my copy of Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space today!!!

I haven't watched all the episodes yet, but so far I'm happy with the presentation.

There are 16 episodes total. 4 episodes per disc.

It has onscreen menus so you can play all or select a specific episode.

The disc artwork is nice. It is not the generic WB archive artwork.

It has the Josie logo with leopard prints in the background.

Each disc has the titles of the episodes on it so you know what episode you'll be watching.

It comes in a clear Amaray-sized case with 2 "swingy" disc holders that each hold 1 discs on each side.

The front artwork on the sleeve insert is very nice.

There is no artwork on the back.

They could have put the titles on the back because it is a clear case, but that would've been extra work/money.

As long as the titles are on the discs themselves, I'm happy.

I actually like this presentation better than the regular retail first season of Josie. That one had a holder that stored the discs overlapping on one another, plus one of the discs was double-sided.

Here's the menu:

 

same here. i bought an all-region upconverting dvd player with an hdmi connection to my tv set. i have bought about a dozen or so dvds from other regions and -so far- they've all played flawlessly. no pal speedup. 
 

Sorry, but if they were PAL then the PAL speed-up is there. Check the complete running time and you'll notice that it is several minutes shorter than it should be. MAybe you aren't noticing the speed-up, but any transfers of films released in the PAL format are sped-up (save for the NTSC to PAL conversions, which look horrible anyway). There is no player in existence that shows down PAL transfers to NTSC - it is just a straight standards conversion.

 

I made this little comparison - ignore the incorrect ratio and varying sound levels (assembled it quite quickly) - demonstrating the difference between films run at the proper 24fps and 25fps used for PAL. The example I used was STREAMERS, which Shout Factory released on DVD in a PAL to NTSC conversion with the incorrect speed/frame rate built in. :-(

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rjeBdhp8SU
 

Oh it's there...if you had the two running side by side you would notice. Anyway...I've never had a DVD-R crap out that I've bought and probably will be long dead before they do so not worried about what may or may not happen.
 

 Why would anyone watch 2 versions of a movie side by side? Like I said, when watching a movie I've never noticed it.

 

As for the DVD-R business I can only say you've been extremely lucky so far.

 

i see & hear what you are saying. let me say it this way.... when i hear there is 'pal speedup' i was afraid that the film would be speeded up and the characters moving around like an uncorrected silent film.  with the voices  speeded up & sounding like the chimpmunks cartoon characters..

 

the other region films i've bought--like 'scars of dracula', 'forever amber', 'the egyptian', 'wuthering heights', etc. i have seen many times over the years, and when i play these discs i see and hear no distortion in the image or sound.

 

when i watch a region 2, then a region 1 disc, i see no difference in the playback......i believe what you are saying technicaly, but in my experience i don't see it.

 

have a pioneer dv-610av-k player

Just a reminder to all participants...in an effort to keep things neat and tidy. 

 

From the OP of this thread:

 

i wonder what is on tap for november. 

I don't know, but I hope they fulfill their October orders soon. I'm getting an order I placed after the Chaney/GREEN SLIME deluge first, with no sign of those yet.

Thanks, Bob, for reminding me about THE GREEN SLIME . . . to all those who ordered it, let me, and all of us, know, when you get it, I'd like to find out how remastered this movie is. Since the special edition of DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK has been put on the backburner for now, I'd like to concentrate on how good looking this one is, it'll help me in deciding how soon I need to acquire it.

I received THE GREEN SLIME today in the mail (Saturday). Haven't checked it out yet though.

To compare the different edits and I.D the alternate takes and missing footage, like I'm doing now with Buster Keaton shorts.

To edit a film together and then compare options, this way or that way.

When I was directing news, I had a dozen different sources to keep track of, each with its own monitor, switched live. After years and years of that, watching only one screen at a time seems ... boring.

Me, I can't wait for them to arrive by Bob too so he can generously post which ones have the trailers on them. Thanks Bob!

To paraphrase my Dad: "Mark my words: You'll all thank me for that list someday."

My latest WA order included the four Allied Artists horrors from the 1950's, and the two serial killer films from the early seventies (THE TODD KILLINGS and PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW.  I don't recall seeing trailers on any of those, but I will repost here if I find that I am incorrect about that.

 

Might it be possible to start another list detailing which of the un-remastered Warner Archive discs have good transfers and which do not?

As an explanation...a series of posts in this thread have been moved to the Warner Archives "Feedback" thread.

 

Please.  This thread is for comments on the films themselves.

 

The Announcements/Films thread is for Feedback on the Warner MOD program--either positive or negative.

 

If anyone has any questions about the moved posts, please contact me privately.  Not in this thread.

Shawn, here's what I posted at another forum a little while ago re: GREEN SLIME. Enjoy!



GREEN SLIME runs 90m 4s on the WAC dvd -- a composite of the Japanese version and the older TCM version adds up to be the same runtime. Guess that means this WAC disc is the full length, uncut version. It does indeed look good. Not a perfect transfer, but superior to the Japanese version I have. FX & green-screen shots are naturally softer and have more damage. There are white specks here and there and some occasional scratches. Perfectly acceptable transfer. Here's some caps:














Comparison shots between Japanese version and new WAC version. Notice the WAC version is slightly zoomed in. No idea if that's just the way theirs was framed or if it was done during transfer. Either way, it isn't that different and the WAC transfer looks crisper and much more colorful.




JAPANESE:



WAC:

That's pretty much in the eye of the beholder. Some, like THE BIG HOUSE, are obviously wan, and worsen depending on the sophistication of your set-up. Others have issues that may or may not bug you. I'm fairly tolerant/forgiving myself. 

Ben, will comment on GREEN SLIME few days . . . got picked for jury duty . . .  not a morning person . . . sleep, need sleep, can't think straight . .  Day one done, gotta go back tommorrow morning, too. This sucks, so tired . . . just these two days . . . yay! Hate jury duty!!!!

New titles today, as per twitter:

 

Americathon (1979) - pre order; release date 11/30

 

Double Features and Collections:

 

George Arliss Collection (Old English (1930) / A Successful Calamity (1932) / The King's Vacation (1933))

Action Classic Features (Draegerman Courage (1937) / Road Gang (1936))

Wheeler & Woolsey Double Feature (Girl Crazy (1932) / Peach-O-Reno (1931))

 That should make the W&W Fans happy.

Any info on tomorrow's releases on the Archive?