TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT DEBUTS Manufacture-On-Demand DVD SERIES (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by flagbrothers /t/321686/twentieth-century-fox-home-entertainment-debuts-manufacture-on-demand-dvd-series/60#post_3947323
I will not buy any CinemaScope films released in Pan & Scan. No purchases from me FOX!!!!!

Absolutely agree. If I want the film, I want ALL of the film and not some makeshift variation on what was meant to be presented.

 

[ShowsOn]

Really we should just flood the Amazon.com reviews to warn people of the transfers that we know are 4:3 pan and scan.

 

[Jay E]

I can't believe in this day and age they would release a pan & scan CinemaScope film and then have the nerve to charge $20 for it.

 

[kingfish]

i don't like pan and scan either.

 

[Matthew Burdette]

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/dvd_reviews57/intent_to_kill.htm
I saw a review of "Intent to Kill" and IT'S A PAN AND SCAM Transfer

 

[lionel59]

Yes. Fox provided TCM with a P/S version of this movie (INTENT TO KILL). They had advertised it as being in LBX and had to run an apologetic statement before the film. (Matthew, did you mean to type 'PAN AND SCAM' rather than 'PAN AND SCAN'? If you didn't, then it must have been a "Freudian slip" as it IS a SCAM to put out cropped versions of movies at these prices!!). When you consider that not so long ago Fox were adding 'Restoration Comparisons' to their classic releases and showing how much time and effort they had gone to to give the best image possible, we have truly gone from the sublime to the ridiculous here! I would not expect any 'Scope movie to be released by Fox MOD in 'Scope if it has not been released in 'Scope in the past AND it is only shown in 'Pan and Scan' on the Fox Movie Channel.

 

[Lou Lumenick]

Thanks for the kind words here. There's a list of 31 more titles scheduled for release in early August in the second half of this column.
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/cinema_archives_first_cooper_garfield_MSJUsfbRyJ8pVfzaUpqF9K

 

[Bob Cashill]

Lumenick in da house! One of us! One of us! But not too much pain here...

 

[ahollis]

And now Lou Lumenick here, the champion of all things movies. This forum just gets better and better.

 

[DeWilson]

Most, if not all, the films in this second wave have aired on Fox Movie Channel or TCM in the last couple of years.
More off the shelf stuff. - no surprise there,

 

[Jay E]

Lou Lumenick is one of the few good reasons to read the NY Post.

 

[JoHud]

Hopefully one of those widescreen-era films are actually presented in the OAR this time around.

 

[Dan McW]

Hopefully one of those widescreen-era films are actually presented in the OAR this time around.

One of the films to be released, ONE FOOT IN HELL, has aired in full-screen on the Cinemax/HBO channels and I think on FMC too. Two others, THE SECRET OF THE PURPLE REEF and THE ROOKIES, have aired only in full-screen on FMC. I'd snap up a DVD of ONE FOOT IN HELL, but only if it's OAR.
Also re FMC: of all the Jones Family movies, the one being released is the only one of the series that's aired on FMC.

 

[Thomas T]

One of the films to be released, ONE FOOT IN HELL, has aired in full-screen on the Cinemax/HBO channels and I think on FMC too.

The Spanish DVD of ONE FOOT IN HELL is in anamorphic 2.35 so there should be NO reason for this film to be P&S.

 

[DeWilson]

The Spanish DVD of ONE FOOT IN HELL is in anamorphic 2.35 so there should be NO reason for this film to be P&S.

Yes, there's a reason - FOX seems to be using off the shelf DOMESTIC elements.
This line is nothing more than an extension of THE (Original) FOX MOVIE CHANNEL right down to the same masters.

 

[lionel59]

Hi from down under Lou. Bravo for your discerning comments re FRAULEIN and the suggestion that Fox use some of the profits from this venture to bring out CinemaScope versions of CinemaScope movies in their MOD offerings. I enjoyed your brief but telling reviews of the Fox titles you have viewed- dvdbeaver can't get around to all of them so your appraisals of their image quality were highly valuable. I agree re your criticism of some of the lacklustre covers ( a flaw which the Warner Archive people have recently been correcting). By the way, in case you can correct it, the author of 'Kidnapped' is Robert LOUIS Stevenson. Are you also interested in CENTENNIAL SUMMER? This Otto Preminger musical made in the wake of MEET ME IN ST LOUIS has its own distinct pleasures (inc. Jerome Kern's last score and a rare latter performance by Dorothy Gish) and lush Technicolor photography. Never released on Home Video in any format. Can you assist in the beginning of a campaign groundswell for this title? Preminger's THE 13TH LETTER is another one we need to see a good transfer of (how come Fox's Film Noir collection didn't get around to this one?) Speaking of the pre-Code shocker THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE (which helped bring in the enforcement of the Production Code), what about Fox's hit-and-miss but little seen CinemaScope remake, SANCTUARY, with a fine Alex North score (and the talented and beautiful Lee Remick)?

 

[JoHud]

Yes, there's a reason - FOX seems to be using off the shelf DOMESTIC elements.
This line is nothing more than an extension of THE (Original) FOX MOVIE CHANNEL right down to the same masters.

I really hope that isn't the case.

 

[PaulaJ]

I have watched my first two Fox Cinema Archive titles.. both Academy Ratio titles -- SUEZ and DIPLOMATIC COURIER. Yes, I am a Tyrone Power fan.
SUEZ is OK. Not much print damage, decent source element though obviously not remastered. Won't win any prizes, but no raspberries either.
DIPLOMATIC COURIER is VERY problematic, with grain levels out of control. The grain is unacceptably heavy and distracting with those little grains oscillating like crazy. This title is in desperate need of remastering (though I have absolutely no idea what elements exist and what shape they're in). This transfer is a huge disappointment as I love this movie and feel it deserves more attention and appreciation. Great cast -- besides Power, it has Patricia Neal, Hildegarde Knef, Stephen McNally and Karl Malden, and among the "uncredited" cast are Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Dabbs Greer and Michael Ansara and a host of other character actor greats.
I'd say the artwork looks like something a high schooler did in his basement, except I think high school students could come up with something a lot better looking.
Based on this, I have to say that I will be buying very few Fox titles as I can't be guaranteed of a proper looking DVD, even titles that aren't widescreen. When will these companies get the message that if they put out an inferior product, people aren't going to buy it, especially at these prices? I buy lots of WAC stuff (as much as my budget will allow) because I know that sight unseen I am going to get a home video that looks good and is in the correct aspect ratio.

 

[Robin9]

I have watched my first two Fox Cinema Archive titles.. both Academy Ratio titles -- SUEZ and DIPLOMATIC COURIER. Yes, I am a Tyrone Power fan . . . . .. DIPLOMATIC COURIER is VERY problematic, with grain levels out of control. The grain is unacceptably heavy and distracting with those little grains oscillating like crazy. This title is in desperate need of remastering (though I have absolutely no idea what elements exist and what shape they're in). This transfer is a huge disappointment as I love this movie and feel it deserves more attention and appreciation. Great cast -- besides Power, it has Patricia Neal, Hildegarde Knef, Stephen McNally and Karl Malden, and among the "uncredited" cast are Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Dabbs Greer and Michael Ansara and a host of other character actor greats.

I'm very surprised to hear this. I bought the UK (pressed) DVD of this film a few weeks ago and I found nothing wrong with the source material or the transfer. I thought it was a pretty good DVD, assuming you're multi-region and don't notice the 4% PAL speed-up.

 

[PaulaJ]

Robin, actually, I have the UK Diplomatic Courier too but I haven't opened it. I will tonight and compare!