David Lean's Ryan Daughter (1970)

[in2video2]

After the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) we will have all but Ryan's Daughter (1970) still to be restored and prepared for high definition and Blu-Ray transfer. Once this happens we will have the latter portion of David Lean's opus from 1957 to 1984 all on Blu-Ray. I was wondering just how many of us are interested in adding this movie into their Blu-Ray collections. Ryan's Daughter was filmed in Super Panavision 70 - one of the very last in fact - so it should make Ireland look and sound brilliant on Blu-Ray. I, for one, would jump at the chance to add this film to my collection. Am I the only one?

[Johnny Vinyl]

You're for sure not the only one. I love David Lean and will be getting LOA day one most likely, which is something I rarely do due to price. But this movie is such a classic and I haven't seen it in decades. Ryan's Daughter should look terrific on Blu-ray and it'll be on my wishlist.

I only have A Passage to India and The Bridge on the River Kwai so far.

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

You're for sure not the only one. I love David Lean and will be getting LOA day one most likely, which is something I rarely do due to price. But this movie is such a classic and I haven't seen it in decades. Ryan's Daughter should look terrific on Blu-ray and it'll be on my wishlist.

I only have A Passage to India and The Bridge on the River Kwai so far.

You need to add Doctor Zhivago to your collection!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

You need to add Doctor Zhivago to your collection!

You're right, I do!

[Holmes]

YES. Definitely. Honestly, I believe this would be the perfect movie to release on Blu-ray. A bit of a forgotten gem people would love discovering in high definition.

[ruioptica]

"Ryan's Daughter" was released in Spain on April 14th

Link:

http://www.amazon.es/Hija-Ryan-BD-Blu-ray/dp/B00VMU9328/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429878148&sr=8-2&keywords=ryans+daughter

[rickeroo62]

Really looking forward to "Ryan's" release. Probably one of the most beautiful movies ever made.

[yellowcakeuf6]

While it's a movie I just do not love, it should be available on Blu-ray. I've seen it in an original 70mm print on the big screen, and that is how the large format photography really shines. The production and format are much too big for the story IMO, and Lean really got blasted for that by the critics, but the location photography looks fantastic.

[Tns49]

Originally Posted by yellowcakeuf6

While it's a movie I just do not love, it should be available on Blu-ray. I've seen it in an original 70mm print on the big screen, and that is how the large format photography really shines. The production and format are much too big for the story IMO, and Lean really got blasted for that by the critics, but the location photography looks fantastic.

At his point would like to see it come to UHD.


Does anyone know what is the holdup with a release. Rights owned by David Lean's estate? Warner Brothers? MGM? Someone else?

[Richard--W]

Don't know the answers, but money burns a hole in my pocket for this bluray.

I'm in the group who love this film.

[aibo]

Need this.

[drush9999]

Would have thought it would make a great Warner Archive release.

Still waiting for a 1080p Blu-ray of Oliver Twist as well, the French release is 1080i.

[baloobas]

Anyone got any idea why this hasn't been released anywhere in the world? (apart from the Spanish bootleg).

[baloobas]

I tweeted Warner Archive about this and they replied they had no plans to release it.
I also tweeted the BFI and they replied “great idea, we’ll pass it on to our team”.
So don’t hold your breath.

[bigbadwoppet]

Originally Posted by baloobas

I tweeted Warner Archive about this and they replied they had no plans to release it.
I also tweeted the BFI and they replied “great idea, we’ll pass it on to our team”.
So don’t hold your breath.

WAC is too busy restoring/releasing titles that nobody was asking for like Cannery Row, which I'd only heard of because I was alive when it was first released.

I mean, why'd they have any plans to release a David Lean classic merely because of its 50th anniversary? Ridiculous!

[yellowcakeuf6]

They waited too long to do the work, and now it is way too much cost to even consider. This would never be a big seller, so no one is going to spend that kind of money now that it is more expensive than ever to restore large format films.
I'm only saying this to hopefully be proven wrong, but you'll never see proper restorations and home media releases of this, Can-Can, Star!, The Big Fisherman or Raintree County.
I'll take lesser versions of these at this point, such as what Kino did with The Last Valley.
I'm particularly worried about The Big Fisherman. The last time I saw it on TCM it was a very bad TV print in 4:3 pan-and scan!

[Nicage22]

Originally Posted by yellowcakeuf6

They waited too long to do the work, and now it is way too much cost to even consider. This would never be a big seller, so no one is going to spend that kind of money now that it is more expensive than ever to restore large format films.

I don't know if it's as dire as The Alamo (1960) situation, but they should start the restoration work.

It might not be a big seller, but it's David Lean. Moreover, it's "high profile-waiting to be rediscovered Lean".

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by Nicage22

I don't know if it's as dire as The Alamo (1960) situation, but they should start the restoration work.

It might not be a big seller, but it's David Lean. Moreover, it's "high profile-waiting to be rediscovered Lean".

Yes , I think the film negative is in much better shape, it's that now there's the requirement to scan large format film in 8K, that and the required digital work needed for 4K presentation is through the roof financially at this point. Otherwise, why haven't we seen this released yet?
There's a broadcast HD version out there, because that's what the Europe BD (bootleg) seemed to be based on, I haven't seen it, but would certainly take that on disc because I read that Spain(?) BD looked very good.
I agree with what you said, and Warner has already done some work. I just wouldn't expect a Lawrence of Arabia quality home video release if they ever do one.

Here's a WAC Youtube clip:

youtube.com/watch?v=qPk6aWR7i9c

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by baloobas

I tweeted Warner Archive about this and they replied they had no plans to release it.
I also tweeted the BFI and they replied “great idea, we’ll pass it on to our team”.
So don’t hold your breath.

It must have been an abysmal seller on DVD.

[Coligion]

This seems like a prime candidate for a Warner Archive release, but why it continues to be ignored is perplexing. Like others have mentioned, perhaps the DVD sales underperformed, but one would still think a Blu-ray release of one of David Lean's last pictures would garner some interest. For those curious, DVDBeaver has a detailed review comparing the Warner 2-disc DVD and Spain's unofficial Blu-ray.