LEAST LIKELY BLU-RAY RELEASES (1 Viewer)

I'm curiously conducting a poll of movies you thought were least likely to get a Blu-ray release that have ultimately been given a Blu-ray release over other 'more worthy' contenders. Also, I'd like to know what movies you believe will be the least likely ever to see the light of day in 1080p.


I'll start the list with three movies I never thought would come to Blu-ray and am still scratching my head as to why they actually did: Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love, Robert Wise's Audrey Rose, and, Ross Hunter's Lost Horizon.


Movies that seem the least likely to EVER be released to Blu-ray include Grease 2, Ken Russell's Lisztomania and Staircase.


Share and compare.

My entire wish llist I don't think we will ever see THE DEVILS on bluray. 1492 US release.

MAN OF LA MANCHA - one of the all time greats in musicals but as a film, it was a disaster and a flop at the box office. Even the talents of Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren couldn't save this dud of a film. It would be a waste of money to put this film out in bluray.

I never expected to see Ride the Pink Horse on DVD, much less Blu-Ray, and much less a Criterion Blu-Ray. I'd put Storm Fear on the same level.

With movies like Ninja III: The Domination getting BD releases, I think anything is possible. haha I was surprised to see Terror in the Aisles make it to BD, though, if only as an HD extra on Universal's Halloween II release. That was one of those films that never made it to DVD. And with Shout! Factory putting out the complete Decline of Western Civilization collection this year, you can scratch three more movies off that particular list.

I hate to admit it, but it seems more and more likely that one of my all-time favorite movies won't make it to Blu-ray:


"Wonder Boys"


It should have been a hit. The movie stars Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr, Katie Holmes (who have all gone on to do movies with superheroes, now that I think about it), Frances McDormand and other talented supporting players. It's based on a book by Michael Chabon, adapted by Steve Kloves, who followed this up with screenplays for seven of the eight Harry Potter movies. It won an Oscar for Best Original Song for "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan. And Curtis Hanson directed. But Paramount blew the marketing campaign, basically admitted that by giving it an almost unprecedented re-release the same year it came out, and blew it a second time as well. It's a wonderful movie with great characters you want to keep spending time with, fantastic performances with great chemistry among the cast, and direction that keeps the whole thing moving effortlessly. The production design and mostly location photography give the film a really nice look, and while it wouldn't necessarily shine on Blu-ray the way a giant budgeted spectacle would, it would certainly look very very nice in HD.


Here's why I'm starting to think we'll never get it in HD, though. First, it's a Paramount title, and their output of catalog has not been inspiring of late. As far as I know, there's never been an HD master created for it - it was finished on film back when movies were still finished that way, and there's no HD version available via any of the streaming or downloading or subscription services. And it's got a wonderful soundtrack - so wonderful that the music clearance rights could be a nightmare if the filmmakers hadn't gotten clearance beyond the theatrical and initial DVD release. So with it being from a studio that's slowing down on physical media, having flopped twice theatrically in the same year, and with no HD master readily available for another label to license, and potential music clearance nightmares, this one may be stuck as just a DVD forever.


Now please, pretty please, someone make me wrong!


edit: if you've never heard or seen this movie, I give it my highest possible recommendation - the DVD is available on Amazon new for under $6 and is well worth it for a blind buy.

I feel your pain.

I must admit I was truly surprised by the release of Thank Your Lucky Stars. There are so many musicals under the control of Warner Bros. that I would have thought took priority over this one.


A movie I don't think we'll ever see on Blu-ray: Beyond the Forest.

Matt Hough said:

I must admit I was truly surprised by the release of Thank Your Lucky Stars. There are so many musicals under the control of Warner Bros. that I would have thought took priority over this one.


A movie I don't think we'll ever see on Blu-ray: Beyond the Forest.

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Hoping for GOODBYE MR CHIPS[1969]

There are so many titles that I thought would never make it to Blu-ray that nothing surprises me any more. A few are AT LONG LAST LOVE, LOST HORIZON, 1776, THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS, IT, THE THING FROM BEYOND SPACE and JAMAICA INN.

Josh Steinberg said:

I hate to admit it, but it seems more and more likely that one of my all-time favorite movies won't make it to Blu-ray:


"Wonder Boys"


It should have been a hit. The movie stars Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr, Katie Holmes (who have all gone on to do movies with superheroes, now that I think about it)

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It's particularly interesting to think of these actors' superhero counterparts with respect to the relationship that Downey and Maguire share in this film. Something that I brought up back when people were making juvenile homophobic jokes about Heath Ledger's Joker casting.


Wonder Boys is a great movie, and I'd love to see it on BD some day. And while it may seem unlikely, so did a release for The Good Shepherd, a film for which I am apparently in a tiny minority of fans. And yet, that one hit the format earlier this year. So there's always hope.

cinemiracle said:

MAN OF LA MANCHA - one of the all time greats in musicals but as a film, it was a disaster and a flop at the box office. Even the talents of Peter O'Toole and Sophia Loren couldn't save this dud of a film. It would be a waste of money to put this film out in bluray.

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Speak for yourself! I (and I'm sure there are others) would snap it up in a micro second! If At Long Last Love and Lost Horizon (1973) can make it to blu, why not Man Of La Mancha?


As for my contribution to this thread, it's Song Of Norway (1970), the uncut Roadshow version. Another title, I'd snap up in a micro second.

In the same vein as WONDER BOYS, it's terribly disappointing to learn that there is no existing 35mm print or DCP made for the 2002 remake of SOLARIS, one of my favorite films of all time-- starring George Clooney, directed by Steven Soderbergh and produced by James Cameron. If that trifecta can't get a Blu-Ray released, no one can. Lionsgate's refusal to dig into their own archives for titles makes me worry about THE LIMEY as well (I know Twilight Time has tried to negotiate a licensing deal with Liongate with little to show for their effort). And who knows about THE ABYSS and TRUE LIES, the Blu-Ray version of vaporware.

Who knows? I can think of a hundred Warner films that I would have thought would have been released before some of the more obscure Archive titles. The state of the elements & the legal situation must play a big part. I would't give up on any title...even One-Eyed Jacks.

We will never see Paramount release One Eyed Jacks from original Vistavision elements

Everything on my 2014 wish list!

Id say almost anything on my Alpha Video collection. Probably most of the titles in my Lionsgate collection..but who can really say. I love the unknown and unforeseen as a title can just pop up out of nowhere

I doubt the Whistler movies will get HD releases and some of the obscure lower tier horror scifi movies I like.

I'm not holding out much hope to ever see the uncensored extended cut of WATERWORLD on a remastere BD. A 20th Anniversary edition was recently released in the UK but that was just an excuse to add a UV code. Anyone who purchased that Blu-ray essentially paid anywhere from $14 to $20 for a code because everything else, including the transfer, was recycled. Meet Universal's latest scheme.


I don't expect to ever see the made-for-TV Rosemary's Baby sequel, Look What's Happened To Rosemary's Baby, hit ANY format. Say what you will about that film, I saw it as a young child and I never forgot it. Very creepy.


OTOH, if junk like Manos - The Hands of Fate can get a 4K remaster, then anything is possible

If we're talking THE WONDER BOYS, then I'd like to add IN HER SHOES by the same director. I don't think anyone likes that one, but it's a pretty solid film in it's own right.

"Song of the South."