Your thoughts on Kino-Lorber Blu-rays (8 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Breakdown of the deal by decade
1940's - 2
1950's - 14
1960's - 12
1970's - 17
1980's - 9
1990's - 8
2000's - 3

This was posted on the other site with the Kino Insider giving us a hint about one of those two 1940's title. This title could be "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" as Imprint is releasing it on Blu-ray on August, 31st. At this point, I can only hope it's true as that 2012 Film Chest Blu-ray was not good and the 2005 Paramount DVD had a superior video presentation. One of the few DVDs in my collection that was better than the Blu-ray. Of course, Paramount has access to better film elements than Film Chest which made the difference.

Originally Posted by romuald121 Is the 1940s releases exclusive to bluray or already released by Imprint label in Australia? @KLI

One of them is being released by Imprint, but when we acquired it, we had no idea it was coming out.

 

[Richard M S]

And how do you know this? John Wayne films like every other movie star's films vary, some sell well, some don't. We released a few at KL (some from Paramount) and ended up only renewing one (Brannigan), and my boss released most of his Republic titles at Olive (licensed from Paramount) and only The Quiet Man, Rio Grand and Sands of Iwo Jima sold well, the others did not.

The way others here love speculating about what may or may not be released is how I feel about the several posts where the KL Insider straightens out misconceptions about which stars/releases sold well and...which did not.

 

[Kaskade1309]

I'm having a hard time tracking down a copy of Ronald Neame's Meteor (the KL release) to replace an old MGM non-anamorphic DVD, and a representative from Kino replied to an email of mine saying the title is completely out of print and not available through them any longer.

Does anyone know where I can snag this disc outside of Amazon (which wants ridiculous prices for it, even used)?

 

[Kaskade1309]

Just bumping this up to see if anyone has any info about METEOR...

 

[PODER]

Just bumping this up to see if anyone has any info about METEOR...

I don't know how long it'll last, but Ebay has one up now for 59.99. That's way lower than most.

 

[Kaskade1309]

I don't know how long it'll last, but Ebay has one up now for 59.99. That's way lower than most.

Thanks for your reply; there's no way I'm paying that, so I guess I'll hold out or watch my non-anamorphic DVD when I get my old Cambridge Audio CXUHD 4K disc player back into service (it has zooming controls that allow for blowing these kinds of transfers up).

 

[RobertMG]

The way others here love speculating about what may or may not be released is how I feel about the several posts where the KL Insider straightens out misconceptions about which stars/releases sold well and...which did not.

Bet the Waynes would have sold well if VCI would have released them tailored to their fan base Westerns
to bad OLIVE at the time could not have worked with VCI

 

[RobertMG]

Bet the Waynes would have sold well if VCI would have released them tailored to their fan base Westerns
to bad OLIVE at the time could not have worked with VCI

Same with the serials all those Republic Serials sitting there and no one making a deal!

 

[Dick]

As Criterion seems to be unwilling or unable to upgrade many of their earlier foreign-language DVD releases, I would love to see KIno acquire them...films such as

FIRES ON THE PLAIN (Japanese)
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Spain)
Z (France)
LE CORBEAU (France)
DAY OF WRATH (Denmark)
BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (Italy)
etc.

Also, I would encouragne Kino or other labels to consider upgrading foreign-language DVD's that came from other sources, and ones that are on Blu-ray, but only from Europe:

VILLAGE OF DREAMS
TAE GUK GI
SOLDIER OF ORANGE
KING OF MASKS
I'M NOT SCARED
JU DOU
NOBODY KNOWS
TELL NO ONE
CHILDREN OF HEAVEN
BURNT BY THE SUN (Sony)
GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS (Sony)
FIORILE
BREAD AND CHOCOLATE
BLACK RAIN
etc.

 

[PODER]

Well ahead of the next Kino Lorber Sale, Amazon is now listing a number of amazing Kino titles at 50% off. Included are BLUE SKIES, FLOWER DRUM SONG, FILIBUS, FRITZ THE CAT, MAMBA, THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK and the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE SET. Head to BLU-RAY.COM for lots more titles!

 

[jayembee]

Also, I would encouragne Kino or other labels to consider upgrading foreign-language DVD's that came from other sources, and ones that are on Blu-ray, but only from Europe:

[snip]
BLACK RAIN
etc.

Assuming you're not talking about the Ridley Scott film, it's available on blu-ray in the US from Arrow, albeit only in the 3-film set Survivor Ballads: Three Films by Shohei Imamura.

By the way, Criterion has a lot of films on DVD that they haven't upgraded. That doesn't mean they are unable or uninterested in doing so. They are somewhat between a rock and a hard place. In addition to upgrading what they've done before, they also need to bring out films they haven't done before, whether newer films or older ones they couldn't acquire before. There are large numbers of people on both sides of that divide.

 

[BobO'Link]

Well ahead of the next Kino Lorber Sale, Amazon is now listing a number of amazing Kino titles at 50% off. Included are BLUE SKIES, FLOWER DRUM SONG, FILIBUS, FRITZ THE CAT, MAMBA, THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK and the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE SET. Head to BLU-RAY.COM for lots more titles!

But when you get those titles - come back here, click the "Shop" drop down at the top of the page, and select "Shop Amazon" from the link so HTF gets the referral credit.

