Worthwhile Reissues... (1 Viewer)

[Colby]

Home Alone special editions with anamorphic widescreen. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Come on, FOX!

 

[Brad P]

Good Will Hunting is screaming for a tenth anniversary edition with an anamorphic transfer.

 

[MatthewA]

Right now, I'm watching the HD wars on the sidelines, torn about whether or not to be an early adopter.

 

[Dick]

THE LAST EMPEROR

Thank you.

 

[JayDerek]

16x9 version of Beautiful Girls, The Graduate, & The Game

~Jason

 

[Walter Kittel]

I'm split between agreeing with those that wish the studios would focus on their catalogs ( see Herb's post ) and yet, perhaps hypocritically, I will purchase or repurchase as the case may be, upgrades on some titles. (Case in point, tomorrow's release of Event Horizon).

Primarily I upgrade for improved presentation in terms of better film sources, better transfers, anamorphic enhancement, or correction of A.R. I rarely upgrade for better supplements.

Titles from my wishlist include:

Backdraft
Black Rain
Bridges of Madison County
Fearless
The Game
The Hitcher
Horse Whisperer
It's A Wonderful Life
The Last Emperor
Miracle Mile
Outland
The Quiet Man

- Walter.

 

[seanOhara]

Films that need reissuing because of subpar quality:

A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Miracle Mile
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Fisher King
To Catch a Thief
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi

Films that need reissuing with new extras:

Lost in Translation
The Virgin Suicides
Ghost World
The Ring
Touch of Evil

 

[John Hodson]

Brian; didn't Sony have another go recently at The Awful Truth in the 'Cary Grant Collection'?

The good news on The Quiet Man is that Robert Gitt and his team at UCLA have already restored the film; it just needs digitally transferring, with love and care, to disc by Paramount.

 

[Mathew B]

I have been holding off Plans, Trains and Automobiles for some time now, in the hopes of an SE.
A real Naked Gun Trilogy SE with the TV version additional scenes would be nice, but not essential (they all have commentaries and look great).
The Lethal Weapon Saga also needs a serious work-up in terms of extras. Considering these are highly regarded, text screens are a bit nasty (although Deleted Scenes are on 4, which I find ironic as most LW purists hate that film). LW4 is the only one that's remotely there in terms of extras, but I think the dual sided disc thing is a bit problematic (movie on Side A, extras on B) and the transfer would be alot better because DVD mastering has improved and the movie would have room to breathe.
I'd like to see a Mary Shelley's Frankenstein SE if Zoetrope is making a Dracula SE (which I hear they are).
I think we all agree that Ghostbusters 2 still needs extras, even if it is not as worthy of them as the original.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Okay, well I agree with most of these suggestions, but I didnt really intend this thread to be about Special Editions we'd like to see made... but more about current titles which are respectfully deserving of an upgrade due to transfer issues and other tech, image and sound related issues. Films that could and should be significantly improved upon, and/or milestone films which one would've otherwise automatically assumed a more definitive version would have been made available by now (i.e. Chinatown, etc).

 

[eric tengren]

BADLANDS
COOL HAND LUKE
OUTLAND
JEREMIAH JOHNSON
SAINT JACK
PATHS OF GLORY
CHARLY VARRICK full frame?!!
NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
THUNDER ROAD
ODD MAN OUT
THE KILLING
BARFLY
ONE EYED JACKS
THE IPCRESS FILE
BLACK SABBATH BAVA
DON'T LOOK NOW
BODY SNATCHERS PHIL KAUFMAN
MCCABE AND MRS.MILLER

 

[Jake Lipson]

Well, to begin with, White Nights (1985, Sony) and The Game of Their Lives (an underperforming limited-release indie movie from last year that I'm not aware of distribution for) need to be released once, period. Anamorphic widescreen on both and prefrably extras too (though I'd take them barebones.)

As for reissues -- I'm listing these in no particular order -- here we go. All of the ones that I ask for improved transfer and extras for, I *would* take barebones if push came to shove, but the transfer AT LEAST needs to be done right. Anyway...

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (2004) (Warner Bros.) - This DVD already has a lot of good material, but ALW's production company Really Useful Films prepared an extensive array of suppliments and offered them to all distributors. Warner Bros. only decided to use a few of those things despite it not costing them ANY money to produce. Therefore, as a huge Phantom "phan" without a multiregion player, I think we need to have a new DVD bringing *ALL* of the available supplimental material to Region 1. Also, if there is any video material related to the record-breaking Broadway performance #7,486 from January 9th this year, that could be included too. And I want the Spaish and German dubs included as alternate soundtracks too. Plus, can we PLEASE get Joel Schumacher to sit down and record commentary on this? If he can do it for BATMAN & ROBIN he can certianly do it for Phantom, where most of the core audience would actulally like to hear him.

