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-   -   Demetrius and the Gladiators - 03/16/12 - Limited to 3,000 copies - Order - Amazon (http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=190379)

ROclockCK 02-18-2012 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clark Kent (Post 5812161)
The Robe is a tremendous Blu-ray, by the way. Highly recommended for any fan of historical epics.

Same Fox team that did The Robe and The Egyptian were responsible for the high def remastering of Demetrius too. No reason to expect anything less than top tier presentation.

ROclockCK 02-18-2012 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithvg (Post 5812650)
Well I have pre-ordered a copy and I just hope that it is region free like "The Egyptian" :)

All of Twilight Time's Blu-ray releases have been region-free*. That's a cornerstone of any licensing deal for only 3000 units.

* Except for some early stampings of Picnic and Roots of Heaven, which the production house accidentally encoded for Region A only. Reportedly, TT has since corrected this manufacturing oversight.

Arkadin 02-18-2012 07:54 PM

need to put in my pre-order asap. :)

ROclockCK 02-18-2012 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5813686)
need to put in my pre-order asap. :)

To give you some idea of the response so far, the TT pre-order of Demetrius has been up for exactly one day, and has already shot to the number 3 sales spot on SAE for the entire week.

Collectors are definitely not ignoring this title, or playing wait-see...

Blu Titan 02-18-2012 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperRealist (Post 5809804)

This is a most anticipated release. Pre-ordered this great classic.

Arkadin 02-18-2012 10:20 PM

I'm very interested in knowing if Fox will let TT license any of the films that have come out under the "Studio Classics" banner on dvd. Fox has released only a handful of these so far on blu-ray, and imo many of the titles that Fox hasn't yet released on bd would make great TT releases, especially "Love is a Many Spendored Thing, Anastasia, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Zorba The Greek, Peyton Place, and Anna and the King of Siam. I would also love to see Valley of the Dolls get a bd release. Wonder if anyone knows if TT could release any of these amazing films? imo these are perfect examples of great films that Fox is probably very reluctant to release on blu-ray for fear of poor sales, but which would work well under the TT model.
And I have to admit I am kind of obsessed with seeing LIAMST get a bd release.
I just think that film is so amazing.

moviebuff75 02-19-2012 12:03 AM

I pre-ordered mine this evening. I love pairing this with The Robe every year. They make for one great night of epics. It will be nice to finally retire my dvd copy (with a layer change that occurs in the middle of music.)

benbess 02-19-2012 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814101)
I'm very interested in knowing if Fox will let TT license any of the films that have come out under the "Studio Classics" banner on dvd. Fox has released only a handful of these so far on blu-ray, and imo many of the titles that Fox hasn't yet released on bd would make great TT releases, especially "Love is a Many Spendored Thing, Anastasia, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Zorba The Greek, Peyton Place, and Anna and the King of Siam. I would also love to see Valley of the Dolls get a bd release. Wonder if anyone knows if TT could release any of these amazing films? imo these are perfect examples of great films that Fox is probably very reluctant to release on blu-ray for fear of poor sales, but which would work well under the TT model.
And I have to admit I am kind of obsessed with seeing LIAMST get a bd release.
I just think that film is so amazing.


+1 great suggestions. Many of these films I haven't seen, including LIAMST.

There was a fine looking HD master of The Inn of the Sixth Happiness on netflix a while ago. Fascinating film. One of Ingrid Bergman's best. Takes liberties with the real story, but don't all of these kind of films...

http://http://movieart.net/wp-conten...s-1sh-2365.JPG

TT has a site on facebook. Make your suggestions there. They seem to listen!

Arkadin 02-19-2012 12:12 AM

yeah maybe you can suggest them for me. :)
I don't do Facebook. ;)

Blu Titan 02-19-2012 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814101)
I'm very interested in knowing if Fox will let TT license any of the films that have come out under the "Studio Classics" banner on dvd. Fox has released only a handful of these so far on blu-ray, and imo many of the titles that Fox hasn't yet released on bd would make great TT releases, especially "Love is a Many Spendored Thing, Anastasia, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Zorba The Greek, Peyton Place, and Anna and the King of Siam. I would also love to see Valley of the Dolls get a bd release. Wonder if anyone knows if TT could release any of these amazing films? imo these are perfect examples of great films that Fox is probably very reluctant to release on blu-ray for fear of poor sales, but which would work well under the TT model.
And I have to admit I am kind of obsessed with seeing LIAMST get a bd release.
I just think that film is so amazing.

Great classic films on your list. No doubt that they would be part of my Blu-ray collection. If things go well, TT could license more films for release, which is what I want. As many great classic films on Blu-ray as possible.

ROclockCK 02-19-2012 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814101)
I'm very interested in knowing if Fox will let TT license any of the films that have come out under the "Studio Classics" banner on dvd. Fox has released only a handful of these so far on blu-ray, and imo many of the titles that Fox hasn't yet released on bd would make great TT releases, especially "Love is a Many Spendored Thing, Anastasia, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Zorba The Greek, Peyton Place, and Anna and the King of Siam.

