Please release "Twilight's Last Gleaming" (Warner Bros.?) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

The most recent update I have from a few days ago is not anytime
soon.
I hate to keep pounding on the fact that the studio wants to get
this title out, but I have a feeling most of you have lost faith in that.
There is a legitimate reason for the continued holdup. I promise
once this title is finally released I will be able to talk more about it.
All I can again say is that the studio has not abandoned this title.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Bummer, I saw Ron had posted in this thread again and got my hopes up this was finally a release date. :frowning:

 

[Jeff_HR]

I for one am certainly interested in "WHY" this title is not out! When the story is finally told, I'll be reading about it with bated breath. :frowning:

 

[scribe1964]

I've been dying to see a proper release of this also. I'll bet there's a rights problem. Maybe something to do with the Ray Charles song at the end? It's also possible that they simply can't find a good print of the movie, though I think it's unlikely.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Quote:

Only a very, very few know what is going on with the release delay.
I'm going to take a wild guess & guess that perhaps WB is waiting for the 35th or 40th anniversary, since the 30th has come and gone. :frowning: I only hope to still be alive when the sun shines on this title.

 

[scribe1964]

I'm going to take a wild guess & guess that perhaps WB is waiting for the 35th or 40th anniversary, since the 30th has come and gone. I only hope to still be alive when the sun shines on this title.

I hope you're wrong about this. I don't want to wait until 2012 or 2017 to get this!

 

[walter o]

I thought it was Billy Preston, not Ray Charles, who sang the song.

 

[scribe1964]

I thought it was Billy Preston, not Ray Charles, who sang the song.

You may be right. It's been 30 years or so since I've seen the movie.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I hope you're wrong about this. I don't want to wait until 2012 or 2017 to get this!

I hope that I'm DEAD wrong!
Unfortunately, those in the KNOW won't talk, so we're left to make wild guesses.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I hope that I'm DEAD wrong!
Unfortunately, those in the KNOW won't talk, so we're left to make wild guesses.

Perhaps in our next chat with Warner coming soon, you can ask Warner yourself about this title.
Crawdaddy

 

[Jeff_HR]

Perhaps in our next chat with Warner coming soon, you can ask Warner yourself about this title.
Crawdaddy

Well Crawdaddy, if I can be guaranteed the ability to ask a question & I'm available, I'd ask away. That, of course, doesn't stop somone else from asking! But I suspect that those ULTIMATE persons in the know would be equally secretive about the info. In that case we the people "out of the know" would more than likely gain little if any info about a release date &/or DVD/BD specs and we would waste a valuable question.

 

[Jeff_HR]

So no one could manage to put the question to WB as to when we'll see a release of this title, or even get a bit of info about it. TOO BAD! :frowning:
So I guess the greatest mystery in the history of Home Video continues on!
(I'm unable to take part in chats during the early evening due to working hours, so I could not spring the question)

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I purposely avoided the question.
I did not want to put the studio on the spot to a question they
are not yet ready to answer.
There's little I can add to what I have said already. The situation
with this film is complicated at the moment. However, as of this
week the studio has actually moved an inch or two forward from
where it has been in getting this title out.
That's not to say a release is imminent, but it does show that the
title is still very much on the mind of the studio to get out to you ASAP.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Quote:

If it is NOT imminent, then WB wanting to put it out ASAP seems IMHO to be a bit confusing. Oh well, I'm guessing if I don't see this in the next 12 to 18 months, then I may NEVER see it in my life. :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:
Thanks for the info that things moved "forward" an inch.
I'll sure be interested in the story of this title's journey to video release. It ought to be a WHOOPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

If it is NOT imminent, then WB wanting to put it out ASAP seems IMHO to be a bit confusing

No it's not.
If the studio could, it would have been out two years ago.
This is a title that has always been on their front burner. The
most current news I am hearing is positive, but only small steps
in the overall scheme of getting this title out.

 

[Jeff_HR]

If the studio could, it would have been out two years ago.

To me that sounds more & more like the film is in "Rights" Hell!!
If I were to place a bet, I'd bet that the opening song is part of any "Rights" Hell that this film "might" be in.
Maybe I should hire a SPY!

 

[Charles H]

Sounds to me like the aborted and abortive releases of BOOMERANG. If it does come out, I hope that the commentary explains the situation. Warner Bros. is bringing out TELEFON next month and that is also based on a book by Walter Wager.

 

[Kerhonen]

I've seen three different versions of the film and none of them were proper (as far as aspect ratios and such are concerned). Hope Warners gets it right if they do get it out.

On a sidenote, in an interview I read, Aldrich said the initial theatrical release to have been 2 hours and 27 minutes long and that the cut he did for TV was 143-144 minutes. Might be a memory failure on his part, but I found it interesting (this was certainly after he had cut the Vera Miles scenes, which I'd like to see as DVD extras, if possible).

 

[Kerhonen]

Ach!
Just watched a German trailer (from the Japanese DVD) for the movie, and it would appear as if some scenes (such as cutting wires in the silo (which I kinda felt was missing from the film and had thought, "wouldn't it be great if...") and Lancaster making faces while opening the safe etc.) are missing from the VHS release by CBS FOX.
I was also watching an all-widescreen version missing about 1 hour of footage and noted differences in music pacings, start and end credits, dialogue coherency at different scenes...
The version released by CBS FOX Video runs for ca 144 minutes. IMDB says full running time is 146, which I am forced to at least slightly doubt, given the quote by Aldrich (though he also stated it being 2 hours 23 minutes long during the same year, not referring to either TV or theatrical versions).
Confusing? No way!
But it leaves me to wildly guess that Home Video releases so far are editions cut for television. Not that it makes any sense, because the director suspected that profanity caused the loss of a few minutes on the TV version, which led to the 143-144 min. runtime.
Edit: credit runs appear to be the same, after all.

 

[Kerhonen]

But I reckon this sums it up pretty well:
Q: What's the story behind Twilight's Last Gleaming? The French version was severely cut.
A: First off, I should never have made that film.
- The interview, conducted in 1983, has, by the way, been translated into French and from French back into English (the one with this one question, that is. The rest of the quotes or references to them are from two separate interviews from 1977).