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Has Paramount quit releasing classic films to SD DVD? (1 Viewer)

Eric Peterson

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Good idea! Be sure to reply if you get any feedback. I for one would be very interested to hear their position on this. If it has anything to do with a "Lack of Market" they are obviously not paying attention to what is going on outside of the Bronson gate.
 

Corey

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just give me veronica lake, alan ladd, maria montez's cobra woman, more dietrich and mae west. how can they be sitting on their silents, magnificent obssesion, the african queen, and the killers.
 

GregoryMesh

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Most of veronica lake, alan ladd, dietrich and mae west are owned by Universal. So is cobra woman, magnificent obssesion and the killers which was already released by Criterion.
 

AndrewWickliffe

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GregoryMesh said:
Most of veronica lake, alan ladd, dietrich and mae west are owned by Universal. So is cobra woman, magnificent obssesion and the killers which was already released by Criterion.
They're still sitting on stuff like "Downhill Racer," which I just wanted to see again today...
Paramount Australia is releasing some older titles, like "Figures in the Landscape," so it's not everywhere they're not releasing catalogue titles... just in the world's largest DVD market.
 

Bruce Morrison

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AndrewWickliffe said:
They're still sitting on stuff like "Downhill Racer," which I just wanted to see again today...
Yes I like that film as well - it's one that I've been hoping Paramount would get around too eventually. But there are a few other titles, such as 'Ace In the Hole', 'If....' and a good quality version of 'One-Eyed Jacks' that are my top priority wants from Paramount.
 

JPCinema

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Unless they are replaced by even younger people who have even less knowledge of classic films. From bad to worse!
 

Robert Crawford

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Ken Koc said:
Unless they are replaced by even younger people who have even less knowledge of classic films. From bad to worse!
It's not good to generalize about people because I know some young people that are very knowledgable about classic films.
 

JPCinema

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True, I just hope that the knowledgeable passionate about classic films people are the ones who get hired.
 

Steve JD

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I guess we'll also never get "WHO'S MINDING THE STORE?" from 1963 on DVD, one of the best Jerry Lewis movies...

: (
 

Bob Graham

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AndrewWickliffe said:
They're still sitting on stuff like "Downhill Racer," which I just wanted to see again today...
Paramount Australia is releasing some older titles, like "Figures in the Landscape," so it's not everywhere they're not releasing catalogue titles... just in the world's largest DVD market.
And in R2 they sub-licensed THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS to Eureka, so their foreign offices are at least exploring alternatives.
 

Jeff Newcomb

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Bob Graham said:
And in R2 they sub-licensed THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS to Eureka, so their foreign offices are at least exploring alternatives.
Paramount was just the U.S. theatrical distributor for The Savage Innocents. I don't think that they have any connection to the film now (definitely not in the U.K.). I think that Pathe now holds the rights to the film.
 

Patrick McCart

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Wait...
If Paramount is so uninterested in releasing classics, why not license them to to others?
I'm sure Criterion would love some of their silents... they have a few von Sternbergs (Underground, The Last Command, and Docks of New York), a von Stroheim (The Wedding March), and the rest... Wings, The Covered Wagon, Old Ironsides...
Can you imagine how cool Criterion editions of The Quiet Man, High Noon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Rio Grande would be?
Also, it was said that Paramount would regain home video control of the Republic library last fall. Lionsgate shouldn't have any part anymore.
 

Steve...O

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Can you imagine how cool Criterion editions of The Quiet Man, High Noon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Rio Grande would be?

They would be cool, but also very expensive which is why I hope Paramount gets their act together. Majors can and should put out their own high profile titles at a price that's reasonable to the masses.
Criterion does put out some wonderful product, but at a MSRP of $30 to $40 per title I only have their Hitchcocks. If Pickup on South Street were part of the Fox Noir line it would be $10 at Best Buy complete with excellent transfer and decent extras. Because it's Criterion it's $27 at Amazon. I am not willing to pay almost triple for a few more extras.
 

Bob Graham

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IIRC, back in the laser disc days, Criterion was able to licence one title from Paramount: ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS, supposedly because it was one of the all-time favorite films of one of the founders of Criterion (at least this is what I've heard, someone correct me if I'm wrong.)
 

John Hodson

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This is kind of frustrating...
hitch_fan said:
here in Holland and according to this review the picture quality is excellent and much improved over the earlier effort (the review is in dutch but all non-dutch readers can of course look at the pictures ;)). Extras are the same as on the old R1.
Check out those grabs, and since posting that at www.thedvdforums.com , hitch_fan has bought a copy, compared it with his Artisan R1 and reports that, well, there is no comparison - the new Paramount release is a peach.
It's also been released in France; in both countries, Paramount has the home video rights. So, will it ever come to R1?
 

Mark Oates

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Are we sure it's clueless young guns at Paramount who are keeping vintage material out of the loop? Might it not be more likely to be overcautious bean-counters watching the profit margins on DVD sales right across the board? That would account for Paramount's luddite policy on value added material on so many of their releases.
 

Curt_B

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well, theres no mystery.
Look at their Job Opportunities section.
Virtually none of the listed positions actually include knowledge of film as a qualification that I could find-even positions related to Home Video;
Just various Financial, Marketing and Office requirements ie: bean counters.
I applaud their restoration efforts-and those folks likely know film, but possibly only in the context of protecting and restoring ASSETS. ie: Product.
 

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