MGM/Sony Merger Completed Where does that leave MGM's Preorders? (1 Viewer)

[Ed St. Clair]

Please point out where the article say's these classic titles, are NOT, part of the Sony (& all) purchase.
Thank you.

 

[Damin J Toell]

Right where it says that "In the mid-'80s, Turner shrewdly bought MGM, then almost as quickly sold it, keeping MGM's pre-'86 library for himself, using it as a building block for Turner Network Television." They made clear that MGM no longer owned those films, so they couldn't be a part of this purchase. How many other ways do they need to say it? There's no need for the article to be more specific than that if the reader can figure out by themselves what year those films were produced.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Even though Columbia may not make the best classic DVD's, the DVD division is probably not the best indicator of how their preservation department is.

It's like how most of the Republic library looks awful on DVD, yet most of it safely resides at the UCLA Film & TV archive as original negatives, fine-grains, nicely preserved.


On the other hand, a lot of MGM's library really does have lousy elements, which is often reflected in the DVD's. Compare "The Pink Panther" which looks splendid to "A Shot in the Dark" within the 6-disc set. The sequel came from mediocre elements and was further filtered, making it worse!

 

[Thomas T]

Actually, Warners does own a few of Orion's titles like Arthur and "10", not MGM.

 

[Richard Kim]

Add Caddyshack to the list as well. I believe it's because those Orion films were distributed by Warners at the time.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

That's where, as you quote "in the mid-80's", they lost me. Glad this forum is here too reconfirm my understanding that WB holds the pre-'86 MGM titles.

 

[Patrick McCart]

That's exactly the reason.

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

Orion was formed when Arthur Krim and the original brain trust of United Artists left the company due to constant Transamerica interference. (according to Steven Bach's book FINAL CUT, the coglomerate, among other nuisances, had long wanted to dump the historical name of UA and change it to Transamerica Films) The company started up with a healthy chunk of seeding from Warner Bros., who in turn distributed their product and retained ownership rights (which is why they, not Orion, made sequels to CADDYSHACK and ARTHUR)
Orion became a full-fledged independent when they acquired Martin Ransohoff's Filmways company (who, a few years before, had acquired American International Pictures). Since, by purchasing Filmways, they now had an established distribution system in place (office and staff to handing booking, marketing, etc), they no longer needed Warner to get their movies out, so they went off on their own. This is the product that MGM picked up when Kerkorian bought the company and fused it.

 

[Derek Estes]

I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I do have my doubts -and I think they are justified- regarding Sony's handling of the MGM/UA library. Because even now Columbia's library, is really not seeing much improvement, besides only two titles I can think of DR. Strangelove, and Major Dundee, being given the treatment that we expect from studios such as Warners, over a period of several months. While classic titles such as Twentieth Century are dumped on the market, though nice to finally have on DVD, it does not show that much is being learned from the other studios such as Warners and 20th Century Fox.

My suggestion to Grover Crisp, or anyone else to whom it conserns. Now that you have one of the largest film Libraries in the world. Look at Warner Bros. See what they do? See the enthusiasm from consumers that they create? Well, it is understandable that you are a little late in the game in the fine restoration that Warners pioneered. If you want to revisit popular titles, DO IT! Do it right the next time around. Create something that the fans will flip for. Create something that they will want to keep on the shelf for awhile. Then, look at the rest of your library, all of those little films, that have audiences, but much smaller than the James Bond films. Films such as Love Streams, Park Row, The Woman in the Window etc. Then look into ways to make those films profitable. Package them in promotions or affordable box sets for example, so that people that might not have purchased some of the titles will purchase them all! Then keep doing that, until after several years go by and there is a new audience that just can't wait for new Special Editions of the JAMES BOND FILMS! Then you can start all over again!

I know this sounds very simplistic. But, I really feel that it is not out of reach for a corporation as large as SONY, to really put the effort into their releases that we have come to expect from major studios -not to mention smaller companies such as Criterion- over the past couple of years.

Please, do these films justice.

 

[Robert Crawford]

What fine restoration process did Warners pioneered? I know they developed the ultra-resolution process for 3-strip Technicolor films, but I'm unaware of them pioneering another restoration process.







Crawdaddy

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I wonder what this means for upcoming rumored titles like (animated) The Complete Pink Panther Collection box-set that was expected to be released later in the year? Have all hopes been lost or is it possible that MGM will have a few months to sort out their prospects and follow through on their current projects in development?

 

[Jay E]

The thing that makes me really nervous is if MGM's best line of DVDs, "Midnite Movies", will no longer be continued by Sony. Although they were pretty much barebones, MGM almost always used nice OAR transfers of these "B" movies. They were the only major studio that was committed to putting these types of films out on DVD.

 

[Jim_K]

I'm also wondering what the short term fallout will be. I know MGM had the two Leone Dollar SE's along with Duck You Sucker planned for release this year. :frowning: Hopefully Sony will go through and release these this year.

Also what will be the status of all of the MGM DVD's currently released?

I'd imagine these will soon go OOP, so it's probably a good time for me to got through and pick up whatever titles that I'd want, that for whatever reason I haven't picked up yet.

 

[JonZ]

"I'd imagine these will soon go OOP, so it's probably a good time for me to got through and pick up whatever titles that I'd want, that for whatever reason I haven't picked up yet."

I was thinking the same.

 

[John Hodson]

Looks like we might have a wait for the SEs with the whole Sony / MGM / UA thing going on. Over at DVD Talk, 'Savant' Glenn Erikson is saying:

MGM's unannounced release schedule may quickly evaporate - we have no idea if the MGM/UA/ORION library will be marketed in the same way. Savant even has some editorial work tied up in Special Editions that might be delayed or sidelined...

It's a fair bet that Glenn's referring to the R1 Leone SEs; I read somewhere else that it may be September before Sony sort out a schedule for MGM/UA discs...I hope not!

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

How could I have forgotten about the Leone Special Editions!

Significant dolars and effort must have gone into these projects... I assume if the buyout is immediate, Sony will likely use the exisiting unreleased materials and remastered transfers for some sort of upcoming release. What about all the upcoming catalogue S.E. as well such as Space Balls that was schedule for release next month?


Really bad timing...

 

[AlanBrom]

Is it definite that they will not continue the "Midnite Movies" DVDs? If so, what a tragedy for collectors like myself!!!

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Sony is really bad at a lot of things. Even, currently, turning a profit.
However, they may have done something right with DSD. Which allow's them to store their huge audio library digital. Maybe, just maybe, Sony will have the foresight to do HiRez D5 transfers of ALL the film stock they have purchased.
Am I dreaming???

 

[Jay E]

Sorry Alan, I didn't mean to panic you, I have no idea if they will continue the line. I edited my post to make it inconclusive. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

At least with MGM owning the rights, I knew what to expect, I'm in limbo right now with Sony, especially as they don't have the greatest track record.

 

[AlanBrom]

Don't worry Jay. Actually, I have been fearing the worst ever since I first heard about the Sony takeover! I just hope there is a future for the Midnite Movies.