Older HD

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by sonicbox

Casablanca in high-def is often used as demo material for high-end theater installations. It shows how well high-def media can reproduce a restored classic B&W film print.

Anyway, the current tell-tale sign is the awful sales of almost every vintage 'classic' film on high-def. The current market is full of people that only want movies that look like Crank and Cars... and fear so-called grain.

But then again, consider...please, PLEASE consider...that we're talking about "Alibi Ike" Warner, legendary for coming up with every excuse imaginable for why their product failed in the marketplace, except the one having to do with "they made the mistake".
(This is the studio that came up with no less than SEVEN excuses for why "Batman & Robin" failed at the box office, before hitting on the correct one. Two months later.)

So, with only Warner's flights of hyperdefensive fancy to go by, will we ever know for certain that Robin & Rick had poor sales because:
- "It was early in the industry",
- "The promotion needed greater focus--Too bad it didn't reach the public at the right time."
- "We need to reach a standard on how to approach 4:3 movies...The early adopters seem to want widescreen".
- "We're still pitching our demographic to the Early Adopter audience, they prefer more contemporary action",

...Or someday, when the light of sanity dawns:
- THEY WERE IN FREAKIN ' HD!...WHO DID THEY EXPECT TO BUY IT??

[BoogalooShrimp]

Though not black and white, I'd like to see Rebel Without a Cause in HD. James Dean's red jacket would look quite striking in HD. Natalie Wood would also look quite striking now that I think about it.

[Knight-Errant]

How about Robert Wise's 1963 The Haunting? Now there's a scary classic that'd benefit from lossless audio hehe

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by BoogalooShrimp

Though not black and white, I'd like to see Rebel Without a Cause in HD. James Dean's red jacket would look quite striking in HD. Natalie Wood would also look quite striking now that I think about it.

When Blu-ray is firmly the standard, when there are more BD production plants, when HD is more widely adopted and Blu-ray players are in the homes of millions, when prices of production and retail have dropped, then we will see all these old classics on Blu-ray. Classics are a niche market and don't sell as well as new-release popular blockbusters, but to ultimately overlook that market would be a serious mistake.

...so start bringing on my favorites, please