Twilight Time joins forces with Sony Pictures to release BD editions of classic Columbia Titles (1 Viewer)

[AnthonyP]

I'm sure many of you have spent small fortunes purchasing the movies and TV show you love over and over without blinking too much. I don't see how paying $30 for something you'll get a lot of enjoyment from is a big problem.

My issue isn't as much as the $30 price for one film (though that is part of it). It is that high of a price for multiple films. Like you said, I have spent a small fortune (or not so small in context for my budget). But it is also spread out over many films. At even close to those prices, the choice, for me, doesn't become so much of just buying less at higher prices and only for select handful of films I've already seen and love (having large amounts of titles become out of reach to discover and become exposed to), it becomes about avoiding the high priced titles entirely if they don't drop in price. As much as I'd love to have the disposable income to buy any film that interests me regardless of price, that just isn't feasible. If hundreds/thousands of catalog titles become marketed solely to the couple/few thousand of films that love the films enough to pay that much and have the income to do so (and don't buy enough films for that to be a detriment), than hundreds/thousands of films are going to have limited audiences of the top x% of the movie buying public (not that it would matter to studios as they will get their money from one source or another but it helps to change the culture of buying towards tiered renting/streaming options.. which may be beneficial to them for all but people like us that buy a lot of films).

 

[jaaguir]

However, for the general population, I think it is absolutely

inane to be paying more than $25 (and that's being generous)

for a bare-bone catalog release on Blu-ray these days.

Maybe the problem is general population are not buying catalog releases no matter the price, so studios have to resort to this tactics. Well, you say this much yourself later in the post. Also,I wanted to add that the Twilight Time releases are not bare-bones as you say, they carry whathever extras Sony (in this case) already owns. There's word there'll be audio commentaries for "Fright night".

When Twilight Time is charging $30 for Fright Night and

Image announces Stir Crazy for $14, I don't understand the

price gouging going on here.

I agree with you here. If Image is able to do this without going bankrupt, Sony is doing no favors to consumers by licencing to Twilight Time, whom I guess cannot operate the same way Image does because they're a much smaller outfit (Image also distributes Criterion and they have other stuff going on). This is especially true of "Fright night", which is an 80's title, much like most of the Sony titles Image is releasing. I could understand that maybe, Image would not want to release older movies outside of the Criterion brand. If that was the case I could understand those movies going to Twilight Time.

I just shudder at the direction this industry is going when

they have to offer their titles through another venue that is

charging a premium for bare-bone catalog titles.


I am a huge fan of Fright Night. But you know what?

At $30 for BD I would much rather enjoy the film on DVD.

I shudder too, but I cannot agree with you about that last thing. If can have the film on BD, I'll always try to go for it.

Quote:

If its a matter of spending $30-$40 to get a movie I really want vs not seeing it released I'm willing to pay.
 

 

That's my feeling mostly. As long as it's true that there's no other way of getting them released.

If hundreds/thousands of catalog titles become marketed solely to the couple/few thousand of films that love the films enough to pay that much and have the income to do so (and don't buy enough films for that to be a detriment), than hundreds/thousands of films are going to have limited audiences of the top x% of the movie buying public (not that it would matter to studios as they will get their money from one source or another but it helps to change the culture of buying towards tiered renting/streaming options.. which may be beneficial to them for all but people like us that buy a lot of films).

I would say, by the very nature of these deals, there won't be hundreds/thousands of films marketed this way, just a handful. You can see TT is going to release just one per onth. Hundreds of old films (fans of 80's and 90's can't really complaint that much) won't be released at all on blu-ray. That, yes, sadly.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I just got back from watching the Fright Night remake and, you know, it's garbage like this that makes me yearn for the originals and lament the fact that they don't make them like they used to even more. God, what a horrible film! Not a single practical effect anywhere to be seen, everything was Playstation-level CGI, no suspense, no fun. I don't care how much Twilight Time charges for the original, I'm pre-ordering the moment it becomes available. I'll never forgive myself if I miss out on this limited run

 

[David Weicker]

Twilight Time has actually posted on their Facebook page that they have yet to sell out one of their 3,000 disc runs, which I'm guessing is one of their standard runs. It's a classic economies of scale scenario: BD replicators charge more for smaller runs, and that cost gets passed onto the consumer. Same is true of Criterion; they know they'll never have a disc that sells in the millions, so they do smaller runs (admittedly not as small as Twilight Time's), which equals higher costs, which are passed onto the consumer. The most substantial difference between the two companies is that Criterion produces many of its own special features, which also add to the cost of the disc, which is probably why the prices are comparable. So we'll never see Fright Night on BD in the $5 bin @ Walmart; so what?

That seems to be the sad reality, and still some people complaint because the Twilight Time releases are expensive. I'm glad they're being released at all!

My guess is the reason this hasn't sold out yet is because of the too high price. What really worries me is that in one of the earlier posts, the Capra movies were mentioned. There are five or six of his Columbia movies I would love to see on Blu-Ray. But at $30-$40 a film - that's more than I can financially justify. On DVD, they were release as a box set at a reasonable price point. I'd prefer that type of business model David

 

[FoxyMulder]

I want Fright Night but 3000 copies and from one supplier only, i'm in the UK so that makes it even more difficult, i'll try checking the site every day and hopefully bagging a copy.


