Warner Archive Discussion Thread (FEEDBACK) (1 Viewer)

[MarcoBiscotti]

I agree that I would like to see these released. I hope Warners considers these and that this is brought up during the conference on Monday.

I'd definitely buy these as well!!

 

[Simon Howson]

in the w's. I've scanned the entire page, and there is no Wichita. Do you see it there now?

WBshop.com - The Official Online Store of Warner Bros. Studios: Wichita (EST-MOD)
I was also going to ask about The Oklahoman which is up too:
http://www.wbshop.com/The-Oklahoman/...,pd.html?cgid=
Basically I was going to ask about a Joel McCrea westerns box featuring some of his Allied Artists films as well as Colorado Territory.

 

[Richard--W]

Found it, thanks.

Odd Wichita doesn't show up on the full-view page.

Neither does A Distant Trumpet, The Okalhoman, El Condor, and Man Who Loved Cat Dancing.

I may be able to order titles on your behalf along with my own orders, Simon, after I've heard some feedback on the quality. But be advised that postage to your tiny little continent in the shark-filled ocean far, far away is the single most expensive shipping point for us Americans.

 

[CineKarine]

Karine,
You owe us no apology.
....
They are looking forward to discussing this rollout with all of you
during Monday's chat. Not only will you be able to ask questions about
this rollout, but the studio will have additional title announcements
pertaining to this program that I think will make people very happy.

Thanks

I am so excited about this program. I would not care if I had to re-route the order through Mars in order to receive it.

There are some titles in there that are among my favorites ever - by that, I mean titles I have literally seen dozens of times through the years, often in old faded TV prints. I think that, for me, that really justifies the additional shipping expenses, although it would naturally be a lot simpler if the films could be sent directly to me.
I am absolutely, positively buying Three Sailors and a Girl, Painting the Clouds with Sunshine, Three Comrades, The Shining Hour, Invitation, I Was an American Spy, Betrayed, Room for One More, Once Upon a Honeymoon and So This Is Love within the next few days.
Best news of the year - nothing could possibly beat that as far as I am concerned!!!

 

[Simon Howson]

Quote:

So I am quite confident quality will be good.

 

[Richard M S]

Wow - this news is incredible and that list is beyond belief !

I wonder if any of these will be released with trailers, or any extras at all? Though it does not matter, I never thought some of these films would ever be released!

It is also interesting to speculate about the titles not on the list, like the early Garland films, the Andy Hardy pictures and various missing musicals which I hope will get the full deluxe Warners box some day.

 

[Richard M S]

One more thing, since my cart (aka wish list) is already at $200, I clicked on a banner that mentions a 20% discount - but all I get is a prompt to login again. Did anyone else see that banner and get a different response

 

[Mike Frezon]

I am so excited about this program. I would not care if I had to re-route the order through Mars in order to receive it.

I'm betting they won't ship via Mars either...

Pretty cool. I just checked out Abe Lincoln in Illinois and there's actually a short clip posted (with a WB bug) so you can check out the quality of the transfer.

 

[BillyFeldman]

I certainly got no twenty percent discount and I ordered close to $400 worth. Free shipping though.

 

[Simon Howson]

If they don't want to ship overseas, they could at least put them up on the iTunes Store so they can be downloaded.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I certainly got no twenty percent discount and I ordered close to $400 worth. Free shipping though.

There is a 25% off code that works only one time for five items. Use it by March 31st.
XB392
Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Crawford]

If they don't want to ship overseas, they could at least put them up on the iTunes Store so they can be downloaded.

I have great sympathy for those overseas and I hope Warner answers why they are shutting you guys out. I hope it's not rights related or not wanting Region 1 dvds going overseas.
Warner has indicated that these titles are available through "On Demand" from their site so maybe you can try that option.
Crawdaddy

 

[Kevin Martinez]

This sounds promising?
MY question is: Will Warner eventually tap into their unreleased theatrical animation library (particularly the MGM Tex Avery cartoons) that have more marketing and sales potential than the live-action movies you guys are talking about, but less so than,say, Spongebob or Shrek?

 

[Simon Howson]

My guess is they haven't bothered to consult with their lawyers regarding if they still own all the overseas rights for all of these titles, so they are just playing it safe and restricting it to U.S. sales.
I suggest all us international folk contact the store at [email protected] requesting international sales of the Warner Archive Collection releases.
Don't use the actual "Contact Us" page, because it is currently sending emails to a bad address, so they just bounce.
I emphasised that I am interested in W.B., M.G.M., and A.A. films that WHV would own the international rights to. It's the post 1965 films where rights issues may be a bit murkier.
I also sent an email to DVDPacific asking them to stock them, but I doubt they will be allowed to. It seems if Warner are going to sell these, they want to get all the profit, which I think is fair enough given the time and money they have invested.

Warner has indicated that these titles are available through "On Demand" from their site so maybe you can try that option

I find V.O.D. unappealing, considering the format or DRM system may become obsolete sometime down the track. At least with DVD I know that any DVD player or drive can play it, and I can convert it to other formats if need be.

 

[ReggieW]

Well, it is great that WHV is finding a way to make these films available, but at $20 a pop, it will be FAR more expensive to get those Garbo silents than if they had released them through regular channels in a collection. Since no Jean Harlow films are represented on the list, save for the semi-obscure Beast of the City, I'm assuming that the films not listed (Red Dust, Bombshell, Girl from Missouri, etc,) will be going in an eventual boxset. With so many Gable titles listed (none with Harlow), I'm wondering if WHV will indeed be doing a volume 2 for him. The long rumored Lana Turner set also has me wondering if it'll happen since all of her pairings with Gable now appear to be on the list. It'll be interesting to see how this shapes up, but I agree with those who say that WHV should've sought a wider distribtuion deal with Amazon instead of going the lone maverick route. Since this is an On demand service, it probably would've been better to have priced them no higher than $14.95. With no middle man here, there's no real reason why WHV should be selling them for store retail - all imho.