I'd imagine all of those titles are fair game for licensing to TT Arkadin...especially anything from the more recent Fox "Cinema Classics" SE DVD series. Most of those post-2004/2005 DVDs were transferred from rescanned/remastered high-def elements, so they're already a good fit for Blu-ray. But even the earlier "Studio Classics" DVD series had very high quality AQ/PQ specs. Recently I watched The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Titanic - two of the earliest titles in that series - and was a little startled by how good both of them sounded and looked, even upscaled from DVD.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814101)
I would also love to see Valley of the Dolls get a bd release. Wonder if anyone knows if TT could release any of these amazing films? imo these are perfect examples of great films that Fox is probably very reluctant to release on blu-ray for fear of poor sales, but which would work well under the TT model.

We're kind of in luck with Fox, because, like SPHE, they've already outed themselves, admitting publicly that they now favour licensing their deep catalogue titles for Blu instead of sitting on them indefinitely, just farming out broadcast rights to cable and streaming services. Had they not done that, Blu-ray fans would have been left indefinitely wondering and hoping, continually e-mailing requests for titles the studio had no plans to do but wouldn't admit. At least Fox and SPHE's intent is now clear, so fan expectations are much more realistic.

Some additional clues from TT's Nick Redman:
Quote:

"With Fox we submitted a long list, a list that was 200 films long. And the list gets whittled down because Fox will say something like 'that film is this particular senior executive’s favorite movie and he would love it if the studio would put it out'. So we take that off the list. Now, we know that they probably won’t ever do anything with that title [laughs] and then we can go back to them in a couple of years and ask for that title. But that's how our list got whittled down to about 100 titles that had not ever been on DVD in the United States. It was basically a list of our favorite films, films that we knew and liked or films that we had always wanted to see on DVD or ones that we thought catalogue collectors would like. It was a real mishmash, a real potpourri of things."
Seems pretty clear that with Fox' catalogue, TT will most likely be doing titles that were never released in North America on DVD. And yet, they just got Demetrius and the Gladiators, which had two previous Fox DVDs! So that could be a signal that Fox is willing to open their vaults a little wider to licensing than originally thought. But how wide, and how soon? I mean, it's no surprise that evergreen catalogue titles such as All About Eve, An Affair to Remember, and The Hustler got Fox digibooks. However, it's less clear with which way they'll go with titles like Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, Valley of the Dolls, or Anastasia. Home label Blu-ray release? Or Twilight Time? At this point, your guess is as good as mine.

So your best bet would be to lobby Twilight Time for your faves Arkadin. Although they have little control over what they get from Fox, the order they do them will probably be determined by the enthusiasm of customer requests.

benbess 02-19-2012 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814421)
yeah maybe you can suggest them for me. :)
I don't do Facebook. ;)

Sure--I'll suggest Love is Many Splendored Thing....:)

Arkadin 02-19-2012 03:17 AM

awesome!
Jennifer Jones and William Holden ftw! :D

oildude 02-19-2012 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814101)
I'm very interested in knowing if Fox will let TT license any of the films that have come out under the "Studio Classics" banner on dvd. Fox has released only a handful of these so far on blu-ray, and imo many of the titles that Fox hasn't yet released on bd would make great TT releases, especially "Love is a Many Spendored Thing, Anastasia, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, Zorba The Greek, Peyton Place, and Anna and the King of Siam. I would also love to see Valley of the Dolls get a bd release. Wonder if anyone knows if TT could release any of these amazing films? imo these are perfect examples of great films that Fox is probably very reluctant to release on blu-ray for fear of poor sales, but which would work well under the TT model.
And I have to admit I am kind of obsessed with seeing LIAMST get a bd release.
I just think that film is so amazing.

Fox has so many classics in their vault I am eagerly hoping will go blu. To your list above, I would also add:

The Blue Max (1966) by John Guillermin, who also directed Rapture - I thnk it was his next film.
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
Sink the Bismarck (1960)
The Young Lions (1958)
one of Brando's best roles
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
North to Alaska (1960)
The Enemy Below (1957)
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952)


There are others, but these are my most wanted, especially The Blue Max and Fantastic Voyage. Some of these, like The Agony and the Ecstacy and TSOK, are likely to be released by Fox, but I would have thought the same thing about Demetrius and the Gladiators. The fact that Fox is willing to farm out DATG suggests there is hope we won't have to keep waiting endlessly to see these eventually make it to blu-ray.

And I agree with ROclockCK - Demetrius and the Gladiators has the potential to be TT's next sell out. I haven't seen it in maybe 20 years when it was on TV, but I remember really liking it. TT's cover is awesome, as is the one for Bite the Bullet. I really like what they are doing with the cover art on their releases.

benbess 02-19-2012 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5814909)
awesome!
Jennifer Jones and William Holden ftw! :D

Done. And one of the people who works at TT said "we shall see..."

