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Press Release Warner Archive Press Release: Shazam (1974-1977) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

Kyrsten Brad

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Well folks, Amazon is back to their usual p—-ing contest with Warner.

I carted a copy (using the provided link on this thread) yesterday with a release date of Oct 7th. Today it shows up as “Currently Unavailable”.
 

MatthewA

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The whole "Hallmark detested these shows and destroyed the masters" thing is pre-internet, though.

The deal was made in 1995 and the Internet was around then. I know because that was the first year my Dad let me use it in his office.

This is unlike the Universal fire, which was criminal negligence but never proven to be deliberate. Hallmark wasn't the only non-fan* because apparently the news was greeted with schadenfreude in some quarters of the animation industry (read: insider-inclusive Facebook groups years after the fact). Still, they hampered the ability of anyone entitled to money to get any money out of the shows. Why was there never a lawsuit over it? What else did they destroy?

*Happy now, Animaniacs? If WB ever has trouble remastering you in HD because someone pinched pennies at the expense of negatives (Spielberg forbid), don't come crying to me.
 
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AndyMcKinney

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The deal was made in 1995 and the Internet was around then. I know because that was the first year my Dad let me use it in his office.

This is unlike the Universal fire, which was criminal negligence but never proven to be deliberate. Hallmark wasn't the only non-fan* because apparently the news was greeted with schadenfreude in some quarters of the animation industry (read: insider-inclusive Facebook groups years after the fact). Still, they hampered the ability of anyone entitled to money to get any money out of the shows. Why was there never a lawsuit over it? What else did they destroy?

I guess what I meant to say, then, was this was before the internet was mainstream.

As for why Hallmark did some of the things they did, it helps to know that while they were syndicating these shows outside of the USA, they were flagrantly not paying any royalties to those entitled to receive them (namely, the writers).

There was a lawsuit (filed by the WGA), and the WGA won, mainly on the strength of the printed and videotaped evidence I supplied to Russell Bates (who had a personal interest in prevailing).
 

Sam Favate

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Well folks, Amazon is back to their usual p—-ing contest with Warner.

I carted a copy (using the provided link on this thread) yesterday with a release date of Oct 7th. Today it shows up as “Currently Unavailable”.

I saw that too. I’m just going to order from Warner. I’ve had enough. Fuck Amazon.
 

MatthewA

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I hate to say it, but I'm starting to like eBay better now that they let you buy stuff without an account.
 

Mark Tay

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Great news! I'm so glad Warner decided for a physical media release. For a while there, I was worried that it would be streaming only.

I wonder if the Blu-ray will include this restoration doc as an extra...

 

DaveHof3

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Anyone know if anything is up with this title? I didn't see it listed on the Warner site now, and at amazon they said shipping might take up to 4 weeks.
 

AndyMcKinney

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Great news! I'm so glad Warner decided for a physical media release. For a while there, I was worried that it would be streaming only.

I wonder if the Blu-ray will include this restoration doc as an extra...



One would hope that would be the very least they could include! Given all the film trims, etc. that seem to have been discovered (as covered in that documentary) I would hope they'd really push the boat out a little farther than that and include some deleted and/or behind the scenes film. Given the state of TVonDVD (and blu-ray) these days, though, we should probably keep our expectations far below what we got, for instance, on Battlestar Galactica.
 

dawnshadow

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Anyone know if anything is up with this title? I didn't see it listed on the Warner site now, and at amazon they said shipping might take up to 4 weeks.
Amazon has that same estimate for all new WAC titles due to ongoing "issues" that they don't wish to disclose. It's nothing out of the ordinary.
 

Sam Favate

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Amazon said my copy would arrive on the 10th. On the 10th, they said it would arrive between Oct 31-Nov 17. Then it arrived on Sunday, Oct 13. Haven’t watched it but it is here.
 

Bryan^H

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Great news! I'm so glad Warner decided for a physical media release. For a while there, I was worried that it would be streaming only.

I wonder if the Blu-ray will include this restoration doc as an extra...



