Movies that Deserve Blu-ray Treatment (1 Viewer)

[Reagan]

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

The Incredibles (2004)

and, for good measure...
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

 

[Douglas Monce]

Absolutely The Incredibles!

With The Maltese Falcon coming, I'd also like to see a properly cleaned up version of The Big Sleep on blu-ray.

Doug

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Add another vote for all the obvious classics like Lawrence, My Fair Lady, The Maltese Falcon, as well as the modern classics like the Star Wars films, Jurassic Park and Jaws (which I seem to recall has been announced.) Plus everything Pixar has ever produced, because there isn't a dud in the bunch. But I'd also like to see a few more obscure films, which never even got a decent DVD release, show up on the new format:

The Rocketeer. Disney criminally failed to market what should have been the first film of a franchise to rival Indiana Jones when it was released, then added insult to injury by botching ever home video release I've ever seen of the film. They did finally condescend to issue it on DVD - but only by porting the existing non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer to the small disc. Extras were minimal and the soundtrack was 2 channel. The film deserved (and deserves) better. C'mon. We're talking rocket packs and Jennifer Connelly in white silk. Who could ask for anything more?

Streets of Fire. OK, this is kind of a guilty pleasure, but I just love Walter Hill's "Rock 'n' Roll Fable" It has a terrific cast (I'll watch anything with Diane Lane in it, and this is the first time I ever saw Willem DaFoe in a film), great action and an absolutely unique "look" that just cries out for HD. This is one of the few modern films where the colors "pop" almost as much as they did in the days of three-strip technicolor, and Andrew Lazlo does a wonderful job capturing the strange world - "another time, another place" created by Hill and production designer John Vallone. But the current DVD is another "digitize the letterboxed LD transfer and slap it the little disc" hack job. I have to fiddle with the settings on both my DVD player and my TV to even get it to display at the full width of the screen. (Although at that, with the upscaling done by my JVC LCoS set, the disc looks better than it has any right to. Still, not a patch on what it could be in HD.)

The film also has one of the greatest soundtracks in the history of movies (Ry Cooder, Jimmy Iovine and Jim Steinman - who wrote some of Meatloaf's operatic classics - are just three of the contributors. If you listen closely you'll also hear Stevie Nicks adding an uncredited background vocal to a song she wrote.) The DVD at least provides a 5.1 soundtrack, but I'll be that could be improved on Blu-Ray, too.

Anyone else have any idiosyncratic personal favorites either never released on DVD or release so badly they may has well not have been that you'd like to see revisited? (I should note that until recently the third film on my own personal "I want it on Blu-Ray" list was The Last Starfighter - but that has been released, by some miracle. So maybe if they could release a cult film like that, there's still hope for SoF and The Rocketeer.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Douglas Monce]

1941 please....

Doug

 

[Edward Weinman]

...as many of the MGM musicals as possible (...thought that "Singin' In The Rain" and "The Band Wagon" were previously talked about as being worked on...)

...in past years WB had put so much effort into restoring and issuing them in SD that, I feel, it would be a shame not to take them to the next level...

 

[John Nelson]

Grand Prix (1966)
Made it onto HD-DVD but will it ever make it to Blu-ray?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce Major guilty pleasure.

Joe

 

[dana martin]

Once Upon A Time In The West

 

[Douglas Monce]

Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino Major guilty pleasure.

Joe

No guilt for me. I think its one of the funniest movies ever made, and one of my favorite moves of all time.

Doug

 

[kemcha]

Really need to be released to Blu-ray:

True Grit
Mclintock
Rooster Cogburn

 

[Vincent_P]

Michael Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE

Stanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON

Stephen Speilberg's MUNICH

Terrence Mallick's BADLANDS

Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

Vincent

 

[MLamarre]

Agree with most of these.

I'll add: Demolition Man - No better time to capitalize on the resurgence in popularity of Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino

The Rocketeer. Disney criminally failed to market what should have been the first film of a franchise to rival Indiana Jones when it was released, then added insult to injury by botching ever home video release I've ever seen of the film. They did finally condescend to issue it on DVD - but only by porting the existing non-anamorphic laserdisc transfer to the small disc. Extras were minimal and the soundtrack was 2 channel. The film deserved (and deserves) better. C'mon. We're talking rocket packs and Jennifer Connelly in white silk. Who could ask for anything more?

Anyone else have any idiosyncratic personal favorites either never released on DVD or release so badly they may has well not have been that you'd like to see revisited?

