The War of the Worlds (1953) possible Blu-ray release? (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but has anyone heard any news on this film? I recently re-read the old story and it sparked my memories of this film.

Is this another classic film that can be streamed in hd but not available on blu ray?

 

[Bob Cashill]

It's Paramount. Unless someone else licenses it, forget about a Blu-ray.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It's tricky to figure out who would be able to release this. Paramount owns the movie and from what I understand has an HD master available. (Same for Conquest Of Space.) Paramount had previously issued these titles on DVD. So here's where the complications are:

-Paramount is basically one step away from being MGM; they are not really a functional studio at this point in time. Their home video department is all but dead, and the people that run the company today have no historical connection to the Paramount of the past. Simply put, there's no one there that feels any connection or loyalty to their history of filmmaking, so there's no incentive to go into the vault and come out with something. Sadly, it is unlikely that Paramount will release this on their own.

-Paramount has sub-licensing deals with different studios, but they have some weird restrictions. The deal with Olive is generally for Paramount's Melange holdings, which is the umbrella that they use for all of the stuff they own but didn't produce, like the Republic catalog. So Olive is probably out.

-Paramount has a deal with Kino, but only for titles that Paramount had not previously issued on DVD themselves. Since Paramount had issued War Of The Worlds on DVD previously, that means the title isn't eligible for the Kino deal.

-Paramount has occasionally licensed to Criterion, but it's been a while, and this doesn't necessarily seem like a title they'd have an overwhelming amount of interest in.

So you've essentially got a title that fans are interested in, but not enough fans to make Paramount pay attention for a wide release on their own. But because the title was popular enough to have been released on DVD by Paramount back in the day, that makes it ineligible for any currently licensing deals that they have going on. So it's another title stuck in limbo, where it's popular enough that Paramount doesn't want to let it out of the house, but not popular enough to do anything with on their own.

 

[skylark68]

Thank you for the insight Josh. I appreciate it. That's too bad. It's been a long time since I viewed it but I remember really enjoying it. That's too bad about Paramount, they have a tremendous back catalog.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Just for the record, the good people in the Paramount Archive - both film and paper - care deeply about the companies history and are preserving as much as possible.

 

[RolandL]

Just for the record, the good people in the Paramount Archive - both film and paper - care deeply about the companies history and are preserving as much as possible.

Good to know!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

In fact, when I recently alerted them to the possibility of some rare 3-D footage related to CEASE FIRE - not seen in 63 years - they dug deep into the vaults and found it!

 

[Mark McSherry]

DVRed THE WAR OF THE WORLDS over a year ago from one of the HD channels (via DirecTV). But it was shown 1.78 AR with the top and bottom missing. I could only stomach the first twenty minutes before I had to look away. Too many compositions too cramped.

Edit: It was on the Starz Encore Action Channel. It opens with the B&W Paramount logo at 1.33 AR but everything afterwards fills the HD screen.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Ironically that cramped look is probably a lot closer to how War of the Worlds was projected originally.

 

[AlexNH]

It's tricky to figure out who would be able to release this. Paramount owns the movie and from what I understand has an HD master available. (Same for Conquest Of Space.) Paramount had previously issued these titles on DVD. So here's where the complications are:

-Paramount is basically one step away from being MGM; they are not really a functional studio at this point in time. Their home video department is all but dead, and the people that run the company today have no historical connection to the Paramount of the past. Simply put, there's no one there that feels any connection or loyalty to their history of filmmaking, so there's no incentive to go into the vault and come out with something. Sadly, it is unlikely that Paramount will release this on their own.

-Paramount has sub-licensing deals with different studios, but they have some weird restrictions. The deal with Olive is generally for Paramount's Melange holdings, which is the umbrella that they use for all of the stuff they own but didn't produce, like the Republic catalog. So Olive is probably out.

-Paramount has a deal with Kino, but only for titles that Paramount had not previously issued on DVD themselves. Since Paramount had issued War Of The Worlds on DVD previously, that means the title isn't eligible for the Kino deal.

-Paramount has occasionally licensed to Criterion, but it's been a while, and this doesn't necessarily seem like a title they'd have an overwhelming amount of interest in.

So you've essentially got a title that fans are interested in, but not enough fans to make Paramount pay attention for a wide release on their own. But because the title was popular enough to have been released on DVD by Paramount back in the day, that makes it ineligible for any currently licensing deals that they have going on. So it's another title stuck in limbo, where it's popular enough that Paramount doesn't want to let it out of the house, but not popular enough to do anything with on their own.

Can you tell us why having a current DVD is a barrier to a blu-ray release? Is is because Paramount wants to keep selling DVDs of the movie?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Can you tell us why having a current DVD is a barrier to a blu-ray release? Is is because Paramount wants to keep selling DVDs of the movie?

You'd have to ask Paramount.

We just know what the deals are as communicated by our insiders on the forum. I have no additional knowledge.

I know the Olive deal with Paramount is for Melange holdings only - aka the Republic titles and anything else Paramount owns but didn't actually make. Paramount actually made WOTW, which means it can't be part of that deal.

Paramount is only licensing titles to Kino that they never issued on DVD themselves. Paramount's terms. I'm sure Kino would be happy to have access to more material. Since Paramount previously issued this on DVD, it's automatically excluded from the Kino deal.

It's unknown if they have a current, active deal with Criterion.

These titles are probably stuck in a catch-22. Paramount Home Video is basically nonfunctional at this point besides putting out new releases, and none of these catalog titles would make enough to justify their effort. But they likely believe they're worth more than another label would offer, and don't want to give it away in case it becomes valuable later. That's my guess - that Paramount doesn't think it'll make enough money on disc sales to justify the effort, but thinks it's worth more money than a licensee would offer. So they instead sit on the shelf and no one can have it.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I think its safe to assume Criterion's deal with Paramount is over. Its been four years since the last title they released from them and have nothing to show since.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Am a little bumbed out as I went looking for the DVD I was sure I had only to find nothing! So if my dvd version of the original War Of The Worlds is gone I would love to pick up a new 1080p HD BD version of the film. I wouldn't want to see any serious DNR going on that alters the way the film was intended to be seen. And since I do not see a 4K UHD version coming anytime soon and since there are so many other titles I want to get in 4K a high quality 1080p transfer may be more than good enough for me.

 

[Dick]

These titles are probably stuck in a catch-22.

Speaking of which, the film CATCH-22 is one of the many hostages.

 

[Dave Moritz]

While I am trying to focus my income on 4K UHD BD titles this one would most likely fall under the 1080p is good enough category.

 

[Osato]

While I am trying to focus my income on 4K UHD BD titles this one would most likely fall under the 1080p is good enough category.

Agreed!!

 

[mark-edk]

Got tired of waiting for the Blu-Ray of this title, so today marks my first-ever download purchase. I bought the HD version from iTunes as it's on sale 'for a limited time' at $4.99. I've only sampled the first minute or two but it looks pretty good on my computer, maybe not an A+ but better than the SD. Will watch more critically over the weekend. Besides, the price is right.

 

[dpippel]

Amazon Prime Video has it available in HD for $4.99 as well.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Got tired of waiting for the Blu-Ray of this title, so today marks my first-ever download purchase. I bought the HD version from iTunes as it's on sale 'for a limited time' at $4.99. I've only sampled the first minute or two but it looks pretty good on my computer, maybe not an A+ but better than the SD. Will watch more critically over the weekend. Besides, the price is right.

What's the aspect ratio?

 

[J. Casey]

I can only speak regarding the Amazon HD version....it's 1.37