Paramount has made some damn impressive strides this year (1 Viewer)

[Anthony_H]

Yes...kudos to Paramount. I will advise that absolutely all would be forgiven if I could just get season sets the original Star Trek series.


A.T.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I was worried about CSI, as the cost was incredibly high for a set not presented in the original broadcast format and quite lacking in the special features department (at least the show is so good that it warrants a purchase, regardless).

Now it appears Paramount has rectified that situation, too, giving us a host of nice special features for season 2 and supplying the widescreen format.

One of the better studios out there.

 

[DeanWG]

While I agree that they are "progressing", there are still some improvements needed.

As already mentioned, pricing is an issue, especially for some catalogue titles. The Brady Bunch movies would have found their way into our collection if they were $5 cheaper, and had at least their theatrical trailers, which I thought were great. I don't expect or demand studios to spend a bunch of money creating new features and the like, but a trailer, to me, is a must. Even music rights issues should be easy to clear . . .

Special Editions (or even newly released 16X9 discs) would be welcome for some of their early releases, and hopefully we'll get those over the next little while.

On the plus side, Indy should be a great set (still wish we could buy them separately, as I'm firmly planted in the first one and third one group.) Bought "The Hunt for Red October" and "Clear and Present Danger" (for some reason Patriot Games never grabbed me right.), and both releases were OUTSTANDING improvements in video and audio quality. Looking forward to listening to the John McTieran commentary on THFRO this week or next.

 

[Martin Blythe]

And I was really enjoying this thread, Dean, until you said that, but hey.... A few comments and questions:
1. Who saw a price for Once Upon a Time in the West? A bit premature, don't you think?
2. Yes we have issued some low price DVDs this year but on the more in-demand titles we will start higher and drop the prices as we go. Now from a business point of view, wouldn't you agree that's smart, even if a tad frustrating if you see a must-have title start at a higher SRP?
3. Jerry Lewis and The Keep? Waiting on Mr Lewis and Mr Mann - both very busy at the moment.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Brian W.]

Martin, thank you so much for contributing once again. Your input is very much missed. We'll try not to scare you off... Paramount's recent releases truly have been wonderful.

Since I know you're reading, gotta put in a plug for "Greatest Show on Earth." I got 30 bucks set aside with that film's name on it...

 

[greg_t]

Martin,

one request.

More DTS!!

The Jack Ryan re-releases were spectacular in DTS!

Keep bringing us great releases with more DTS and we will keep buying them.

 

[TheBat]

I am not a real fan of paramount.. I prefer fox, mgm, and universal over paramount. I will admit that they are making some progress. the star trek 4 dvd was the best one yet.. some documentaries that were worth watching.. the featurettes for 1-3 were not that good. Iam hoping that paramount pulls all the stops for indiana jones set..I am dispointed with the planes, trains, and automobiles dvd.. I wanted to see the cut footage and commentary, and even a trailer for the movie.. it was very plain. it did have a nice picture and great sound, plus it was widescreen.

JACOB

 

[Patrick McCart]

I only have four Paramount DVD's as of now, but I'm satisfied with all of them.

The Elephant Man and Sunset Blvd. are wonderful discs and have superb a/v. Airplane! and Top Secret! have great transfers as well. The commentaries for both are fun and the added value on TS! is neat. The hidden bookstore egg is great.

The only thing I'd like to see Paramount do now is to release some of their silents to DVD. Wings, The Covered Wagon, Old Ironsides, Docks of New York, Running Wild, The Last Command, and The Wedding March would thrill movie buffs.

With Warner Bros. planning some silents in the near future, it would be neat if a little cross promotion could be done. Perhaps Wings could be released around the time when The Big Parade is. The Wedding March and Greed. Old Ironsides and Ben-Hur...

Even with high prices (silents are always lower demand, for the most part), Paramount could still make a nice return, probably.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I haven't had much problem with Paramount's recent releases, but I wish they'd drop the SRp on a lot of their older titles. Particularly The Godfather.

 

[Paul_Scott]

the msrp i heard for OUATITW was $19.95.
it was probably just another post on another forum, now that you mention it, but with some of the msrps on things like Targets, Tenent, etc it didn't seem so outlandish.
also, count me among those who very much like the R2 jacket art.
for one thing, in a sea of photoshoped big head covers on the shelf- THAT would draw attention to itself alone.
very classy and iconoclastic. i hope thats what they go with over here.

on the subject of pricing-
when Paramount was releasing bare bone catalog titles( w/ maybe the trailer at most) w/ msrp's of $29.95 and even $24.95, it would have had to have been a movie that i was eargerly waiting for for me to pony up that kind of dough, because they were other companies vying for my attention and money by releasing similar, if not higher value discs, at price points of $19.95 and $14.95.

i remember being in a Borders and finally finding a copy of Albert Brooks 'Real Life' and then seeing it stickered at $24.95 (which i believe at the time was $5 off msrp).
it was an amusing movie, but not a 'must have', and certtainly not at that kind of price point.
at $9.95 or even $14.95, i more than likely would have bought it.
same thing with "Sorry, Wrong Number".
it's a movie i very much want to see, but a street price of $19.95, w/out any added value content, just seemed to be not a good value in relation to some other classics put out by other studios.
i hear its getting a price drop soon, so in all likelihood i will finally get a chance to see this before long.

i don't want you to under price yourselves and have you regret giving obscure genre/cult films decent attention, when for instance, The Tenent doesn't fly off the shelves.
but i also would hate to see you go back to your pricing system of 2 years ago.

just my $.02.
and studio presence on forums like this is much appreciated

 

[David Coleman]

Agreed!!! Paramount's biggest strides is in their pricing!! They always seemed to charge a $5 to $10 premium on their titles but they seem to have fallen in line. I do think their new releases are still $29.95?? However i'm very pleased that they created a $14.95 price category and aggressively repricing their catalog and new catalog releases coming out at $19.95 is fantastic!!

Their OAR committment is excellent and thought I don't think as highly of their transfers as other's here seem to think I will say that they are generally good!! Now if I could see more of a committment to DTS on the titles that merit them (kinda makes you wonder if the Jack Ryan titles aren't like the Warner test )then they'll be alright!!

Areas of improvement:

Extras, extras, extras... are you listening?? We really do like and deserve extras on the catalog titles unless it's the budget line. Also Paramount... there is nothing wrong with mulit- disc sets for a single movie (the only 2 disc sets I can think of are FORREST GUMP and the START TREK re-releases, forum help me if i'm wrong on this) but honestly wouldn't you love to see some of their classic titles released ala a WARNER 2 DISC SET, VISTA SERIES or a New Line SPECIAL EDITION?? Just a suggestion!!

I'll cast a vote towards Paramount as the most improved studio and if they listen to our concerns a little more maybe they'll be the best!!

 

[oscar_merkx]

I was absolutely floored when I watched Sunset Boulevard with a stunning picture accompanied by some spuerb extrsa .

Two dvds that I am looking forward are the Indy Boxset and Sergio Leone's OUATITW.

 

[T r o y]

I agree with everyone's comments on how well Paramount is doing with DVD nowadays. They have really turned themselves around lately.

My only complaint would be, as others have mentioned, the lack of DTS support after stating they were going to indeed start supporting DTS on future titles. Where are they with the exception of the Jack Ryan trilogy?

When I see DTS on new titles , say such as The Italian Job, coming out this fall, then I'll believe Paramount is truly supporting DTS.

C'mon Martin please do whatever you can do to encourage your studio to include DTS tracks on newer titles.

A big Thanks Martin!

Troy

 

[Michael Allred]

Mr. Blythe....."Brain Donors" on DVD please?