The RKO Collection from IVC - Blu-ray Forum

easydreamer · 12-20-2015, 12:43 PM

It appears that the releases of Citizen Kane & The Magnificent Ambersons are just the beginnings of things to come.

IVC is releasing the RKO films in The RKO Collection. The 2nd batch of titles will be released in Feb (while the 1st batch will come in Jan), so we might be able to expect more in the monthly basis.
(Edit: The March titles have been announced)

This could be a great news since the RKO titles have been neglected in the US due to them owned by Warner (who are notoriously slow releasing the catalog titles). They are outright owned by IVC in Japan.

I'm not sure how the image quality will be for these Blu-rays, but the IVC's track records are generally good in the Blu-ray era, so hopefully they look good, if not great.

I'm especially excited about the releases of Val Lewton horrors. Keep more comin'!

New!
2016/4/29

King Kong

Bringing Up Baby

They Live By Night

2016/3/25

The Fugitive

Fort Apache

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Wagon Master

John Ford Blu-ray Box

2016/2/26

Suspicion

Cat People

I Walked With a Zombie

2016/1/29 (These 3 titles are NOT labeled as The RKO Collection):

Citizen Kane

The Magnificent Ambersons

Orson Welles Blu-ray Box

Postponed (Release Date TBD)

The Thing from Another World

Wireduck1 · 01-01-2016, 05:27 AM

Can't wait for each of those February releases; together with the release of Hitchcock's 'I confess' these 4 classics have been on my wish list for so long. Happy 2016

easydreamer · 01-13-2016, 11:26 PM

More titles forthcoming!

These titles have been listed for March, and all are John Ford titles!
(Click the images below to jump to the Blu-ray.com entries)

2016/3/25

The Fugitive

Fort Apache

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Wagon Master

John Ford Blu-ray Box

atfree · 01-20-2016, 03:11 PM

All likely upconverts. WB responded to a Facebook inquiry about these RKO releases in Japan:

"Distribution rights to RKO films in Japan were sold off years before we ended up owning that library. We have no knowledge of what is being released there. We can only state that it does not involve the use of our original elements."

Blu2u · 01-20-2016, 07:50 PM

WB does not know what elements Japan has available. Although, Magnificent Ambersons was put on hold for a few years while they tried to find suitable elements for a possible Blu-ray/better DVD release. I can't imagine they wouldn't try Japan.

easydreamer · 01-20-2016, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atfree

All likely upconverts. WB responded to a Facebook inquiry about these RKO releases in Japan:

"Distribution rights to RKO films in Japan were sold off years before we ended up owning that library. We have no knowledge of what is being released there. We can only state that it does not involve the use of our original elements."

Upconvert from what? IVC released loads of RKO films on VHS & DVD in the past, and most of them used the crappy masters with burnt-in Japanese subtitles. So, they are clearly not the basis for these Blu-ray.

Since the description for each Blu-ray said it is a "HD master", I hope they are of decent quality, even if they don't use the original elements from WB.

Bruce Morrison · 01-22-2016, 09:57 AM

I recently read on one of these forums that 'She Wore A Yellow Ribbon' had figured high in a Warner vote last year, so it was believed that it might well be released on Blu by Warner in the US during 2016. Another title that came out well in that vote was 'The Big Sleep', and that has already been announced for a February release in the Warner Archive series.

Arkadin · 02-12-2016, 10:43 AM

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon has been a ridiculously neglected title by Warner on bd, on the same level with Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story.
Throw in my now most wanted bd--Splendor in the Grass for good measure.

Warner has released some great classics on bd--just not enough overall imo.
btw: Certainly Around the World in Eighty Days must be coming this year if ever.
some kind of anniversary thingey and all.

silverlakephil · 02-12-2016, 09:11 PM

DVDBeaver's review of The Magnificent Ambersons:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...ns_blu-ray.htm

What happened to the black levels :-( ?

Arkadin · 02-12-2016, 09:20 PM

Isn't there some big thing about black levels on Japanese films brought out in the US, and how certain changes have to made to display them accurately??
maybe this is that in reverse.

I'm sure someone else can explain what I'm referring to.
Either way--even thought the titles are fantastic, I just don't have a real good feeling about this.

easydreamer · 02-24-2016, 10:50 PM

April titles are as follows:

2016/4/29

King Kong

Bringing Up Baby

They Live By Night

Unfortunately, The Thing from Another World is now postponed, and no new date is announced yet.

