A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Usual Suspects -- in BD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

The Usual Suspects is an intricately plotted production released in 1995 via Polygram, and now in the M-G-M library, distributed by Fox Home Video.

Bryan Singer, now best know for large scale / large budget effects films (Superman Returns, X2), broke out with The Usual Suspects, a brilliant bit of low budget filmmaking, and has not seemingly looked back.

On Blu-Ray, the film seems a bit more grain-free than I recall, but nonetheless, has made a superb transition to the high definition home video arena.

An extremely entertaining, beautifully written and acted film, The Usual Suspects receives high grades both as a film, and also as a BD disc.

Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[Rob Young]

Yep, this is one of my fav movies ever.

I got the bluray version a couple weeks ago (3rd time now I have bought the film on disc) and checked it out for a few minutes last week and it looked very impressive.

 

[Member 323668]

Thanks, Robert, for your review. Yes, TUS definitely is a highly entertaining film and I enjoyed it a lot. But do I need it on BD? I don't know.....


So, now the BD-only studios give us "TUS", "The House of Flying Daggers", "Kung Fu Hustle", "Crank", "AVP", "The Covenant", "Black Hawk Down", "Happy Feet", "Fantastic Four", "The Transporter", "Into the Blue".........

Most releases are directly "aimed" at the "PS3 generation" in order to make fast cash with this customer base. There is NOT ONE SINGLE "CLASSIC" FILM AVAILABLE from those studios. Sony cancelled "The Professionals" with no new release date so far.

FOX, I want on BD: "The Robe", "Demetrius and the Gladiators", "North to Alaska", "The Comancheros", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Fantastic Voyage", "Planet of the Apes" (Heston), just to name a few....

Sony, where is Grover Crisp with his high-def restorations of "Dr. Strangelove", "Major Dundee", or some of Columbia's other great Westerns like "Jubal", "The Professionals" or their epics from "Lawrence of Arabia" to "The Bridge on the River Kwai"????

Thousands of great classics could be added...

Will their release policy change this year? Doesn't look so....

No, I will definitely NOT buy "Kung Fu Hustle", "The Marine" and "Layer Cake" and "Running With Scissors". Thank you.

 

[Edwin-S]

THE USUAL SUSPECTS was originally released in 1995, so how is it "aimed" at the "PS3 Generation"? For that matter, what is the "PS3 generation"? That unit hasn't been out on the market long enough to build up any sort of generation. I assume by "PS3 generation" you mean "twenty-somethings". I am far out of my twenties and there are several movies on your "PS3 generation" list that I would look at acquiring or upgrading, including TUS. Man! Some of the generalizations! :rolleyes

I could say what generation some of the movies you are demanding may be aimed at, but it would be nothing more than a grossly inaccurate generalization as well.

From a marketing perspective, it makes sense to release new films or newer catalogue titles onto a new format, since those films are the ones that are foremost in people's memories. Studios are not doing anything different with high def, in terms of release structure, than they did with standard def.

 

[Member 323668]

Thanks Edwin for your scholastic comments. As you probably noticed, I put the "PS3 generation" in parenthesis by purpose, giving the term an abstract meaning, not primarily describing an age group. Same with the term "classic film". "The Usual Suspects" can -without doubt- be considered as a "modern classic".

But you can't deny that the "BD-only" studios did not release one single film from the 40's, 50's, 60's or 70's with their 200+ recent releases. It is my personal view that this is VERY bad marketing.

Will Fox's "Broken Lance" on BD, for example, outsell "Crank" or "TUS"? Probably not.

Will it help to significantly boost BD sales? Probably not.

Will it be cheap to produce? Definitely not. Expensive remastering will be needed.

Will it open up a highly important whole new customer base for BD? DEFINITELY YES!

Will the BD studios be able to make HD DVD tank with their current release strategy? DEFINITELY NOT.

As said before: This is my personal point of view.
Have a great day!

 

[BrettGallman]

I wouldn't lump The Usual Suspects in with stuff like Crank and The Marine, but I definately agree that some of the BD studios need to release some films that were released more than 10-15 years ago. I think releasing the James Bond Collection sets would be a good start, seeing as how that franchise has been somewhat rejuvenated.

 

[Jim_K]

I don't get the cheerleading. Most of the "classics" (all whoping 5 of 'em) exclusive to HD-DVD are Warner releases, which means they'll be on Blu-Ray this year. I don't see anything in Universals upcoming lineup either, unless you consider Smokey and the Bandit and The Jerk the finest in classic cinema.

I think both formats are lacking in the classics department.

 

[Rob Young]

I would consider Casino a classic (as is Usual Suspects) but I guess if something is made in the 90s it can't be a classic. Needs to age 40 years for that.

Whatever though.

I hope some hitchcock gets released soon. I'd really like Rear Window and especially North by Northwest. One of my fav movies of all time...and I am a mere 28 so I fall into the "PS3 generation" I guess....

Love the generalizations some people do.