LEAST LIKELY BLU-RAY RELEASES (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

In the same vein as WONDER BOYS, it's terribly disappointing to learn that there is no existing 35mm print or DCP made for the 2002 remake of SOLARIS, one of my favorite films of all time-- starring George Clooney, directed by Steven Soderbergh and produced by James Cameron.

I love this movie too. There are two things that give me a little bit more hope that we might one day see this. The first is that there's an HD version available on the streaming services. I did the Disc to Digital on Vudu and got it in HD for $5, so at least there's an existing master. And the other thing is that Koch Media in Germany just put out a nice Blu of the Cameron-produced "Strange Days" - maybe we need to lobby them?

 

[LouA]

The Columbia Pictures exploitation films of the 50'sand 60's .Things like Rock Around The Clock, Don't knock the Twist , Safe At Home , 30 Foot Bride Of Candy Rock. It doesn't seem those films will make the transition to BD. I guess they were lucky to be released on DVD, although the 3 Stooges features are now on Blu-Ray .

 

[Ethan Riley]

Shout!, starring John Travolta and Heather Graham, circa 1992. It was a 50s rock musical. Nobody's ever heard of it. I don't think it was even on dvd. Also "Mac the Knife" starring Raul Julia and Richard Harris. It was a 90s remake of "The Threepenny Opera." Again, few realize it exists and no dvd.

 

[Dr Griffin]

I'd like to be specific, but it would take too much work. If I had a dollar for every title I've thought "that's on Blu-ray?!", I'd have a couple hundred more Blus in my collection. I will say Wuthering Heights (1939) is a head scratcher, but it's probably a cost issue, I don't know. Also, just because Ryan's Daughter has shown up on a bootleg Blu-ray doesn't mean it will ever see a legitimate Blu-ray release.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

I would love that, and any and all Disneyland broadcasts brought into the HD realm! I was just watching the "Tomorrow Land" set last night and I just love that stuff.

 

[trajan]

MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON

 

[raphdude]

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

I would love to have this on blu as well!

My vote for most unlikely,

Chu Chu & the Philly Flash (1981) with Carol Burnett and Alan Arkin, a real guilty pleasure of mine!

 

[JoHud]

I'd say about 90% of the entire Hollywood output prior to 1950 will most likely never make it to blu-ray, the 30s even moreso. Unless they're tentpole titles with sizeable popularity with very popular stars & directors, they will most likely never be so lucky. This is compounded on B-studio libraries like Monogram that largely lack significant star power or lavish budgets. Being B&W and at 4:3 is a liability in today's market. Add to that, the market for old classics continue to shrink with each continuing decade. Many are lucky to even be on DVD


Also I'm specifically talking about blu-ray. I suspect more to have HD transfers that will solely be used for streaming, television broadcast or simply for long-term archival purposes. The Sony library in particular, one that is heavily invested in bringing its films to HD but tries hard not to show it, probably has something like 2% of its existing HD masters of its deep catalog on blu-ray.


The "surprises releases" generally come from 3rd party distributors that only seek modest profits and can get by. In addition the major studios are more likely to let go of their minor films than their major ones. Many of the Olive Films release a major example of this anamoly, in which many of their releases (up until their recent MGM releases) skipped the DVD generation entirely since at the time they were considered too obscure even for the DVD boom to take notice. Similar surprises come from Criterion and Twilight Time, but generally at a more modest scale as those companies dish out plenty of tentpole titles to offset those riskier releases.


What also comes into play is how well preserved the elements are for films in the present day. Want to know a key factor in why titles like Thank Your Lucky Stars make it to blu before many others? Because there is no additional cost in remastering/restoration, the work has already been done years which itself was minor since the elements stayed in such good shape. Though specifically referring to the WAC, I'm sure the personal taste of G. Feltenstein factors in there, much like the personal tastes of the Twilight Time staff factors into their obscurities and so forth among the smaller labels.


However, there is one wild card here and that is BD-MOD. It will happen one day once the technology is dependable enough and if it ever catches on with the major studios it will be a very good thing because a) Back catalog obscurities will get a better shot and b) there will be a stronger need to remaster titles that is sometimes lacking with DVD MODs *cough*FoxArchives*cough.* The only problem is that advantage "b" may also be seen as a bridge too far for some of the more conservative-minded distribution companies.

 

[Ruz-El]

I see the MOD program going away as downloads and streaming take over. The main holdout I think is price. I wouldn't pay $20 for a bluray quality download, but I would pay $5-10 provided there is no DRM of any kind. Especially if there are few to no extras on the disc version.

 

[Mike Boone]

We will never see Paramount release One Eyed Jacks from original Vistavision elements

I'd like to shout your suggestion from the roof tops, but then my wife might think I'd gone back to drinking again.


Back in the winter I did buy the German sourced, sub-standard quality Blu-ray of One Eyed Jacks. One would never know

from that edition that the film was shot in the very high quality format of VistaVision.


Also, it took me about 15 minutes of tinkering with the crude menu of that Blu-ray to transform the German that Brando's

character was speaking, into English. I don't know, somehow to me, a cowboy speaking German just tends to destroy the

sort of ambiance that one usually associates with a western.

 

[Rick Thompson]

Of course, the full roadshow The Alamo, but also Tribute (in spite of a cast with Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick and Robby Benson, not even a DVD!) and Flower Drum Song (Rodgers & Hammerstein or not, Universal obviously ain't doing it). I'd like to think Showgirls wouldn't make it, but I wouldn't be stunned to see one announced.


