Sony's Mike Schlesinger talks; Boetticher/Scott, Toho, Hammer, Peter Lorre, more... (1 Viewer)

[John Hodson]

Well, I'm satisfied. Thank you Bruce.

They've also corrected their version of 'Far From The Madding Crowd', though no doubt there are still old copies on offer both in shops and at etailers.

 

[Robert13]

I have spoken to Mike through e-mail. A very nice guy. He is not involved in Sony's tv-on-dvd department. I wish we had someone as nice and well-versed in that department to talk to.

 

[Bruce Morrison]

John, I hope you're right to be satisfied - anyway I'll post here again if I get confirmation from them. Are you going to buy the box set?

I've just bought the new Region 1 DVD released by Warner of 'Far From The Madding Crowd'. It's in the correct 2.35 ratio and the general quality isn't bad, although I don't think they've put much effort into it. The print is clean and free from speckles, etc. and the colour timing seems correct, but there are a few places where the transfer is more than usually grainy/noisy.

My memory of the old Region 2 DVD is that, even leaving aside the cropped ratio after the credits, the credits sequence itself looked as if it had been filmed at dusk rather than in bright daylight! The new Region 1 is definitely better than that.

 

[John Hodson]

I haven't seen it myself, but comments I've read indicate that the corrected R2 is significantly better in every way than the old version. I'd be surprised, however, if it was vastly different from the Warner disc though.

 

[mdnitoil]

For those interested in the Toho set, Mike S. posted on Monster Kid Classic Horror forums a couple of days ago regarding contents.
As far as I'm concerned, this is outstanding news. It's no sacrifice to give up Return of Mothra 3 in order to get dual cuts of the actual classic films.

 

[Jim_K]

I agree. Return was an odd fit for this set so I was a bit indifferent as to it's inclusion. As long as the original language versions of Mothra, H-man, and BIOS were included I would've been content. Having both versions is fantastic (and the way to go with all the classic Toho Sci-fi films).

 

[R-T-C Tim]

In reagrds The Go-Between, it is a very nice anamorphic transfer in that Losey set.



The Go-Between review.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

So the ROM 3 statement makes it sound as if they might re-release 1 & 2 together with 3? That's the only package that really makes any sense at all as far as I can see.

That probably makes more sense than including it in this box too.

 

[John Hodson]

Thanks Tim.

 

[mdnitoil]

Considering how badly they butchered the aspect ratio on 1 & 2, it is certainly a possibility. I'm just surprised Sony would even be interested in revisiting the material. They haven't shown much interest in that before and there are certainly more worthy titles to be revisited, even confined to the Toho sphere.

 

[Jay E]

Since Warner is dumping most of its unreleased catalog onto DVD-R's (at high prices), and seems to have forgotten regular DVD for the time being for its catalog...Sony/Columbia has now moved ahead of them as my favorite studio in regards to classic film releases on DVD.

I just want to thank Mike Schlesinger for a great job in getting Columbia's library out onto DVD. The upcoming, Jack Lemmon, Film Noir & Sam Fuller boxsets (the last 2 mentioned in the Film Noir thread)and The Strange One are all eagerly awaited by me.

 

[Steve...O]

Sony is indeed doing a great job and congrats and thanks to Mike S for being a dedicated champion of many of these.

Anyone heard anymore on the rumored B movie collections that were said to be in Sony's plans (Jungle Jim and the Lone Wolf)?

 

[Mike*HTF]

...or the Lorre set?

 

[Colin McGuigan]

Sony probably want to see what sales are like on the sets we know about first. I hope they sell well as there is a gap in the market at present and Sony appear intent on filling it.
I was very happy with last years offerings (Boetticher and the two Hammer sets) which were well presented and good value for money. Keep 'em coming please.

 

[Simon Howson]

Generally I agree, but I think they are letting themselves down a bit with their marketing. For example, they should've promoted the Boetticher set more as a Randolph Scott westerns collection to attract more Westerns fans who (sadly) have no idea who Budd Boetticher is. I know quite a few people who are big Westerns fans, yet didn't get the set, even though it contains 5 of the best westerns of the 1950s.

Also, it is sad to say that the Boetticher set includes excellent transfers, except for the fact there is a lot of ringing / halo artefacts caused by extreme application of edge enhancement. For that reason alone I am hopeful that the set will be reissued on Blu-ray in a few years.

I bought the Hammer Adventure set, and well, it is great except for the fact it contains quite possibly the worst cover art on a legit (non-public domain) release I have ever seen. Again this is very important, because some engaging cover art can attract blind buys.

 

[JeffT.]

I sure would go for both JUNGLE JIM (Johnny Weissmuller) and THE LONE WOLF (Warren Williams, Gerald Mohr and Ron Randell) film series DVD releases! I sincerely hope that these are definitely not mere rumours but actually in the works for 2009.

I would also like to further suggest Columbia Pictures' incredible BOSTON BLACKIE film series with Chester Morris which aired Saturday mornings for a while on TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES and was an absolute hoot! A very nice balance of both engaging detective mystery and hilarious laughs.

As has been already mentioned these prospective projects would certainly fill the gapping desired B-film void generally neglected by the other major studio DVD distributors.

Hopefully someone at Sony Home Entertainment is methodically reading this particular discussion thread!

Jeff T.

 

[Tim Tucker]

This has been a persistent problem with Sony releases for many years. Do studios design these in-house, or contract the work out? Either way, I believe some fresh blood is needed.

 

[Tim-H.]

I'd love something along the lines of Warner's Horror Double Features, adapting some form of the poster art. Or something original like Criterion's 'Monsters & Madmen.' But tinted stills just look dull.
I would gladly design these for free - FREE, I say!

 

[John Hodson]

To be fair, by the time Sony got round to the Hammer Horror set, they'd improved the cover design considerably, and the 'choose a design' tie-in with Amazon was a nice move.

We'd been calling the Boetticher set a Scott / Boetticher set from the moment the first rumours emerged (well, TBH, long before that...), it was a real puzzle that they decided to keep Scott's name off the cover art. Nevertheless, I'd bet it sold by the lorry load.

And JeffT, I'd snap that Boston Blackie set up in a heartbeat - with that art!

Meanwhile, well done Mike S and Sony; keep it up chaps. Please.

 

[Alan Tully]

I don't think you can beat the original poster design (esp from that era). The Fox Studio Classics range looked so good using the original poster art.