Phantom of the Opera 4K UHD (1943)

[MifuneFan]

An individual release of Phantom of the Opera (1943) is coming out in October from Universal.

https://www.gruv.com/product/phantom...hd_blu_ray_uhd

[Member-865437]

I haven't seen this, but I cannot wait to pick this up!

[SMOOT]

The price listed on the link above is as high for this one film as it is for the set with all 4 (that Phantom was originally released with on 4K).
I'm not familiar with HD Movie Source, so is this price likely to drop dramatically?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by SMOOT

The price listed on the link above is as high for this one film as it is for the set with all 4 (that Phantom was originally released with on 4K).
I'm not familiar with HD Movie Source, so is this price likely to drop dramatically?

That's a Canadian site, and they overpriced everything. It should be more reasonably priced when it comes out (especially at places like Gruv).

[MifuneFan]

Cover art and Gruv pre-order

https://www.gruv.com/product/phantom...hd_blu_ray_uhd

[Monterey Jack]

A rare color Universal Monster movie, and the cover image is in B&W...

[THS]

Alright Universal/Best Buy, gonna go ahead and need 4K Steelbooks for this next run of Universal Monster movies.

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by THS

Alright Universal/Best Buy, gonna go ahead and need 4K Steelbooks for this next run of Universal Monster movies.

Damn right!

[-shadow-]

Look, I understand why they always push this film over the '25 film. But man, I wish they'd restore that version to the best of their ability and include that one alongside this one in these sets. The two are distinct enough from one another to justify both honestly. Now more than ever considering the anniversary in less then two years.

[jpanimation]

Originally Posted by -shadow-

Look, I understand why they always push this film over the '25 film. But man, I wish they'd restore that version to the best of their ability and include that one alongside this one in these sets. The two are distinct enough from one another to justify both honestly. Now more than ever considering the anniversary in less then two years.

This. Pushing this version is like having a Disney animated boxset that contains a random live action remake in it instead of the animated classic. With Phantom, the 40s version isn't even the same genre. I hope they restore it at some point and release it like they did Hunchback. I've been waiting years for the real Phantom and honestly, with him getting his own house at Halloween Horror Nights, this it seems like a missed opportunity to release it

[Member-865437]

Originally Posted by -shadow-

Look, I understand why they always push this film over the '25 film. But man, I wish they'd restore that version to the best of their ability and include that one alongside this one in these sets. The two are distinct enough from one another to justify both honestly. Now more than ever considering the anniversary in less then two years.

Universal has many great titles in their catalog. They really need to start their own Universal Archive, AKA Warner Archive's counterpart, or license titles over to Warner Archive, which may be possible with their deal.

[crissrudd4554]

Even if Universal restored the 1925 film the restoration would likely be licensed to a different label and not included with the other monster flicks at which case were sorta back to square one.

[plissken99]

Robert Englund is the true phantom!

[fred25_Ca]

There's a pretty good Kino blu ray release of the 1925 version at least. It also has much superior cover art than anything the current Universal team behind these covers could ever come up with. It has some great scores too. The only thing really missing is the Carl Davis score (available with the region B BFI release).
Honestly at this point i'd prefer Universal took care of The cat and the canary, which hasn't had a blu ray release yet.

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

There's a pretty good Kino blu ray release of the 1925 version at least. It also has much superior cover art than anything the current Universal team behind these covers could ever come up with. It has some great scores too. The only thing really missing is the Carl Davis score (available with the region B BFI release).
Honestly at this point i'd prefer Universal took care of The cat and the canary, which hasn't had a blu ray release yet.

in the usa the 1925 film is in the public domain because Universal did not renew the copyright in 1953. is this true? I really don't believe anything wiki says . then who owns it ?

[ClassicCraig]

Originally Posted by sa5150

in the usa the 1925 film is in the public domain because Universal did not renew the copyright in 1953. is this true? I really don't believe anything wiki says . then who owns it ?

It's PD because the original copyright is more than 95 years old. However, I think it was PD before that because of failure to renew.

[sa5150]

Originally Posted by ClassicCraig

It's PD because the original copyright is more than 95 years old. However, I think it was PD before that because of failure to renew.

You think someone will do a 100 anniversary 4K in 2025 ?

[ClassicCraig]

Originally Posted by sa5150

You think someone will do a 100 anniversary 4K in 2025 ?

I think the Eastman House negatives are 35mm, so it could be done from those. That's the version that is frequently mislabeled as the 1929 release. The 1925 version that exists was pieced together from 16mm prints sold to the public and the quality doesn't scream out for 4K.

I think some of the 1929 talkie version footage was recovered in France a few years ago and hasn't been released yet, but maybe I'm thinking of something else. If that's true, though, maybe Universal could persuade itself to put together a 100-year celebration that included an Eastman 4K, a new HD from the 16mm sources, and the "new" footage as a special feature.

[oddbox83]

The BD release of the Hunchback of Notre Dame 4K restoration tells me it’s well worth restoring the 1925 version as the quality can be improved. Arguably it’s more in need of restoration due to the poor quality of the surviving elements.

I think a restoration has been in progress, and I hope they restored both surviving versions. The 1925 version would really benefit from the colour material restored back into it or redone as it would have looked (as previous restorations have done in places for the Eastman 35mm version).

A reel of the sound version was found in the Library of Congress archive IIRC, and is present on the Kino Blu and the BFI Blu. The sound discs survive and elements are used along with the surviving reel on the Kino as a rough reconstruction of what it may have been like - though clearly from the surviving reel the sound version was significantly different to what the reconstruction is able to show.

[Tboneator64]

More for reasons of convenience than anything else, this edition of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943) will be the first 4K UHD that I'll be playing when I get my first proper 4K UHD player (My recent previous attempt to play said title on a UHD Drive having proven an abject failure!), hopefully within the next couple of weeks! CHEERS!