Original Opening Logo WB / United Artist etc. (1 Viewer)

[Professor Echo]

The last time I watched SAM WHISKEY (1969) on the Encore Westerns Channel, it still had the original Transamerica UA opening logo. The music starts up on it before the credits begin.

Does anyone have the DVD to confirm it is or isn't still on there?

 

[Douglas Monce]

Usually the films released before the 70's and 60's had the original logos intact with WB... seems to be they hate the Saul Bass Warner Communications Logo to the left on my avatar for example.
But they are very good about the early films through the 50's from what I have seen.

It seems to me that anything that strays from some variation on the original Warner Shield is being avoided by the company. The Bass logo doesn't seem to fit into the continuity. I understand the desire for a cohesive corporate identity, but I to wish they would leave the original logos alone, and just put the new logo ahead of it.
Doug

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I was hoping for the original FILMWAYS PICTURES logo to Open Dressed To Kill. (Criterion's release of Blow Out was able to put the logo back in)



However the film did open with a new MGM logo. That is it looks stunningly more refined than the one used to open many of the other home video releases. It doesn't look as tacky or cheap. I am surprised.



Anyone else see the new MGM logo yet?

 

Harry Potter Year One was changed for the blu ray...Year Two was left alone (even at the end where it would have been easy to change.)

 

[kc49]

Well I do know that The Shining VHS and DVDs have the Warner shield on it, but my copy seems to be a bit different. It is a 1999 reprint and it has the trailer for the movie, and yes, the Saul Bass logo is seen over the shield logo. This is the opening to my tape that I upped onto YouTube.

 

[Michael Rogers]

I do wish the original logos would be kept for vintage films as well as all of you. I was delighted to find that the blu ray of Creepshow retains the red and black Warners logo.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

The newest inductee into ruined Film Openings by the replacement of the logo goes to...
Mean Streets

The film Originally Opens this way.


Now it opens with the most recent pristine WB's logo but that is NOT all. In the original you will notice how the logo plays in silence.. then the film is black background with the opening voiceover in total blackness.... The BLU release has that opening narration being done over the new WB logo!

 

[Doctorossi]

Oh, man- that's terrible! :f

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi /t/283580/original-opening-logo-wb-united-artist-etc/60#post_3948238
Oh, man- that's terrible!

Someone at Blu-Ray.com have now informed me the French Carlotta Region B locked blu begins with NO opening logo (which would possibly make sense since WB's is not distributing it in that country.

It could be that the film opened in total darkness with the voice over and never an opening WB logo. If that is the case it makes the new CGI Logo being shown whole the voiceover begins to be even more harmful to the original intent of how the film begins, and the studio have blatantly edited the film without maybe knowing what damage they did to the overall impact of how the film is supposed to start.

 

[Doctorossi]

Something tells me Scorsese would more than likely want his film to open with Saul Bass's logo treatment.

And I would think he'd be even more concerned about the distracting visuals behind his opening narration. What a wretched way to ruin the mood of the all-important start of the film.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

On the other hand, check out the opening of Magic Mike...

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Infuriating.

The newest inductee into ruined Film Openings by the replacement of the logo goes to... 
Mean Streets 
The film Originally Opens this way. 

Now it opens with the most recent pristine WB's logo but that is NOT all. In the original you will notice how the logo plays in silence.. then the film is black background with the opening voiceover in total blackness.... The BLU release has that opening narration being done over the new WB logo!

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Just a few titles that are out on BLU and have retained their original Opening Logos!
A Star is Born (1976) was released just today on BLU and contains the original Saul Bass designed logo / First Artists Intro! YAY WB's!
Sleeper released in January on BLU contains the original United Artists Logo preceding the film.
Also Not sure if they released the film originally but Shout Factory's release of Deadly Blessing contains the United Artists Transamerica Company Logo.

 

[ahollis]

I cringed today thinking if Disney re-releases any of the Star Wars films, what will they do to the Fox Logo on the front. To me starting with the Fox Logo is part of the Star Wars experience. I guess we would get the Disney Castle logo, but will it go into the title crawl or what? Cheers to Warner's for keeping the Saul Bass logo on the front of A STAR IS BORN.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Fox will continue to distribute the first 6 SW films. Disney is only involved for new ones.

 

[TravisR]

Fox will continue to distribute the first 6 SW films.

I think that's only until 2020 and then Disney will have the rights.

 

[Worth]

I think that's only until 2020 and then Disney will have the rights.

Fox has the distribution rights to the first film in perpetuity, the others until 2020.

 

[TravisR]

Fox has the distribution rights to the first film in perpetuity, the others until 2020.

OK. So Fox gave (or will eventually give in 2020) everything Star Wars-related that they owned to LFL except for distribution rights on the first movie in exchange for distributing the prequels?

 

[Worth]

OK. So Fox gave (or will eventually give in 2020) everything Star Wars-related that they owned to LFL except for distribution rights on the first movie in exchange for distributing the prequels?

I believe that was the deal. According to this LA Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/03/business/fi-35475

Lucas owns the entire franchise except for the original film, which Fox financed for about $10 million. Though executives from Fox and Lucas' San Rafael, Calif.-based Lucasfilm Ltd. declined to elaborate on most specifics of the deal, one source hinted that in exchange for a much-lower-than-usual (likely less than 10%) distribution fee on the films plus the rights to debut "Episode I" on its Fox TV network, Fox gave Lucas the rights to the original "Star Wars," making his empire complete.

And according to this: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-rights-could-tie-up-384541

But Fox owns distribution rights to the original Star Wars, No. 4 in the series, in perpetuity in all media worldwide. And as for the five subsequent movies, Fox has theatrical, nontheatrical and home video rights worldwide through May 2020. While the rights on those five films eventually will revert to Disney, that "in perpetuity" pact for the first film appears to be an obstacle to Disney releasing a complete set -- unless a deal can be made. According to a longtime Lucas associate, the filmmaker always wanted to keep his films together. “Now it seems like he can't have a total package of the story because one of the movies is with Fox, unless they can make some kind of deal [with Disney] to release nine of them,” this person says.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Just a few titles that are out on BLU and have retained their original Opening Logos! A Star is Born (1976) was released just today on BLU and contains the original Saul Bass designed logo / First Artists Intro! YAY WB's! Sleeper released in January on BLU contains the original United Artists Logo preceding the film. Also Not sure if they released the film originally but Shout Factory's release of Deadly Blessing contains the United Artists Transamerica Company Logo.

Nice! Thanks for the update. Yes, DEADLY BLESSING was distributed theatrically by UA.