Warner Random Speculation

[Narshty]

Sorry for not posting my thoughts in the first post, but I found it a shoddy and whiny little article that made me want to eat my own face. These are really old films, many of which are highly popular and consequently have been printed to death over the years for reissues, TV prints, VHS and laserdisc, among other storage issues, such as losses and deteriorations of original negatives and pre-print elements.

The real problem now is, with the higher resolution of DVD, it reveals how much of a pummelling these movies have taken over the years, and it's not realistic to meticulously restore each and every one of them. It's not how magically clean and stable the print is, it's how much it looks like film. Film is a beautiful but very imperfect recording medium - pretty much all the Warner transfers I've seen over the past few years reflect that splendidly.

[Matt]

I've been avoiding reading this article for the simple reason that I had no idea what the title meant. What, pray tell, does "Griping the Light Fantastic" have to do with film or DVD (or dancing, for that matter)? After all, (as Mr. Zegarac, being a poet, should know) the phrase light fantastic comes from a poem by Milton:

Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,
Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks and wreathed smiles
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it, as you go,
On the light fantastic toe;
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty;
And, if I give thee honour due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew,
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreproved pleasures free ...

Where "trip" means "to move lightly and nimbly, to dance." Regardless, it's a pretty uninformed rant that essentially boils down to "Kirk Kerkorian ruined MGM and, unrelatedly, Warner Bros. is not releasing the films I want on DVD and the ones they are releasing have too many film-inherent flaws."

[Brian Oblivious]

Regardless, it's a pretty uninformed rant that essentially boils down to "Kirk Kerkorian ruined MGM and, unrelatedly, Warner Bros. is not releasing the films I want on DVD and the ones they are releasing have too many film-inherent flaws."

Yes I found it tiresome for the author to in one paragraph call for Warner to decrease their DVD output but "make them all sparkle like vintage champagne", and then end with a lengthy list of unreleased titles that "may surprise you".

[viciousliar]

Your points are well taken, but I still think the author makes some valid points, too. That article isn't all trashy and pompous, there is some substance "hidden" in there if you're willing to have an open mind.
However, that is merely my opinion.

[unclehulot]

Or did they simply release their very best-preserved films initially in order to build up their reputation as a serious player in the high-end of this market?

I would say so. Nothing wrong with that. But there's also no reason to hold back important films because the materials are in less pristine shape. The trick is really hunting down the best possible source.

Quote from article:
Coupled with television's general inability to handle grain as anything but a very shimmering and wobbly mess, today's home theater buff would probably prefer a smooth looking transfer more closely rendered to video than to film.


That's bullcrap, and total speculation on so many fronts I can only speculate on the viewing equipment and tastes behind this statement. God only knows how picky he'll be when/if some HD format reveals further source material shortcomings.

Sorry, I would rather have 70 releases a year, rather than missing out on titles that can't "sparkle like vintage champagne".

Then there's the speculation about WAMO pressings vs. the inhouse ones..... more bullshit......back it up please!!

About the misregistration in The Private Lives of Elizabeth & Essex: once again......show me a source without these problems before such speculation. I've seen the same problem for the past 20 years..... find out if the 3 color separations even exist first. I don't know the answer, but I would sure as hell find out before writing an article about the poor "transfer".

[Lino]

Prepare your wallets...

[quote]Last fall's lavish The Wizard of Oz and King Kong DVD gift sets were only the beginning. After years of watching other studios blow out their libraries at a rapid clip, Warner Home Video this year is preparing a major catalog initiative that will see a record 200-plus titles hit the market, the vast majority appearing on DVD for the first time.

Classics also factor in Warner's plans for HD DVD, the first of two rival next-generation formats to come to market. They will arrive on high-def the same day Warner bows special-edition DVDs. Titles include The Maltese Falcon and The Forbidden Planet.

Warner's classic release slate also includes 52 collections, including Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart “signature collectionâ€

[justeleblanc]

That's great news! But the price uppage is a bit of a downer.

[stroszeck]

Ah yes. Baby Face, Forbidden Planet and the now-critically admired (and considered by many to be the greatest films in all the Warner catalogues) the brilliant films of Lucille Ball and her hubby Desi Arnaz. I TRULY cannot wait. All of our voting and e-mailing has truly stirred up the higher management at Warner...