And any TV series shot on videotape. DVD is already higher resolution than even S-Video.


Update: Oh, dear God, there is a blu of Showgirls! Egad!

 

[Oblivion138]

Shout!, starring John Travolta and Heather Graham, circa 1992. It was a 50s rock musical. Nobody's ever heard of it. I don't think it was even on dvd. Also "Mac the Knife" starring Raul Julia and Richard Harris. It was a 90s remake of "The Threepenny Opera." Again, few realize it exists and no dvd.

I had completely forgotten about Mack the Knife.

 

[Mike Boone]

I've been thinking about 2 movies that definitely qualify as least likely to be Blu-ray releases, a fact which should probably make us all feel a little grateful.


The first movie is in the vampire genre, and was really found to be amusing (as in laughably bad) by yours truly and my daughter, when she was 13 or 14. The movie opens inside of a crypt where a huge, black, German Shepherd like dog, suddenly appears and pulls the huge stone lid off the top of a coffin, with its teeth. As the coffin lid falls to the stone floor, the camera zooms in on a close-up of the dog's face and the picture instantly freezes as the large blood red letters of the film's title: "Dracula's Dog" are suddenly emblazoned across the screen. We considered that 60 second opening, alone, to be just priceless. Of course, admittedly, many people might have a pretty cheap definition for what could constitute "priceless".


The other movie I wanted to mention as having a pathetically slim to non-existent chance of ever falling out of a Blu-ray mold is "Matango" also known by it's alternate title "Fungus of Terror" In the interest of full disclosure I confess to actually having never seen this 1963 Japanese film. But having once been the victim myself of being stricken with the athlete's foot fungus, while not even participating in any athletics, I must admit to being quite curious about just how terrifying a fungus could be, in addition to the routine itching that you just know is going to be part of any deal where you've been invaded by a fungus.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Everything on my 2014 wish list!

I'm SO on the same page as Keith. Many of what were once considered classics in one way or another we will NEVER see include titles like:

Porgy and Bess, Hawaii, Boy on a Dolphin, Sign of the Cross, The Greatest Show on Earth, Helen of Troy, Freaks, The Story of Ruth, Barabbas, The Rose Tattoo, Scaramouche, Auntie Mame, Captain From Castile, The Sun Also Rises, The Moon and Sixpence, The Big Fisherman, Lady in a Cage, Suddenly Last Summer, Night of the Iguana, Prince of Players, Unsinkable Molly Brown, Designing Woman, Joan of Arc and countless others.

And most of the most influential silent movies of all time such as Cabiria, The Covered Wagon, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, The Wind, The Crowd. Greed, Peter Pan and Orphans of the Storm.

 

[Mike Boone]

I have a personal reason for hoping that Hawaii makes it to Blu-ray because it was one of only 3 movies that I can ever remember as having gone to see with my dear cousin, Kathryn. (the other 2 were Dr No and Cool Hand Luke)


Also, according to some sources, Hawaii was the biggest box office hit among movies released in 1966. And when considering the fine cast that appears in the film it's even more incredible that it has had no Blu-ray release. That cast includes Julie Andrews, (fresh from her success with The Sound of Music) Max von Sydow, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, Carroll O'Connor, and Torin Thatcher. The great Elmer Bernstein was even awarded a Golden Globe for the beautiful score he wrote for Hawaii. And it should be pointed out that 2 cast members, Julie Andrews and Gene Hackman, have both won Academy Awards for performances in a lead role, although those Oscars were not won for the roles they played in Hawaii.


One just has to wonder that if a movie like Hawaii isn't considered to have enough appeal to merit a Blu-ray release, then what will it take for Hollywood's catalog properties to be considered as worth releasing on UHD Blu-ray, which is certain to have a smaller audience of people buying those discs than the already niche sort of audience that now buys 1080p Blu-ray discs.


As for silent films, though, today, in 2015, I'd have to honestly say that the audience for films without sound probably isn't much larger than that for music that was originally played by string quartets, but is now heard as adapted for banjos.

 

[Stephen Brooks]

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Never even mastered in HD or even anamorphic SD as far as I know. It's available on Vudu in SD 4x3 only. I was hoping we'd get something for the 75th Batman anniversary, but no luck.

 

[RMajidi]

...Also, it took me about 15 minutes of tinkering with the crude menu of that Blu-ray to transform the German that Brando's

character was speaking, into English. I don't know, somehow to me, a cowboy speaking German just tends to destroy the

sort of ambiance that one usually associates with a western.

Hah! I lent my Koch Media Blu-ray of The Glenn Miller Story to my Scottish film-buddy/father-in-law last week, explaining that the language option can be changed via the menus.


There must have been some miscommunication, because I later found out he'd watched it all the way through in German with English subtitles. Thankfully, the songs weren't dubbed.


Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson in double-dutch!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Never even mastered in HD or even anamorphic SD as far as I know. It's available on Vudu in SD 4x3 only. I was hoping we'd get something for the 75th Batman anniversary, but no luck.

Seconded! I got to see a 35mm print last year, actually I think it was a year ago this weekend, and it was great fun to see again. I'd buy a Blu-ray version for sure.

 

[MatthewA]

And any TV series shot on videotape. DVD is already higher resolution than even S-Video.

So I guess we can forget about Small Wonder: The Complete Series then.