Universal To Celebrate 100 Years in 2012 (2 Viewers)

[Matt Hough]

Let's hope they do a similar salvage job for Life With Father.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3891367
Let's hope they do a similar salvage job for Life With Father.

I asked Warner about Life With Father on the WAC Facebook page and they said that there were a lot of problems with it so it would not be anytime soon, if ever. This is the first almost we got it, but no were not putting it out, the only other negative post was on the release of The Devils. Warner did a great jog on Royal Wedding, Father of the Bride, Last Time I saw Paris and This Is The Army, all PD titles that they went the extra mile for and gave us excellent transfers.

 

[Eric Vedowski]

Let's hope they do a similar salvage job for Life With Father.

TCM has shown a UCLA restoration in the past few years-this page references it:
http://www.tft.ucla.edu/news/event/763-tcm-archive-marathon/
It was a lot better looking than the fuzzy pd versions-I seem to remember that the estate of someone involved with the film paid for/put money towards the restoration. FWIW.

 

[JoHud]

Charade is in the public domain due to a copyright notice error. Universal's policy has been to not show much love to PD titles.
Criterion licensed it and did a terrific job with a DVD followed with a recent Blu-ray.

Which makes one wonder if Criterion will do the same for My Man Godfrey.

Touch of Evil (DVD/Digital)

Ouch!

 

[MattPeriolat]

Ouch!

I'm not sure if Criterion still has the license to do a blu of My Man Godfrey, otherwise why would Universal be doing a DVD?

Yeah, not happy about what is getting the blu-DVD-digital packs and what is not in this upcoming wave.

 

[dana martin]

Really at this moment in time I don’t know if I am more pissed off, or just plain upset with the way things seem to be heading with this Universal 100th celebration; I mean I could look at it this way I am sure going to save a lot of cash, because well fellas I am not going to fork over a dime for a repackage with a nice fancy banner across the top. I expected more, a lot more oh I don’t know maybe let’s try 100 BD titles from the universal vault. Every Best Picture winner, true classics like Touch of Evil, Cape Fear 1962, but instead it looks like we are getting DVD’s of these, who the hell is in charge of this, the same kind of minds that was working ENRON.

You know when this original announcement came out and then some of the films mentioned that had gone through the restoration process, my word, I was so hyped, I thought that this was finally going to be the windfall that classic film buffs have been waiting for. Looks like we might just be dealing with the same old same old. And if someone from Universal is checking this board, let me state the following I own a BD player and a 1080P TV, you think maybe, just maybe I would like to see a 1080P picture.

Most of all of the films you have listed on your 100th site at this moment for me is this way, no BD, no sale.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by dana martin /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3892156
Really at this moment in time I don’t know if I am more pissed off, or just plain upset with the way things seem to be heading with this Universal 100th celebration; I mean I could look at it this way I am sure going to save a lot of cash, because well fellas I am not going to fork over a dime for a repackage with a nice fancy banner across the top. I expected more, a lot more oh I don’t know maybe let’s try 100 BD titles from the universal vault. Every Best Picture winner, true classics like Touch of Evil, Cape Fear 1962, but instead it looks like we are getting DVD’s of these, who the hell is in charge of this, the same kind of minds that was working ENRON.

You know when this original announcement came out and then some of the films mentioned that had gone through the restoration process, my word, I was so hyped, I thought that this was finally going to be the windfall that classic film buffs have been waiting for. Looks like we might just be dealing with the same old same old. And if someone from Universal is checking this board, let me state the following I own a BD player and a 1080P TV, you think maybe, just maybe I would like to see a 1080P picture.

Most of all of the films you have listed on your 100th site at this moment for me is this way, no BD, no sale.

It's easy to just blame the studio, but the fact of the matter is there just not enough of us classic film buffs willing and able to buy enough of these classics on BRD. Perhaps we get some later in the year since it's still January, but I can't blame the studio if it's not profitable for them to release these titles on BRD if they can't sell enough units to justify such releases.







Crawdaddy

 

[dana martin]

i think the biggest upset at the moment is Touch of Evil, i know it out on the UK, but i mean come on it not like that is some obscure unknown film, the one thing that i was surprised at was an offical release from Uni of Chrade and of coures it was on DVD, luckly i have had it for some time via Criterion and enjoy it quite well. but with all the talk in theis thread about the classic horror, there seems to be a 4 film set ( Frankenstein, Bride, Dracula and Creature) coming out in march/april/may time frame in DVD, so yes i feel somewhat jaded at the anouncement

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by dana martin /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3892163
i think the biggest upset at the moment is Touch of Evil, i know it out on the UK, but i mean come on it not like that is some obscure unknown film, the one thing that i was surprised at was an offical release from Uni of Chrade and of coures it was on DVD, luckly i have had it for some time via Criterion and enjoy it quite well. but with all the talk in theis thread about the classic horror, there seems to be a 4 film set ( Frankenstein, Bride, Dracula and Creature) coming out in march/april/may time frame in DVD, so yes i feel somewhat jaded at the anouncement

Yeah, that box set is coming in March, HOWEVER...

...and this is a very big however...

