HOW CAN THE STUDIOS TOP THE EXCELLENT CLASSIC BLU-RAY OUTPUT OF 2012? (1 Viewer)

[Chuck Anstey]

High Plains Drifter I need to complete my Spirit of the West collection

 

[cineMANIAC]

Lawrence of Arabia will be hard to top - it set the gold standard for PQ as well as bonus material. Kinda hard to display the big box but I'm not complaining - it's gorgeous to look at. There are very few films I think that are of enough caliber that studios would be willing to spend lots of money to restore and produce lavish sets for. Movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE, WEST SIDE STORY and others have huge fan bases and deserve top treatment but I just don't see them receiving proper restorations. Popularity seems to have no bearing on studios' decisions to clean films up and prep them for hi-def, as we all saw with the Bond and Hitchcock films last year. And like someone mentioned above, I truly believe there are people working for the major studios who seem to have no clue how to properly use the digital restoration tools at their disposal (Universal, I'm looking at you). And plenty of companies are still passing off upconverts as high definition and using old HD masters - something which, in 2013, is unacceptable. It's time someone came up with a Blu Ray Quality Seal of Approval program to separate those using old masters from the ones doing things right.

 

[Bob_S.]

I'd like to see: Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers boxset Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney boxset Key Largo The Band Wagon

 

[Alan Tully]

There are very few films I think that are of enough caliber that studios would be willing to spend lots of money to restore and produce lavish sets for. Movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE, WEST SIDE STORY and others have huge fan bases and deserve top treatment but I just don't see them receiving proper restorations.

Well I read here (I think) & somewhere else that MGM had gone back & scanned the original negatives for The Great Escape, so I'm hopeful they won't muck it up. Fingers crossed!

 

[Keith Cobby]

VistaVision titles - High Society, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Court Jester, Artists & Models, Pardners

 

[Nick*Z]

2013 hasn't lived up to my expectations. Quite frankly, I think we've come down more than a notch or two from last year's outpouring of catalogue titles. And lest we forget that last year's output did yield some grand disappointments. The Hitchcock set from Universal was an outrage. Why bother doing a box if no attention was being paid to The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Family Plot or Frenzy?!? Badly done!

Paramount's 'color correction' on the original Raiders of the Lost Ark was also a misfire. I mean, the teal and gold palette was sooooooooooooooo not in keeping with the original theatrical presentation. The temple sequence looked garishly artificial and the Washington finale was bathed in a curious copper-tone/intense sepia afterglow. What was that?!?

Then, of course, came Bond 50 - or actually Bond 9, the other 12 titles newly minted to Blu-ray not receiving the upgrade and the extras too not remastered. Sloppy, slip-shod and totally undeserving for a 50th anniversary of the most successful, iconic and enduring film franchise in Hollywood's history. Really badly done!!!

But 2013 has been a year of catalogue MIA at best. Olive's output was...uh...the most 'impressive' in terms of quantity but hardly quality. Fox has been giving us some interesting catalogue (too many good titles to list) and promising more of the same - particularly this fall. Get your wallets ready. Through Twilight Time - Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (currently shipping) and in retailers Tuesday, Blood and Sand. We'll also get Cavalcade in August and a host of vintage stuff in October thanks to the Fox 'vote your favorites in' tally. Can't wait for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Black Swan. Could have also used Anastasia (1956), and Two For the Road - personal favs that didn't make the cut. But I digress.

But Warner has been MIA in the extreme and what came our way wasn't stellar. I'm thinking of their reissue of the 1974 Great Gatsby, so obviously a money grab of a tired old transfer simply to capitalize on the release of their revamped Baz Luhrmann extravaganza that was about as true to Fitzgerald as a nude sculpture of Danny DeVito is to Michelangelo's David!

Warner's catalogue is such an embarrassment of riches waiting to be properly mined in something other than MOD DVD-R retreads. They need a new marketing strategy to get these titles out there. They own the RKO, MGM, Selznick titles, plus have the distribution deal with Paramount. They gave us The Odd Couple. Thanks. Where's The Greatest Show on Earth, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Funny Face, Sabrina, Roman Holiday.

Universal had earlier promised us anniversary restorations of Touch of Evil and other catalogue titles but since have been extremely sketchy on dates for release. They're going to give us Charade in a bit. Too bad, Criterion beat them to the punch on this one. Thanks - but with no new extras and probably the same transfer quality I'll pass on spending for multiple copies of the same darn title!!! It would also be wonderful if Universal could get in gear with some hi-def of titles that have sorely lagged for some time. I'm thinking Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Flower Drum Song, Tammy and The Bachelor, Coal Miner's Daughter, Jaws II, Destry Rides Again, Shenandoah, Winchester '73, The Secret of My Success, Death Becomes Her (in widescreen for Pete's sake!!!!).

