What's happened to Sharpline Arts? (1 Viewer)

[Dharmesh C]

Whatever happened to Sharpline Arts? Are they still in the DVD producing business?

The website hasn't been updated in a looooong time.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I asked them this not to long ago and the reply was that they were focusing on television and feature work and not concentrating on the DVD market as much or updating their site until they had something really cool to announce. Judging by all of the great projects they did in the past I think that something original from this company is certainly worth waiting for. Remember they were pretty quiet before Star Trek - The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition was officially announced. I'm sure that whatever they're working on it will be just as trendsetting as their previous projects, and then everyone else will copy that too!

Neil

 

[Dharmesh C]

I asked them this not to long ago and the reply was that they were focusing on television and feature work and not concentrating on the DVD market as much or updating their site until they had something really cool to announce. Judging by all of the great projects they did in the past I think that something original from this company is certainly worth waiting for. Remember they were pretty quiet before Star Trek - The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition was officially announced. I'm sure that whatever they're working on it will be just as trendsetting as their previous projects, and then everyone else will copy that too!

Thanks for the update, explain why you think everyone is copying their work? At least 2 or 3 dvd producers have superceded them and really opened up the format, Van Ling is a prime example. Didn't think Trek Director's Edition (extras) was particulary ground-breaking dvd

Do love their soundtrack restoration work, think they're untouchable in that area.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Originally posted by Dharmesh C:
explain why you think everyone is copying their work?

I think the new ALIEN set coming out is a direct imitation of the previous work done by Sharpline Arts. If it wasn't for the LD box sets that they did, there would be no "Alien Quadrilogy". And having those LD's and knowing what's on them, I can only guess that the DVD will be a shinier version of the LD's content. And even on DVD we already have the wonderful "Alien Legacy" documentary. But it was the initial work on those LD's that sparked what is today a huge industry.

Neil

 

[Peter Staddon]

You could not be more wrong if you tried! The new Alien Quadrilogy does not imitate the previous release in any way shape or form.

Peter Staddon

 

[GregK]

Excellent!

Thanks for the tip Mr. Staddon. As much as I like Sharpline's work, I've seen the previous deluxe LDs and DVDs, so the notion of a fresh order of extras may be a welcome change.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

When guards are down, STADDON STRIKES!



I'm getting this vibe of "Alien set spank all others this Christmas" I hope that with the reissue Alien is getting that you might run some IMAX blowups, as that's probably the only way to get it into most theaters. *sigh*

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

The last we heard, it should be hitting more than 1000 screens.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Well then Peter, SOMEONE around here should be showing it then Thanks for the info

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Originally posted by Peter Staddon:
You could not be more wrong if you tried! The new Alien Quadrilogy does not imitate the previous release in any way shape or form.

"The Alien Quadrilogy" by it's nature of following previous work has to build on it's predecessors, but it will also have to repeat information from the LD's in order to be labelled as being definitive.

I know the LD's of those films quite well. Aliens was one of the first LD's I ever owned and that set the standard for what I expect in a quality special edition and I've never seen that surpassed. It's obvious to me that on Aliens (and later ALIEN) a lot of energy was put in to make it stand out and not just be another product, but actually something worthwhile. Today's "Special Editions" don't really have the kind of passion that made people really love and respect the "Alien" films. Even the later "Alien Legacy" was a cut above the standard documentary. Most documentaries today feel cobbled together from various EPK's, used only to sell a film, while "Alien Legacy" actually honors the film it's about. That is a key difference. It actually makes me want to watch ALIEN instead of making me feel like I just sat through a commercial.

I want quality when it comes to home entertainment. To me, Sharpline's work has been consistently entertaining and high quality and not just in the area of DVD's. I have many soundtracks that Sharpline Arts was involved with, and these are among my favorite CD's. The restoration work done on Superman - The Movie was amazing. At a time when the original tapes were missing, Sharpline managed to get the entire score released. Even when the original tapes were found and re-cut to the movie for the DVD release, mistakes were made, mistakes that I think Sharpline would never let happen had they been involved with that project. "The Star Wars Trilogy" CD's that were released are the same way. While only a few years before an anthology box set was released, many cues on Star Wars used the wrong takes. The SE edition Sharpline was involved with features the correct takes, and the results are very noticeable.

When they worked on Star Trek - The Motion Picture I knew that the integrity of the film would be respected, and I was happily rewarded. The same attention to detail and storytelling that were evident in their earlier projects were all on display here. The film is now something that it always should have been and the music was treated properly.

It's not often that I can watch a film or buy a CD and know going in that it's going to be good, but Sharpline Arts has never let me down, something I can't say for most DVD's or even film's that I see today. This is not to say they are the only ones. The John Cork produced documentaries on the first 16 James Bond films have many of the same qualities that I look for. They tell entertaining stories well, without ever feeling like I'm watching an ad. They respect the audience and the source material and are never pointless or overbearing.

At this point I really wish Sharpline was making more DVD's. The market has gotten so skewed with quantity over quality that I have actually given up on the special features on most discs. To me, Sharpline Arts discs are always a class act. The passion that they bring to each project is evident in the final product. I'm really happy to know that they are people who take their time. I don't care when or if their website ever gets updated so long as I know that when they do update it with whatever they're working on, it'll be worth it. They've earned my respect and appreciation. I can only wish that I could have that with others.

End of my rant.

Neil