Help getting OAR re-releases for P&S (1 Viewer)

[Luke T]

I'm frustrated with a select number of titles that are P&S only and have not been mentioned to be re-released in OAR. The first five are early releases by major studios which I'd hope will receive SEs. Has anyone got any info on them?

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective – Special Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Warner Bros.)

National Lampoon’s Vacation: Special Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Warner Bros.)

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Special Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Warner Bros.)

National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation: Special Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Warner Bros.)

Twins: Collector’s Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Universal)

The last two are low-budget titles which I'm afraid will never get re-released, unless a company like Anchor Bay would be able to purchase the rights to them.

Army Of One: Special Edition (W: 2.35:1) (Artisan)

Trancers: Lunar Edition (W: 1.85:1) (Full Moon)

Army Of One (aka Joshua Tree) is a great macho action flick and as you can see it's having a 2.35:1 ratio means the P&S DVD is really bad. I saw another Artisan b-movie title Raw Justice at Best Buy a month ago, and they actually seem to taunt you buy saying the film has a 1.85:1 intended ratio but it's "formatted to fit your screen", so ha ha. Urgh. And Trancers I'm guessing a few people know about, an 80s sci-fi cult classic, and the DVD is possibly the worst DVD made. It's an obvious copy from the old laserdisc as the middle of the movie blacks out for a few seconds and after the credits it reads "end of side 2". Looking at the imdb and all the info I could find it's not intended to be full frame so we're getting rooked on this too. Think there's any hope for these two titles?

 

[AaronMK]

Add Babe and The Secret of NIMH to the list. Both of these have had two releases, neither of them OAR.

I haven't seen NIMH, and would buy Babe and Twins.

Unfortunatly, I don't think they will be rereleased considering the current climate.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I think the studios should work on releasing films not on DVD yet before making widescreen versions.
Yes, it's not a pretty thing to say, but the fact that these films are ON DVD makes it more important. Yes, I'd love to be able to buy an anamorphic matted widescreen DVD of Vacation, but I'd rather see a MIA film such as The Magnificient Ambersons released first. Another example...Artisian is making an SE of It's A Wonderful Life which had a fantastic transfer on the original DVD, while they're sitting on releases of Betty Boop and other Fleischer animation (Makers of the B&W Popeye cartoons made before 1942.
You can usually see a good bit of these non-OAR DVD films on Turner Classic Movies in the OAR (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, A Christmas Story, etc) for the time being.
New Releases First, Re-do's Second.
*ADD*
I'd also like to point out that all of the mentioned titles are open matte films on DVD. Technically, you could simply matte your TV to 1.85:1 (depending on overscan) to the original aspect ratio. That's what they do in theatres.

 

[John Berggren]

Patrick,

Although I agree with your basic premise, I think your thinking is flawed somewhat on the issue. With the amount of films that exist and continue to be made, there will be a virtually unending number of films that have yet to be released.

I think it would be good for studios to bring out their catalog titles, and serve them well. I think also, it would be good for P&S titles to be rereleased in their OAR. It's just as annoying to not find a title at all as it is to find it's only available MARred.

Every other time I'm in Best Buy I have to reassure my partner that Grumpy Old Men is not worth buying until it's released properly. I'd much rather just buy it (in OAR), but I don't have that choice - so to me, that movie is not "available" on DVD.

Anyhow... I think there is room to focus on both rereleases and first time DVD releases.

 

[GlennH]

.

I think the studios should work on releasing films not on DVD yet before making widescreen versions.

I agree with John. To many of us the fact that a P&S DVD already exists is the same as saying that there is no DVD release at all, since we won't buy or rent it. So I'd rather see them redo THE STING or BABE correctly now, along with their other catalog new releases. It doesn't have to be one or the other, it can be both. Columbia did this with FLY AWAY HOME.

It is impractical to wait till the catalog releases are all done because that will take many years to do.

On the other hand, I *would* like to see studios like Universal concentrate on releasing first-time catalog titles or necessary re-releases like BABE before they repetitively re-package THE MUMMY or PATCH ADAMS or NOTTING HILL in unnecessary "Ultimate Editions."

 

[AaronMK]

In case you can't tell by my signature, I agree with John and Glenn.

I think it is more appropriate to ask for a first release, since a MAR release ceases to be the movie.

I also find it very offensive that they would try to fool us into thinking a movie has been released on DVD using this tactic.

 

[Justin T]

I totally agree with you on Joshua Tree. This IS the real title also. It was changed for home video so no confusion was made with U2.
JT

 

[Jerry Gracia]

I think the studios should work on releasing films not on DVD yet before making widescreen versions.

Uh no.

 

[Carlo_M]

I think the studios should work on releasing films not on DVD yet before making widescreen versions.
Yes, it's not a pretty thing to say, but the fact that these films are ON DVD makes it more important.

I cannot agree with this statement less.
I don't own Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Why? P&S only = no purchase. So it's as if there is not AVD DVD for me. Same with the original Wonka SE that wasn't in widescreen, until they released the OAR version. Same with Happy Gilmore.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I didn't mean widescreen versions all together...I meant that before they start releasing SE's of stuff like The Sting, Vacation, and other non-OAR DVD's, they should concentrate on films not on DVD yet.

I just think it's more important for a studio to release more of their unreleased catalog titles before they go onto re-doing titles that are already on DVD, even if they are not OAR.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

I feel they should go back over the stuff that has been released p&s until now and correct that error. That doesn't mean they should stop putting out catalog titles, but those p&s only editions are obviously not done right.

By the way, both Ace Ventura films are available in OAR in R2 - and on sale over at play.com for that matter. Of course, that won't help those of you not in R2 land (or without region free players).

 

[Chad Gregory]

I didn't mean widescreen versions all together...I meant that before they start releasing SE's of stuff like The Sting, Vacation, and other non-OAR DVD's, they should concentrate on films not on DVD yet.

I just think it's more important for a studio to release more of their unreleased catalog titles before they go onto re-doing titles that are already on DVD, even if they are not OAR.

But honestly you, or anyone else, can argue that these things cannot happen at the same time.

I know that these were just an example, but do you really think that Universal releasing a widescreen Sting is preventing them from puting out all of the other titles in their catalog? I seriously doubt it. It is not as though they only have one person working on discs and they have to wait for him to finish before they move on to the next title.

It has been talk about ad nauseum, but it all comes down to money. What will sell the most copies compared to the cost of production.

-Chad

 

[Dave H]

I think by now the studios should have fixed the screw-ups they made in the first place. Many of these pan and scan releases came out in 1997; you would think that within five years that these would have been corrected in OAR. Obviously they are not.

Another studio that comes to mind is Universal. I would really like to have Kindergarten Cop and Sea of Love but refuse to purchase them until they are released in OAR.

Yet, Universal continues to re-release movies which were done correctly the first time, as someone has pointed out.

 

[AaronMK]

I just think it's more important for a studio to release more of their unreleased catalog titles before they go onto re-doing titles that are already on DVD, even if they are not OAR.

This statement is impossible.
For a title to be on DVD (or any format), it must be OAR. If a title is MARed, then it ceases to be that title. So then how is it possible for a title to be on DVD if it is not OAR? Also, how can a studio re-do a title they have not done in the first place? :rolleyes