What the hell is going on? I mean I really am happy about the Superman news, but thats about it. The rest really can be considered 3rd and 4th tier material. We've all been busting our butts to get Greed released and a bunch of really important titles that Warner has been hording and not releasing (some never even made it to VHS) and now we get the Lucille Ball greatest hits? Has anyone ever seen those films -- they're amazingly incompetent rip offs of the old show. It's hilarious to know that so many brilliant directors' works are represented at Warner and their primary focus right now is to release a single disc edition of King Kong when most people already got the cheaply priced 3 disc set. This news saddens me, it truly does

[solaris72]

Well, I'm glad to see Forbidden Planet get some lavishment.

[Gregory]

It says they'll release 200+ titles, and the few they happened to mention are not necessarily the "best" by any of our varying standards. I certainly don't agree that Baby Face is "3rd- or 4th-tier material." Forbidden Planet is a landmark science fiction film. Both of those hold more interest for me than anything having to do with Superman.
This is sure to mean more of the Minnelli MGMs will get released. I'm also hoping this means they'll release far more than the 5 or so film noir titles we saw in previous years. It's been sad to me that Fox has been releasing its film noir catalogue so much more rapidly than Warner, which has about 10 times as many titles.
My fear is that they'll rush these titles out and the standards of presentation will suffer.

[Anonymous]

Excellent news. Hopefully we'll get the 80th anniv edition of The Jazz Singer a year early. [-o<

[Jeff]

We've all been busting our butts to get Greed released and a bunch of really important titles that Warner has been hording and not releasing (some never even made it to VHS) and now we get the Lucille Ball greatest hits?

Where in that article did you read that Warner would not be releasing Greed, and would be releasing the Luci and Desi films instead? The article that I read indicated that Warner would be unleashing a massive push of their catalog classics, including 200 titles and 52(!) collections. I would be very surprised if Greed and many of the other titles that Warner has been "hording"[sic] were not released this year.

Other than Forbidden Planet, Maltese Falcon, and Baby Face, I don't really have much interest in any of the titles that the author chose to mention either. That doesn't mean that I don't find this news pants-shittingly exciting; I'm confident that I'll like many of the other 190-or-so titles that the author didn't mention.

It's hilarious to know that so many brilliant directors' works are represented at Warner and their primary focus right now is to release a single disc edition of King Kong when most people already got the cheaply priced 3 disc set.

How did you infer that releasing the single-disc Kong was Warner's "primary focus right now?" More likely, it was a marketing decision which requires no production time and little investment. I doubt that Warner has shut down their classics division in order to devote their entire staff to to removing the first disc from the current Kong set and placing them in new single disc cases.

[solaris72]

All of these titles will feature newly-remastered HD transfers (and again, many will be released simultaneously in HD-DVD):
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) - with a new feature-length documentary and audio commentaries

Forbidden Planet (1956) - with a new feature-length documentary

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - packaged with The Maltese Falcon - Dangerous Female (1931) and Satan Met a Lady (1936)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Look for 4 new Stanley Kubrick SEs including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980) and the original unrated version Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Each will include new documentaries and never-before-seen footage blessed by the Kubrick Estate (although don't look for deleted scenes - Stanley himself never wanted them released).

There's a new John Wayne/John Ford Collection on the way, which will include The Searchers: 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition (1956), along with a Stagecoach: Two-Disc Special Edition (1939), Fort Apache (1948), The Long Voyage Home (1940), The Wings of Eagles (1957), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), They Were Expendable (1945) and 3 Godfathers (1948).

There's also The John Ford Collection that will include The Lost Patrol (1934), The Informer (1935), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Mary of Scotland (1936) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).

Now... here's a look at some more of the 200 new-to-DVD titles coming in 2006:

Grand Prix: 2-Disc Special Edition (1966)

The Astaire and Rogers Collection, Volume 2 - featuring Flying Down to Rio (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Carefree (1938) and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

The Busby Berkley Collection - featuring Footlight Parade (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Dames (1934) and Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)

The Warner Tough Guys Collection - featuring 'G' Men (1935), Bullets or Ballots (1936), San Quentin (1937), A Slight Case of Murder (1938), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and City for Conquest (1940)

Knute Rockne All American (1940) - just for you Notre Dame alumni!

