IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION) coming October 31 from Paramount! (1 Viewer)

[Rick Z.]

Many e-tailers including amazon are already listing this release for october 31st, however,there's still no cover art or any mention of the special features. Has anyone heard anything?

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Sounds a bit fishy. I'll believe it when Paramount announce it.

 

[Rick Z.]

They're already taking preorders at amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd


There isn't anything remotely fishy about it

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

You're right, Rick. We'll probably see an official announcement from Paramount next week, no doubt. Way overdue, though much appreciated. 1951 Scrooge needs an optimal new transfer and extras, too.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I agree. Barry Sandrew, from Legend Films, said that Scrooge is in the works for a new colourized print. Hopefully that means the film itself will be restored and not just re-colourized.

Andy

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Doesn't Legend Films always offer the restored black and white original in addition to the newly colorized version?

 

[Dave Mack]

they better!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Yes, they seem to have a good track record for that. I hope we'll see this supposed restoration/colourization by Christmas 2007, with some appropriate bonus material.

Andy

 

[Patrick McCart]

While I'm not a fan of colorization, LF has always done an incredible job with not only making the color look realistic, but also tasteful. The sample of a Shirley Temple film on their website is so close to looking like Technicolor from that period. I'm also impressed by their image remastering. Little Shop of Horrors was apparently shot on 16mm, but you can't even tell on their DVD.

 

[Jason_V]

*sigh* I guess I shouldn't admit I've never seen "It's a Wonderful Life"? Does that automatically qualify me for the "Must Get This Disc" category?

 

[ScottR]

Yes, Jason..it does! And you'll love it too!

 

[Eric Peterson]

Paramount would have to pull something pretty spectactular out of their rear in order to get me on board for this release.

Normally, I would jump all over this, but with their recent decisions to virtually drop catalog releases and to continue letting Lion's Gate handle the Republic library, I'm pretty pissed at them. The current release isn't all that bad, so I'll save my money for a company more worthy like WB, Fox, or even Universal (who have finally figured it out).

 

[Steve Tannehill]

All this anger. I just want a version of IAWL with good video and sound. I don't care what company releases it.

- Steve

 

[Eric Peterson]

Then why not keep the current version? Personally, I think it's pretty damn good, and it's widely recognized as the best transfer of all the Republic titles on DVD. Hardly a title that's screaming for an upgrade, unlike the other titles that Paramount so careless discarded to the trash bins at Lion's Gate.

 

[Billy Fogerty]

The Republic release, Silver Screen Classics was very good. How much better can they make it? Great sound and a great print. Nice crisp b&w. Plus it has extras. What else could they do to this film?

 

[ScottR]

They could fix the bad splice when George gets tossed from Nick's. It's not like that on other versions.

 

[Robert Harris]

Paramount has been doing restoration work on Wonderful Life.

 

[Rick Z.]

There are several parts in the film where some frames are missing. Many jump cuts that have no sense. But iv'e heard that the film pretty much always had many frames missing when seen on TV and video. However, i've also read that the scene where they're tossed from the bar is indeed a bad splice that only appears on the DVD.

 

[Dave Mack]

True. Watched it on TV a couple of years ago, waited for that odd splice/jump cut and it wasn't there, was clean.

 

[Rick Z.]

The artwork for the upcoming Paramount edition of IAWL is already being displayed at amazon