MGM classic films get video-on-demand release (1 Viewer)

[Bob Cashill]

Looks like THE BEST MAN is shipping next week. It's back in stock at Amazon anyway.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by ajabrams

Does anyone know if it is difficult to release a film in anamorphic format? Does it involve any prohibitive costs to the distributor? Is that the reason these films aren't being released that way--or is it oversight or just "not caring?" I am curious to know. Whatever the reason, it's sure infuriating!!

Bill Hunt at Digital Bits at one time said all that was needed was a push of a button. Not sure if it is that easy, but all of the Warner Archive titles that were Scope or Widescreen are transferred as Anamorphic. So it should not be that hard or cost prohibitive. Especially titles like Cold Turkey, Toys In The Attic and The Best Man, the transfer is letterboxed with black bars at the top and bottom, but presented in 1:33 to 1 so you have black bars on all three four sides. With the majority of people having widescreen TVs, it is ridiculous to anything that is not anamorphic.

 

[Worth]

The original film-to-video transfer needs to be anamorphic in order for there to be any advantage to it - and that is something that wasn't common until DVD started up.

Many of these transfers were likely created for laserdisc and/or television broadcast. While they could be squeezed into an anamorphic format, nothing would be gained in terms of resolution - it wouldn't look any different than zooming to fill the screen.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Worth

The original film-to-video transfer needs to be anamorphic in order for there to be any advantage to it - and that is something that wasn't common until DVD started up.

Many of these transfers were likely created for laserdisc and/or television broadcast. While they could be squeezed into an anamorphic format, nothing would be gained in terms of resolution - it wouldn't look any different than zooming to fill the screen.

How would these look on wide TV screen broadcast from TCM? The same with black bars all around?

 

[Bob Cashill]

I made an error a few weeks ago and said that my copy of THE BEST MAN worked fine. Well, it didn't, and died at around the 48-minute mark, like everyone else's. (I may have confused it with some other title that arrived that day.) In any event I was sent a replacement, and I noted that it was back in stock at Amazon. Buyer beware: the second copy proved to have the same defect. I'm getting a refund now. If anyone has received a fixed, working copy please let us all know, much obliged.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

I made an error a few weeks ago and said that my copy of THE BEST MAN worked fine. Well, it didn't, and died at around the 48-minute mark, like everyone else's. (I may have confused it with some other title that arrived that day.) In any event I was sent a replacement, and I noted that it was back in stock at Amazon. Buyer beware: the second copy proved to have the same defect. I'm getting a refund now. If anyone has received a fixed, working copy please let us all know, much obliged.

My replacement came today with the same problem. Back it goes.

 

[kingfish]

I can't believe that MGM would sell a flawed product especially on that is manufactured on demand. I was going to pick up the gallant hours but after reading what has happened I am doubtful.

 

[Bob Cashill]

ahollis (above) said THE GALLANT HOURS is widescreen anamorphic, which is a good start. I'm assuming (assuming) no other problems with that particular title.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

ahollis (above) said THE GALLANT HOURS is widescreen anamorphic, which is a good start. I'm assuming (assuming) no other problems with that particular title.

It is widescreen anamorphic as I checked my disc this morning because DVD Profiler had it as being full frame. I plan on watching the entire disc in the very near future.





Crawdaddy

 

[ahollis]

I heard that the MOD program between Amazon and MGM is really between Amazon and a 3rd party and that the 3rd party licensed the titles from MGM. Anyone else heard that? That might be the reason for the sometimes anamorphic and sometimes not. IT depended on what MGM turned over to them.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

ahollis (above) said THE GALLANT HOURS is widescreen anamorphic, which is a good start. I'm assuming (assuming) no other problems with that particular title.

I did not have any problems with, not like I have with The Best Man. By the way, Amazon again took that title down from "in stock" to tell when we have it.

I hope all of you enjoy it. Cagney is pretty good in it.

 

[ahollis]

For what it is worth, THE OFFENSE with Sean Connery is Widescreen - Anamorphic. Interesting but drab film. Decent transfer with muted colors that give the film a lot of focus and atmosphere.

 

[Thomas T]

I got my first MGM/UA MOD title today. THE CARETAKERS. Alas, it couldn't even get past the title credits before freezing/stopping/jumping. I tried it on both my Toshiba DVD player and my Toshiba portable player. Back it goes for a replacement.

 

[Chuck Pennington]

I got THE CARETAKERS as well, and while it is better than the one I recorded on DVD from TCM, it is interlaced and non-anamorphic. It is the same master used for broadcast, but looks marginally better without the quality issues of digital broadcasts. WICKED STEPMOTHER is 1.85:1 widescreen, non-anamorphic and interlaced, even though an HD master DOES exist and has been shown on Showtime HD. It should at least be anamorphic widescreen.

 

[Traveling Matt]

They really need to get these MODs to pressed disc. Independent video companies will custom press orders of as few as 300. Would go a long way in avoiding the skip/freeze issues constantly encountered...

 

[Brandon Conway]

But pressed discs are the least of MGM's worries if they're doing interlaced non-anamorphic transfers...

 

[Traveling Matt]

Those issues should certainly be dealt with, yes. But interlacing and non-anamorphic mean nothing if the disc doesn't play. The first priority among all studios doing MOD should be to only produce pressed discs.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Pressed discs aren't gonna happen on these budgets. They can program the MODs better.

 

[Nebiroth]

Pressed discs are incredibly cheap to knock out,espescially on a small scale. You only have to look at the budget discs produced by the likes of Alpha.


The problem is that Warner is a major corporation and it "doesn't do small". Producing a disc at Warner always costs a lot because it involves a large part of a huge operation - for example, their marketing dvision. Moreover, Warner just isn't interested in making small amounts of profit - it's "if it doesn;t make ten million then it;s not worth our trouble"


Outfits like Alpha can do it because they are small, when they have discs they get them made in small numbers, and contract out to a cheap independent to do it. Precisely the opposite of Warner who probably spend more on designing the lettering on one their DVD covers than Alpha do on producing an entire release. Because of this they can operate on much small profits and profit margins.


I think of it this way: Warner are like a company that operates passenger liners. They transport large numbers of relatively wealthy people over long distances. They aren't set up for, and aren;t interested, in taking six people on third class fares across the local river in a small boat. It's an automatic loss for them.


The MOD system is probably a small department within Warner that operates on a semi-independent basis that doesn;t involve the mass machinery that a standard DVD release does. Also, the premium prices of the product give a big enough return to be "worthy" of Warner.


The price of physically producing the DVD discs themselves is pretty much a non-issue.


The main thing is the scale at which a company the size of Warner can profitably operate at - with a sufficient scale of profit.

 

[ahollis]

Every time we talk about MOD vs. pressed discs, we end up using Warner Archive as a the one to complain. I would be very happy if the discs were pressed from Warner's's and I know that there have been problems with the Archive program from day one. But compared to what MGM has done, the Warner Archive is a blessing. I have about 100 archive titles and have not had one problem with any freezing or skipping. All the films are OAR and anamorphic. MGM just does not care. I have gone through three The Best Man discs and still do not have one that works. Thank goodness Amazon replaced and then credited those. I can not stand non-anamorphic releases, but what are you going to do when Cold Turkey come out.


I am as happy as I am going to be with Warner's, but MGM needs to take page from the Warner playbook on MOD's. They just cannot get it right. MOD programs are going to be for the future, if not MOD discs sent to you, then a digital download for you to burn to a DVD-r. Mass pressed discs are a thing of the past.