Disney has once again fallen off the charts. No catalogue there, except the upcoming Little Mermaid and UK release of The Jungle Book. They continue to completely short shrift their live action library. How about a release of Mary Poppins in hi-def for starters - to say nothing of Pollyanna, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the original The Parent Trap, Swiss Family Robinson, Old Yeller, Freaky Friday...oh, the list can go on but won't. I have a headache.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I basically agree with Nick*Z. Looking at what has been released this year and announcements by Olive, Criterion and Fox, some of the titles I want are trickling out. But Warners are a big disappointment, with the exception of House of Wax. I am a new member but had been reading HTF for some time, my perception had always been that there was some good dialogue between various studio representatives and HTF, but that this seems to have dried up. Perhaps it is that sales of (deep) catalogue titles have been poor and the studios are reluctant to invest in some of the titles we want but which may be of diminishing interest to the general population. I do think that Warners in particular are waiting for MOD blu-ray.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Good point on "Mary Poppins". Most people feel that Disney is waiting for the 50th Anniversary -- which I believe would be 2014 -- but it seems almost ludicrous to keep it off Blu for so long just to hit an arbitrary Anniversary date.As for all the other Disney live-action titles you mentioned: I have no idea what Disney is thinking.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I basically agree with Nick*Z. Looking at what has been released this year and announcements by Olive, Criterion and Fox, some of the titles I want are trickling out. But Warners are a big disappointment, with the exception of House of Wax. I am a new member but had been reading HTF for some time, my perception had always been that there was some good dialogue between various studio representatives and HTF, but that this seems to have dried up. Perhaps it is that sales of (deep) catalogue titles have been poor and the studios are reluctant to invest in some of the titles we want but which may be of diminishing interest to the general population. I do think that Warners in particular are waiting for MOD blu-ray.

Certain posters tend to ignore that possibility. They think the studios, who are like any other business of today, in search of making more profit would simply ignore a profitable revenue stream. If profits from these catalog titles were that robust, even Hollywood's questionable management types would break their necks trying to get out as many of those titles as possible. They may make some idiotic decisions regarding their green-lighting of certain film projects like The Lone Ranger. However, they're not stupid enough to ignore a revenue stream that is so profitable that it's a difference maker to their bottom line.

I understand it's easier to say the studios have missed the boat with their lack of new catalog titles onto Blu-ray. However, I think we need to look deeper as to why they haven't increased their catalog BD output. I think we don't want to go there because we don't want to admit that there simply is not enough of us buying these BD titles. The units sold per title hasn't been robust enough to make a difference to the studios ledger. Sure, they make some monies, but not enough to motivate them to increase their output in that regard. I understand we don't want to hear that and would rather just blame the studios for being stupid. However, I don't think that's the case. I just think the catalog units sold per title is lacking in numbers and thus, we have the situation we have in the catalog market. To change that situation, the consumers and then the retailers have to increase their interest in these titles by purchasing more of them from the studios.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Of the 40 or so friends of mine on my FB group that bought a ton of classic films on DVD a decade ago, 5-6 buy them on Blu-ray. It's an arbitrary example, but I tend to think it's reflective of reality.

 

[Robert Harris]

Well, in the case of the Bond and Hitchcock sets, they could do them right

+ 1RAH

 

[Robert Harris]

Please.Can we not start making lists of films desired released as poor quality Blu-rays.I don't want any part of her.RAH

 

[Professor Echo]

Warners not releasing catalog titles? Why they have THE WIZARD OF OZ and THE EXORCIST coming out!

 

[stevenHa]

But why is it some important blu rays come out first or sometimes only in Europe - ie China Syndrome, Taras Bulba, etc. ? Is there enough profit/interest there and why can't they release it here at the same time if they are releasing them anyway ?

 

[JPCinema]

Warner's days as the leader in releasing classic films on Blu Ray are now gone.....eclipsed by FOX who's output has been amazing this year.
Another Blu of Wizard of Oz and The Exorcist...while 1000s of classics are nowhere to be seen? At least Olive was releasing some Paramount titles on Blu...but now that Warners has them...they have effectively silenced that output.
Warner Archive and Blu Ray.....exciting announcement with GYPSY and DEATHTRAP.....now it's July and we are still waiting for GREYSTOKE with no other Blu Rays coming. Why?
I think I'm going through the stages of grief about Warners...anger , denial, bargaining, acceptance ( no hope) and death. RIP to the Warner's that was.....