 

[Simon Howson]

Since this is a On demand service, it probably would've been better to have priced them no higher than $14.95. With no middle man here, there's no real reason why WHV should be selling them for store retail - all imho.

I don't think it is an On Demand service. On their webpage "On Demand" means movie downloads in copy protected Windows Media Video files. The DRM means it is impossible to covert them to DVD-Video.
Also, I don't even know if all of the Warner Archive Collection will be exclusive to the store. If you go to the MOVIES menu at the top, and go down to the bottom, there is the Warner Archive releases, but then there is another list below that called WB Exclusives http://www.wbshop.com/WB-Exclusives/...efault,sc.html
There are only 9 titles on the exclusive list, most of them are only on the Archive list. I guess we will find out more when the fill in the FAQ that is currently blank. http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive...pg.htmlArchive Collection FAQ
Only one of my definite buys (Westbound) is on the Exclusive list. Hopefully this means other than those, retailers will be able to buy the others.

 

[Paul_Scott]

If these really are 'made to order' with full jacket art, and high quality masters/encodes/authoring- $20 a pop is CHEAP.
Seriously, I would love to pay $15 instead of $20, but I can easily see this becoming such a logistical nightmare for Warner, that $20 doesn't seem near enough for all the hassle involved.
Has anyone seen the Gordon Scott Tarzans listed? What about titles with Hedy Lamarr or the Lane sisters (Four Daughters, Daughters Courageous,etc), or the Gish silent 'The Wind'? (I've only got a mobile device at the moment and can't get thru all the Java on that site).

 

[Nebiroth]

Unless I am mistaken, there is nothing wrong with having the titles sent to a US address to a friend or relative who can just send them back to you. I am in Quebec, Canada. Several major companies which did no ship to Canada in the past (but do now) told me themselves there was nothing wrong with doing this in the meantime. They simply do not want to have to deal with time-consuming forms to fill out for foreign countries and shipping charges that are different everywhere. If this is accurate, there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from ordering those titles. You pay your duty fees/taxes when the parcel reaches you so it complies to the laws of your country.

Aside from the fact that you have to constantly pester a friend in the USA who does have to go to all the trouble of going to the nearest post office and filling in all the forms etc.
The main reason studios don;t ship abroad is because it lets them control how titles are marketed. USA releases are very often cheaper than their European counterparts. The studios don;t want Europeans buying American discs and importing them. They want them to buy the more expensive European ones. In addition, when films got a staggered global release, often stuff went to "home video" in the USA before it reached the theatres elsewhere; people were buying movies on "home video" - and then not going to the theatres. The studios didn;t like that either.
It is for these reasons that we have DVD region coding. It is for these reasons that the studios themselves still make some effort to stop people buying DVD releases outside of the release region, whilst accepting that it does happen.
This new way of doing releases may be great for you lucky Americans - but it's really, really bad news for anyone who lives outside of the USA.
This isn't about movie fans.
It's about squeezing maximum profit by releasing these movies to a captive audience, at what is really a pretty extortionate price (when you compare them with boxsets that have movies at $4 each or less) and without costs of things like extras.
I think people are enthusing a little too much, by being caught up in the joy of seeing titles they wanted finally on a disc.
Are you really celebrating a way of releasing them that lets the studio have you over a barrel - $20 for a disc with no extras?!

 

[Simon Howson]

Are you really celebrating a way of releasing them that lets the studio have you over a barrel - $20 for a disc with no extras?!

I am, because I have wanted some of these films like Wichita and Four Horseman of the Apocalypse out on DVD for years and years. Plus buying this first lot of discs could prompt WHV to release many others. If these discs don't sell, then they may simply give up on digging deep into their library, and start reissuing the same things over and over the way Paramount does.
Don't forget to vote to encourage more releases! Click Here.

 

[John Hodson]

news for anyone who lives outside of the USA.

Of late, not least with the effects of the falling £, WBs UK releases work out much cheaper than buying from the US (particularly if you hang on for a sale). Unfortunately, from whatever studio, we don't get all US releases, and even when we do, they aren't always replicated either in terms of quality, or extra features.
On the face of it, this is quite a clever move from WB; no doubt they will be high-lighting the 'exclusivity' of these titles as some sort of benefit, a come-on for collectors of classic film. They are presumably saving on promotion, without the use of a middleman they are keeping more of the profits, they appear to be saving on the cost of producing extras and, per film, because I don't see any box sets here, they are garnering a far greater net price. Far from being a hassle for WB, they are pitching them into a niche market supplying as demand requires with little or no waste, no need to roll 'em out into the bargain bins.
There are some great films in the list, some of which I would dearly love see get the red carpet treatment, rather than this - IMHO - low rent (not loving the box art TBH), relatively high price marketing 'exlusivity'. Maybe down the line, maybe on BD.
But the bottom line is, far from locking titles in a vault until the worlds economies recover (as so many others appear to be doing), WB is thinking laterally, and at least getting the titles out there, even if 'there' is only restricted to the US. However...
I hate to say this, but the far eastern bootleggers are probably already licking their lips...