Les Miserables: The Dream Cast in Concert (Sony) - This was released as one of the first DVDs to market, I think; it even says on the case "Welcome to an exciting new era of home entertainment, the DVD!" or something. But it is in DIRE need of a reissue; currently, it is a flipper disc with, I think, one layer on each side, so you've gotta flip the disc to see Act II. The picture and sound quality are VHS quality or only marginally better, and there are no real extras of substance (just optional lyrics, text screen biographies, etc.) With the show becoming the longest-running musical in the world this fall (21 years in the West End) and a Broadway revival mounting coming up this fall too, there's never been a better time for Sony to reissue this. I heard it had been planned as a Superbit a few years back but got delayed -- rumor hd it that they mastered the Lliam Nesson movie by accident instead -- although it's not been reslated for release again. Superbit or not, it does need to come again ASAP.

Evita (Disney/Buena Vista) - Again, I believe the original was one of the first DVDs to be released. It is COMPLETELY barebones with a non-anamorphic transfer. It turns ten this year, so what a nice chance to do a proper DVD to mark the anniversary. I hope they oblige.

Balto (Universal) - The sequels are so-so, but the original is an underseen animated masterpiece and it deserves respectful DVD treatment. The only extra on the current disc that is of any value is the theatricla trailer --presented in widescreen even though the movie itself is P&S. Go figure. This needs a proper OAR anamorphic widescreen transfer BADLY and some in-depth extras. Commentary, making-of, deleted scenes, anything...?

That Thing You Do! (Fox) - It's already got a nice solid transfer, although I do wonder if it could be improved. More importantly here, it needs extras; the making-of on the current disc is promotionally-oriented and doesn't give much insight, and I would LOVE more than anything to have Tom Hanks come in and record a commentary for this. He wrote, directed and starred in it, so I'm sure there's plenty for him to talk about! Like Evita, it's ten years old this year, so memo to Fox -- mark the occasion with an improved DVD, please.

Angels in the Outfield (1994) (Disney/Buena Vista) - This one needs to be redone anamorphically and with extras.

Mighty Joe Young (1998) (Disney/Buena Vista) - The same as above, this one needs to be redone anamorphically and with extras.

Mr. Holland's Opus (Buena Vista) - The same as above, this one needs to be redone anamorphically and with extras.

Bicentennial Man (Buena Vista) - The same as above, this one needs to be redone anamorphically and with extras.

Okay, really here...ANY non-anamorphic widescreen DVD from ANY studio should be redone IMMIDATELY. There is no excuse for non-anamorphic anymore.

Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, etc. (Disney, obviously) -- They've already got nice DVDs, but these need to have the honest, really-for-real theatrical cuts. A better menu layout and more in-depth extras on Lion King wouldn't hurt either.

Star Wars Trilogy (Fox/Lucasfilm) - If we can somehow get the original versions out here, great; otherwise, this at least needs to be redone and reissued to fix the audio problems on A New Hope.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) (Disney/Buena Vista -- This has a very solid DVD already, but it was originally announced as having seperate 1-and-2-disc editions similtaneously with Disney's usual overflow of quality bonus materials on the 2-disc edition. The announcement was pulled within hours and we ended up with the 1-disc we have now. Bring that loaded SE to us, please!

Hercules (1997) (Disney/Buena Vista) - One of the earliest DVDs from Disney, it needs both an anamorphic transfer and substantial extra material.

The Nightmare Before Christmas - The current disc is basically perfect as-is except for the inexcusable lack of an anamorphic transfer. Fix it, please, and if you could get Burton to record a commentary, that would be great too. (The current one is great; keep it, but I'd like to hear from Burton too.)

James and the Giant Pecah (Disney/Buena Vista) - This one needs both an anamorphic transfer and more extensive extras. I'm surprised they didn't come out with this to feed off of WB's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake last year, but since 2006 is the tenth anniversary, here's another easy oppertunity (marketingwise) to do this right and market it well.

The Witches (1990) (Warner)) - It needs an anamorphic widescreen transfer (the current DVD is only P&S) and some suppliments. I'm SHOCKED they didn't take advantage of the Dahl connection with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to do this right; since it's the same studio, they could even have thrown in a free ticket or something. As it is now, it just needs a reissue, period.

A Time to Kill (Warner) - Another tenth-anniversary film, this one needs an anamorphic transfer and extras -- plus, I believe the original disc is a flipper, no? If so, make it dual layer and let it fit on one disc. It can; it's not that long.

