Some bad news concerning the dvd release of the original "King Kong" (1 Viewer)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html

It seems like we've been waiting on this dvd release forever.




Crawdaddy

A certified bummer to be sure, but apparently it's for a good reason.

Well, I wouldn't call delaying a release to ensure the highest possible quality bad news as such. It's a tradeoff.

Besides, once you actually have it on your shelf, you'll never be able to remember the day when you didn't have it!

I just figure that this means that I save a bit of money for a while.

I suspected it wasn't coming out this year as I was able to book a theatrical showing of Kong in 35mm in June. When Warner does a big DVD release, theatrical bookings generally get put on hold. The good news is that I was NOT able to book The Adventures of Robin Hood, Yankee Doodle Dandy and Casablanca. Care to guess what three movies are getting deluxe Special Editions from Warner this year?

I agree with most here that this is good news so that they can concentrate on doing their best instead of rushing the DVD

A great film deserves a great transfer, which, in this case, can only come after a great restoration has been completed.

I sure wanted the title this year, but, as people are noting here, the wait is for a good reason.

Peter: Let me know the instant you have trouble booking a 35mm print of Robert Wise's The Haunting, you hear?

I was looking forward, but it looks like LDI has its hands full with restorations.

On the other hand, I still have plenty of titles to buy, so I won't mind waiting a few months to get the best DVD edition.

When Kong DOES come out, it should be reference quality. The sound was recorded extremely well (check out TCM's print) and the image quality is fantastic. The big problem is the sections of the film from lower generation materials and the bulk of it having plenty of scratches and other scars.

"Bad news: King Kong is now a lost film!!"

I was really, really looking forward to Kong this year, but I guess I'll tow the party line and also state as long as they're making it super-duper, it's okay.

I'd have thought it'd come out sooner than this, though. To my knowledge, Kong wasn't in that bad of shape (except for the edited scenes, that is). Weren't there some pretty good LD releases?

Still, the ole' boy should look better than ever when he eventually makes it out.

I'll add my disappointment at the delay, despite the valid reasons. With all the experience available at restoration efforts with this kind of material they could have anticipated the effort level and put some contingency into the schedule to make the anniversary release come to pass :frowning: . This is another example of other priorities getting in the way. Non-the-less, if we 'eventually' do see a stellar release in 2004 (early I hope) we will eventually forget the delays. They will likely only get one shot at getting it 'right' so let's get on with it and make it a good effort.

BTW, this will make it only one confirmed release for 2003 from the AFI 100 list (Grapes of Wrath). Not that it matters much but it's a definite slowdown of catalogue material from previous years (admittedly only using this benchmark). I guess it's back to the 'rumor list' to see if any of the remaining 11 titles will still be released this year. The good news is that there is some stirring about at least three of the titles (Schindler's List, Yankee Doodle Dandy and Raiders of the Lost Ark) from various other threads lately. Let's see if the second half of 2003 will pickup the pace a bit .

Joel

I'm not happy :frowning:
but I certainly don't want a rush job.

As long as they're working on it for an eventual release then I'm satisfied.

I guess I'll be hanging onto my LD for another year.

I think this is good news. I'd rather wait on a properly done disc the first time, than get a second rate version to hit a marketing opportunity like *cough* Kubrick box set *cough*.

I'm glad Warner is going to take their time on the restoration. Some studios *cough*Universal*cough* would probably just throw something together for a release. Kudos to Warner.

Chris S.

Jeepers Creepers! Yet another Kong-less summer!! The humanities!!

I agree with the rest of you guys .... the transfer overrides the release date. At least it oughta be Kong-worthy.

And furthermore, if Jack Briggs & I don't get 1963's The Haunting pretty soon I'm gonna commit harey-carey!

"The house has what it wants....for now." -- Chilling Richard Johnson dialogue that's just dying to be heard on DVD.

Hey Jack...check out this review of The Haunting. (To each his own. )

Since I know people at WB, I can assure you this is NOT an example of "other priorities getting in the way"....

They very much wanted to have this title released for 2003. The only way to do so would have been to release a version that would have still sold hundreds of thousands of copies,
been acceptable to J6P, and been a deep disappointment to the members of this forum who want their DVDs to be the best that they can be.

The wait for CITIZEN KANE was worth it...I'm sure the same will be true for KONG!

I'll just have to live with my R2 Kong (really not as bad as all the negative press that has been heaped on it; it isn't great but looks miles better than the usual TV print) a while longer.

I'm not so sure that it will necessarily be "reference" quality but certainly a better Kong than we have seen in a looooong time.

So this is an actual film restoration and not just a video restoration, right?