Universal Cinema Classics

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What A Disgrace · Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:48 am

solaris72 wrote:Grrrrrrrrrrrr......

GRRRR!!

rwaits · #52 Post by **rwaits** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:57 am

You ain't kidding...that is some nasty cover art!

HerrSchreck · #53 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:05 am

solaris72 wrote:Grrrrrrrrrrrr......

Fucking GRRR indeed. Even over the missing (but surely to come) Shanghai Express, Lost SOuls is my Beef Numero Uno w NBC Univ w their home video schpountzing.

tryavna · #54 Post by **tryavna** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:30 pm

solaris72 wrote:Grrrrrrrrrrrr......

When/If they ever release Island of Lost Souls, it will probably be around October to coincide with Halloween. That'd be my guess, anyway.

Cinephrenic · #55 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 8:33 pm

Somebody ask Criterion if they plan to release this.

HerrSchreck · #56 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:58 pm

tryavna wrote:
solaris72 wrote:Grrrrrrrrrrrr......
When/If they ever release Island of Lost Souls, it will probably be around October to coincide with Halloween. That'd be my guess, anyway.

HAH! So what happened last halloween?

This isn't some vault scraper like the Inner Sanctums (which I have and love, don't get me wrong), or the Sam Katzmans from Sony (ditto)... this is a primary cinema classic that should have been first out of the gate.. at least along with relative monster rally smut (which I also cherish) like House of Dracula or the glop on the Classic SciFi 2 or Horror Box (w Horror Island and the-- cough-- other Black Cat w Bela) both from Best Buy. Those are "vault crap" Because We've Run Out Of Good Stuff Type Releases.

Island of Lost Souls is pure Paramount pre-code/horror/genuine-cinema-masterpieceville heaven (and probably Erle Kenton's best film), and, like it's release on the vhs line way back when (which I thank god bought when it came out eleven years ago) should have been an early no brainer release.

We're practically ten years into the dvd cycle, furchrissakes. There has been no IOLS anywhere at anytime. That's typical NBCUniversal ARDVARK URINE!

tryavna · #57 Post by **tryavna** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:18 am

I totally agree with you, Schreck. I don't have any explanation for why Island isn't already out on DVD. As you point out, it should have been for years now.

I was merely responding to the original "Grrrrr" of dismay that this cycle of releases does not include Island. Like it or not, most classic "horror" films (broadly defined) get released near Halloween -- for obvious marketing reasons. That was certainly the case with the Lewtons when Warner released them, and they're masterpieces of the same caliber as Island.

So basically, all I was saying is that there's little chance of this movie being released in the first or second quarter of any given year.

Lino · #58 Post by **Lino** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:08 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:There has been no IOLS anywhere at anytime.

There was a UK release a few years back but it's now long OOP. Link

Tommaso · #59 Post by **Tommaso** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:29 pm

And even if you can track it down somewhere, this customer review at amazon is most discouraging:

"Sadly, the source material of "Dr Moreau" is so worn out it is pain to watch. Even more sadly - the same fate has befallen "Wax Museum". The copy is a tired one, not so bad you can't watch it, but not as good as to be enjoyed."

And the guy wrote that back in 2001...

HerrSchreck · #60 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:11 am

Lino wrote:
HerrSchreck wrote:There has been no IOLS anywhere at anytime.
There was a UK release a few years back but it's now long OOP. Link

I've known about that pd nonsense for awhile, and I think this (techically) boot came and went in about five minutes due to violation. It dudnt count.

Jameson281 · #61 Post by **Jameson281** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:55 am

Author Tom Weaver has said that Universal found past sales figures for ISLAND OF LOST SOULS to be very disappointing. Also, there are some reports that the film element used for the laserdisc transfer has deteriorated somewhat. So a combination of low sales and poor elements may be responsible for the lack of a DVD.

solaris72 · #62 Post by **solaris72** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:37 pm

Jameson281 wrote:Author Tom Weaver has said that Universal found past sales figures for ISLAND OF LOST SOULS to be very disappointing. Also, there are some reports that the film element used for the laserdisc transfer has deteriorated somewhat. So a combination of low sales and poor elements may be responsible for the lack of a DVD.

I'd heard that, but I still find it hard to believe that it sold worse on VHS and laser than all of the films they put into the Best Buy exclusive horror collection.

Jameson281 · #63 Post by **Jameson281** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 5:27 am

In other Universal horror news, this news was posted on the Classic Horror Film Board:

"Got some truly exciting news that I think everyone here will be rejoicing over. My daughter was talking to one of her old coworkers at the Library of Congress this morning. Apparently after the negative press about the recent DVD of DRACULA, he decided to conduct a further search for better film elements last summer. He was rewarded for his efforts by discovering a complete nitrate lavender fine grain composite from 1930 that no one, including Universal knew about. He said it's in pristine condition and is absolutely gorgeous. The capper to this is that it DOES contain the complete epilogue. It's now in the hands of Universal. Hopefully they'll be making this available in some form soon."

mogwai · #64 Post by **mogwai** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:49 am

125100 didn't post that thread, did he?

