Columbia/Sony releasing several Classic Westerns on 4/5/05 (1 Viewer)

John Hodson · Jan 24, 2005

Columbia are on the double dip trail again, but this one may just be worth it. From DVD Answers:

Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment has kindly sent over the official artwork for a new special edition release of The Professionals which stars Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode and Jack Palance. This Richard Brooks directed film, will be available to own from the 5th April, and should retail at around $19.94. I'm afraid we have no further details on this one at the moment, but we hope to bring you some more news soon.

Box shot here.

Robert Crawford · Jan 24, 2005

I think this was one of the best westerns ever made with a great cast and some of the best dialogue ever written for a western. Richard Brooks and Conrad Hall did an excellent job while filming this movie. The previous dvd release has a good presentation, but I will definitely purchase it again for any bonus material.

Crawdaddy

John Hodson · Jan 24, 2005

Same here.

You might be interested in more westerns from Columbia / Tri-Star in R1 on April 5; look out for the 1966 Audie Murphy western The Texican, Fred Sears Bonanza Town (1951), Charles Vidor's 1943 film The Desperadoes with Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford (Columbia's first Technicolor feature), Fred MacMurray in A Good Day For A Hanging (1959), the brilliant Delmar Davies western Jubal (1956) with Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger and Ernest Borgnine, Ford again in Lust for Gold (1949) and again in George Marshall's 1941 film Texas alongside Bill Holden and Claire Trevor. Lastly the unbiquitous Ford stars with Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson in 1955's The Violent Men.

Robert Crawford · Jan 24, 2005

John,
This is great news and yes I'm interested in most of those titles. I especially can't wait for the following:

A Good Day for a Hanging
Jubal
Lust for Gold
The Violent Men

I hope Columbia doesn't screw up the proper aspect ratio for those movies filmed in the widescreen process like they did "Cowboy". I just watched a widescreen presentation of "The Violent Men" last week on Turner Classic Movies channel and it was in need of some work.

Crawdaddy

Mark Cappelletty · Jan 24, 2005

Curious as to what kind of bonus materials they'd have for the film. The previous bare-bones DVD was a rare "blind-buy" for me that paid off in spades-- I picked it up based on Brooks' and the cast's reputation and was really pleased.

John Hodson · Jan 24, 2005

Forgot to mention the other western from Columbia on April 5 - apparently their Silverado CE Giftset (2 discs, Movie Scrapbook and Silverado Playing Cards) will also have a DTS track, plus 'a never-before-seen featurette with interviews from the cast and the filmmakers!'

Dave B Ferris · Jan 24, 2005

Good news indeed, but - honestly - I'm also still hoping
Columbia will eventually release the classics directed by
Budd Boetticher, all starring Randolph Scott.

Karl F · Jan 24, 2005

Yeah! Especially The Tall T.

--K

Jim_K · Jan 24, 2005

Excellent news re: Jubal

A great overlooked Western.

I'll probably double dip on The Professionals though it's kind of a weird choice as there was nothing wrong with the original release.

I'm also hoping for the Boetticher/Scott titles to show up & yes bring on The Tall T - please.

Gordon McMurphy · Jan 24, 2005

I couldn't agree more. I absolutely LOVE The Tall T. It has an attitiude all of it's own. It has to be one of the most intelligent and fatalistic Westerns ever made. The exchanges of dialogue between Randolph Scott and Richard Boone are just amazing.

Like Mann's extraordinary, Man from the West, it was way ahead of it's time as a pre-Spaghetti-era Western.

There are hardly any Boetticher films on DVD, it's so frustrating.

Columbia own:

Buchanan Rides Alone
Decision at Sundown
Ride Lonesome
Comanche Station

The best of the rest:

Horizons West (Universal)
The Man from the Alamo (Universal)
Seven Men from Now (Warner)
Westbound (Warner)

The Man from the Alamo is available in the UK from Universal with a decent transfer.

Sorry for getting off topic!

I feel that Columbia should have done a SE of The Professionals the first time around. It's a great Western and the transfer was superb. Heaven knows why they decided now, after the fact, that it deserves extra features (not that that it doesn't, although most of the cast and crew are dead). I'm not sure what we'll get from Columbia, but I have read that it was a fun shoot, with Strode and Marvin getting up to all kinds of shit. But I won't spoil any anecdotes!

MarcoBiscotti · Jan 24, 2005

What are the other westerns coming on Aug. 5th, I didn't see them mentioned in this thread despite the title?

As for "The Professionals", being a huge fan of American westerns, this is one I haven't seen, though the cover art posted for the upcoming Special Edition makes it look incredibly cheesy.. From what I've read online after clicking the above link, it seems to have been very well recieved and even nominated for some academy awards so I guess this is definitely one to keep an eye out for despite the corny marketing as depicted on the cover art!

TravisR · Jan 24, 2005

Yeah, you can't judge a book (or a good movie) by its cover

Peter M Fitzgerald · Jan 24, 2005

Great news! These'll be on my shopping list for sure:

JUBAL (if OAR is respected, that is)
TEXAS
LUST FOR GOLD

Maybe I'll double-dip on THE PROFESSIONALS, too, if the extras on the new edition really are special. The film itself certainly is.

Count me in for more Boetticher on R1 DVD, especially THE TALL T and RIDE LONESOME.

Unless things have changed, I thought Paramount was going to release SEVEN MEN FROM NOW on DVD in 2005, possibly as soon as this May, as it is one of the "Batjac" titles Paramount acquired from the Wayne estate, along with THE HIGH & THE MIGHTY, MCLINTOCK!, HONDO, ISLAND IN THE SKY, TRACK OF THE CAT, etc.

Brandon Conway · Jan 24, 2005

Great news about The Professionals. Yet another time when my limited budget has saved me from a future double-dip.

Derek Estes · Jan 24, 2005

I just bought The Professionals two weeks ago...oh well:frowning:

Aaron Silverman · Jan 25, 2005

They were all mentioned between a couple of different posts, but here's the full list so it's all in one place:

The Professionals[*]Bonanza Town[*]The Desperadoes (1943)
A Good Day For A Hanging[*]Jubal[*]Lust For Gold[*]Silverado[*]Texas[*]The Texican[*]The Violent Men

Aaron Silverman · Jan 25, 2005

Here's the feature list for The Professionals: Special Edition:

Full Screen Presentation
Languages: English (5.1, 3.0 / LCR)
Subtitles: English, French
Featurette: "Professionals" - A Classic
Featurette: Burt Lancaster: A Portrait
Featurette: Memories from "The Professionals"
Bonus Previews
MSRP: $19.94

You read it here first!

Aaron Silverman · Jan 25, 2005

And here's the official feature list for the new Silverado, which is listed as a Superbit title:

Widescreen Presentation
Languages: English (5.1 / DTS), French
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Exclusive New Featurette: A Return to Silverado with Kevin Costner
Along the Silverado Trail: A Western Historians Commentary
Superbit Presentation
Top Western Shootouts Featurette
Talent Files
Bonus Previews
Exclusive Scrapbooklet
Collectible Silverado Playing Cards
MSRP: $19.94 (pretty good for a 2-disc set with premium goodies included!)

John Hodson · Jan 25, 2005

Full screen? Either that's wrong, or Columbia have misplaced their marbles... (BTW, Marco it's April 5)

Aaron Silverman · Jan 25, 2005

Good point. I have an email in to Sony, and I'll report back what they say.

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Columbia/Sony releasing several Classic Westerns on 4/5/05 (1 Viewer)

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