When will we see a *REMASTERED* reissue of THE LONGEST DAY? (1 Viewer)

As we all know, the currently available blu-ray Darryl F. Zanuck's personal labor of love: The Longest Day is among the great travesties of the format's early days. Edge enhancement and heavy-handed grain removal abound.

Since we received a fantastic reissue of Patton (which was originally released day-and-date with The Longest Day in 2008) last year, and the 70th anniversary of D-Day is this coming June, I seriously hope that the title is reissued to coincide with that anniversary. Otherwise, I'll just assume Fox has forgotten about it or doesn't want to bother with a remaster.

Considering that the current edition looks so appalling, I'll be incensed with Fox if they fail to deliver on this.
Forum users, what are your thoughts?

Lromero1396 said:

Forum users, what are your thoughts?

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I think Fox should offer me a refund for the Blu-ray copy I have now.
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Pff, at proper seating distance, the current blu-ray looks just fine.

Sure if you like wax people it looks fine.

I'm in for a new master! great film! and let's not forget A Bridge Too Far

Steen DK said:

Pff, at proper seating distance, the current blu-ray looks just fine.

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Hmm, that's what I used to think about Patton and Terminator 2.......until I saw the superior re-issued Blurays.

To answer the topic question, I think it will happen in the future. Hard to say exactly when, but The Longest Day is one of those evergreen titles that seemed to be released and re-released at roughly 5 year intervals, though it might be a few years before we actually see another Fox release. Considering how they learned from their mistakes with Patton and released a proper transfer, I'd put more faith in Fox to re-release it properly remastered rather than just slapping new packaging on the same old disc.

I agree that THE LONGEST DAY could use an upgrade, and Fox is better than most at responding to customer appeals (they did reissue PATTON). I just wish that Universal would upgrade the debacle that is SPARTACUS, which is far more hideous and unwatchable than either of the former two.

Fox went through a brief period where they thought, the more DNR, the better. We saw examples of this with The Longest Day, (initial) Patton, and The Ultimate Predator Edition. Fortunately, they changed course and now release high quality catalog titles and, of course, did the right thing and re-released Patton. Time will tell for this one.

I love this film. Remember seeing this first time from the b&w tv when I was a kid in my family's cabin. It sure wasn't HD then.

Dave H said:

Fox went through a brief period where they thought, the more DNR, the better. We saw examples of this with The Longest Day, (initial) Patton, and The Ultimate Predator Edition. Fortunately, they changed course and now release high quality catalog titles and, of course, did the right thing and re-released Patton. Time will tell for this one.

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I think that's a little unfair on Fox. Three titles spaced out two years apart was hardly evidence of habitual DNR usage, unlike the trash offered up by Paramount and Universal on a regular basis. And don't forget that the gorgeous-looking Sand Pebbles was released alongside Longest Day and Patton in 2008. IIRC it was the people doing the individual transfers who preferred a smoother look, rather than the studio itself.

Predator was the one true misstep, but even then I can understand why Fox did it. Track down some reviews of the 2008 Blu-ray and you'll find lots of complaints about grain, noise, softness etc, because no-one knew any better at the time. People expected HD movies to pop off the screen, and anything that looked gritty and grungy was marked down. So Fox gave the people what they wanted with the DNR'ed, colour & contrast boosted UHE, only by that time (2010) we'd gotten a little bit smarter and the revulsion that greeted the UHE was well deserved.

Anyhoo, Fox corrected Patton, and the original unmolested version of Predator is still in print, which just leaves The Longest Day as the biggest DNR disaster in their catalogue. I'm hoping that the anniversary of the landings next year will give them the impetus to re-release it, because the current Blu-ray is a travesty.

I agree that TLD needs a new transfer. But compared to the absolute disaster that is MY FAIR LADY..... Well, I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it!

Reed Grele said:

I agree that TLD needs a new transfer. But compared to the absolute disaster that is MY FAIR LADY..... Well, I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it!

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That is true, but Fox is infinitely more willing than Paramount to deliver a quality product. I'm not holding out hope for a remastered MFL, unless Warner gets hold of it.
Paramount's home video division has fallen from the mountain in the past few years and it's obvious that they couldn't care less about domestic catalog releases.

Well, today is June 6, and I thought 20th Century would take this opportunity ($$$) to release a new remastered TLD in commeration of the 70th anniversary, but unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be one heading to a home theater near you anytime soon. Is the niche market for these kind of remastered reissues becoming so niche that the studios simply don't have an interest in mining their catalogs? Very disappointing.

Yeah count me in as disappointed, today is the perfect day to re-release this one, not buying it until it's done right.

Ditto.

This thread is giving me a great excuse to go home and watch The Longest Day tonight.

If they didn't fix it for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, what could possibly motivate them to ever do it right.

The 75th anniversary?

With so many fine classics completely absent, I'd rather see something else be remastered and released like Since You Went Away. Another great WWII film that helps show, better than most anything else, just what those on the home front were dealing with at the same time that millions of young American men (And several thousand nurses) were off overseas fighting the war directly.

It's an important aspect of that conflict that is all but forgotten today.

That said, I think the 75th anniversary would be a perfect opportunity for this film to reappear and give plenty of time for old stock to be cleared out. Hopefully the format is still doing at least as well as it is today in 5 years time.