Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray Discussion Thread

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by SoundOfSilence

In the case of Rebecca, Criterion acquired the rights to market the laserdisc in 1991, the rights to distribute the DVD in 2003 and the rights to sell Blu-rays in 2017.

My point was that Criterion is not sitting on the rights to Spellbound. It would acquire a license for each production run.

The notion that the MGM Blus all went OOP at the same time and Criterion only picked up two of the three, the third not being picked up by anyone, is absurd. Criterion clearly has it.

You may well be right and the elements of Spellbound are the obstacle to any future releases.

I don’t recall it being that bad when I last watched the M-G-M Blu-ray release. But it’s been a few years and I tend to be quite forgiving.

There are a lot of missing frames IIRC.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Just finished watching The Carey Treatment. As expected solid PQ from WAC. They rarely disappoint. Film was a lot more entertaining than expected, but it's James Coburn. He's nearly always reliable. Hopefully will be able to revisit Pat Garrett soon enough with the Criterion the way. Also hoping Paramount releases Affliction, which is one I haven't seen, but Coburn was nominated so it sounds like it might be one of his better performances.

He wasn't just nominated, Coburn won the Oscar for Affliction and deservedly so. I could have never imagined any actor alive who would have been able to intimidate and bully a character played by Nick Nolte, but Coburn pulls it off. He plays a right, absolute bastard in that film and does so brilliantly.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Hammerlover

Speaking of Hitchcock, nobody ever talks very much about FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT. Perhaps if Cary Grant had played the lead role, it would be more widely discussed today. At any rate, I think it's a crackerjack thriller with a fine cast, and the Criterion Blu-ray is highly recommended. And now back to WAC....

Joel McCrea is one of my favorite under appreciated actors. I think people so associate him with Westerns that they forget he did great comedic turns in The More the Merrier and The Palm Beach Story or action leads like The Most Dangerous Game and Foreign Correspondent. A really versatile actor.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

He wasn't just nominated, Coburn won the Oscar for Affliction and deservedly so. I could have never imagined any actor alive who would have been able to intimidate and bully a character played by Nick Nolte, but Coburn pulls it off. He plays a right, absolute bastard in that film and does so brilliantly.

Interesting. I didn't know he had won for the role, so now I want to see it even more. Coburn has grown to become one of my favorite actors over the years and it sounds like this a powerhouse performance that he gives within the film.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by belcherman

Affliction was one the most disturbing movies I’ve ever scene. Coburn is great in it, but Nick Nolte really deserved recognition for his portrayal of a man slowly descending into the seven circles of hell. You know a movie is going to weird places when Willem Dafoe plays the sanest character.

It’s a terrific film but I’m not sure I could sit through it again.

Paul Schrader's best films are the ones where he focuses on truly psychologically tortured men, and I don't think any two characters he's ever written are more tortured than Coburn and Nolte in that film. As you said, as great as it is, "Affliction" is just a brutal bear of a film that's a genuinely tough watch.

[SoundOfSilence]

Originally Posted by koberulz

The notion that the MGM Blus all went OOP at the same time and Criterion only picked up two of the three, the third not being picked up by anyone, is absurd. Criterion clearly has it.

There are a lot of missing frames IIRC.

Absurd?

You're attacking points I haven't made.

If you revisit my original reply you'll note that it was to the suggestion that Criterion had sat on Spellbound since 2002.

Clearly not. It is listed as OOP which, according to Criterion's FAQ, occurs when the distribution rights lapse or are withdrawn.

As to whether or not Criterion has reacquired distribution rights I remain open to the possibility. I never said they hadn't.

But you have piqued my curiosity as to whether there are any missing frames.

[Starchild]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Persistence indeed! It took almost two years so at this point I was surprised anyone got my email.

To be fair to Warner Archive, no one has been in the office for the majority of that time due to the pandemic.

[bonehica]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Interesting. I didn't know he had won for the role, so now I want to see it even more. Coburn has grown to become one of my favorite actors over the years and it sounds like this a powerhouse performance that he gives within the film.

Affliction is my number one want on blu ray. Has been ever since the format debuted. Coburn's performance is truly one for ages. According to Roger Ebert, Schrader pulled him aside prior to shooting and let him know that Nolte would walk all over him if he wasn't prepared. Coburn's response was: "Oh, you mean you want me to really act? I can do that. I haven't often been asked to, but I can." Their scenes together are breathtaking, haunting and soul crushing. I also feel the need to mention the stunning score by Michael Brook. The movie would not be nearly as powerful without it.

[grahams76]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Well this was unexpected. After all this time I wrote WB again and suddenly got this box in the mail for my rotted DVDs.
Anyone with this issue should contact whv@wb.com. They can only help with in print or in stock titles.

[Show spoiler]

I’m shocked it was this easy and after all this time that I have replacements for most things.

From that bunch, I’ve still got The Hill and Illegal/The Big Steal and Crime Wave/Decoy. What was the issue and is it widespread?

[SoundOfSilence]

Originally Posted by koberulz

There are a lot of missing frames IIRC.

I just re-watched it.

My copy was fine. No skips, freezes, stutters or missing frames.

That said, your recollection is probably 100% correct.

According to http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcom...us_blu-ray.htm the set should be recalled. I assume the same issue may plague individual discs too.

