International Via Vision Entertainment Announces Premium Blu-ray Label "IMPRINT" (2 Viewers)

[willyTass]

So I presume, nay hope, that if these paramount films get a USA release they won’t be from DVD era masters

 

[Angelo Colombus]

 

[Andrew Budgell]

 

[skylark68]

Nice, Bridges of Toko Ri and Breakdown. Bridges of Toko Ri was a favorite when I was growing up.

 

[RBailey]

BREAKDOWN is a must-see for the great practical effects used in some of the most harrowing action scenes ever. It looked great on standard DVD and I'm looking forward to buying the Blu-ray. I showed this to my grandson (a fan of the Fast & Furious franchise) and he couldn't believe how they did some of this without CGI.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yep, Breakdown is a great thriller. I loved it in the theater and have owned it on laserdisc, DVD, and now have an HD streaming copy. Highly recommended.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yep, Breakdown is a great thriller. I loved it in the theater and have owned it on laserdisc, DVD, and now have an HD streaming copy. Highly recommended.

By the way that HD digital is now in 4K/Dolby Vision on iTunes.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

By the way that HD digital is now in 4K/Dolby Vision on iTunes.

With that kind of recommendation I am going to buy Breakdown on iTunes right now

 

[Robert Crawford]

With that kind of recommendation I am going to buy Breakdown on iTunes right now

It's $4.99 right now on iTunes.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

It's $4.99 right now on iTunes.

Just finished watching it.

Talk about a great buy! Excellent action/thriller which looks really nice in 4k. Can't believe I never saw this Kurt Russell film before.

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Thomas T]

It will be nice to have Bridges At Toko Ri and The Apostle in anamorphic transfers. Their DVD incarnations are full frame (BATR) and non anamorphic wide screen (TA).

 

[Worth]

It will be nice to have Bridges At Toko Ri and The Apostle in anamorphic transfers. Their DVD incarnations are full frame.

Will Toko Ri be widescreen? The streaming HD versions are 1.33.

 

[Thomas T]

Will Toko Ri be widescreen? The streaming HD versions are 1.33.

An assumption on my part as the film was released in December of 1954, well into the wide screen era. I seriously doubt it was shown 1.37 in cinemas at that point. If the blu ray is 1.33, I'm not interested.

 

[Robert Crawford]

An assumption on my part as the film was released in December of 1954, well into the wide screen era. I seriously doubt it was shown 1.37 in cinemas at that point. If the blu ray is 1.33, I'm not interested.

The movie was filmed during the first quarter of 1954, so it should be in widescreen ratio.

 

[jayembee]

The ones out of this batch that excite me the most are Five, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, and Black Sunday.

 

[Jack P]

I'll be waiting for links at Deep Discount for "Black Sunday" and "Bridges At Toko-Ri". I ordered copies of "Major Dundee" from them and from Via Vision but the latter has never been sent so I can't trust going that route.

 

[Nick*Z]

Increasingly, Imprint is becoming a dumping ground for C-grade video masters that haven't been given any sort of consideration to ready them for a Blu-ray release. A Place in the Sun looks awful - dark, fuzzy and grainy. The Day of the Locust in an atrocity that seems to herald its master from the ole VHS days. When Worlds Collide had a ton of Technicolor mis-registration issues, and, No Way To Treat a Lady had terribly faded colors, and jaundice flesh tones. Yes, there have been some solid efforts scattered throughout the franchise.

But frankly, I don't want to pre-order titles months ahead, with anticipation, only to get 3rd grade plunk being peddled as fine wine. If they're not going to take the time to insist upon an upgraded master from the studio (not saying it has to be perfect, just up to snuff for the current standards - a little dirt and age-related stuff, passable if not forgivable) there is really no point to these releases. Just saying!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Increasingly, Imprint is becoming a dumping ground for C-grade video masters that haven't been given any sort of consideration to ready them for a Blu-ray release. A Place in the Sun looks awful - dark, fuzzy and grainy. The Day of the Locust in an atrocity that seems to herald its master from the ole VHS days. When Worlds Collide had a ton of Technicolor mis-registration issues, and, No Way To Treat a Lady had terribly faded colors, and jaundice flesh tones. Yes, there have been some solid efforts scattered throughout the franchise.

But frankly, I don't want to pre-order titles months ahead, with anticipation, only to get 3rd grade plunk being peddled as fine wine. If they're not going to take the time to insist upon an upgraded master from the studio (not saying it has to be perfect, just up to snuff for the current standards - a little dirt and age-related stuff, passable if not forgivable) there is really no point to these releases. Just saying!

I am really saddened to hear this. I don't buy Imprint titles so I am not aware of how they look.

However, I would *think* Paramount is in charge of overseeing the transfers. And while Imprint is not a U.S. distributor, I would *think* that those titles that eventually get the U.S. release are the same exact transfer which is not a good thing all around.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I paid $25 for Day of the Locust and it's a bummer but i did watch the movie with the commentary and thought it was good and there are some extras on it. The Winslow Boy looks great so happy about that release. I think in the future i might read the reviews first.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

These are by and large the same transfers that have been distributed to streaming storefronts for purchase in the US - if you want to see what it looks like before you buy, try renting it on iTunes or Vudu.

As to whether or not Paramount should provide them, I’m not sure there’s a solution that will please everyone. The disc market has declined dramatically and is still in free fall. A license to sell a thousand or so copies doesn’t come close to the cost of creating a new state of the art master. Many of these titles have limited sales potential for licensing to subscription streaming platforms as well as on disc. From a practical point of view, the choice is between an older but generally decent batch of masters or nothing at all.

For all of the discussion I see about this issue, I don’t really see any acknowledgment of the reality of the marketplace nor any outside the box thinking for how to address those difficult realities. There’s a lot of pitchforks but what are the options here? Should Paramount or any other studio spend money they don’t have on titles that they can’t possibly recoup the investment on, for an audience that generally won’t have an issue with what’s already on hand?