Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet (1968): When? (1 Viewer)

When on Earth is Paramount/ Warner ever going to release Franco Zeffirelli's acclaimed Oscar-winning 1968 version of "Romeo & Juliet" to Blu-ray? It's 40th and 45th anniversaries have already passed. I realise the major studios aren't so into releasing catalog titles as they were, due to various factors, but we all know that the great segment of the population that is under 35-45 years of age is pretty much their number one target, and this film on Blu-ray would likely do darn good business among said target group (IMO, it would also help if they retained the DVD cover art). They can't say that this wouldn't sell at least fairly well among younger people, especially those college-age film lovers and, well, lovers in general.
This was the first film version to use actors who were actually close in age to the very young title characters - which is half the reason it was so immediately popular with youth - and although there have been successful newer versions with young stars, this is probably still the best. So why, after 14 years, is still only available on DVD?

When is Paramount going to release anything?

This should make an outstanding Blu-ray. Here's to hoping it will be soon.

You can buy Romeo & Juliet today from Amazon Germany for $11 plus about $5 shipping if you have a region-free player. Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.de/Romeo-Julia-Blu-ray-Leonard-Whiting/dp/B00CPG7RZS/ref=sr_1_14?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1409535671&sr=1-14&keywords=romeo+und+julia

The big problem, of course, is why isn't this title available in the U.S?

I have bought tons of other Paramount titles from non-US sources months before they were ever announced in the U.S. like: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Terms of Endearment, Harold & Maude.

Are people abroad bigger fans of American classics than we are?

This has been out on region-free Blu-ray from Paramount in Europe/Asia for months now.Here is the UK version:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DJV38UG/

McCrutchy said:

This has been out on region-free Blu-ray from Paramount in Europe/Asia for months now.Here is the UK version:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00DJV38UG/

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IMHO, that UK cover art makes it look like some modern direct-to-video chick flick :>/

bluirv said:

You can buy Romeo & Juliet today from Amazon Germany for $11 plus about $5 shipping if you have a region-free player. Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.de/Romeo-Julia-Blu-ray-Leonard-Whiting/dp/B00CPG7RZS/ref=sr_1_14?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1409535671&sr=1-14&keywords=romeo+und+julia

The big problem, of course, is why isn't this title available in the U.S?

I have bought tons of other Paramount titles from non-US sources months before they were ever announced in the U.S. like: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Terms of Endearment, Harold & Maude.

Are people abroad bigger fans of American classics than we are?

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While those other films you mention are American films, Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet is actually a UK/Italian film.

That R&J could never have been made in the US...even in 68.

Sadly, the blu-ray transfer of the UK edition is terrible! It looks like an upconverted DVD and the print is in poor condition. Looks like the sort of pirated goods one finds on the street in Thailand. Paramount can't possibly release this in the US!

I have the UK Blu-Ray...

"It looks like an upconverted DVD and the print is in poor condition. Looks like the sort of pirated goods one finds on the street in Thailand."

Oh, come on. For one thing, this film will never look great. It's very grainy stock and it's not a big budget movie. The opening credits look awful, but once the movie starts, it looks pretty much like what would be expected for a movie of this age which hasn't undergone a restoration. Unfortunately, a restoration may never happen.

I don't regret buying it.

JohnRice said:

I have the UK Blu-Ray...

I don't regret buying it.

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Nor do I. I bought mine from Amazon in Japan.

Somewhat off-topic:
Speaking of foreign films, I have been waiting patiently forever for a Region A (I don't quite have enough $ to keep importing discs from abroad) Blu-ray release of the beautiful and award-winning 1984 French film "A Sunday In the Country" (Un dimanche à la campagne).
Is there a special thread for such films (French/ European/ etc), aside from the international Blu/DVD board? If so, haven't seen it.

JohnRice said:

I have the UK Blu-Ray...

"It looks like an upconverted DVD and the print is in poor condition. Looks like the sort of pirated goods one finds on the street in Thailand."

Oh, come on. For one thing, this film will never look great. It's very grainy stock and it's not a big budget movie. The opening credits look awful, but once the movie starts, it looks pretty much like what would be expected for a movie of this age which hasn't undergone a restoration. Unfortunately, a restoration may never happen.

I don't regret buying it.

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The Australian version looks pretty good. As pointed out, with all that diffusion, it will never look sharp as a tack, but I was quite surprised how good it looked given these provisos.

Tom St Jones said:

Somewhat off-topic:Speaking of foreign films, I have been waiting patiently forever for a Region A (I don't quite have enough $ to keep importing discs from abroad) Blu-ray release of the beautiful and award-winning 1984 French film "A Sunday In the Country" (Un dimanche à la campagne).Is there a special thread for such films (French/ European/ etc), aside from the international Blu/DVD board? If so, haven't seen it.

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Nope.I have a "region B" thread that I started in the normal BD forum, it was moved to the international...even though the intent was for people to find it...that would never browse international...Haven't added anything in a long while...as it gets depressing how many discs there are "over there"...and not here.With the shipping cost change from Amazon UK(De and IT are flat cost, or they were...been a while), it helps to buy 4 or more discs from 1 seller.Since I still buy plenty of PAL DVD, it helps.