Universal Catalog Titles on Blu

[tenia]

Criterion and co can only release so many movies per year. Look at all the movies restored that we're still waiting to be out on BD in an accessible way.

If the studios exploit properly some good new restorations (in this case, it seems the 4K restoration of the '59 movie), I'm happy to see them released on BD even if it's not through Criterion. Sure, it will lack in the extras department, but at least it's out.

[Drucker]

Tenia, you're right. My main concern though is PQ. If the transfer is good, without digital manipulation, than the majors can absolutely keep 'em coming!

[tenia]

In a way, I can also understand how Universal handling a catalog title can be worrying due to their poor previous experience.

[Gregory]

Are they not even carrying over the making-of documentary from the 2008 release?

[PfR73]

Are they not even carrying over the making-of documentary from the 2008 release?

It's listed there. It's called "Lasting Legacy – An Imitation of Life"

[Gregory]

I skimmed those specs a few times but my eyes kept seeing nothing but trailers and commentaries.
Okay, I'll join up with team "As long as the transfers are good, keep them coming," but will cautiously await reviews. And we'll probably continue to only see a sparse number of releases of older catalog titles like this.

As their "restoration chief" said a couple of years ago in the Time article linked in this thread, "We have a commitment to restore 3 to 5 new prints a year. Right now, we’re working on A Touch of Evil, High Plains Drifter, Double Indemnity—and we’ll probably add another title or two at the end of the year." I wonder what happened to High Plains Drifter, apart from it being offered in a big Clint Eastwood Blu-ray shoebox in the UK that I've seen no reviews of.

[aox]

HPD Blu-Ray.com review

[Gregory]

Thanks, I guess I'm pretty hopeless today. I'd seen no mention of that Blu-ray on this forum, and Amazon's new practice of combining search results with multiple formats lumped together didn't help either, but my fault really. Glad to know it's out, and it looks superb.

[Minkin]

Imitation of Life is playing at Film Forum in a brand new 4k restoration. Very disappointed it's not coming from Criterion.

This seems like an odd decision coming from Universal (what with their massive horror catalog that they've just scraped the surface of exploiting) and at this particular time (when all the other studios are jumping ship - MGM/Sony in particular have all but left the business w/their catalog). At least Universal is great at letting other companies do their own disc - even within a few months of their own blu (Brazil, etc). So, perhaps the Sirk will still come eventually (but how big could the Sirk market be to support multiple blus?)

[Anthony Thorne]

Universal's HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER restoration is also out in Australia, Region free, and looks gorgeous.

[solaris72]

Excited for Silent Running! Been meaning to pick up the MOC but I do prefer region A or region free because I do a lot of movie watching at friends' houses.

[Forrest Taft]

Universal is releasing an eight-disc Clint Eastwood Blu-ray box in the UK in August

Coogan's Bluff (1968)
Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
The Beguiled (1971)
Play Misty for Me (1971)
Joe Kidd (1972)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Breezy (1973)
The Eiger Sanction (1975)

In Germany, they've released a set that includes six of these titles. You don't get High Plains Drifter and Coogan's Bluff, but those can be bought separately (the latter has only been released separately in Germany though). The good news is that they don't come in a shoebox, and you can get the German set for less than half the price of the UK one.

Edit: I see now that all of these are getting individual releases in Scandinavia in april, so I'm guessing they'll be out in other countries soon too.

[John Doe]

May blu-ray titles:

Spielberg;s singles (1941, Always, Duel, The Sugarland Express and Munich)

Clint Eastwood: The Universal Pictures 7-Movie Collection

[Ashirg]

Reminder for those who can't wait til May to get Munich - it streets February 17 as Best Buy exclusive.

[captveg]

5/12/15

Orgazmo (1997) (Includes both cuts)
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

[The Narrator Returns]

When I went to Best Buy today, I noticed that they were selling Blu-Rays of The Game, but not the Criterion release, but instead Universal-issued Blu-Rays which had the original theatrical artwork and none of the Criterion features listed on the back. Is this the flipside to their earlier Criterion deal where they released the bare-bones (probably HD-DVD-sourced) release first and the Criterion came after?

[jwo17]

Sounds like the Best Buy exclusive: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Game-Blu-ray/125340/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[John Doe]

Apollo 13: 20th Anniversary remastered edition - 6/2

[captveg]

Spartacus update:

"While it’s true that the screening [at TCM Festival] has been cancelled, we’ve confirmed through our industry sources that a new restoration of Spartacus has been completed and that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is planning to release it on Blu-ray later in 2015."

[chatterjees]

Spartacus update:

"While it’s true that the screening [at TCM Festival] has been cancelled, we’ve confirmed through our industry sources that a new restoration of Spartacus has been completed and that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is planning to release it on Blu-ray later in 2015."

So, no Criterion edition in near future?

[Minkin]

Spartacus update:

"While it’s true that the screening [at TCM Festival] has been cancelled, we’ve confirmed through our industry sources that a new restoration of Spartacus has been completed and that Universal Studios Home Entertainment is planning to release it on Blu-ray later in 2015."

So, no Criterion edition in near future?

I suppose that's what everyone is thinking with this announcement, but I'd imagine a Criterion edition would follow a few months to a year later (as has been the case with almost every 80s/90s Universal licensed Criterion movie on bluray).

[flyonthewall2983]

I suppose that's what everyone is thinking with this announcement, but I'd imagine a Criterion edition would follow a few months to a year later (as has been the case with almost every 80s/90s Universal licensed Criterion movie on bluray).

Do The Right Thing?

[EddieLarkin]

Beaver on both versions of Imitation of Life.

The OAR for the 1959 Imitation of Life is 1.85:1, not 2.00:1 as Universal has gone with here. There is of course more information on the sides compared to the DVD (a given, though perhaps not to this extent; there really is a lot!), but to prevent cropping at the top Universal have seemingly adjusted the "matte" upwards so that the top line is actually higher than the old DVD, and there is quite a bit of cropping on the bottom instead.

Whilst Universal did regularly flip between both ratios at first, everything was 1.85:1 by 1956, let alone 1959. This is actually becoming a common thing with Universal, they seem to be under the impression much of everything they did in the 50s and 60s should be 2.00:1, and they've gone with that for Captain Clegg, Brides of Dracula and I think Midnight Lace, despite them all being 1.85:1 (or in the case of the Hammer films, possibly even 1.75:1). In those examples too they've cropped the bottom rather than the top (which surely suggests they know they're doing something wrong!).

I have heard the German BD of Imitation of Life is 1.85:1, but it presumably does not use this otherwise gorgeous 4K transfer (and so overall will have less information anyway).

[CSM126]

Universal's Blu Ray of Jesus Christ Superstar is apparently an experiment on what happens when you rip an over brightened, occasionally warped videotape directly to blu.

[Drucker]

Did anyone catch the screening at Film Forum? I've been saving my pennies for the Sturges prints playing next week, so didn't venture out to this. Now I wish I had to see if the restoration matched the blu ray and what the AR was!