I just hope Sony gave it a new 4K scan since thats what they do with their own releases. Kinda expensive too but i'll pay for a good transfer and i really enjoyed Fright Night when i last saw it, oh that was about twenty two years ago.


:EDIT: Ok $30 is not that expensive for a new release, taking into account currency conversion its about what i'd pay here in the UK for a new release. Mind you having said that, i picked up Jason And The Argonauts for almost half that price on release day.

 

[Alan Tully]

[quote name="FoxyMulder" Ok $30 is not that expensive for a new release, taking into account currency conversion its about what i'd pay here in the UK for a new release. Mind you having said that, i picked up Jason And The Argonauts for almost half that price on release day.

[/quote] Well that's $37 with p&p (£22.81). A wee bit too much for me, I ordered the UK Ben Hur set for £13.41 & last weekend bought Inglourious Basterds for £5.99 in a weekend sale. That's the fun of buying Blu's for me, shopping around & seeing how cheaply I can buy them. SAE are a good company to deal with. I've been buying soundtracks from them for 12 years (all the way to the UK) with no problems. Once these titles released, I think you can order in your own time, as the price precludes any quick sell outs.

 

[dana martin]

well i picked up the egyptian, and am pleased, if these are priced right i can see what to pick up, but here is the thing with so many of the bigger studios releasing thru other outlets, i dont know if Twilight Time is allowed to let us know up front what 12 titles we are looking at in the next year. speculation is a good thing but, knowing might help to get sony to assist in some extras

 

[Dick]

Screen Archives is the "anointed retailer" and they have through September a 25% discount on all MGM MOD Discs. The situation is not entirely hopeless.

Where do you see the 25% off sale prices? When I visit the Screen Archives site, these titles are all the original $19.99.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Plug in the code "MGM" at checkout.

 

[Bob Cashill]

The Twilight Time schedule through Jan. 2012: STAGECOACH (1966) DVD - Oct 11th THE LEFT HAND OF GOD (1955) DVD - Nov 8th MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) BLU-RAY - Nov 8th RAPTURE (1965) BLU-RAY - Dec 13th FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) BLU-RAY - Dec 13th 2012 THE ROOTS OF HEAVEN (1958) BLU-RAY - Jan 17th PICNIC (1955) BLU-RAY - Jan 17th

 

[Bryan^H]

So basically Fright Night is going to be just the film, and no special features? Why couldn't it have commentary by the cast, deleted scenes, retrospective, making of, etc. Why is it my favorite movies are getting the bare bones treatment? Oh well, it will still be great to see it in HD. But dammit all anyway!!!

 

[cineMANIAC]

The Digital Bits is reporting that Sony will revisit Fright Night with a DVD-only release the week before Twilight Time's Blu. This doesn't make any sense at all to me.

 

[Bob Cashill]

From TT's Facebook page: MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) Blu-ray specs: Video: 1080p High Definition / 1.66:1 Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Original Mono Subtitles: English SDH, Castilian Spanish Special Features: Isolated Score Track (2.0 Stereo) / Original Theatrical Trailer / TV Trailer Spot #1 RT: 101 Minutes NOT RATED Region-Free 3,000 Unit Limited Edition Release Date: November 8th, 2011 Pre-Order Date: Oct 10th 2011 Only from www.screenarchives.com

 

[cineMANIAC]

I can't believe I've never seen Mysterious Island. After reading the synopsis on imdb I'm definitely psyched for this release.

 

[RobertR]

I can't believe I've never seen Mysterious Island. After reading the synopsis on imdb I'm definitely psyched for this release.

It's always been a treat for Harryhausen fans. Great Bernard Hermann score, too.

 

[Hal F]

It's always been a treat for Harryhausen fans. Great Bernard Hermann score, too.

IMHO, it is the score that makes this movie. Will have to pick it up just for the isolated score.

 

[Bob Cashill]

The Digital Bits has reported that BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, PAL JOEY, BITE THE BULLET, MAJOR DUNDEE, and THE BIG HEAT are also planned for Twilight Time/Sony Blu-rays. I preordered my MYSTERIOUS ISLAND today.

 

[Charles Smith]

If I'm remembering correctly, the Bell, Book and Candle DVD was particularly hideous so I'm hoping for a beautiful transfer.


And Pal Joey? Can't wait!

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Chas in CT

If I'm remembering correctly, the Bell, Book and Candle DVD was particularly hideous so I'm hoping for a beautiful transfer.


And Pal Joey? Can't wait!

Wasn't the new DVD in the Kim Novak collection a pretty good transfer? I know the first DVD was pretty poor.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by Bob Cashill

The Digital Bits has reported that BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, PAL JOEY, BITE THE BULLET, MAJOR DUNDEE, and THE BIG HEAT are also planned for Twilight Time/Sony Blu-rays. I preordered my MYSTERIOUS ISLAND today.

I wish we could get the original directors cut of Major Dundee but i think that footage is lost forever, i hope its at least the restored 2005 cut they release.