The Alamo (1960)

[renegadeviking]

In 1836, a small band of soldiers sacrifice their lives in hopeless combat against a massive army in order to prevent a tyrant from smashing the new Republic of Texas. imdb 6.8

[Shane Rollins]

There’s three reasons this isn’t on Blu-ray:

1. M
2. G
3. M

Per RAH, they sat on the elements so long that the negative is bad and the one surviving print of the roadshow version is worse. While RAH claims the elements are no longer usable, I think they can be saved, but it will cost a metric ton of money.

Of all the MGM titles I want (quality versions of Bond, Rocky, Hawaii, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and some others), a restored version of The Alamo is the big one. And thanks to MGM spending two decades dicking off, it likely won’t happen.

The region B Koch disc is fairly good, but it’s nowhere near a reference disc. It’s more like the best we have under the current circumstances. Also, it’s region locked, so if you’re not in region B or have a region B/region free player, you’re effectively barred from the disc.

[CinemaScope]

I thought MGM was sold to Amazon a couple of years ago. As I understand it, the extra scenes for the roadshow version are long gone, no negatives, only a print that's now unusable. I have the German Koch Blu-ray release with both cinema & roadshow versions, the scenes for the roadshow version taken from a laserdisc, which I thought would be all but unwatchable, but Koch did a great job with them. One thing I did find out is that I much preferred the cinema cut (which I saw at the cinema all those years ago when I was ten). I think the picture looks really nice, but of course I would double-dip if a new transfer was made from the original 65mm negatives, & then I'm sure it would get a 4K release. The German Blu-ray is now only 18 euros, but that's the cinema cut only.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/John-Wayn...d%2C121&sr=1-1

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by CinemaScope

I thought MGM was sold to Amazon a couple of years ago. As I understand it, the extra scenes for the roadshow version are long gone, no negatives, only a print that's now unusable. I have the German Koch Blu-ray release with both cinema & roadshow versions, the scenes for the roadshow version taken from a laserdisc, which I thought would be all but unwatchable, but Koch did a great job with them. One thing I did find out is that I much preferred the cinema cut (which I saw at the cinema all those years ago when I was ten). I think the picture looks really nice, but of course I would double-dip if a new transfer was made from the original 65mm negatives, & then I'm sure it would get a 4K release. The German Blu-ray is now only 18 euros, but that's the cinema cut only.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/John-Wayn...d%2C121&sr=1-1

And it’s B locked, that’s the reason I haven’t picked it up. My finances nosedived, so I have no way to bug a region-free player, plus I don’t know if there’s a way to mess with my Samsung 4K player to operate a B locked disc/all region discs.

[Batman90]

Everyone says the negative is bad but how is it bootleggers have a great version of this? I’ve seen a bootleg 4k copy and it all looked great.

[Shane Rollins]

And besides, those 16mm prints of Metropolis were unusable too.

Restore both cuts and release them, or farm it out to someone who will.

RAH doesn’t have much confidence in the elements, but literally the only one explicitly saying that the elements are FUBAR is MGM.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

And besides, those 16mm prints of Metropolis were unusable too.

Restore both cuts and release them, or farm it out to someone who will.

RAH doesn’t have much confidence in the elements, but literally the only one explicitly saying that the elements are FUBAR is MGM.

Well shit on that, because per RAH...

Originally Posted by Robert A. Harris

To me, the real 65mm challenge remains The Alamo, which is in far worse condition. Now owned by Amazon, all I need is an approval to save it. $$ aren’t the obstacle.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/com...6/post-5291086

While this certainly isn't a "great sign", it certainly means there's still a chance. It's a snowball's chance in hell, but it's still a chance.