The Big Sleep Special Edition? (1 Viewer)

[earl_roberts]

You know you've got those titles that you REALLY should have bought ages ago but kept putting it off or just never got round to actually buying it? Of the many that I've got, The Big Sleep was one. I was looking for the cheapest prices for a bunch of titles I want {hey, it's Sunday!} and found out that The Big Sleep has been discontinued! Does anybody know why? Hopefully its the obvious reason of because Warners are doing a new special edition of it. It wasn't mentioned in the Warner HTF chat but then Casablanca kinda came out of nowhere too. Anybody got any info?

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I've got no idea. I just felt inclined to mention that The Big Sleep was one of the very first DVDs I got.

 

[oscar_merkx]

let's hope so.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Too bad because it had two different versions of the the film.

 

[Jon Robertson]

Is it discontinued? All the retailers I just checked are still offering it and quite a few have it in stock (Amazon for one).

 

[Greg_S_H]

The current version's more than fine. I would rather them release a Bogart film that isn't on DVD than to rerelease that one. How about the Big Shot instead of the Big Sleep? Or, the Roaring Twenties. Anything. Fortunately, there are some great new Bogarts on the way from Warners.

But, I know you're mainly just wanting the DVD and having a hard time finding it. As Jon said, Amazon's got it immediately available, and I'm sure other online stores are still offering it.

 

[george kaplan]

I think the current dvd is great, with both versions of the film! What I'm waiting for is To Have & Have Not, and the African Queen.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

WB will be releasing a number of additional Bogart titles in the near future:

Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
To Have And Have Not
High Sierra
Casablanca 60th anniversary 2-disc SE


It's entirely possible that they could be doing re-price/re-promotions on the ones already out there. It's also possible that when they re-priced them at $20 MSRP ( I can't recall when that happened), some retail computers would indicate the old $25 MSRP editions as discontinued even though they are really the same discs.

Regards,

 

[Derek_McL]

The Bogart Big Sleep available in Region 2 only contains the release version of the film. The print varies quite a bit from crystal clear to murky : this seems to be a common thing with many older films on DVD but its quite acceptable here as the dialogue between Bogart and Bacall is the real star of The Big Sleep. I agree there are loads of other classics without a single bare bones DVD which should be out before we revisit this one. At least in Region 2 we have The African Queen in a good disc from Carlton which includes an audio commentary by cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

As for the other Bogarts : Any confirmation yet on the release date for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ? Have I missed something ? In the chat they said it was coming in September along with The Adventures of Robin Hood and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Until we can nail down street dates for these three I wouldn't get too excited about more Bogart, Flynn and Cagney.

 

[Patrick McCart]

September is likely when Yankee Doodle Dandy, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The Adventures of Robin Hood will be released. (I'm hoping Around the World in Eighty Days, too!)

I'm guessing they'll release on Sept. 23, since that's when they did their other waves.

 

[Mike Sutton]

I know it's not a Bogart movie but any news of the marvellous "White Heat" ? Watched it last night for the umpteenth time on VHS and I'd really love a good, restored version of the movie.

 

[John Hodson]

I know it's not a Bogart movie but any news of the marvellous "White Heat"

Saw it only the other week on TCM; awful print! Warners have given us hope on Cagney, but no mention of this classic, or The Roaring Twenties, Public Enemy, Dead End et al, as yet.

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Greg_S_H]

White Heat, Public Enemy and the Roaring Twenties would be instant buys for me, John. I also hope we see "lesser" Cagney at some point, like G-Men and Each Dawn I Die. And, just everything Bogart. I love his pre-stardom cheapies. Not great movies by the standards of the day, but they sure are a breath of fresh air in 2003.

 

[John Hodson]

Not great movies by the standards of the day, but they sure are a breath of fresh air in 2003.

Seconded; surely The Petrified Forest deserves a decent release - I mean, Bogart & Howard; it's pretty stagey, but a landmark for fans of Bogie.

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Ed Moroughan]

Wow, big thread bump. I finally saw this on TCM OD. Really good, any rumblings of an SE, or is the current DVD good enough?

 

[Simon Howson]

Warner have said it isn't a priority. I think the current DVD could be improved on a great deal, compare the original and 2 disc Casablanca.

I think it deserves a 2-disc, but that is just because I think it is a better film that Casablanca, and on par with Citizen Kane. But that's just my opinion.

I do hope they revisit it sometime soon.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

I think Warner had said that their other early Bogie releases like The Big Sleep and Key Largo were already sourced from fine grain masters (I forget the exact terminology) and that they did not plan to revisit them anytime soon.

Given how wonderful even the B-pictures in the latest Film Noir set look I wish Warner would go back to some of these early releases of essential movies and bring them up to the current standards.

-D

 

[Pete York]

In this year's chat, WB said there was more Bogart coming in 2008. Can they put together another box of films without including an SE of THE BIG SLEEP?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I think The Big Sleep looks pretty good and would rather see WB tackle some UNRELEASED Bogie films before they revisit this one.

 

[Steve...O]

Agreed. The current DVD looks fine. Not every film deserves 2 or 3 discs. WHV is pretty good about not double dipping anymore and they've even publically made fun of other studios who do so.

Let's take care of the unreleased Bogie films first.