(All together now) This is why we hate warner

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by dougotte

I disagree w/ Saprano and agree wholeheartedly w/ Pro-B. Warners is consistently one of the best studios in regards to their DVD and BD releases. I can't address The Neverending Story, as I'm not familiar w/ the film, nor have I seen the BD. However, based upon many of their previous catalog DVDs and BDs (I've most recently seen Gone With the Wind and Oz), they usually put the most effort into the best PQ and AQ.

If I were to point out a studio lacking in the quality of their catalog releases, it would be Paramount. The Trek films, It's a Wonderful Life, and the less-than-optimal audio on the upcoming African Queen are examples off the top of my head.

Doug

Paramount did a horrible job on Gladiator and a couple other films but did you forget Star Trek 2009 (one of the best looking blu's ever) or Both Transformers, or how about Iron Man. Let go older, they did a great job on the Godfather Trilogy, Maybe you need to see more movies before you go off judging a studio because Paramount does way better than Warner, they just had a few hiccups.

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by saprano

no way in hell would this happen to spielberg or lucas.

agreed

[lDlisturb3d]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Hello,

I am unsure why there have been so many negative comments addressing Warner's release of The Neverending Story since Mr. Petersen's words were leaked in the press. The studio is not required to contact and/or consult every director whose film is considered/planned to be released on Blu-ray/SDVD. Aside from the fact that Mr. Petersen directed the film, there is nothing else that relates him to it - certainly not in legal terms. The studio owns the exclusive rights to the film, and they were by no means required to consult Mr. Petersen before they released his film.

Furthermore, it appears that even when the major studios do approach certain directors and consult them before they release certain "important" films, there is plenty of criticism thrown their way. Example: Mr. Friedkin was directly involved with the Blu-ray release of The French Connection, which was heavily criticized, as was the studio that approved and released it.

Finally, I find it quite amusing that anyone could actually be dissatisfied with Warner and their performance. If anything, the studio is to be commended for their dedication to bring classic and other important films to a market seriously influenced by the global economic crisis. Clearly, thus far, aside from Criterion, Warner have been the leaders in offering great films with great transfers on Blu-ray. And the impressive releases they have lined up for the rest of 2010 certainly suggest that they will remain the most influential major studio releasing on Blu-ray.

Pro-B

Warner still sucks no matter how you put it. They care about the dollar more than the Quality bottom line

[steve_dave]

I do not hate Warner nor do I feel that Paramount dropped the ball with The African Queen.

In fact, I'm willing to bet that most of the people here... even the OP.... will buy The Neverending Sotry when it dips to under $15. This happened with Gladiator where a majority of elitests bought it for $10 because of the rebate.

So Warner continue to do what you do.

Two movies on a single BD for $20? Sure. I love that.

Classic movies in high-definition? Sure. I love that.

Universal... keep coming out with the BD/DVD combos too. Yes. Please. That means more catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc. I love that.

Paramount... even if Sunset Boulevard, Up in Smoke, and Wings are presented in Dolby Digital audio only, keep releasing them. I love that.

[PeterTHX]

Well, I wish Fox had released The French Connection without Friedkin's approval.

[Trogdor2010]

There are some inconsistencies with Warner, and I wished warner would allow proper subtitle placement for some of their scope movies (Letters of Iwo Jima for example), but you got to give them alot of credit for their support for the blu ray format, bringing a lot of classic films good treatment and a large variety with more hits than misses. I do think my issue would be that Warner treats it's discs as the average consumer would buy it, as the average consumer doesn't have a high end audio system with lossless audio or even a surround sound system, and that doesn't surprise me that their treatment of subtitles placement on their discs.

[ffxiii]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

I do not hate Warner nor do I feel that Paramount dropped the ball with The African Queen.

In fact, I'm willing to bet that most of the people here... even the OP.... will buy The Neverending Sotry when it dips to under $15. This happened with Gladiator where a majority of elitests bought it for $10 because of the rebate.

So Warner continue to do what you do.

Two movies on a single BD for $20? Sure. I love that.

Classic movies in high-definition? Sure. I love that.

Universal... keep coming out with the BD/DVD combos too. Yes. Please. That means more catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc. I love that.

Paramount... even if Sunset Boulevard, Up in Smoke, and Wings are presented in Dolby Digital audio only, keep releasing them. I love that.

