Any Guesses on 2021 4K, Blue Ray, DVD releases? (1 Viewer)

[Ed Lachmann]

I'm optimistic that the blu-ray arm of Mill Creek might take up the "Ultimate Collection" idea and give us more of the Hayworth style releases, perhaps even a sword and sandal set, since Germany is releasing singles the likes of Nefertiti and Romulus and Remus. Maybe we'll even finally see the Steve Reeves classics Hercules and Hercules Unchained in HD. The old DVD peplum sets by Mill Creek looked dreadful, but perhaps better elements will be available. Or, maybe Arrow will finally release the long promised Pabst L'Atlantide with gorgeous Brigitte Helm in HD. Well, if guesses and wishes were to come true, these are mine.

 

[Reggie W]

I'd love to see Sidney Lumet's Prince of the City from Warner Archive.

A Will Penny Blu-ray would be fantastic.

Catch-22 from Criterion would be a dream as would another feature from Mike Nichols, Carnal Knowledge.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Here's ten titles I'd like that look very doable:

The Big Sky (1952) - I think I read that this was on the Criterion TV channel in HD
Scaramouche (1952) - Always on my lists.
She (1965)
In Harm's Way (1965)
Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Catch-22 (1970)
Start The Revolution Without Me (1970)
The Music Lovers (1971) - What's the hold-up? When it's finally released it had better be a tasty transfer.
The Ruling Class (1972)
Pennies From Heaven (1981).

​

IMO, The Big Sky on Criterion Channel looks mediocre at best with some poor video sequences in-between.

 

[Dick]

This is as good a place and time to post my annual WAC release predictions. On the average, only about two of my choices have actually happened each year, so I'll keep trying. The classic titles I feel have a good chance of being upgraded this year are:

ALLIED ARTISTS
Friendly Persuasion
Macabre

MGM
7 Faces Of Dr. Lao, The
Adam's Rib
Day At the Races, A
Freaks
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)
Ivanhoe
Lili
Mark of the Vampire
Moulin Rouge
Naked Spur, The
National Velvet
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Pennies From Heaven
Queen Christina
Scaramouche
Shoot the Moon
tom thumb
Whose Life Is It Anyway

Warner Bros.
Angels With Dirty Faces
Dr. X
Captain Blood
Damn Yankees
Going In Style (1979)
King's Row
Land of the Pharaohs
Last of Sheila, The
Late Show, The
Life Of Emile Zola, The
Night Shift
Oh God!
Petulia
Prince of the City
Rachel Rachel
White Hunter, Black Heart

 

[Billy Batson]

IMO, The Big Sky on Criterion Channel looks mediocre at best with some poor video sequences in-between.

Oh, that's a shame.

One title I've been waiting for, I think a genuine masterpiece, is, All That Money Can Buy (The Devil & Daniel Webster) 1941. I think I read that Criterion owns this RKO film outright. Maybe this year...

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Criterion will release a 4K restoration of Preminger's Porgy And Bess (1959).

in 1080p.

 

[PMF]

Not intended to come off as snarky and I'm not the spelling police - but it is spelled Blu-ray not "Blue" ray in your title thread

Until our desired titles receive a release, I would have to argue that the usage of BLUE is actually correct and apropos.

 

[Darby67]

Extreme long-shots/stuff of dreams, but what the heck:

Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927) [complete 330-minute version]

The Alamo (1960) [202-minute roadshow version]

The Elusive Pimpernel (1950) (released in the USA as The Fighting Pimpernel)

Make Mine Music (1946) [with complete version of the Martins and Coys segment]

Melody Time (1948) [with complete Pecos Bill segment intact i.e. without the cigarette edits]

Omar Khayyam (1957)

The Prince and the Pauper (1962) [both the three 50-minute television episodes from the Disneyland TV show titled The Pauper King, The Merciful Law of the King, and Long Live the Rightful King and the 93-minute theatrical release]

The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1937)

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1933)

Secret of the Incas (1954)

The Sign of Zorro (1958)

Song of the South (1946)

The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) [The March 2015 4k restored version that runs 136 minutes, including a final credits sequence of all the performers and singers, not seen in any previous releases. Studio Canal released a Blu-ray of the restored version in Region B on 3/23/15. The restored version has not been released on DVD or Blu-ray in Region 1/A]

 

[Robert Crawford]

It appears this "Guess List" has been turned into "A Wish List" by many people.

 

[Dick]

Until our desired titles receive a release, I would have to argue that the usage of BLUE is actually correct and apropos.

As the horrible manager who would not refund this 14-year-old his matinee money at the Bedford Playhouse asked, after misadvertising the title in print and on the weekly phone message, "MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, MYSTERY SUBMARINE...what's the difference?

 

[jcroy]

It appears this "Guess List" has been turned into "A Wish List" by many people.

Lists/threads of this type have always been inherently a "wish list".



Especially when there are no home video department insiders willing to say much of anything officially.

 

[Johnny Angell]

There is a rumor that Paramount is considering putting out Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Director's Cut on 4K

As I understand it, when the DC was created, it was done only in SD. It would require additional work to even come up with an HD version. I would love to see it in HD and 4K would be fantastic. Day one buy for me.

