North By Northwest 50th Anniversary blu ray?? (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

Is Warner Bros still planning on releasing a 50th anniversary edition of North By Northwest this year? Will it be out by Spring or later in the year?

Also, are other Alfred Hitchcock films in the works for blu ray?

I saw the dvd reissues of Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho last summer, but figured they should be coming to blu ray shortly?

 

[Brian Borst]

I don't think anything has been announced about Hitchcock on Blu-Ray, although there are indeed rumors about North by Northwest. It would've been a perfect time to release Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo when the 2-discs were released, but Universal didn't take the opportunity. Too bad.

 

[Osato]

I believe the HTF chat with WB in 2007 mentioned that a restoration was in the works for North By Northwest for release in 2009?

 

[Loregnum]

I hope this gets released this year and is done justice since it is one of my favourite films.

If it comes out and is DNRed to the point lost detail is clearly missing then I will be maaaaaad.

 

[Garysb]

The standard DVDs of North By Northwest, Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind, and Woodstock went on moratorium last year in anticipation of being released on blu-ray and rereleased on standard DVD in 2009. I assume this is still the plan. It was mentioned as part of the Warner Bros 85th Anniversary press event posted 2/6/08 per link below.

"A few other titles that were notable were also discussed. These titles will go into moratorium soon to be re-introduced in HD in 2009: Gone with the Wind, Woodstock, The Wizard of Oz and North by Northwest. As Bill Hunt and I talked about later, its titles like these that will help to drive people to HD."

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ess-event.html

 

[Douglas Monce]

Knowing the problems with the ON of North by Northwest, it will be interesting to see what they can do with it now that the technology is significantly advanced. I believe this was one of Lowry's earliest titles, and they worked miracles, with it at the time. I'd love to see what they can do now.

Doug

 

[Reagan]

My bet is that North By Northwest will be given the same treatment that The Searchers was given. That is the separation masters will be scanned, cleaned up, and combined via the Ultra-Rez process to form the final product. I don't know anything, this is just my gut feeling.

I'm looking forward to the results.

-R

 

[Brian Borst]

Wasn't North By Northwest cropped on the original dvd, like the Searchers was? I imagine this will be fixed for the new version?

 

[Douglas Monce]

Could very well be, assuming that the separation masters were prepared correctly in the first place, and even still exist.

Doug

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

The Heights Theatre in MPLS MN area will be doing a screening of NORTH BY NORTHWEST April 16th tix may still be avalaible

Here is their link

Heights Theatre


Here is what their webpage states:

The Heights Theatre and Jazz88 presents
"NORTH BY NORTHWEST" (1959) 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL SCREENING!
THURSDAY APRIL 16, 2009. One Show Only! 7:30pm.
All Seats $8.00.
Advance tickets available


The Heights Theatre and Jazz88 presents a very special 50TH ANNIVERSARY screening of

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S "NORTH BY NORTHWEST" (1959) Starring CARY GRANT, EVA MARIE SAINT and JAMES MASON.

In addition to the screening of this VISTAVISION and TECHNICOLOR classic we also will have...
* HARVEY GUSTAFSON at the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer!
* ULTRA RARE Never seen before 35mm Hearst Metrotone Newsreel footage of ALFRED HITCHCOCK and EVA MARIE SAINT promoting the 1959 opening of "North By Northwest" in Chicago, courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive!
* A special screening of the LONG trailer for "MARNIE" hosted by ALFRED HITCHCOCK himself!
* PLUS, Prize drawings and other giveaways!
SO DON'T MISS IT!

35mm print courtesy Warner Bros.

 

[rich_d]

I e-mailed the theatre. The print they are getting is not a newly restored print but a 5-6 year old print. There's is nothing wrong with that as I saw NBNW in NYC a couple years ago and the print looked great. However, it is not a sign that newly restored prints are making the rounds.

 

[Osato]

I noticed that WB has not said anything further about this film coming to blu ray this year. Is it still in the works? I was wondering if maybe it's going to be delayed until next year, as WB already has a number of older catalog titles coming this year?

 

[Patrick McCart]

The DVD has considerably more image on the sides than the laserdisc.

 

[Brian Borst]

Well, I saw some images somewhere that showed that the latest dvd was missing some image information. And of course I can't find that link now, that always happens when you're looking for it.

 

[Osato]

Is there any further news on a blu ray release date? I hope this film is being released in 2009.

Side question, are any of the other Alfred Hitchcock films on the way?

 

[Brian Borst]

Oh, I meant this link but it seems it was mentioning the Laserdisc as the faulty one, I think.

 

[Osato]

Has the restoration and blu ray release of North By Northwest been delayed?

Thanks.

Warner Previews 2008/2009 Blu-ray Slate | High-Def Digest

Warner Bros. has unveiled plans to celebrate its 85th birthday in grand style, promising Blu-ray release of such beloved titles as 'Gone with the Wind,' 'The Wizard of Oz' and films from the Batman and Dirty Harry series.

Revealed by top studio execs at a media event held last night on the Warner lot, the studio says it will honor its 85-year legacy with an extensive slate of DVD and Blu-ray releases of major theatrical and catalog titles throughout 2008 and early 2009.

Many titles mentioned have already been hinted at in previous public statements, including films from the Batman and Dirty Harry franchises, the upcoming theatrical hits 'The Dark Knight,' 'Speed Racer' and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' as well as the first high-def release from Warner's new direct-to-video premiere label Raw Feed, 'Otis: Uncut.'

The studio went on to say that several of its most beloved classics will go into temporary moratorium on standard DVD in 2008 in anticipation of a series of lavish re-issues on both DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, including 'Gone with the Wind,' 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'North by Northwest.'

The list of titles previewed at last night's event are as follows (note that the studio stressed that this is not a complete list of planned Blu-ray releases, simply the highlights):

Q2 2008: 'Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collection' (includes 'Dirty Harry,' 'Magnum Force,' 'The Enforcer,' 'Sudden Impact,' 'The Dead Pool' and bonus disc "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows')

Q3 2008: 'Batman Anthology' (includes 'Batman,' 'Batman Returns,' 'Batman Forever,' 'Batman & Robin,' 'Batman Begins'), 'Batman Begins'

Q4 2008: 'Otis: Uncut'

2009: 'Gone with the Wind,' 'North By Northwest,' 'The Wizard of Oz,' 'Woodstock'

2008/2009 Theatrical Releases: '10,000 B.C.,' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' 'The Dark Knight,' 'Get Smart,' 'Speed Racer'' and 'Where the Wild Things Are.'

Warner has not released specific street dates or technical specs, but full announcements are expected over the coming months as the studio rolls out its complete 2008/2009 line-up.

 

[Garysb]

It seems that we have heard about Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Woodstock but not North By Northwest coming this year to blu-ray.
Of course exact release dates for GWTW and WOZ have not been announced but should be in the forth quarter. so it is possible that NBNW could be announced at a later time.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Actually, release dates have been out for GWTW (December 1) and TWOZ (October 27), although they may be unofficial.

The issue here may be that the restoration work for North by Northwest may not be complete yet, whereas the others have already been done. IIRC, there's a leadtime of several months "in the pipeline" (i.e., licensing of extras, transfering, encoding, master discs, replication, and so forth) for major releases. If restoration isn't complete, they can't give us as specific a time as they can for the other two.

 

[rich_d]

I'm not going to speculate about NBNW other than to note that the factors you mentioned are nothing more than project management 101 for a DVD producer. That said, it's only May. If we get to the end of August without a release date ... that's an issue.