Definitely THE ROCKETEER, as well as these other flicks that were denied the anamorphic treatment (or in some cases, denied even widescreen treatment) on Standard R1 DVD:

THE ABYSS
TRUE LIES
RAISING ARIZONA
BREAKDOWN
THE APOSTLE
ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ
SORCEROR
HELL IN THE PACIFIC
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (the original)
LIFEFORCE
LEAN ON ME
FEARLESS
THE BLACK STALLION
NEVER CRY WOLF
MIRACLE MILE
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
TOM JONES
TOPKAPI
ELMER GANTRY
THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
THE MIRACLE WORKER
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
THE BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ
THE TALE OF ZATOICHI
THE TALE OF ZATOICHI CONTINUES
DAY OF THE JACKAL
COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT
CHARLEY VARRICK
INNOCENT BLOOD
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
HOPE & GLORY
JUNIOR BONNER
NO GOOD DEED
TAMPOPO
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961)
DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS
QUATERMASS & THE PIT
THEATRE OF BLOOD
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)
KRONOS
GODZILLA VS THE THING (American cut at 2.35:1)
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
GAMERA, GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE
YELLOW SUBMARINE
1941
PICNIC (I missed out on the initial 16:9 disc release of this)
OKLAHOMA! (botched anamorphic transfer)

I'm ready to double-dip for stunning Blu versions of:

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
THE INCREDIBLES
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
HORROR OF DRACULA
POINT BLANK (1967)
JASON & THE ARGONAUTS (1963)
ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (un-cut)
THE QUIET MAN (full Technicolor restoration)
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
KILL BILL: THE WHOLE BLOODY AFFAIR
GRINDHOUSE
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
RED ROCK WEST
FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE
THE MORE THE MERRIER
MICROCOSMOS
CINEMA PARADISO

 

[Walter Kittel]

I always find myself in agreement with Peter's wish lists.

I'll add (or mention again)

Barry Lyndon
The Big Country
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Casino Royale (1967) (A favorite. Sue me.)
Chariots of Fire
Chinatown
The Dreamers
The Horse Whisperer
Hud
In Bruges
Jaws
Jeremiah Johnson
Koyaanisqatsi
Kundun
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Microcosmos
Once Upon A Time In The West
Outland (If any DVD release needs a do-over in the transfer department; surely it is this one.)
Point Blank (1967)
Princess Mononoke (and the rest of the Miyazaki titles)
Raise the Red Lantern
Rear Window
The Right Stuff
The Rocketeer (what Joseph said.)
Silent Running
Solaris (both versions)
Taxi Driver
The Thin Red Line
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Until the End of the World
Vertigo
Zardoz (Just because no wish list of mine would be complete without this title.)

Just some of the titles off the top of my head.

- Walter.

 

[Holer]

My idiosyncratic favorites that only got fullscreen pan/scan releases on DVD are:

The Shadow
Missing in Action II
Cowboy

I'd definitely vote for a proper Blu release of The Rocketeer too, especially given the recent passing of the great Dave Stevens. Disney did a great job making the movie but didn't know what to do with it after that.

I would also love to see someone take on the creation of Blu transfers of Russ Meyer's early films - I'm sure the original elements are in beautiful shape - who wouldn't want to see 'Faster Pussycat' and 'Common Law Cabin' in high-def?

 

[Joseph Bolus]

In regards to the list of Widescreen movies that never made it to DVD with anamorphic enhancement, we need to add:

* Armageddon (Didn't I read somewhere that it's about to be released to Blu?)
* Disney's Hercules
* The (Original) Original Star Wars Trilogy

It's still *shocking* to me that in the entire age of the digital optical disc format we've yet to have a single decent presentation release of "True Lies" or "The Abyss"!!

*** EDIT *** I just noticed that "Armageddon" will be released to Blu on April 27th.

 

[Adam_S]

1920s: Sunrise (I know I can import it)
1930s: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (i've seen it on film twice on really superb prints from the new restoration and the DVD does not do justice to the image of the film, though it is acceptable)
1940s: How Green Was My Valley & A Matter of Life and Death (two of the finest representations of cinematography EVER)
1950s: Ben-Hur
1960s: The Apartment (see comment on Mr. Smith)
1970s: Barry Lyndon
1980s: Empire of the Sun (IMO, the finest visual achievement on film to date. Visual poetry).
1990s: Miller's Crossing
2000s: Almost Famous

 

[Josh Dial]

Gladiator deserves *proper* blu-ray treatment.

 

[kemcha]

Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Spiderman
Spiderman 2
Spiderman 3

Police Story
Policy Story 2
Drunken Masters (the first movie)

The Godzilla movie franchise

 

[hampsteadbandit]

Spiderman
Spiderman 2
Spiderman 3

??

I've had these on Blu-Ray for some months (Region 2), they look great!



I would love to see on HD:

Mission to Mars
ExistenZ
Strange Days
Terminator
The Abyss
True Lies
Aliens
Saving Private Ryan (not too long to wait!!)