"NOTE: Defective MGM Hitchcock Premiere Collection
Reports are coming in by the droves about the MGM Hitchcock Premiere Collection. We do not yet own the entire set and have only covered Notorious and Rebecca which played without issue on my Malata - but we understand many individual's players are having problems with all, or selective transfers from the set. These represent faults such as the disc wobbling in the tray, unsubstantiated noise in playback, freezing and chapter skips. MGM must recall this set immediately. If you own the set please verify if you too have these problems and report them to the outlet you purchased them or MGM directly. If we find an email to use we will post it here.."

I guess I was lucky. But there are definite issues with the MGM set.

Though it seems that the issues are with manufacturing rather than the source materials.

While I found the disc perfectly acceptable there is certainly room for improvement.

I anticipate WAC would do a better job. Though it seems Criterion may have the rights. IMO you can't go wrong with either. Though I rarely watch the extras so WAC is better for me.

At times it was a little soft. But not often. In addition, the overall presentation errs on towards a brighter exposure and could benefit from a more noirish (if there is such a word) mood.

Not sure what source MGM used. I suspect it a 35 mm safety. That is not to suggest it is bad. It is just not as good as Rebecca. Though that is probably setting the bar quite high.

From memory, Rebecca used the original nitrate stored (very, very carefully!) by George Eastman House.

https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasear...fm?eadid=00671

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

MGM let Kino do The Paradine Case because it wasn't famous enough for them apparently and Kino wound up doing solid BDs for Lifeboat and Under Capricorn. .

Just FYI - Kino got The Paradine Case from Disney/ABC

[Jorvic]

Originally Posted by bonehica

Affliction is my number one want on blu ray. Has been ever since the format debuted. Coburn's performance is truly one for ages. According to Roger Ebert, Schrader pulled him aside prior to shooting and let him know that Nolte would walk all over him if he wasn't prepared. Coburn's response was: "Oh, you mean you want me to really act? I can do that. I haven't often been asked to, but I can." Their scenes together are breathtaking, haunting and soul crushing. I also feel the need to mention the stunning score by Michael Brook. The movie would not be nearly as powerful without it.

Schrader has done so many notable films. Affliction needs a decent HD transfer. Agree that Coburn gives a tremendous performance.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Starchild

To be fair to Warner Archive, no one has been in the office for the majority of that time due to the pandemic.

True. That’s why I kept waiting since there was both the pandemic and company restructuring. I wasn’t even sure if there would be a customer service person at this point.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by grahams76

From that bunch, I’ve still got The Hill and Illegal/The Big Steal and Crime Wave/Decoy. What was the issue and is it widespread?

It’s a manufacturing plant issue that causes disc rot on many Warner boxsets and titles 2006-2009. Most people know about Warner HDDVD rot but the dvd rot unfortunately affects many classic titles without Blu-ray or reissues.
Some I’ve been able to upgrade to BD when they were released including Cable Hogue. Whoever looked at my information sent me a replacement dvd copy because my dvd had rotted. They didn’t have to since I have the BD but it was a nice gesture.

[CineClassics]

Does Warner own the rights to the RKO library of films? Just watched 1937's Stage Door and immediately went on the hunt for a blu-ray, to of course discover that it hasn't been released.

[BamaDullard]

Originally Posted by CineClassics

Does Warner own the rights to the RKO library of films? Just watched 1937's Stage Door and immediately went on the hunt for a blu-ray, to of course discover that it hasn't been released.

Yes, they do.

[gudemameshiba]

Originally Posted by SoundOfSilence

I anticipate WAC would do a better job.

Stranger things have happened in the home video world, but it would be very surprising for a title currently owned by Amazon (via acquisition of MGM) to turn up as a WAC release.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by CineClassics

Does Warner own the rights to the RKO library of films? Just watched 1937's Stage Door and immediately went on the hunt for a blu-ray, to of course discover that it hasn't been released.

They do but the RKO archive is in very bad shape so they don't dip into it for Bluray very often. I believe we're getting The Gay Divorcee soon so that'll be a good opportunity to see what can be done with current tools. In the majority of cases for that RKO material, the Blurays are more a fresh opportunity to retransfer from best sources, repair faults and clean up rather than anything you would honestly call HD. If the new remasters were released as DVD editions there wouldn't be that much in it - it's a preservationist endeavour more than a home theatre experience. Still absolutely worth doing wherever possible but it's not going to be night and day.

During the early part of the pandemic, the BBC acquired long term broadcast and streaming rights for a big wodge of the RKO library in the UK, and some of the masters seriously stink. And there are no better in most cases. I think realistically a lot of the films are lost causes unless they start selling extraordinarily well.

[randian]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

They do but the RKO archive is in very bad shape so they don't dip into it for Bluray very often. I believe we're getting The Gay Divorcee soon so that'll be a good opportunity to see what can be done with current tools.

How bad is very bad? The before/after videos ClassicFlix did to promote their Our Gang releases showed pretty spectacular improvement, for example. The "after" looked like brand new film.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

During the early part of the pandemic, the BBC acquired long term broadcast and streaming rights for a big wodge of the RKO library in the UK, and some of the masters seriously stink. And there are no better in most cases. I think realistically a lot of the films are lost causes unless they start selling extraordinarily well.

The BBC has had UK broadcast rights since the 50s and some other rights since 1979, and they're still using antiquated video masters they made in the 80s when they stopped running prints, some substandard NTSC-to-PAL standards conversions too poor to broadcast on modern TV but which they dumped on iplayer several years ago. The library is split between mutiple companies in multiple territories and the BBC either has no access, or for economic reasons sought no access to the best material. You can't judge the current state of Warners' RKO materials from anything the BBC holds.