Edit to add - The new Fu Manchu set pre-order is $14.99 and Kolchak the Night Stalker: Complete Series BR is $49.99 - both 50% off.

Edit #2 - The Francis set is currently a couple of $$ less expensive directly from KINO so you'd still need to add something to hit the $50 free shipping minimum (and KINO doesn't charge sales tax for my state - don't know about others - so there's another plus). That shouldn't be difficult if you run through their "Last Chance" titles as several are ~$5 or less. I figure this one'll still be that price once their summer sale starts so there's that, too...

 

[Dick]

Assuming you're not talking about the Ridley Scott film, it's available on blu-ray in the US from Arrow, albeit only in the 3-film set Survivor Ballads: Three Films by Shohei Imamura.

By the way, Criterion has a lot of films on DVD that they haven't upgraded. That doesn't mean they are unable or uninterested in doing so. They are somewhat between a rock and a hard place. In addition to upgrading what they've done before, they also need to bring out films they haven't done before, whether newer films or older ones they couldn't acquire before. There are large numbers of people on both sides of that divide.

No, I was most certainly not referring to Scott's BLACK RAIN, for which I have little use. Thanks for the heads-up on the Imamura set, which I will order when I can. BTW, for fans of Japanese cinema who may not be familiar with it, Imamura's BLACK RAIN (1989) is a devastating film about survivors of the Hiroshima blast (Black Rain meaning the particles of radioactive fallout). It was filmed in stark, high contrast black and white and has (for me, at least) a powerful emotional kick. Highly Recommended!

Yes, I am aware of Criterion's having to juggle the old with the new. As selfish as it appears, we elderly movie fans and collectors become somewhat anxious to be able to own our favorites on Blu-ray before we depart from the Grey Havens to who knows where, and so can't help nudging the studios and video companies once in a while.

 

[timk1041]

Well ahead of the next Kino Lorber Sale, Amazon is now listing a number of amazing Kino titles at 50% off. Included are BLUE SKIES, FLOWER DRUM SONG, FILIBUS, FRITZ THE CAT, MAMBA, THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK and the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE SET. Head to BLU-RAY.COM for lots more titles!

WOW! I am in on some of those. Kino is fantastic!

 

[timk1041]

Is the Blue Skies the one with the corrected disc?

 

[Garysb]

But when you get those titles - come back here, click the "Shop" drop down at the top of the page, and select "Shop Amazon" from the link so HTF gets the referral credit.

Edit to add - The new Fu Manchu set pre-order is $14.99 and Kolchak the Night Stalker: Complete Series BR is $49.99 - both 50% off.

Edit #2 - The Francis set is currently a couple of $$ less expensive directly from KINO so you'd still need to add something to hit the $50 free shipping minimum (and KINO doesn't charge sales tax for my state - don't know about others - so there's another plus). That shouldn't be difficult if you run through their "Last Chance" titles as several are ~$5 or less. I figure this one'll still be that price once their summer sale starts so there's that, too...

I believe that Amazon is matching Barnes and Noble. There may be some Kino Classics at Barnes and Noble that Amazon hasn't matched yet.

 

[Konstantinos]

Well ahead of the next Kino Lorber Sale, Amazon is now listing a number of amazing Kino titles at 50% off. Included are BLUE SKIES, FLOWER DRUM SONG, FILIBUS, FRITZ THE CAT, MAMBA, THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK and the FRANCIS THE TALKING MULE SET. Head to BLU-RAY.COM for lots more titles!

Thanks, I just ordered the 4Ks of Hard Target, Some like it hot, The Great Escape, and 21 hours at Munich.

 

[jayembee]

Thanks for the heads-up on the Imamura set, which I will order when I can. BTW, for fans of Japanese cinema who may not be familiar with it, Imamura's BLACK RAIN (1989) is a devastating film about survivors of the Hiroshima blast (Black Rain meaning the particles of radioactive fallout). It was filmed in stark, high contrast black and white and has (for me, at least) a powerful emotional kick. Highly Recommended!

While you're at it, get another Arrow release: Hideo Sekigawa's Hiroshima. I'd never seen it before Arrow released it, and I was as blown away by it as I was by Black Rain.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Kino discussion...

 

[Camps]

Well among the new Film Noir crop I'm most interested in Behind the High Wall -- but I'm even more interested in another Universal noir by the same director -- 1957's The Night Runner.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sunday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming Soon on 4KUHD (HDR/Dolby Vision)!

Escape from Alcatraz (1979) Starring Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, Paul Benjamin & Larry Hankin – Shot by Bruce Surtees (High Plains Drifter) – Music by Jerry Fielding (The Outlaw Josey Wales) – Screenplay by Richard Tuggle (Tightrope) – Produced & Directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, Charley Varrick).

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I'm surprised this 4K announcement didn't garner more of HTF membership response in this thread. I think it's one of Eastwood's best films with his mentor Don Siegel directing the movie. It's the first movie that I noticed Fred Ward and Danny Glover in. The interactions between Patrick McGoohan and Eastwood's characters are classic. Also, Paul Benjamin as English was great in this film based on an actual Alcatraz escape attempt.

I believe this 4K/UHD release will also contain a Blu-ray derived from the new 4K scan used for this release.