Citizen Kane (1941) (70th Anniversary Edition)

[Jr7936]

haha, not sure if i will keep the preorder but I figured, place it while I see it in there

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

You mean the DVD box set with bonus Blu-ray?

[Cowboy]

The Magnificant Ambersons in SD is a deal breaker for me on that box set. I will wait for a single release of Citizen K either from here or the UK.

[nametag]

Originally Posted by The Duke

+1 I hate these UCE with mass produced "collectable" trinkets and the massive shelf space they take up. Brits to the rescue. Amazon UK has a listing with no release date for Ben Hur that they call "Ultimate Collector's Edition" but sure looks like a movie only release from the artwork -

[Show spoiler]
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003BNY6XU

And the listing for Citizen Kane definitely looks like a movie only release -

[Show spoiler]
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizen-Kane.../dp/B003ARSQD8

I wouldn't trust the placeholders as far as cover images go, but yeah with Ben-Hur I'd imagine a nice slipcovered 2-disc edition in the same vein as Gone With the Wind and Wizard of Oz.

For Citizen Kane though, I'm not so sure. As has been said earlier on the thread, all UK DVD releases have been handled by Universal in the past, surely they still have the rights? Who knows whether the restoration will be shared between the studios, let alone the special features. I may end up importing the Kane set if a UK release isn't announced soon.

The CK boxset isn't quite as annoyingly sized as the Ben-Hur one and, out of all these super size UE releases so far, Kane is my favourite film. Though, I'm not that keen on the cover. Is that a puzzle pattern in the background? Am I forgetting something involving a puzzle in the film? Or is it really supposed to represent the 'piecing together of the puzzle that is Kane's life'?? Cos that's lame.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

You mean the DVD box set with bonus Blu-ray?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by nametag

Am I forgetting something involving a puzzle in the film? Or is it really supposed to represent the 'piecing together of the puzzle that is Kane's life'??

Both. Puzzles are used as metaphors for a variety of things including Kane's life but his wife did actual jigsaw puzzles throughout the film as well.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by nametag

I wouldn't trust the placeholders as far as cover images go, but yeah with Ben-Hur I'd imagine a nice slipcovered 2-disc edition in the same vein as Gone With the Wind and Wizard of Oz.

For Citizen Kane though, I'm not so sure. As has been said earlier on the thread, all UK DVD releases have been handled by Universal in the past, surely they still have the rights? Who knows whether the restoration will be shared between the studios, let alone the special features. I may end up importing the Kane set if a UK release isn't announced soon.

Well, just speculation on my part but if Warner is putting so much effort into restoring this perhaps they bought the UK rights from Universal. While the final artwork is certainly undetermined as it has no release date, the artwork shown is the same artwork Warner has for the current US North America and quite different from the UK Universal DVDs, so I have my hopes up.

The CK boxset isn't quite as annoyingly sized as the Ben-Hur one and, out of all these super size UE releases so far, Kane is my favourite film.

No, the UK boxset isn't so annoying large like other UCEs, but the thing that puts me off the most is that it's 1 blu-ray and everything else is DVD. I don't buy DVD anymore, I buy blu-ray. I'm not buying the LOTR extended set because it's 6 DVDs and only 3 BDs. Besides, I already have all those extra feature DVDs from my DVD Extend Edition. When they release Blu-ray movie only of the LOTR EE, I'll buy then.

[garyrc]

Is there any way of knowing if the BDs in various upcoming releases of Kane, foreign and domestic, are identical as to PQ, i.e., are the same disks of the movie itself, period, no matter what other disks are packaged with it?

I saw Kane in 35 mm approx 10 times (no kidding) in the '60s and '70s, and the PQ was always amazing, and the sound was pretty good for its time ... all of the home video releases I have seen so far have been some degree of crap, so I want to make sure the BD I buy is the best PQ and sound they have to offer.

[The Duke]

Originally Posted by garyrc

Is there any way of knowing if the BDs in various upcoming releases of Kane, foreign and domestic, are identical as to PQ, i.e., are the same disks of the movie itself, period, no matter what other disks are packaged with it?

I saw Kane in 35 mm approx 10 times (no kidding) in the '60s and '70s, and the PQ was always amazing, and the sound was pretty good for its time ... all of the home video releases I have seen so far have been some degree of crap, so I want to make sure the BD I buy is the best PQ and sound they have to offer.

Any release, foreign or domestic, that is from Warner will be identical in PQ & AQ on the blu-ray movie disc. What we were discussing in the couple posts up is if the UK movie only release listed on Amazon UK will be from Warner or from Universal, which has previously released on DVD in the UK. If the UK release is from Universal, then it may be different.

[garyrc]

Thanks, Duke.

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

I'm not certain that I understand the thinking behind this release.