The Marlon Brando Signature Collection - featuring Julius Ceasar (1953), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) and The Formula (1980)

The Bette Davis Collection, Volume 2 - including a new Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?: Two-Disc Special Edition (1962 - with new and vintage documentaries and never-before-seen footage), Jezebel (1938), Old Acquaintance (1943), Marked Woman (1937) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942).

The Lucy and Desi Collection (due 5/9, SRP $29.92) - featuring The Long, Long Trailer (1954), Forever, Darling (1955) and Too Many Girls (1940)

The Tennessee Williams Film Collection (due 5/2, SRP $79.92) - featuring A Streetcar Named Desire: Two-Disc Special Edition (1951), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Deluxe Edition (1958), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Baby Doll (1956), The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).

Additional DVD box sets will be released featuring (known titles listed as follows, but more are TBA):

Clark Gable - including Mogambo (1953), Dancing Lady (1933) and Boom Town (1940)

James Stewart - including The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) and The Naked Spur (1953)

Humphrey Bogart - including Passage to Marseille (1944), Action in the North Atlantic (1943) and Across the Pacific (1942)

More Film Nior titles including Lady in the Lake (1947)

Paul Newman

Taylor & Burton

Gary Cooper - including Sergeant York (1941) and The Hanging Tree (1959)

[justeleblanc]

When will they release Ken Russell already!! ](*,)

[Cinéslob]

No SE's for Lolita and Barry Lyndon? Well, here's hoping they receive improved transfers if (as seems apparent) nothing else...

[scotty]

I'm a bit surprised that they didn't revisit To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Key Largo as special editions to package with The Maltese Falcon. Good to have the new titles, but since they did give The Treasure of the Sierra Madre the treatment and are redoing Falcon, I thought they would keep going with the other well-known titles. All of them seem ripe for extras, though the original transfers are really pretty good.

[Jeff]

I'm a bit surprised that they didn't revisit To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Key Largo as special editions to package with The Maltese Falcon.

I suspect that they will revisit the titles you mentioned in 2006. Even the lengthier list at The Digital Bits only includes about 64 out of the 200+ titles they have on tap. At last year's chat, they let us know that a two-disc special edition of The Maltese Falcon was coming along with "three other "major Bogie classics restored from original camera negatives." I'm betting that you just named the three. Surely they weren't referring to Passage to Marseille, Action in the North Atlantic, and Across the Pacific as "major Bogie classics."[/i]

[thomega]

I'm a bit surprised that they didn't revisit To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, and Key Largo ... though the original transfers are really pretty good.

The transfer of The Big Sleep is not very good, at least by Warner's recent standards. It looked stunning to me in 2001, but now I notice a lot of digital noise (not to be confused with film grain).

[scotty]

I mistakenly assumed based on the 2005 chat that the three titles I mentioned would be part of a package with Falcon. Warner did not specify that at all, but it made sense to me. I was just surprised to see a Falcon set that didn't include them and a Bogie set of war titles. Certainly they could (should) be revisited individually. To Have and Have Not probably looks the best of the three.

[Nihonophile]

Will they slip Performance into this 50ft foot wave of dvds?

[Derek Estes]

I really Really Really hope that Wagon Master will make it in the John Ford collection. It is really one of his great westerns, and considerably better than Mary of Scotland, though The Lost Patrol and The Informer are most welcome, not to mention the remaining Ford/Wayne films that are coming! I can't wait!

[zedz]

All those Fords are pretty exciting, but I'm particularly thrilled by the news of The Naked Spur - what a film!

[Derek Estes]

I would also like to add 7 Women to the Ford collection, another film desperately needing a release.

And yeah I too am terribly excited about The Naked Spur, possibly my favorite Anthony Mann film.

[Floyd]

Yeah, the news about The Naked Spur is fantastic. Recently caught this on TCM and really adored it. Don't see anything on The Lusty Men there or They Live By Night which is a mild disappointment but who knows it is not like they named all the films they were releasing there.

[Derek Estes]

I hope They Live by Night and On Dangerous Ground make it in the next Film Noir collection.