In May, they will be releasing Astaire & Rogers musicals (though it looks like they only release 7 of them). Will update once the listings are up on Amazon.

bongozoid · 03-03-2016, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easydreamer

April titles are as follows:

In May, they will be releasing Astaire & Rogers musicals (though it looks like they only release 7 of them). Will update once the listings are up on Amazon.

Sign me up for those!

filmmusic · 03-03-2016, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by easydreamer

In May, they will be releasing Astaire & Rogers musicals (though it looks like they only release 7 of them). Will update once the listings are up on Amazon.

i surely hope these come in other countries too.

John_Drake · 03-03-2016, 10:13 PM

The Astaire/Rogers listings are up at Amazon.co.jp for a May 27 release date:

The Box (7 discs, the sole special feature is a booklet in Japanese)

Separate releases:

Carefree

Follow the Fleet

The Gay Divorcee

Shall We Dance?

Top Hat

Swing Time

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

sailor53 · 03-04-2016, 11:33 PM

Great News. I will definitely be buying The Gay Divorcee.

filmmusic · 03-05-2016, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailor53

Great News. I will definitely be buying The Gay Divorcee.

Robert Harris at Home theater forum about the Astaire-Rogers box:

Quote:

My advice is simple.

Don't go there. WAIT.

RAH

I'm willing to wait...
Especially since these Blurays don't come from original elements that WB has.

zakzak · 04-17-2016, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John_Drake

The Astaire/Rogers listings are up at Amazon.co.jp for a May 27 release date:

The Box (7 discs, the sole special feature is a booklet in Japanese)

Separate releases:

Carefree

Follow the Fleet

The Gay Divorcee

Shall We Dance?

Top Hat

Swing Time

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

Great fantastic news! But quality of transfer? Not buying upconverts!

agent999 · 04-17-2016, 06:52 AM

As far as I know none in the collection have been upconverts so far, just untouched scans from release prints. I have The Thing, plenty of print damage, cigarette burns, flickering etc., but it is HD.

Monroville · 04-18-2016, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent999

As far as I know none in the collection have been upconverts so far, just untouched scans from release prints. I have The Thing, plenty of print damage, cigarette burns, flickering etc., but it is HD.

Cool... any chance to see a screen cap or two?

agent999 · 04-18-2016, 07:07 AM

Unfortuntely I don't have a Blu Ray drive. There are caps on DVD Beaver, but this looks worse in motion due to noise/flickering (not sure how to describe it) visible against dark backgrounds. Hopefully Warner will release this eventually.

12-20-2015, 12:43 PM	#1
easydreamer Expert Member Top contributor Member since:May 2013 4K collection:224 Blu-ray collection:3832 DVD collection:779 Digital collection:4 iTunes collection:6	The RKO Collection from IVC It appears that the releases of Citizen Kane & The Magnificent Ambersons are just the beginnings of things to come. IVC is releasing the RKO films in The RKO Collection. The 2nd batch of titles will be released in Feb (while the 1st batch will come in Jan), so we might be able to expect more in the monthly basis. (Edit: The March titles have been announced) This could be a great news since the RKO titles have been neglected in the US due to them owned by Warner (who are notoriously slow releasing the catalog titles). They are outright owned by IVC in Japan. I'm not sure how the image quality will be for these Blu-rays, but the IVC's track records are generally good in the Blu-ray era, so hopefully they look good, if not great. I'm especially excited about the releases of Val Lewton horrors. Keep more comin'! New! 2016/4/29 King Kong Bringing Up Baby They Live By Night 2016/3/25 The Fugitive Fort Apache She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Wagon Master John Ford Blu-ray Box 2016/2/26 Suspicion Cat People I Walked With a Zombie 2016/1/29 (These 3 titles are NOT labeled as The RKO Collection): Citizen Kane The Magnificent Ambersons Orson Welles Blu-ray Box Postponed (Release Date TBD) The Thing from Another World Last edited by easydreamer; 02-24-2016 at 10:46 PM. Reason: New info added

01-01-2016, 05:27 AM	#2
Wireduck1 Power Member Member since:Jul 2012 Location:In the darkest depths of Mordor Blu-ray reviews:1	Can't wait for each of those February releases; together with the release of Hitchcock's 'I confess' these 4 classics have been on my wish list for so long. Happy 2016

01-13-2016, 11:26 PM	#3
easydreamer Expert Member Top contributor Member since:May 2013 4K collection:224 Blu-ray collection:3832 DVD collection:779 Digital collection:4 iTunes collection:6	More titles forthcoming! These titles have been listed for March, and all are John Ford titles! (Click the images below to jump to the Blu-ray.com entries) 2016/3/25 The Fugitive Fort Apache She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Wagon Master John Ford Blu-ray Box