 

[John*P]

Adventures in Babysitting
Better Off Dead
The Breakfast Club
Lucas
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Poltergeist (coming in 2007?)
Sixteen Candles
Teen Wolf
Uncle Buck
WarGames
Weird Science
Home Alone
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

 

[JohnPM]

The re-issues I'm waiting for are "North By Northwest", "The Maltese Falcon", and "Forbidden Planet" --- on HD-DVD!

http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/

 

[Patrick McCart]

I really have to hand it to WB for being the first to not only put an Academy Ratio film on HD-DVD, but such a classic. While Universal is releasing Doom, Fox is putting out Fantastic Four, and Sony is putting out The Fifth Element... WB is putting out Goodfellas, NxNW, and Forbidden Planet.

One reason why if I did have the money to switch to HD, I'd go with HD-DVD since that's where all the good stuff is coming from. Of course, I'm biased a little in terms of films.

 

[Herb Kane]

And it's backed by a company who seem to have their finger on the pulse of the industry. Sony, on the other hand... doesn't have a pulse.

In my opinion, they have failed miserably with SD releases and there's no reason to believe they'll suddenly improve when they enter the BR game...

 

[Micah Cohen]

Great thread. I want:

an anamorphic FORBIDDEN PLANET
an anamorphic TAKING OF PELHAM 123
an anamorphic POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
an anamorphic RAISING ARIZONA
an anamorphic THE GAME
an anamorphic FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
and a nice clean print of GOODFELLAS, for goodness sake

This thread reminds me I have to pick up the new version of MOONSTRUCK!

MC

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

With all due respect, Warner supports BOTH formats, and the only studio exclusively supporting HD DVD is Universal... rated consistently the worst studio in HTF polls.

Suggesting that Sony doesn't even have a pulse is quite the hyperbole. While Sony is far from perfect, they have in fact released some of the best reference quality DVDs upon their release, with several titles that are still considered reference quality several years after their release. They have also properly corrected and improved upon several of their original releases. Yes, there are certainly many titles that are less than impressive, as there are even with the all mighty Warner catalog of DVD releases, and like all studios there is plenty of room for improvement, perceived or otherwise.

More to the point, Sony and all the films they control from numerous studios like Columbia Tristar, MGM, UA, Orion, etc isn't the only studio exclusively releasing titles on Blu-ray. If you want HD titles from Fox, Lion's Gate, *Disney (and all their numerous subsidiaries like Pixar, Miramax, Dimension, Buena Vista, etc) then HD DVD isn't going to get you very far.

Furthermore, with the slow adoption of these formats, Blu-ray stands to easily win this format war with its forward thinking advanced technology with several performance advantages including capacity, bandwidth, and protective disc coating. Couple that with far greater manufacturing support resulting in a much broader choice in players, recorders, and drives over HD DVD, and of course wider studio support than HD DVD.

HD DVD's advantage is that it is currently less expensive, but because it is still a good deal more expensive than standard DVD it wnt be breaking any sales records in the market place. If your only concern is cost, and not content or performance, and that you must immediately get your hands on 1080i video (not 1080p as Toshiba’s current players don’t support it) then perhaps HD DVD is the right choice for you.

After logging several hours with both the Toshiba HD DVD players, I’ll be happily waiting to see how well the 1st gen Blu-ray players perform, but wont likely buy into Blu-ray until the 2nd gen players roll out in 2007.

While I can think of several Universal titles I would really like to own in HD, there aren’t nearly enough of them to make me buy an HD DVD player as well, as I have very little doubt that Universal will eventually raise the white flag and release on Blu-ray.

* Disney is currently considering also releasing some titles on HD DVD, but have not yet made up their mind.

 

[Vader]

Aliens (1986) - more ghosting and compression artifacts then I have ever seen in any other title to date. I actually recalibradted my video because of this (didn't fix it), and tried it on several different systems to boot... alas, no luck.

 

[Herb Kane]

“Hyperbole”

Would this be the same hyperbole that had Sony just recently re-release an onslaught of titles in 4:3 (by a company that manufactures 16:9 TV sets, no less)…? The same hyperbole that saw the studio to see fit to charge $10 more than any other studio for their catalogue releases for the first eight of nine years of the DVD format…? The same hyperbole from a studio that simply doesn’t release catalogue tiles anymore…? Clearly though, they have done a great job so far with their recent acquisition of the MGM library… heck, I can’t keep up. It would seem, that was money well spent.

I’m not sure what your definition of hyperbole is but in my book, Sony is not what I would consider an industry leader.

All of the studios have been responsible for their fair share of blunders, however, Universal have made an attempt to please a greater cross section of fans, and for the most part, they succeeded. Universal were the best out of the box in 1997 with the new format and from all recent accounts, they’re already off to a great start.

If this was simply a matter of what was the “better” format, then we wouldn’t have had VHS tapes piling up for the past 20 years – but it’s not that simple. While I hope that the better format prevails, I’d prefer to accept certain sacrifices if studios who were to embrace the format knew what they were doing and what we as enthusiasts want. Not a studio (unwilling to listen) who thinks they know what we want.