Unbelievable quality. I thought my old DVD set looked fine, but this is a night and day comparison. The Blu-Ray looks amazing. I'm buying a second copy help contribute to the sales of this title and hopefully we will get Wonder Woman on BD next!
 

AndyMcKinney

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Unbelievable quality. I thought my old DVD set looked fine, but this is a night and day comparison. The Blu-Ray looks amazing. I'm buying a second copy help contribute to the sales of this title and hopefully we will get Wonder Woman on BD next!

I'm assuming there were absolutely no extras?
 

Bryan^H

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I'm assuming there were absolutely no extras?

No, it would have been nice but I can't really complain. And not that I didn't expect it, but the crossover episodes with Isis are bittersweet. Seeing Joanna Cameron in glorious HD and knowing that is a series we surely will not see in high definition. Ever.
Nor the other live action Filmstion shows like ArK II. Kind of spoils the impact of this release a bit, at least for me.
 

AndyMcKinney

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You'd think the documentary would've been an easy extra, but they might've had to "pay" Warner's "DC Universe" service for the rights to use it.
 

AndyMcKinney

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No, it would have been nice but I can't really complain. And not that I didn't expect it, but the crossover episodes with Isis are bittersweet. Seeing Joanna Cameron in glorious HD and knowing that is a series we surely will not see in high definition. Ever.
Nor the other live action Filmstion shows like ArK II. Kind of spoils the impact of this release a bit, at least for me.

About the best we could hope for on any of those is for a UK or Australian company (Madman, anyone?) to re-release them in PAL (so they wouldn't have to undergo the PAL-to-NTSC conversion). A DVD company in Spain released Isis, Ark II and Space Academy a few years back. I have a couple of those releases. Unfortunately, they did not include the English soundtrack (which seems stupid, unless they were restricted by their licence). Since there is one less standards conversion going on, not only is the video quality a bit better, but there is also more picture area on those PAL episodes.
 

DeWilson

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Actually from a technical point of view, there is a way to restore the proper framerare and audio pitch of the Filmation material transferred in PAL that is not a standard PAL to NTSC transfer format, and thus a better quality transfer - closer to the original elements.

The material was shot 24fps and transferred at 25fps - the technology exists where the footage could be transferred one frame at a time digitally and then create the digital equivalent of the original film print- converting frame-by-frame 25fps back into 24fps - you basically create in the digital domain a "film print" - you recover the material back to it's original 24fps format - visual and audio wise. This works becuase all the frames are there - just transfered 1fps faster.

Then it's a mater of taking this "restored digital equivalent of the original film print" to whatever desired format.

The only drawback is that the resolution is still only going to be the equivalent of 625 lines- but it's back into the proper frame rate and audio pitch.

I'm sure it's a matter of writing a software program to do such a task.
 
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DeWilson

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This is unlike the Universal fire, which was criminal negligence but never proven to be deliberate.

...and to clear up misconceptions, Universal lost no masters of films or TV shows in the fire - the "vault" in question as their working vault - used for syndication tapes and 35mm prints for theatrical revival circuit. Masters were safe off-site. The reason there are shows we've not seen since the fire is simply due to the costs to go back and make new transfers making most projects cost prohibitive. (This is what staled the "Name of the Game" release...)

As for the Universal Music Group Holdings,that's entirely different situation,sadly....
 

AndyMcKinney

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Actually from a technical point of view, there is a way to restore the proper framerare and audio pitch of the Filmation material transferred in PAL that is not a standard PAL to NTSC transfer format, and thus a better quality transfer - closer to the original elements.

The material was shot 24fps and transferred at 25fps - the technology exists where the footage could be transferred one frame at a time digitally and then create the digital equivalent of the original film print- converting frame-by-frame 25fps back into 24fps - you basically create in the digital domain a "film print" - you recover the material back to it's original 24fps format - visual and audio wise. This works becuase all the frames are there - just transfered 1fps faster.


Even if it's technically possible, the "will" to spend the time/effort (and money) to do so is probably nil. I still think our best hope (which is a faint one) would be a DVD reissue in a PAL country from the Hallmark masters.

There's a website here advertising such a service. They don't list their prices, just a button to ask for a quote. Sounds expensive to me.
 

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