Seriously, if true, that's exciting news.

Danny Burk · #65 Post by **Danny Burk** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:36 am

Not to poop on the parade, but well-known film historian Bob Birchard posted the following at Nitrateville.com and asks that this information be passed along:

"This very "discovery" was being discussed today at a screening I attended. The studio in question has not been informed of this "discovery" by LOC nor has the lavender been sent to them."

HerrSchreck · #66 Post by **HerrSchreck** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:31 am

All the more reason I'm thankful I held off on the tenthousandth dvd release of Drac (along w Frank) last year (the HDelicious transfer SD one). Because once NBCUni send their team of lawyers and get the rights, I predict at least more 3 SD dvd's before an worthy release rolls around on that one. First the movie, then the movie w a little of This... then a little of That plus the movie... then maybe, four releases down... a SD Complete This And That Dracula SD Edition... which will come out right when SD is Officially Dead.

Then the Blu disc will come out, w just the movie... then the movie w a little of...

alandau · #67 Post by **alandau** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:22 pm

When will someone release Bolero 1934. Here is a snippet.

Lino · #68 Post by **Lino** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:35 am

DVDBeaver reviews She Done Him Wrong, Midnight, The Major and The Minor and Easy Living.

OliverB · #69 Post by **OliverB** » Sun May 04, 2008 10:07 am

The only criticism I have of these discs are the fact that there aren't any chapter selections on the menu screen! Really frustrating!

PS - Does anyone know where I can find replacement keep cases used on these Universal discs with the security tabs on the side?

Thanks!

bjeggert82 · #70 Post by **bjeggert82** » Sun May 04, 2008 3:13 pm

OliverB wrote:PS - Does anyone know where I can find replacement keep cases used on these Universal discs with the security tabs on the side?

CDrom2go.com has what you're looking for. I've ordered from there myself for that very reason.

OliverB · #71 Post by **OliverB** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:39 am

bjeggert82 wrote:
OliverB wrote:PS - Does anyone know where I can find replacement keep cases used on these Universal discs with the security tabs on the side?
CDrom2go.com has what you're looking for. I've ordered from there myself for that very reason.

Thanks!

Are you sure these have those security tabs on the side though?
The picture linked to above in the item description doesn't appear to. It just looks like a regular amaray to me.

The company also only sells in bulk orders of (min.) 100... I only need four or five replacements.

bjeggert82 · #72 Post by **bjeggert82** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:08 am

OliverB wrote:Are you sure these have those security tabs on the side though?
The picture linked to above in the item description doesn't appear to. It just looks like a regular amaray to me.

The company also only sells in bulk orders of (min.) 100... I only need four or five replacements.

I've ordered them before. There are no tabs on the side. Sleeve City also has the same kind of cases. You can order them in lesser quantities however...

bjeggert82 · #73 Post by **bjeggert82** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:12 am

Watched "Major and the Minor" for the first time. A clever little comedy, particularly in its depiction of teens, which rarely show up in Golden Age cinema. Even though it gets a little awkward when Milland is coming on to what he thinks is a child, the laughs are still very smart--what we'd expect from light Wilder fare.

Gotta love Robert Osborne's intro too...

OliverB · #74 Post by **OliverB** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:46 pm

davidhare wrote:Oliver my apologies if you caught my now deleted post - I obviously misread you to think you were querying whether the Uni originals have those fucking security tabs, like the Pararmount single cases. Do you really LIKE these????? I think they are hideous and yet another reason (of many) to throw out all standard covers for ever burgeoning collections. Thank god for scratch proof plastic sleeves.

They don't bother me eitherway to be honest. I just want to keep some consistency within the series and since I only need a couple of replacement covers, and since I am bound to continue purchasing any future waves of Cinema Classics that Universal releases, I thought I might as well look for the security tab replacements. I can understand how people aren't partial to them, but they really aren't that big of a hassle. It takes all of one half a millisecond to open over any other type of packaging and certainly not anymore of a hassle than digipaks or multi-disc box sets. So no, I don't mind them. I'd like to replace the cases that I ruined by attempting to remove the TCM Robert Osborne introduction stickers that Universal decided to paste right on the damn plastic instead of over the shrink wrap as logic and better judgment would dictate.

souvenir · #75 Post by **souvenir** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 8:04 pm

Has anybody watched the No Man of Her Own disc? I can't find one single review online. This was the only screen pairing of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.

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