"Benjamin
last one (for now): Love is a Many Splendored Thing with William Holden and Jennifer Jones....Recommended for you by Arkadin at blu-ray.com
Like · · 8 hours ago ·

Bruce likes this.
Twilight Time DVD Label We love it, too, Bruce. And we shall see...
5 hours ago · Like
Twilight Time DVD Label And Benjamin--thanks for mentioning it!
5 hours ago · Like · 1"

And if I'm reading them right, Inn of the Sixth Happiness looks like it might be a done deal....

"possible suggestion: The Inn of the Sixth Happiness starring Ingrid Bergman. Beautiful Cinemascope production directed by Mark Robson, who was nominated for an Oscar. Cinematography by Freddie Young of Lawrence fame. Fine HD master has already been made.
Like · · 9 hours ago ·

Bruce likes this.
Twilight Time DVD Label Love , love, love it, Benjamin!
5 hours ago · Unlike · 1"

Arkadin 02-19-2012 11:44 AM

cool!
thanks so much.
I'll try not to get my hopes up too much, but it would be a great release.
it's not a grand action based film, however, so I can still see the possible reluctance to release it.
we'll see. ;)

benbess 02-19-2012 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkadin (Post 5815698)
cool!
thanks so much.
I'll try not to get my hopes up too much, but it would be a great release.
it's not a grand action based film, however, so I can still see the possible reluctance to release it.
we'll see. ;)

Sure. And I don't think TT would be reluctant on that score. It's not like The Egyptian was an action packed movie!

I think TT would want to do a star studded hit like LIAMST. It'll probably come down to two things: does Fox have a solid HD master for it, and is Fox willing to let it go to TT. My guess it the HD master part is what might hold it up, but I don't know....The master of LIAMST up at netflix looks good, but not close to "perfect" like The Egyptian or Picnic.

ROclockCK 02-19-2012 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oildude (Post 5815117)
And I agree with ROclockCK - Demetrius and the Gladiators has the potential to be TT's next sell out. I haven't seen it in maybe 20 years when it was on TV, but I remember really liking it. TT's cover is awesome, as is the one for Bite the Bullet. I really like what they are doing with the cover art on their releases.

Interestingly, after only two days of pre-orders, Demetrius and the Gladiators is already up to 2nd spot on SAE's sales chart for the entire week oildude! Things that make you go "Hmmm..."

I don't want to be accused of fear-mongering or instilling panic buying, as was suggested on the Fright Night thread (although that turned out to indeed be prophetic), but I think that is a phenomenal pre-order response over such a brief span of time. Considerable numbers of folks are definitely jumping on this baby...

Yankees0222 02-19-2012 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROclockCK (Post 5817108)
Interestingly, after only two days of pre-orders, Demetrius and the Gladiators is already up to 2nd spot on SAE's sales chart for the entire week oildude! Things that make you go "Hmmm..."

I don't want to be accused of fear-mongering or instilling panic buying, as was suggested on the Fright Night thread (although that turned out to indeed be prophetic), but I think that is a phenomenal pre-order response over such a brief span of time. Considerable numbers of folks are definitely jumping on this baby...

To be fair, Bite The Bullet is right behind it at number 4. So either there's a pretty big demand for both, or it's just the initial preorder rush boosting up it's sales ranking which will die out in a week or two.

I think the real indicator is going to be where it stands on that list in the next couple of weeks.

I hope you're right though, I didn't really have the money for it atm but bit on the preorder because I didn't want to risk missing out on it :p

ROclockCK 02-19-2012 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees0222 (Post 5817170)
To be fair, Bite The Bullet is right behind it at number 4. So either there's a pretty big demand for both, or it's just the initial preorder rush boosting up it's sales ranking which will die out in a week or two.

That's what I want to be careful about in terms of perspective Yankees0222. Some initial pre-ordering spike is to be expected, but this one went live on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend, not the usual early weekday.

And yes, it does appear that Bite the Bullet hasn't been forgotten either. Might be getting a boost from that stunning cover. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees0222 (Post 5817170)
I think the real indicator is going to be where it stands on that list in the next couple of weeks.

Agreed. But with each week we only get closer to Easter, and we know that for many fans, their annual viewing of The Robe often includes Demetrius and the Gladiators. Once they discover that only 3000 of these Blu's exist worldwide, and SAE is the only place to buy* them, well...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees0222 (Post 5817170)
I hope you're right though, I didn't really have the money for it atm but bit on the preorder because I didn't want to risk missing out on it :p

The good news with Twilight Time, is we always have that e-mail buffer when stock dwindles to 500 or less.

* + TT's aftermarket presence on Amazon.com.


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