Citizen Kane (1941) (70th Anniversary Edition)

[nf0603]

How about a movie only edition without the massive packaging? I only want the movie and special features, don't need all-expense frill packaging

[retablo]

I'm still waiting for the day the "find" all the missing footage from Ambersons... First Metropolis... then 2001... you know Ambersons is next! lol

[Arkadin]

well if they planned this release of Amberson's to go with this set you can't really expect it to be a blu-ray.
I mean there's no way they are going to just add another major film on blu-ray to a special bd edition of another film.
that would just be ridiculous--like we're just gonna throw in a blu-ray release of a major classic that has never been released on dvd before as a cute little extra.
I mean gimme a break.
Hopefully what the Amberson's dvd release portends is a more significant blu-ray release at a later date.
My question--like I'm sure a lot of other people--is why has it taken Warner over 13 years to get Amberson's released on dvd in the first place.
It has been out in the UK for some time.
It will be very interesting to see what kind of work--if any--went into this release of this severely butchered masterpiece.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by retablo

I'm still waiting for the day the "find" all the missing footage from Ambersons... First Metropolis... then 2001... you know Ambersons is next! lol

It's misfiled in a carton labeled "London After Midnight/Complete Greed/Kong Spider seq.".

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

My question--like I'm sure a lot of other people--is why has it taken Warner over 13 years to get Amberson's released on dvd in the first place.
It has been out in the UK for some time.

Pretty sure there was a lawsuit. Seems like Warner announced the disc was forthcoming and someone sued...found it.

[Arkadin]

Originally Posted by nf0603

How about a movie only edition without the massive packaging? I only want the movie and special features, don't need all-expense frill packaging

do you really think there won't be a movie only edition?
I don't think you need to worry about that.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

do you really think there won't be a movie only edition?
I don't think you need to worry about that.

If Casablanca is any indication it might be a while.

What did that take, a year?

[Arkadin]

but that's the only film that received a super release without a single disc release at the same time AND you could get Casablanca single disc versions from other countries if you really wanted it.
the other warner majors--GWTW, WOO, Woostock did receive a single disc release at the same time that the boxset came out.
remember the Wal-Mart exclusive WOO disc?
so even though that did happen with Casablanca I don't expect that to be the case with CK.
the odds are far better than their will be multiple releases on the release date.

[Stationary Explorer]

This package doesn't look ideal to me, but I've waited for Ambersons for so long I won't hesitate a moment on pre-ordering.

[nf0603]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

but that's the only film that received a super release without a single disc release at the same time AND you could get Casablanca single disc versions from other countries if you really wanted it.
the other warner majors--GWTW, WOO, Woostock did receive a single disc release at the same time that the boxset came out.
remember the Wal-Mart exclusive WOO disc?
so even though that did happen with Casablanca I don't expect that to be the case with CK.
the odds are far better than their will be multiple releases on the release date.

Goonies and One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest also are only available in the uberdeluxe packaging, OFOTCN used to be a digibook but that was deleted when the box set hit.

[Arkadin]

yeah forgot about Goonies.
but again available in the UK for dirt cheap on single disc.
I don't really count OFOTCN because that started as a single disc version and the "newer" release was dirt cheap when it came out.
The Notebook is a good example though, as it stayed in that super version for a long time before they finally released the single disc version.
worst case scenario--you'll have to import a single disc initially from the Uk.
but again, I don't think you need to worry about there being a movie only release.

[larry47591]

Pre-ordered

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

but that's the only film that received a super release without a single disc release at the same time AND you could get Casablanca single disc versions from other countries if you really wanted it.
the other warner majors--GWTW, WOO, Woostock did receive a single disc release at the same time that the boxset came out.
remember the Wal-Mart exclusive WOO disc?
so even though that did happen with Casablanca I don't expect that to be the case with CK.
the odds are far better than their will be multiple releases on the release date.

CK is owned by Universal in Europe (WB only has US and perhaps Canadian rights to the RKO library), so foreign single-disc versions are unlikely.

I preordered the regular UCE (sans Ambersons); since the Ambersons version is an Amazon exclusive, other retailers won't make Amazon bring its price down. Of course, I would MUCH rather see a single-disc version instead...

[bluskies]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well if they planned this release of Amberson's to go with this set you can't really expect it to be a blu-ray.
I mean there's no way they are going to just add another major film on blu-ray to a special bd edition of another film.
that would just be ridiculous--like we're just gonna throw in a blu-ray release of a major classic that has never been released on dvd before as a cute little extra.
I mean gimme a break.
Hopefully what the Amberson's dvd release portends is a more significant blu-ray release at a later date.
My question--like I'm sure a lot of other people--is why has it taken Warner over 13 years to get Amberson's released on dvd in the first place.
It has been out in the UK for some time.
It will be very interesting to see what kind of work--if any--went into this release of this severely butchered masterpiece.

I disagree. I think that it isn't ridiculous to want Ambersons in HD, too. I mean, if they are going all out on Kane, and making it an exclusive, then Ambersons in BD would be a real treasure. I didn't buy the Ten Commandments UCE but wasn't the silent version in HD, too? When I saw the Amazon packaging I was pretty excited...but then disappointed with Ambersons being DVD.

I am glad, though, they are including the movie "RKO 281" in with the package.

[24framesasecond]

It saddens me even to think about Ambersons, let alone read or talk about it. The parts that are Welles are stupendous, especially the Amberson mansion, one of the most elaborate, detailed, and expensive sets in Hollywood history. But the film itself--severely truncated and re-edited, with a studio-ordered upbeat ending (shot post-production by another director in the standard Hollywood lighting scheme that clashes with Welles' chiaroscuro artistry) that is rivaled only by the "Love Conquers All" version of Brazil for its sheer lunacy and inappropriateness--falls apart.

Unlike Metropolis and other spectacular discoveries of long-lost film footage, the destruction of the negative of the discarded Ambersons footage has been well-documented by eye witnesses. To hope for anything more than the hint of the masterpiece this might have been (rather than the one we talk ourselves into thinking it is) is folly.

[HotRats]

Preordered. I wonder what the source will be as the UK DVD used a 35mm interpositive found in the BFI archive. It'll be worth keeping an eye on overseas editions as just about every country seemed to have different extras on the DVD. The BBC's phenomenal 1982 Arena special on Orson Welles should have at least a DVD edition, three hours of Welles talking about his films with contributions from those who worked on them, it really is one of the best documentaries about film making. Simon Callow recently did very good one hour documentary on Welles' European films

[charlieray1]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

It's misfiled in a carton labeled "London After Midnight/Complete Greed/Kong Spider seq.".

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by bluskies

I disagree. I think that it isn't ridiculous to want Ambersons in HD, too.

Not sure who you are arguing with, Arkadian and just about everyone else on this forum want to see Ambersons in HD. Expecting it to be in HD is another matter.

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by HotRats

The BBC's phenomenal 1982 Arena special on Orson Welles should have at least a DVD edition, three hours of Welles talking about his films with contributions from those who worked on them, it really is one of the best documentaries about film making.

Yes that lengthy 1982 Arena documentary is superb. I recorded it on VHS when it was first broadcast and transferred it to DVD. It was broadcast again about a year ago.

[ShellOilJunior]

I'll go with the UCE (minus Ambersons). REALLY disappointed Ambersons is on DVD-- unacceptable. I'll take Kane and stick to the art house circuit and TCM to see Ambersons every so often.