 

[Thomas T]

This is as good a place and time to post my annual WAC release predictions. On the average, only about two of my choices have actually happened each year, so I'll keep trying. The classic titles I feel have a good chance of being upgraded this year are:

ALLIED ARTISTS
Friendly Persuasion
Macabre

MGM
7 Faces Of Dr. Lao, The
Adam's Rib
Day At the Races, A
Freaks
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)
Ivanhoe
Lili
Mark of the Vampire
Moulin Rouge
Naked Spur, The
National Velvet
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Pennies From Heaven
Queen Christina
Scaramouche
Shoot the Moon
tom thumb
Whose Life Is It Anyway

Warner Bros.
Angels With Dirty Faces
Dr. X
Captain Blood
Damn Yankees
Going In Style (1979)
King's Row
Land of the Pharaohs
Last of Sheila, The
Late Show, The
Life Of Emile Zola, The
Night Shift
Oh God!
Petulia
Prince of the City
Rachel Rachel
White Hunter, Black Heart

Considering the recent news, I wouldn't hold out too much hope for those titles.

 

[BRAD1963]

I think 2021 will continue to be dominated by the boutique labels, with Criterion, Kino, and Arrow leading the way with superb title selections, great PQ and supplements.

It looks like Paramount is continuing with "Paramount Presents" , MOD Catalog and bargain titles. I don't know why it took so long, but at this point who cares as long as they keep coming, but please drop MOD burned discs. I'm still trying to locate and purchase a pressed disc of "We're No Angels".

Sony will release Vol II of Columbia Classics on UHD. I'm guessing that Easy Rider and Taxi Driver will make the cut, along with another Capra title and maybe On the Waterfront along with 2 other films.

WAC will most likely be continuing to release an abundance of restored titles throughout the year. If January is any indication of what is to come, it will be great.

Universal will probably release more UHD catalog titles, as will Warner and Paramount. But I would count out anything from 20th Century Fox or Disney at this point. Disney has pretty made it clear they are all about Disney +, Hulu and streaming.

I think purchasing Blu-ray, UHD and DVD's will continue to be mostly online and less brick and mortar.

Overall, I feel it will be a good year for collectors and we will see some great titles coming our way.

 

[Richard M S]

I just looked up the December 2019 prediction thread and it was a lot of fun to read in retrospect. Kudos to the person who mentioned The Mortal Storm, that one came out of left field. Also, it was mentioned that George Feltenstein said The Pirate's blu-ray chances depended entirely on the sales of Summer Stock.

Some of my 2021 predictions I believe were mentioned in previous podcasts as having issues but after seeing the truly spectacular results with The Pirate and Million Dollar Mermaid, I hope for the following:

The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex
The Three Musketeers (Gene Kelly version)
For Me And My Gal
Presenting Lily Mars
Scaramouche (Stewart Granger version)
Yolanda And The Thief
Some Came Running
Julius Caesar
Words And Music
Till The Clouds Roll By
The Belle Of New York
Ziegfeld Follies (with the original Lou Bunin puppet sequence)

Finally, as mentioned above, the 2015 restored version of Tales Of Hoffman with that final credit sequence would make for a fantastic, long overdue Criterion release.

 

[Dick]

Considering the recent news, I wouldn't hold out too much hope for those titles.

Yeah, that's damn disheartening. Good luck, Mr. Feltenstein, and many thanks for years of great WAC releases.

 

[Billy Batson]

It appears this "Guess List" has been turned into "A Wish List" by many people.

Ha, I never thought it was anything else!

 

[Robin9]

It appears this "Guess List" has been turned into "A Wish List" by many people.

Exactly.

An educated guess is rooted in known facts and recurring patterns. We know that Warner Archive have just dumped Mr. Feltenstein, and that suggests they plan to reduce the effort, time and money they put into the Warner Archive project, at least for the time being. We know that Sony are continuing to produce superb high definition masters and that they have been releasing some of these on their own MOD Blu-ray discs and some through boutique labels. (The excellent recent Mill Creek Rita Hayworth set being a prominent example) We also know that Universal are continuing to release titles through Kino Lorber and that Disney now controls the 20th Century Fox catalog.

So, an educated guess is that Sony will continue their association with Mill Creek and various European boutique labels and there will be neither a large increase or decrease in their high definition output. Similarly Universal will continue their partnerships and will continue to release masters of wildly varying quality. Warner Archive will be as now for the next few months and then will gradually slow down. Fox titles will slow down to a trickle and possibly the quality of the masters will decline sharply. In Europe boutique labels will use old standard definition masters of Fox movies as the basis for very disappointing Blu-ray discs. (Anyone who has the European discs of No Way Out and The Iron Curtain will know what I mean)

 

[Dave Moritz]

I am still hoping for The Abyss and True Lies to be released on 4K Blu-ray!

Here is the following I would like to see come out on 4K blu-ray in 2021
The Abyss
True Lies
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Sound Of Music
My Fair Lady
Open Range
Crimson Tide

 

[TheSteig]

Dr. X has been restored so I definitely think it's forthcoming

A lot of titles Im guessing are on my wish list of course but you know what, I think these are perfectly valid guesses. A Clockwork Orange is likely. A lot of the Kino titles from the new Universal deal that I own on DVD are also likely because all I have left are Universal 30s and 40s titles. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Frederic March is certainly possible from Warner.

If I really wanted to make my guesses more of a wish list I would "guess" It Conquered the World, The Amazing Colossal Man, Day of the Triffids, Warlords of Atlantis, The Crawling Eye, Fiend without a Face, and the Dr. Mabuse titles from the 60s. All of them would be a pleasant surprise for me and one helluva shock !