Agree with everything in this post as well as everything pro-b said. WB has been at the forefront of bringing excellent classic and catalogue title transfers to Blu-Ray.

This thread sucks.

[Fighter]

I like Warner...some people just have to much time on their hands.

[Atreyu]

Now I'm not going top say anything bad about all of Warner's releases, in general, on blu as I've only seen some, but their blu version of The NeverEnding story SUCKS!. Now this is my favorite film and I have seen it countless times on all types of video formats, VHS, CED, laserdisc and standard dvd. I even bought the Dutch version a little over a year ago and these versions are better in many respects than the new US release. I will start by saying that it looks like it was remastered a bit compared to the Dutch release with regards to sharpness, and less white specks on the film. The bad parts are this, the image is way way too dark and way too "orangey" in The Ivory Tower scene when Atreyu makes his entrance. When the older, inferior formats look better in those respects than something is definately amiss.
OK they didn't need to go to Petersen for approval, but wouldn't it have been nice to have asked for his input?

[ffxiii]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

OK they didn't need to go to Petersen for approval, but wouldn't it have been nice to have asked for his input?

Why? Just because it's your favorite movie? As has been pointed out, the overwhelming majority of Blu-Rays (probably 90% or more) are released without any directorial input.

[DetroitSportsFan]

I'm not a big fan of WB and some of their decisions, but they do have a huge catalog and they are releasing titles at a nice pace. I don't like digibooks or their "gift box sets", but luckily I can import them from elsewhere. They now almost always include lossless audio now (except for some TV shows). They went a little DNR crazy in the past on such titles as "The Mask", "Dumb & Dumber" and "Dark City", but it appears that they're getting their act together in that department as well. IMO, they are improving from where they were in the past.

We have to be realistic here - it's not in WB's best financial interests to go through a major remastering/restoration of all of their films. They simply won't sell enough of most titles to make back their costs.

As for Neverending Story, the WB DVD release in the U.S. didn't have any extras, so I really didn't expect any on the BD. Not saying it's right of course, but I've learned to accept such things.

[F13BluRay]

Wow this is a very odd thread. I can't understand how people can expect Warners to contact/consult w/ every director when they release a Blu. LOL. Its actually pretty hilarious. Do you think Warners called Pitof for his input in the Catwoman Blu or Ronny Yu for Freddy Vs. Jason????

C'mon people...you can't possibly believe they even do it for half their movies

[GGX]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Hello,

I am unsure why there have been so many negative comments addressing Warner's release of The Neverending Story since Mr. Petersen's words were leaked in the press. The studio is not required to contact and/or consult every director whose film is considered/planned to be released on Blu-ray/SDVD. Aside from the fact that Mr. Petersen directed the film, there is nothing else that relates him to it - certainly not in legal terms. The studio owns the exclusive rights to the film, and they were by no means required to consult Mr. Petersen before they released his film.

Furthermore, it appears that even when the major studios do approach certain directors and consult them before they release certain "important" films, there is plenty of criticism thrown their way. Example: Mr. Friedkin was directly involved with the Blu-ray release of The French Connection, which was heavily criticized, as was the studio that approved and released it.

Finally, I find it quite amusing that anyone could actually be dissatisfied with Warner and their performance. If anything, the studio is to be commended for their dedication to bring classic and other important films to a market seriously influenced by the global economic crisis. Clearly, thus far, aside from Criterion, Warner have been the leaders in offering great films with great transfers on Blu-ray. And the impressive releases they have lined up for the rest of 2010 certainly suggest that they will remain the most influential major studio releasing on Blu-ray.

Pro-B

Blah blah blah

Yes they have some quality releases. Doesn't change the fact that they half ass most of them.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by saprano

As many of you probably already know by now the worst studio know to man decided it would fun if they did the transfer of The Neverending Story (one of my childhood favorites) without Wolfgang Petersen's approval of anything.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/03/12...story-blu-ray/


I mean seriously warner WTF? Do you care about quality at all? I wonder if warner didn't ask him anything so they didn't have to put in extra work or time on the transfer. They probably thought: Hey, the majority of people who's going to buy this movie don't know anything about PQ anyway, hardy har har.

I know petersen is going to be watching this in his theater imagining how much better it could've been if he was in control.

Time for the BDA to set some ground rules for warner. Other studios as well. This is ridiculous. No way in hell would this happen to spielberg or lucas.