01-20-2016, 03:11 PM	#4
atfree Expert Member Top contributor Member since:Jan 2011 Location:South Carolina Home Theater Gallery:6 4K collection:60 Blu-ray collection:1120 DVD collection:125 MA collection:65 Digital collection:8 iTunes collection:86 Prime collection:1 Blu-ray reviews: 4	All likely upconverts. WB responded to a Facebook inquiry about these RKO releases in Japan: "Distribution rights to RKO films in Japan were sold off years before we ended up owning that library. We have no knowledge of what is being released there. We can only state that it does not involve the use of our original elements."

01-20-2016, 07:50 PM	#5
Blu2u Power Member Member since:Jan 2012 Trading Score:228	WB does not know what elements Japan has available. Although, Magnificent Ambersons was put on hold for a few years while they tried to find suitable elements for a possible Blu-ray/better DVD release. I can't imagine they wouldn't try Japan.

01-22-2016, 09:57 AM	#7
Bruce Morrison Power Member Member since:Feb 2007 Location:United Kingdom 4K collection:339 Blu-ray collection:2245 DVD collection:581	I recently read on one of these forums that 'She Wore A Yellow Ribbon' had figured high in a Warner vote last year, so it was believed that it might well be released on Blu by Warner in the US during 2016. Another title that came out well in that vote was 'The Big Sleep', and that has already been announced for a February release in the Warner Archive series.

02-12-2016, 10:43 AM	#8
Arkadin Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2007 Location:...somewhere in Sweden Blu-ray collection:- Blu-ray reviews: 1 Trading Score:9	She Wore A Yellow Ribbon has been a ridiculously neglected title by Warner on bd, on the same level with Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. Throw in my now most wanted bd--Splendor in the Grass for good measure. Warner has released some great classics on bd--just not enough overall imo. btw: Certainly Around the World in Eighty Days must be coming this year if ever. some kind of anniversary thingey and all.

02-12-2016, 09:11 PM	#9
silverlakephil Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Dec 2011 Location:The Bay Area 4K collection:99 Blu-ray collection:2292 DVD collection:13 Trading Score:18	DVDBeaver's review of The Magnificent Ambersons: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-r...ns_blu-ray.htm What happened to the black levels :-( ?

02-12-2016, 09:20 PM	#10
Arkadin Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2007 Location:...somewhere in Sweden Blu-ray collection:- Blu-ray reviews: 1 Trading Score:9	Isn't there some big thing about black levels on Japanese films brought out in the US, and how certain changes have to made to display them accurately?? maybe this is that in reverse. I'm sure someone else can explain what I'm referring to. Either way--even thought the titles are fantastic, I just don't have a real good feeling about this.

02-24-2016, 10:50 PM	#11
easydreamer Expert Member Top contributor Member since:May 2013 4K collection:224 Blu-ray collection:3832 DVD collection:779 Digital collection:4 iTunes collection:6	April titles are as follows: 2016/4/29 King Kong Bringing Up Baby They Live By Night Unfortunately, The Thing from Another World is now postponed, and no new date is announced yet. In May, they will be releasing Astaire & Rogers musicals (though it looks like they only release 7 of them). Will update once the listings are up on Amazon.

03-03-2016, 10:13 PM	#14
John_Drake Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Jul 2013 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:3442 Trading Score:92	The Astaire/Rogers listings are up at Amazon.co.jp for a May 27 release date: The Box (7 discs, the sole special feature is a booklet in Japanese) Separate releases: Carefree Follow the Fleet The Gay Divorcee Shall We Dance? Top Hat Swing Time The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle

03-04-2016, 11:33 PM	#15
sailor53 Member Top contributor Member since:Feb 2011 4K collection:50 Blu-ray collection:1361 DVD collection:37	Great News. I will definitely be buying The Gay Divorcee.

04-17-2016, 06:52 AM	#18
agent999 Expert Member Member since:Apr 2010 Location:UK	As far as I know none in the collection have been upconverts so far, just untouched scans from release prints. I have The Thing, plenty of print damage, cigarette burns, flickering etc., but it is HD.

04-18-2016, 07:07 AM	#20
agent999 Expert Member Member since:Apr 2010 Location:UK	Unfortuntely I don't have a Blu Ray drive. There are caps on DVD Beaver, but this looks worse in motion due to noise/flickering (not sure how to describe it) visible against dark backgrounds. Hopefully Warner will release this eventually.

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals