Pretty Much Every Paramount DVD is OOP

[HistoryProf]

Don't forget to get the Special Edition of Stalag 17, it's quite an upgrade from the old dvd!

son of a bitch.

[Feego]

For those who don't have a major aversion to Wal-Mart, my local store had a nice display of $4 DVDs, many of them from Paramount. I snagged Clueless: "Whatever" Edition, Beverly Hills Cop, American Gigolo, Heaven Can Wait, and the Centennial editions of Sunset Blvd. and Roman Holiday each for that price. And this was an actual display, not the bargain bin.

I also picked up The Addams Family/Addams Family Values double feature at Target for $5.

[Perkins Cobb]

Look, be glad it's Paramount. Wait til MGM stops dribbling its OOPs and deluges ala Paramount. You think this broke the bank? Try dealing with thousands of suddenly unavailable titles. This Paramount discord is upsetting as much in the implications as in the immediate effect

It's like an Irwin Allen movie, basically. Or a $75 out of print DVD of an Irwin Allen movie.

[Jonathan S]

For those looking for a good deal/have Amazon Prime, Wyler's Carrie with Olivier and Jennifer Jones is fulfilled by Amazon new for $7.99. I just got my copy and was shocked to see that it contains a previously-censored scene that was apparently enough to push the disc into an 18-A rating in Canada. Not bad for a 1952 studio picture, Wyler!

I had the disc briefly (sold it immediately as the film left me cold) but I don't recall anything startling even for 1952. The cut scene is in a flophouse and the disc claims it was cut for "political" reasons (perhaps just too depressing for the times). Is there some other content on the disc to account for the rating - or maybe they confused it with the later De Palma film?!

[agnamaracs]

I'm sorry, but how many of the titles being named are actually OOP, and how many are only being mentioned as likely? Because I'm cross-referencing with the Mayhem list Matt linked to, and I'm not seeing much.

Interesting that the Blu-ray of The Warriors is gone. Maybe they're working on one with the original versions (those comic-book transitions annoy the hell out of me.)

(I'd love to see Criterion take Harold and Maude, but I hear the elements aren't in the best of shape.)

[manicsounds]

Seriously, why all the bitching and complaining? Almost all these titles have been available for a long time, and everyone had a chance to get them easily.

Paramount is thinking that these old titles aren't selling anymore. And they most likely don't. They've been out for years, pretty much everyone who wanted them have gotten them by now. Time to take them back to the vault.

Upgrade to Blu-ray? Streaming titles? Digital Downloads? I say it's better. Just as long as they have incentives for the future.

[domino harvey]

Yeah, it's so awesome that these films are being ghettoized out of the physical realm. Especially for people like you, who have already seen every film they ever will see and will want to see and therefore don't need to scramble to pick up a rapidly-disappearing title. Hell, who needs movies at all, much less DVDs? Bring on exhaustive Wikipedia descriptions!

[TMDaines]

Seriously, why all the bitching and complaining? Almost all these titles have been available for a long time, and everyone had a chance to get them easily.

I just love the types of films that people are panic buying now.

Yeah, it's a real shame that most of these titles will no longer be cluttering up shelves in stores across the country.

[knives]

I am genuinely saddened a generation of children won't see Good Burger. That is funny in the dumbest sort of way. Also considering there's talks of maybes for even new titles like Zodiac going OOP you should not take this lightly. I don't want to go back to the dark days of the '80s. Basically what Domino said. There's a ton of catalouge titles, not just from Paramount and MGM either, and very little time.

[Zot!]

Are you guys really serious about lining your bunkers with Good Burger and Pootie Tang DVDs so that future generations aren't slighted by their omission from our cultural heritage?

[Murdoch]

Both the DVD and Blu of Zodiac are in print.

Is this still true? Here it lists the SD and BD of the director's cut as discontinued.

[ianungstad]

No it doesn't. When they use the term "out" on that site, that's the in print edition. Zodiac has not been discontinued yet and who knows if it actually will be. Mike should use different terminology because I've seen people make the assumption that "out" means not available time and time again.

[anvilscepe]

Both the DVD and Blu of Zodiac are in print.

Is this still true? Here it lists the SD and BD of the director's cut as discontinued.

I ordered the Blu of Zodiac by chance on Monday and it already shipped. I bought it on B&N during their recent sale.

[domino harvey]

No it doesn't. When they use the term "out" on that site, that's the in print edition. Zodiac has not been discontinued yet and who knows if it actually will be. Mike should use different terminology because I've seen people make the assumption that "out" means not available time and time again.

The UPC for the Blu-ray that's "OUT" I'm not finding at any online retailer, whereas the one for the Blu-ray that's "DISCONTINUED" comes up with the title on Amazon, DD, etc

[fdm]

Gotta say, I'm a bit skeptical about the total 100% correctness of that website. For example, it says that The Adventurers is "Out", but if you can find me an online store that is selling it new, good luck. I think his/their website is pretty good most (perhaps nearly all) of the time, but there are a few cases I'm thinking where they might have missed an Out having turned into a Discontinued. (I think The Adventurers has been unavailable for quite some time, that's why I'm using it as an example.)