 

[Professor Echo]

It wouldn't surprise me if Warners was focusing all their efforts on their new streaming channel and slowly phasing out physical media.

 

[Nick*Z]

You got that right. I have been concerned about streaming taking over the home video market too. I don't want to tie up my computer with the old 'rental' mentality. I want physical media to view at my leisure and for as many times as I want to view it. Not view it when the studios tell me I can and for how long. If that's the only option then I will definitely abstain!

And Warner releasing Oz and Exorcist yet again - get real and give it a break. We don't need regurgitation of titles already readily available. Re-issuing with different packaging and one or two new short featurette extras is just a money grab in the extreme. No takers here!

 

[Professor Echo]

Regurgitating THE EXORCIST.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Well, Warner's just started ramping up it's catalog output for the remainder of 2013 with the simultaneous announcement of "The Best Years Of Our Lives" & "The Bishop's Wife" from their Goldwyn licensing agreement for Nov. 5th release on blu-ray...and confirmation of a planned 4th quarter 30th Anniversary edition of "The Right Stuff" and the James Dean trilogy box set...any takers???

 

[Nick*Z]

Dear Luke J. Chung:

I'll agree with you that they're third quarter stuff looks promising. But let's be honest. This year's reissue to DVD of 'Best Years' and 'Bishop's Wife' - the latter a Christmas title getting released at the end of January, was nothing more than a last ditch effort to take advantage of consumer spending on DVD one last time before the Blu-ray upgrade. But I can see a lot of people who bought these titles a scant 6 months ago saying, 'to hell with this' on the Blu-ray and forgoing a repurchase - which, frankly, I can't blame them.

Warner's marketing of late has truly baffled me. They seem to be shooting themselves in the foot with DVD reissues then a Blu-ray a short while layer. These Goldwyn titles - particularly Bishop's Wife (a holiday offering) ought to have come to Blu same time as the other pair of Goldwyn titles (Hans Christian Anderson, Guys and Dolls) for the Christmas season. And while we're on the subject, it will be very interesting to see if Warner is merely scanning existing files or doing ground up digital restorations on either of these titles to make them ready for Blu-ray. Particularly in the case for 'Best Years of Our Lives' - an academy award winner and profound WWII movie, the original film elements no longer exist and all previous incarnations of this title have looked extremely poor. Worrisome is the fact that the Blu-ray cover art doesn't suggest a remastering effort. It looks like the same old thing all over again. You would think a new transfer would necessitate brand new packaging.

Will it be a new transfer? Hmmmm. Cross your fingers.

James Dean is a nice touch. I have been pushing Warner with private correspondences for about 5 years to get with the program and do 'anthology' box sets of a particular actor's work. Dean seems an obvious first choice because he only has 3 movies to remaster. But when Elizabeth Taylor passed in 2010 there should have been a deluxe box set of her work in the pipeline, and when Esther Williams died this year ditto. There also - by now - ought to have been deluxe box sets of Clark Gable's filmography, Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland - I mean comprehensive, with singles to follow 6 to 8 months later. This doesn't seem to be Warner's philosophy, though.

I will wait in anticipation for the aforementioned titles because, no kidding - anything is better than nothing. But WB ought to have been releasing 1-4 catalogue titles each month and not keeping everything on the back burner until the third quarter. Spread the wealth around, because the closer it gets to Christmas the more there is to buy for others rather than yourself. We'll hope that the studio puts its best foot forward on 'Best Years' and 'Bishop's Wife'. They should also be aggressively marketing their vast catalogue of musicals.

Warner hasn't really 'planned' their releases in some time in my opinion - the aforementioned release of Bishop's Wife at the start of February. Oh yeah, Christmas just before Valentine's. Smart move! They have so many movies in their archive they could literally do 'theme' months; for example - July is musicals month, November is WWII month to coincide with Remembrance Day, December is Christmas movie releases and so on. You get the picture. There also ought to be a late Jan. early February push to get the rest of the Oscar winning Best Pictures under the WB umbrella out to Blu. That means, The Broadway Melody, The Life of Emile Zola, The Great Ziegfeld, Around the World in 80 Days, and now, The Greatest Show on Earth, Ordinary People, and, Terms of Endearment, licensed through Paramount. These need to be out - yesterday!!!

I mean, we just passed the 4th of July again! Isn't there anyone here who thinks Warner missed the boat - yet again - by not releasing Yankee Doodle Dandy to Blu?!?!?