Dracula, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are three of the twelve movies listed to be getting the uber-mega deluxe blu-DVD-digital restoration packages we are seeing with Mockingbird, All Quiet on the Western Front, Out of Africa and Buck Privates. Dracula in particular has been featured in some of the restoration videos, so rest assured, the Universal Monsters WILL be feeling some love during this year. As I said, save your money for the time being and be patient, by Halloween you should be happy.

As for Creature of the Black Lagoon... it IS on the list of movies Universal will be revisiting during the anniversary, but what that means, I honestly do not know. My expectations are probably just a DVD/digital reissue if we are lucky, but with the rumored Monster Box Set, to get ALL the monsters on blu would make me very happy. There is still the myriad of sequels out there for all the Universal Monsters, but I do not mind getting the Legacy DVDs if I must to get everything.

Patience, we're only three weeks into 2012, we got a LONG way to go before we're done.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Fingers crossed that Universal will finally release CREATURE in the intended widescreen ratio...

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by dana martin /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3892163
i think the biggest upset at the moment is Touch of Evil, i know it out on the UK, but i mean come on it not like that is some obscure unknown film, the one thing that i was surprised at was an offical release from Uni of Chrade and of coures it was on DVD, luckly i have had it for some time via Criterion and enjoy it quite well. but with all the talk in theis thread about the classic horror, there seems to be a 4 film set ( Frankenstein, Bride, Dracula and Creature) coming out in march/april/may time frame in DVD, so yes i feel somewhat jaded at the anouncement

I hear you and I bought the Touch of Evil BRD along with 1962 Cape Fear from the UK. However, we're getting some releases here that the UK isn't, but to think any studio will not release a title on BRD even if they make significant profit, I just can't compute in my head. Especially, with an industry undergoing layoffs across the board and desperately looking for additional revenue streams to increase their ledger on the profit side. The studios aren't any different than any of the companies most of us work for in which their goal is to make money. I seriously doubt they will turn a blind eye to assets they can use again to make additional profits from. Unless, those assets don't sell enough units to justify the additional costs of releasing them on BRD or the retailer industry isn't generating enough profit for themselves to sell them which is why these studios are doing such programs as MOD. A number of retailers have disappeared in the last decade or so.

By the way, Creature from the Black Lagood is getting remade, but it might be next year before we see it so I think it's entirely possible that the 1954 version is released on BRD in the near future.

 

[Johnny Angell]

By the way, Creature from the Black Lagood is getting remade, but it might be next year before we see it so I think it's entirely possible that the 1954 version is released on BRD in the near future.
 

I've heard rumors of this for years. Is production actually under way? Who's making it?

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3892197
By the way, Creature from the Black Lagood is getting remade, but it might be next year before we see it so I think it's entirely possible that the 1954 version is released on BRD in the near future.

Italics are mine.

I hope not and I do not think so. Assuming (big assuming here) Universal wants to do a Monster Box Set this year, ya gotta get them all on blu. Makes no sense to have a box set be partially blu and partially DVD. Be aware, NO ONE from Universal has a.) confirmed there is a box set in the works or b.) said when it is coming out, but I really hope that if it comes to pass, we'll see it before Halloween. Would work wonderfully well to tie in with TCM to get the restored Monsters on the channel for the Halloween season and boost retail numbers.

*sighs* Nice to dream, isn't it?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angell /t/316229/universal-to-celebrate-100-years-in-2012/240#post_3892229
I've heard rumors of this for years. Is production actually under way? Who's making it?

I've read director/writer Gary Ross is interested in doing the remake and he happens to be the son of Arthur Ross who wrote the screenplays for the Creature films. There is a rumor about Channing Tatum being the lead actor.






Crawdaddy

 

[Adam Gregorich]

It's easy to just blame the studio, but the fact of the matter is there just not enough of us classic film buffs willing and able to buy enough of these classics on BRD. Perhaps we get some later in the year since it's still January, but I can't blame the studio if it's not profitable for them to release these titles on BRD if they can't sell enough units to justify such releases.







Crawdaddy

Crawdaddy nailed it. Catalog, especially classic catalog just doesn't sell on Blu-ray. If Universal released 100 classic titles on BD, they would take a huge bath on that, and that's assuming they had 100 classic titles in shape to release. Like it or not that's just the way it is.

 

[darkrock17]

To quote Cracker
"What the world needs now is another folk singer, like I need a hole in my head"

 

[dana martin]

ok i would settle for a quarter of that 100, as long as they were solid releases

 

[dargo]

As this is the 100th year for Universal and 30 years for E.T. there should be a big announcement about July-August I'm betting...

 

[dana martin]

pillow talk is a step in the right direction

 

[MattPeriolat]

Yes, Pillow Talk fills the May slot for the monthly mega-deluxe release and we already seem pretty certain Jaws has August I believe.

So, for the 13 movies initially announced, we have:

Jan. - To Kill a Mockingbird
Feb. - All Quiet on the Western Front
March - Out of Africa
April - Buck Privates
May - Pillow Talk

So, waiting and seeing for what remains. IF Universal is doing the Monsters for Halloween, Dracula, Frankenstein, Dracula (Spanish), and Bride of Frankenstein will all have to get there releases before October. Just have to see.