Me, I'm more inclined to believe something is out of print if you cannot buy a new copy anywhere, or the number of options for a new copy is getting pretty low. Sure there may be hundreds of copies sitting in Paramount's warehouse, but if they're not available for sale, they may as well be out of print.

[HistoryProf]

Seriously, why all the bitching and complaining? Almost all these titles have been available for a long time, and everyone had a chance to get them easily.

Paramount is thinking that these old titles aren't selling anymore. And they most likely don't. They've been out for years, pretty much everyone who wanted them have gotten them by now. Time to take them back to the vault.

Upgrade to Blu-ray? Streaming titles? Digital Downloads? I say it's better. Just as long as they have incentives for the future.

there are literally hundreds of catalog titles on my main wishlist...I can't afford to simply buy everything I would like to own. I also add to it almost weekly when I discover something new via discussions, netflix, word of mouth, etc. there are a lot of movies out there, and having a sizable proportion of classics going out of print is not good. And please excuse me if you are wealthy enough to simply buy anything and everything you've ever wanted. must be nice.

[Grand Wazoo]

Having spent more than I planned on the recent DD sale and saving what little I have left for the B&N Criterion sale, this is all happening at the worst possible time. I may have to remain Good Burger-less...

I've gone on what many have called conspiracy theorist-esque tirades about my fears over the total disappearance of physical disc copies of movies, similar to that guy from Collapse (though clearly dvds are more important than sustainable energy resources). Now the ones who thought I was a little insane are seeing that my fears are coming to fruition far sooner than expected. This is a scary mess.

[perkizitore]

Don't forget to get the Special Edition of Stalag 17, it's quite an upgrade from the old dvd!

son of a bitch.

I beg your pardon? =;

[jaredsap]

Yeah, it's so awesome that these films are being ghettoized out of the physical realm.

Soon the ghetto will be the physical realm, not the digital sphere. The day when we can stream all these now OOP titles to our TV (often in HD) -- and lots of titles that never even made it to VHS, let alone DVD -- is not far off.

I'm a collector at heart and I've been with DVD since the start. I understand the sadness of an era passing. But I think you're making the end of physical media out to be way more problematic than it'll prove to be. The next generation will have more films available to them than even we did during the golden age of DVD. I promise.

[jaredsap]

But I just have great difficulty seeing how the current bittorrent domain can translate to a legally unthreatening platform. Not to mention one that fits snugly with contemporary capitalism.

You're conflating separate issues. I would assume people like yourself use bittorrent to pirate movies that have never been available on disc. Of course those titles are going to be the last to show up on streaming services.

But why do you find it difficult to imagine a profitable and legal platform? The resounding success of iTunes, Netflix Watch Instantly, VOD, YouTube and Hulu (just to name the most notable examples) has already proven that consumers are more than willing to support streaming and downloadable content. Once everyone has fast download speeds and easy access to all these services (and many more) on their TVs, physical media will be worthless to all but the hardcore collector.

[knives]

What he said.

[jaredsap]

What he said.

The future is being able to watch any movie you rent or purchase on every device with a screen you own. No one is going to force you to watch movies on your phone. This is another big advantage of streaming content from the cloud rather than relying on discs and their attendant hardware.

[knives]

You lose so much in these torrents it isn't even funny. Even in a situation where you can put it on your teevee you lose, from DVD, the academic materials that help to fully understand these films. I can't even remember just how many dozens of films I have grown an appreciation for films I initially hated. Hell, one of my favorite directors (Bresson) is only such because of DVD. As David Hare already mentioned downloads really kill off the chance to project films and at least fake the theatrical experience. DVDs aren't perfect in comparison with that experience, but it really opens up things much more than this crap could ever do.
Another problem with the lack of the physical is the question of ownership. How do you own a download. With DVD you actually get a copy to view whenever, but it's easier to get rid of downloads and even have to constantly pay for it via an insane rental system.
If this bizarre train of thought really gathers than we might have to go back to searching for 16mm copies again and I really don't want to have that be the only option.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Another problem with the lack of the physical is the question of ownership. How do you own a download. With DVD you actually get a copy to view whenever, but it's easier to get rid of downloads and even have to constantly pay for it via an insane rental system.

Bingo. And of course the possibility of censorship or other alteration (or deletion) is increased manyfold; it's a statist's wet dream, frankly.

[manicsounds]

Haha,
I'm not "rich" by any means, and there probably are a few here and there I never bought, but it doesn't really matter to me that I didn't...

Some people hate how Disney takes their titles out of print for a long time and bring them back eventually. I actually think this is great in their marketing that I think others can benefit by following. Reissues create re-interest and awareness, as opposed to getting crammed in the bottom of the bargain bin.

Paramount on the most part have been stingy on their discs' special features, and that is why there were many good titles I never bought, as I thought a rental would suffice. Sorry, being a special features fan.

As I said, I'd like to know what their plans for the future are. I'm just very surprised at the speed these things went unavailable...