Universal Vault Series - Amazon.com exclusive DVD-Rs

A Bronx Tale is out of print???

And going forward will only be available as a crappy dvd-r?

Wow.

Wasn't Death Takes a Holiday released as an "extra" on the Meet Joe Black DVD?

It was inevitable. With the smashing success of the Warners Archives, it was inevitable that other studios would follow suit and as Universal releases their product thru TCM and Amazon and MGM their exclusive deal with Amazon and the Warner Archives still going strong, it is clearly the wave of the future.

Of course, there will always be the "I'll never pay $20 for a 'crappy' DVD-r" segment but I doubt that they would have paid $5 for a DVD-r either! The day of the pressed disc as regards to catalogue titles (excepting, of course, major titles like The African Queen) is gone.

I agree with that.  I'll also add that by using inferior media and charging premium prices, they are going to make streaming look a whole lot more attractive.  If I'm going to be given junk, there's really no point in paying extra for it.  Those of us who just have to feel something in our hands are about to become second-class citizens.

   After waiting a very patient 12 years to see Ellen Burstyn's Oscar nominated performance in Resurrection to show up on some type of disc format...  I can't help but feel like something of a stepchild at this point.  No high quality transfer..no SE materials.   It is not inevitable if we don't support these products.  The studios will continue to give us crap if we purchase it at a high price and with a smile.

Ruth Chatterton's Paramount films please :)

This is terrible but nothing that can be done to stop it, too bad.






Bronx has been oop for a few years now, Lucky for me I have that and the Meet Joe Black Ultimate edition that includes the Death Takes a Holiday, it isn't included on the regular Joe dvd.

"It is not inevitable if we don't support these products"

Are you saying that if we don't "support" these products that Universal (and Warners and MGM) will go back to pressing DVDs of hard to market titles? Optimistic, I say. I say that if we don't "support" these products we don't get them at all.

It all boils down to whether we want those titles OUR way or THEIR way, doesn't it?

I wonder if Stick is in Widescreen. I am also wondering where Tobruk is. If any film needs a release it is this one.

Marcel.

Thanks for posting the list!  I see one that I've wanted for a long time, "The Brass Bottle", but I don't know about these Universal releases....are these OAR releases?  Are the archive stores (WB, Uni) releasing any of their titles in "Pan/Scan" where a WS OAR is a choice in any of these titles?

"Brass Bottle" is a rare archive title where I'd buy it for the $20 price.

I noticed with my last batch of Warner archive purchases, it was obvious they were all B pictures and the quaility of the film stock itself was pretty bad on most of them. I can't see the big studios ever spending the dough to restore movies like 'Crime School' and release an 'official' DVD just so 200 Dead-End Kids completists can snap them up. It doesn't make sense economically.

I'm okay with this DV-R on demand approach, because it's better than nothing, as the man says, but the price point has to come down. That's what we should be campaigning for. I only buy the Warners titles when they have one of their 5 for $55 deals. At 10-11 bucks each, I don't really mind if the quality isn't top notch - I can enjoy the movie for what it is.

Has there been an official announcement of this program with specifics?

I think we are pretty much seeing the end of "packaged" store sold catalog titles from the studios unless they are remastering for Blu ray.  DVD's as a single entity are not selling well enough anymore to produce and market them as single discs.  I was hoping Universal would do more multiple title sets and give us some of these titles, like the past Rock Hudson, John Wayne, Cary Grant etc.  

Maybe if we don't support these products, they'll introduce higher standards for these MOD discs, or maybe even lower their price to bring them more in line with the quality of what they're offering?

 

Actually,, there are used and sealed copies of the OOP HBO DVD edition being sold by second hand sellers at Amazon that are much cheaper than what the DVD-R Universal is offering us now is, so if you want a pressed disc of A BRONX TALE, just buy the OOP ones that came out years ago from a second hand seller, as in the long run, that disc will be more durable than a DVD-R  version that got annonced.

Tell Them Willie Boy is Here is currently AUD$9 at most Australian department stores.

I'm glad I have the Anchor Bay version of Blue Collar. I still don't understand how Criterion can profitably release Eclipse boxes that feature new transfers of films from the best available element on pressed discs, while Universal and Warner seemingly can't make new transfers. Most Eclipse boxes cost US$10 per disc, yet these MOD programs charge double, and aren't pressed discs or new transfers. That doesn't make sense to me.

Well, I guess we should wait and see if these Universal discs are new transfers (many of them feature recent transfers on other releases in other parts of the world), but we know that most Warner Archive discs feature very old transfers.


Before Black Shield was released on Blu-ray, there was a DVD version released as 16:9 widescreen. I don't know if this was Pan & Scan or an alternate non-CinemaScope version of the film.
http://www.avforums.com/movies/index.php?showmediareview=9462

It will be interesting to see which transfer is used for this MOD version.

Well it's unfortunate to see another studio turn to this bastard business model.

Unless the image quality is absolutely stunning on these I'll be sticking with my homemade DVD-R's. 

I'm pretty sure the image quality will be on par and my custom artwork will trump whatever they offer, saving me $20 a pop to spend on something else.

Is this a DVD-R only thing or will they also be available via Amazon VoD?

How other people spend their money is their own business.  I respect consumers that don't support this marketing process as well as those that buy them.  With the negative slant that's been posted on this forum, somebody outside of this forum is buying a lot of these discs for other studios to start adopting this process.





Crawdaddy

I find this somewhat strange, but a good way for Universal to unload films on an "on-demand basis"  What is strange, however, is that they still are supporting the Backlot Series with the upcoming Alice in Wonderland release, Continuing on their unique TCM Vault series (which seem to be both remastered and pressed), and then this.  This is especially considering Remember the Night sells for the same price in the TCM vault series as the Universal Vault series titles here.

I'll probably buy some of the early titles here like Seven Gables and Spawn of the North, since many of their paramount pictures look a bit rough when they are on pressed discs anyway

Also, I prefer paying on Amazon rather than WBshop, anyhow

Good point, Amazon is much easier and quicker to navigate than the WA website.

For me the overwhelming advantage to Warner having their own sales site has been the periodic promotional pricing, like the recent 5-for-$55 deal that finally got me to pop for some Archive discs. I hope Universal gets that message.

The part for me about the archive sites is that it's hard to get a review until someone here buys a particular title and posts their info (transfer Q, OAR info, etc).  Otherwise, I might be quicker to purchase a few of the recent Uni titles.

"shrinking woman" seems to be a 'download only' title, unless I'm missing something

This idea of releasing movies on DVD-r is nothing more than a rip-off of buyers. They are giving minimum quality and asking for maxium price from the movie buying public. I have bought 2 Tarzan sets from Warner's Archive, plus quite a few Joel Mccrea & Randolph Scotts titles. Most the DVD-rs have arrived in broken and damaged cases with plastic pieces having marked the DVDs. None play without problems on 7 different brands of players. The skip, freeze and display hugh dropouts in the picture like I experieced in the eary dats of Beta & VHS tapes. The qualuty of the product is just terrible andthe 300+ dollars spent on the titles was the biggest waste of money I have ever spent on DVD movies.  I could have made better quality recording myself. When I complained to Warner Brothers I received a standard form answer supporting their product saying I was very luckey to be able to purchase these titles at all. I was also told, when I complained that "the DVDs were not as durable as stamped DVDs that, "the DVD-Rs are not suppose to be durable and are not made to last for any entended period of time". THIS PROCESS IS A TOTAL RIP-OFF THE MOVIE BUYING CONSUMER BY STUDIOS WHO DON"T GIVE A DAMM ABOUT CONSUMERS RIGHTS.