We need petition re: John Hughes movies. (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Farley]

Has there been one started to do these movies RIGHT???? So far, the score:
Sixteen Candles: OOP, and F, from what I've heard
Pretty in Pink: D- (no trailers, no commentary, no features, menus that my dog could have done better, pathetic audio, o-k video, 1.66-1 (not OAR, afaik), bloody pathetic. Name any C movie, and it was done better.
Some Kind of Wonderful: D-. Nice to see the titles being CUT OFF DUE TO NON-OAR!!!!!!! Widescreen my patoot. Whatever.
Ferris Bueller... A for transfer, B for audio, not too bad. Could have used a commentary from Matthew, but oh well.
These movies, and others of his, changed my life, and some of yours as well. They're too damn important not to be treated with respect. Have you seen what TBS has done to Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club with censorship? Don't get me started. I've come to the conclusion that these all deserve Criterion treatment (imho). Where are the commentaries? Where are the deleted scenes? Where is John to get mad about this?
I just wish I could meet John someday and shake his hand for all the great films he made.
Let's get petitions up to have these movies fixed!

 

[Joel C]

Pretty in Pink is in 1.85:1 (looks like it, anyway, definately not as wide as 1.66:1... or is that narrow?), I believe, and the audio is far better than you say. Remember, this is a 2.0 mix from 1986, for a romantic comedy to boot. What do you expect?

 

[MikeEckman]

Im pretty sure i read somewhere that SEs of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles are complete, just Universal is being stupid about releasing them...

I have held off since getting my DVD player on buying the Breakfast Club because I want it in a 16x9 enhanced SE.

I really doubt that Ferris Bueller will get re-released anytime soon since Paramount is not in the habit of re-releases, and the version out is already decent 16x9 with a John Hughes commentary.

 

[TheBat]

I want a planes, trains, and automobile SE..

JACOB

 

[cafink]

Just for the record…
I've measured the aspect ratios for both the "Pretty In Pink" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful" DVDs, and both come out to exactly 1.75:1, windowboxed slightly within the anamorphic 16:9 frame.
Both look well-framed to my eye. No titles are cropped off in "Some Kind Of Wonderful." A couple of them come kind of close to the edge of the screen, so I suppose overscan might be a problem, but they're all there on the DVD, I promise.
I've also compared both DVDs to their respective fullscreen VHS tapes. "Pretty In Pink" is 100% open matte on VHS, but "Some Kind Of Wonderful" is pan-and-scan. There's a tiny sliver of extra picture along the top and bottom, but a good deal of cropping on both sides.
There's no reason to be suspicious of the framing on either disc.
Here are some screen captures from the DVDs for anyone who is interested:
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I would love to see some supplements (like the alternate ending for "Pretty In Pink," or the "Some Kind Of Wonderful" trailer that I have on VHS — it's on the "Pretty In Pink" tape), but the movie is what counts and I really don't have any complaints here. Nice new 16:9 transfers for two of my favorite movies!

 

[Kevin Farley]

Joel, now rewatching PiP, The audio isn't that bad. But it's just that it's so featureless... It just pains me to see so many really bad movies get good features, good commentary, just good treatment by the studios, that it's hard to see classics like this get treated bad. I know that there are far more deserving movies that have been slighted even worse. I just think that we would appreciate if the studios put more time and effort into it. I do think that they feel a bit burned since the Laserdisc transfer of these films is probably really good. I mean, could we at least have the trailers?
Carl, what tape has the alternate ending? I would Love to see that! Watching PiP again, the ending seems really forced. It's good knowing now how it was supposed to end...

Sorry that I was so "barky" about this, I just felt a bit snubbed by the lax treatment. Ferris does look and sound really good. And I'm excited about the Special
Editions! (I wish there could be some Criterions involved!)

 

[cafink]

Carl, what tape has the alternate ending? I would Love to see that! Watching PiP again, the ending seems really forced. It's good knowing now how it was supposed to end...

I worded that kind of poorly, so I'm very sorry to have to tell you that the alternate ending to "Pretty In Pink" isn't available anywhere, on tape or otherwise, as far as I know. When I said I "had it on VHS," I was talking only about the "Some Kind of Wonderful" trailer.

Though I've read much about it, I've never seen the alternate ending to "Pretty In Pink."

 

[T r o y]

I have been holding out for the absolute definitive versions of the above movies mentioned by Kevin. I am too a HUGE John Hughes movies fan.
These movies deserve better IMO as well.
TBS sure knows how to censor a movie eh? While watching SC and BC over the weekend, it is a riot to hear the bleeped in substitute words/phrases they use to edit the original script with. I can't wait to get my hands on the SE's of both Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club just to hear what I've been missing from watching these films on Cable. Not to mention what I've been missing video wise too.
I'll stand behind any petition for a better improved/definitive version of these 80's classics.
Where do I sign?

 

[TomF]

Would anyone besides me be disappointed to see Sixteen Candles released with substitutions for some of the original music? The latest VHS release does this, and I'm pretty sure the original DVD version does as well. I can think of a couple examples off the top of my head. When Sam is in study hall taking the sex quiz, a different song plays in the video release than in the original. When the family is leaving for the wedding, David Bowie's "Young Americans" plays in the background. In the video, there is no music for that scene. They even changed the music for the titles sequence at the beginning. I assume they just couldn't afford the original music rights, but it's still disappointing....the music is such an important part.

 

[Kevin Farley]

Sixteen Candles HAS to have "Young Americans"!!!!!! This is one of Bowie's all time great songs, and it's also one of the key points in the movie that helps create the wistful bittersweet vibe that makes this movie great. The music in Hughes' movies isn't just soundtrack fodder, it's an integral part of the movie. Part of Hughes' genius was being very tuned into how music and film create an experience for the viewer, and he was very aware of what was good as far as music goes. He broke alot of musical acts nationwide due to this. It will be a crime if Sixteen Candles gets butchered in this way, equivalent to if the OAR is messed with.

 

[Cary T]

As much as I love to have SE of Hughes movies, realistically our only hope lies on Universal with the rumored John Hughes Box. Apparently extra supplements are finished for SC and TBC...if only Universal will get off their asses, they haven't done much lately. As to the other Hughes films like Ferris Bueller, Pretty In Pink, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles they are owned by Paramount. They don't usually re-release films. Which brings to Paramount's recent shitty treatments on their old catalog...not even a trailer!

 

[Aaron_Brez]

"They even changed the music for the titles sequence at the beginning. I assume they just couldn't afford the original music rights, but it's still disappointing....the music is such an important part."

Ditto on Weird Science. There are at least two songs from the original movie which made neither the VHS tape nor the original DVD: the Theme From Rocky and Van Halen's rendition of Pretty Woman.

I hope that Universal went all out and repurchased the rights (as Fox did for Johnny Dangerously)... but I'm not counting on it...