The worst studio known to man? Really? At least WB puts out a lot of good movies. Fox is hands down the worst of the major studios. As for Neverending Story, the reviewer here at Blu-ray.com who reviewed it (Kenneth Brown) is one of the harshest picture quality critics out there and he gave it a 4-star review while noting that there wasn't a bunch of processing applied to the image and that it was an accurate representation of the source. Unlike some of the other lenient reviewers out there (cough...Liebman...cough), Brown is quick to harp on edge enhancement and DNR. He praised this transfer for not having those problems.

[ffxiii]

Originally Posted by GGX

Blah blah blah

Yes they have some quality releases. Doesn't change the fact that they half ass most of them.

A lot of studios half-ass their many of their lesser catalogue titles. What's your point? Look at Lionsgate, who literally puts no effort whatsoever into their catalogue releases.

That doesn't affect the fact that WB puts more time, effort, and money into releasing quality classics than any other studio (besides Criterion).

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by ffxiii

A lot of studios half-ass their many of their lesser catalogue titles. What's your point? Look at Lionsgate, who literally puts no effort whatsoever into their catalogue releases.

That doesn't affect the fact that WB puts more time, effort, and money into releasing quality classics than any other studio (besides Criterion).

And the fact that WB actually puts a lot more effort into making GOOD FILMS than the likes of Fox. Fox can have 5 star video and audio all they want, but it doesn't mean jack squat when 80% of their recent catalog is pure garbage. Same goes for Sony.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by deeman54

Warner still sucks no matter how you put it. They care about the dollar more than the Quality bottom line

Hello again,

I don't think it is a matter of how I put it . My opinion on Warner's performance is hardly any more important than the rest of the opinions that are offered in this thread. I do believe, however, that it is important to have a good understanding of how the industry functions in order to be convincing with your arguments.

Yes, Warner have had some rather poor releases in the past, but so has every other major studio. It is part of the maturation process, really, and certainly something that we also observed when SDVD took over VHS.

I think that what you are ignoring is that there has been an enormous amount of progress with Warner, and more importantly the fact that they have invested into serious projects that effectively place them ahead of many of their competitors. Taking one, two, even five releases out of Warner's entire catalog, and specifically picking up releases from a period when Warner had to follow strict contractual limitations when they manufactured their discs, works against the argument you offer, not in favor of it.

Pro-B

[KilloWertz]

I'm satisfied with all of the Warner titles I own, so I guess I can't be on the list of people who hate Warner. They are a favorite of many to hate, but I don't see myself becoming one of them.

[Blu-Malibu2009]

Originally Posted by deeman54

Paramount did a horrible job on Gladiator and a couple other films but did you forget Star Trek 2009 (one of the best looking blu's ever) or Both Transformers, or how about Iron Man. Let go older, they did a great job on the Godfather Trilogy, Maybe you need to see more movies before you go off judging a studio because Paramount does way better than Warner, they just had a few hiccups.

The only reason Paramount even restored the Godfather films is because Francis Ford Coppola asked Spielberg to get involved. As part owner of Dreamworks, Spielberg had enough clout to get Paramount to do a restoration. The fact that Paramount wouldn't even listen to Coppola about the need for a restoration says all we need to know about their "dedication" to preserving their own films. They didn't give a damn until one of the biggest heavyweights in Hollywood got involved. THAT is truly pathetic given that the first two Godfather films are undeniable classics, arguably the two greatest American films ever made.

[madmojo]

Neverending Story is one of my top 5 favorite movies, but I don't think Warner did anything wrong here. It's a mid-tier catalog title for them. Sure, they should have at least put the trailer on there, but I wasn't expecting a full blown special edition either.

Warner is better than some studios. Just be glad we GOT Neverending Story. If Universal owned it, you'd be waiting another 2-5 years probably, because they don't really seem to like releasing catalog titles. If it was MGM you wouldn't have it... Warner may not put a lot of time and effort into all their catalog releases, but at least we are getting them... Even the lesser ones.

I too would have enjoyed a retrospective and commentary, but Petersen just seemed to be surprised to me... Not angry. Perhaps a little disappointed that he couldn't supervise. However, you know the DGA would probably require that he be paid for supervision. Remember, any time an actor or director appears in a special feature or something, they are most likely being paid... This costs the studio money.