Ambersons, a superb film even in its truncated and re-shot mode, is still a masterpiece, and at 88 minutes, is a very easy HD mastering job.

It's clearly an attempt to milk as much money from us before they finally put it out on blu-ray. They make us feel like...cows. Many people, like me, will be holding on to their Criterion CAV Laserdisc of Ambersons like their first-born until Warner decides it's time to give us and the film the respect we deserve with a proper blu-ray release. 2012 is around the corner, and early 2012 will be when the notable Sight and Sound poll will be conducted and likely crown Citizen Kane as the all-time best film once again, and that will bring more publicity to the film, and hopefully Ambersons will be on the list too. Maybe then Warner will finally do proper releases of these films.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

It's clearly an attempt to milk as much money from us before they finally put it out on blu-ray. They make us feel like...cows. Many people, like me, will be holding on to their Criterion CAV Laserdisc of Ambersons like their first-born until Warner decides it's time to give us and the film the respect we deserve with a proper blu-ray release. 2012 is around the corner, and early 2012 will be when the notable Sight and Sound poll will be conducted and likely crown Citizen Kane as the all-time best film once again, and that will bring more publicity to the film, and hopefully Ambersons will be on the list too. Maybe then Warner will finally do proper releases of these films.

It's five bucks. I gotta be honest, I don't feel...anything.

[garyrc]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

It's clearly an attempt to milk as much money from us before they finally put it out on blu-ray. They make us feel like...cows. Many people, like me, will be holding on to their Criterion CAV Laserdisc of Ambersons like their first-born until Warner decides it's time to give us and the film the respect we deserve with a proper blu-ray release. 2012 is around the corner, and early 2012 will be when the notable Sight and Sound poll will be conducted and likely crown Citizen Kane as the all-time best film once again, and that will bring more publicity to the film, and hopefully Ambersons will be on the list too. Maybe then Warner will finally do proper releases of these films.

It seems like Citizen Kane went underground for several years after its premiere. For some set of reasons, was not mentioned in the '52 Sight and Sound poll. After I saw it quite accidentally on the Owl Theater one night in the mid '50s, I raved about it the next day to my parents, and they said they and my grandparents were impressed when they saw it in a neighborhood theater in '41. None of my film friends in high school had heard of it until it was discussed in The Liveliest Art by Arthur Knight in about 1957. It surfaced at a Berkeley art house in '61, and we all agreed when it made #1 on the Sight and Sound poll of the following year, a place it has held evermore.

Ambersons, made the list one time, so there is hope for it in 2012.. I'm glad the critics (as opposed to the directors) made room for 2001: A Space Odyssey at least once.

[nametag]

Originally Posted by The Duke

No, the UK boxset isn't so annoying large like other UCEs, but the thing that puts me off the most is that it's 1 blu-ray and everything else is DVD. I don't buy DVD anymore, I buy blu-ray. I'm not buying the LOTR extended set because it's 6 DVDs and only 3 BDs. Besides, I already have all those extra feature DVDs from my DVD Extend Edition. When they release Blu-ray movie only of the LOTR EE, I'll buy then.

Fair enough, but personally my desire to see a particular film in HD far outweighs my dissatisfaction with SD or DVD extras. I suppose I'm not really a huge extras person, having the film is far more important to me. Blu-ray coexists with DVD in my eyes - loads of things won't see the light of day on BD so I have to be satisfied with DVDs sometimes, especially when it comes to TV shows!

I now remember the puzzle used in the film now, I suppose that makes it a bit more relevant but I still think it's pretty lame as covers go.

[charlyking]

Che, alguien sabe que dia sale este Blu Ray. Desde Argentina quiero comprarlo de manera urgente y me gustaria saber una fecha aproximada de lanzamiento de esta gran película fundacional del cine moderno americano.


traslate:

Hey, anyone know what day it comes out this Blu Ray. From Argentina urgently want to buy and I would like to know an approximate date of release of this great movie founding modern American cinema.

[walkabout]

I'm sorry, but there's no release date so far. I think we're going to see it in autumn, between september and october, but no-one knows.

[Dix Handley]

TCM has a stand alone Ambersons DVD up for pre-order. Release date is 9/13/2011 and price is $16.99. Maybe it's an exclusive ?

[bigshot]

All I want is classic films on bluray. I don't need film historians describing what I can see for myself or telling me why I should like the movie. I don't want a DVD of the film I'm buying or any other film to be included in the deal. I don't want books, postcards, mini posters or any other tchotchkies. Just give me the movie looking good on bluray and don't charge me more than $15- preferably $10.

[AeroK]

I've been meaning to preorder on Amazon but I missed the opportunity for a little Gold Box discount. Maybe I'll get it back.

[Josh5890]

I'm gonna wait until we get closer to a release date to decide to pre-order this. I'd love to have this but $50 is alot considering I have never spent more than $20 on a blu ray