S Galbraith IV

I read Paul Mavis's DVD review of Warner Bros. Archive Collection: Private Lives at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=36881 and...

...though I was worried Paul might be in his "Hulk" persona writing this review, I found it extremely fair, considering.

I think he raises all the main points, and in the last few days I really have to agree with him about the $20 price tag on these, especially in this economy. While I think it's probably not reasonable to expect anything lower than about $10/disc, it's really hard to justify $20 a pop, especially when you're someone like me who wants to have about 20 of 'em. I might buy 12 DVDs at $9.98 but not 6 at $19.98.

I recently made a fairly big DVD/Blu-ray purchase and was planning on buying some of these as part of that, but frankly my dollar went a heck of a lot farther over at Amazon. I think if WB had done these as Fox or MGM Midnight Movie-style double features, or were selling them for, say, $9.98, they'd sell a lot more than they're likely to.

Bobhug

I read Paul Mavis's DVD review of Warner Bros. Archive Collection: Private Lives at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=36881 and...

Paul, interesting take on this WB archives release; this is the first review that I've read about this new service and it's a shame the results weren't better for "Private Lives." I find it odd, though, that WB sent over a copy of one of the oldest films among the current titles available in this program. Even when there has been restoration work on a classic from the same era like "King Kong," there are still some noticeable film anomolies. I suspect that audio/visual issues might be less pronounced with "newer" titles from, say, the 1950s onward, but if they end up having a "VHS look," that's going to make it more difficult for collectors to fork over their twenty bucks plus shipping. People will pay for a rare title that's not likely to get a full fledged DVD release, but there is an expectation of corresponding quality, especially when it's a major studio like Warner that has a mostly good reputation for it releases of its classic films on DVD.

Interesting that you should mention Jack Webb's "The D.I.," also a film that I'd also like to see (and I may eventually spring for it at some point in the future). But, I find it somewhat surprising that "The D.I." gets this "on demand" type of release, but Webb's "Pete Kelly's Blues" gets the full WB DVD treatment. And why the 1950s "Dragnet" movie has yet to see the light of day on DVD is beyond me though, in fairness to WB, I seem to recall that Universal has the rights to the "Dragnet" film, despite WB producing the film and releasing it. I believe it was MCA/Universal Home Video that released "Dragnet" on VHS years ago.

I do see an upside for this service as we might eventually see some of Warner's classic/vintage TV shows from the late 1950s/early 1960s finally see the light of day, though pricing of such could be an issue, at least based on Warner's current $20 per film. As always, time will tell.

Trevor

Completely agree. In this day of finding so many classic titles for $3 at Big Lots, or $5 at Walmart, or the MGM double features, etc; it is hard to justify spending $20 on one barebones movie. I won't even begin to consider them unless they cut the price in half.

Paul Mavis

I'm so glad you're relieved.

Paul Mavis

Thanks, Bob -- yes, that particular transfer is not the one I would have sent over if I was trying to drum up support with a review site for my new on-demand service.

I think Stuart makes a good point with the pricing and packaging, too. MGM's Midnite Movies double-features (which really hit it off with collectors) would have been a more attractive model in my mind. But this may be the very beginning of the end of walking into a store and trying to find a big, big variety of DVD titles (anyone can see that winnowing down has already happened at places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart). I'm not sure how the digital download aspect of the program is going to work, though -- that seems like it would appeal to a younger demo...who probably won't know a lot of these older titles, anyway.

Max Frost

I read Paul Mavis's DVD review of Warner Bros. Archive Collection: Private Lives at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=36881 and...you're right, Private Lives was probably a bad example. But the titles I've ordered so far have been great quality: Goodbye, My Fancy, Cpuntdown, Crescendo, Dusty and Sweets McGee, and My Blood Runs Cold.

Paul Mavis

I've been getting a lot of emails from customers, with the prevailing opinion being that the quality is largely hit-and-miss, depending on the title.

We really won't be able to say much more about it here, unless we either get more screeners from Warners (the impact of Private Lives' poor quality might have been lessened if Warners had sent more than just one title for us to view), or if reviewers take it upon themselves to write up reviews of titles they've purchased on their own (and considering how many official screeners we all have to cover here already, that might not happen).

We all wanted to review these very much, but one lone screener came - and a poor one, at that.

JOE29

I have been looking at these Warner Archives ever since they have been released.
I'm a bit skeptical about these because of one- for the price and two- for the quality.
Your review of Private Lives only proves my point.
The one that I really want to try out is El Condor. It has been a favorite of mine
and I have been waiting for years for it's DVD release.
But I won't buy it until it is reviewed by DVDTALK or some other person
who has bought it first. I don't want to throw away $20 + shipping cost for a potential crappy release.

MooMooMooMoo

FYI, TCM is now selling these at $17.99 ea (still too high for me).

hanshotfirst1138

That depends for me on an number of factors. If the picture and sound quality are up to scratch and the title is a rare one, I'd go for it.

John Sinnott

Me too. Since WB isn't sending out review copies of these discs (aside from the first one that Paul reviewed) I have no idea if they are worth the $20, and there's no way to find without risking the money.

MooMooMooMoo

I noticed that W.A. is going to be adding Let Us Be Gay. While i think they're really overpriced, I need an upgrade of that film.

2 questions for anyone who's actually had one of these in there hands:

1. On the WA site, the previews are watermarked with an on screen "W" logo. are the actual dvdr's watermarked?

2. Does anyone know what brand of blank's Wa is using? Do they come scratched?

Tim Tucker

The DVDs are not watermarked.

I don't know about the brand, but the word is that they are top of the line product.

Bill Gibron

I got a chance to review FREEBIE AND THE BEAN and SOLDIER IN THE RAIN for another site, and I have to say, the quality is there. Not reference or pristine, but much better than expected.

There is no watermarking, and the DV-Rs look polished and professional (and neither of mine were scratched).



BILL

Paul Mavis

Did you say...Freebie and the Bean???

If they had sent that over, it would have been a whole different story here, Bill.

Bill Gibron

Gee Paul - whatever do you mean?

I have to say, I saw the film the first time in 1974, and it has aged rather oddly. Definitely worth checking out, if only for the complete crazy ending that resets the film about 5 different times (and ways).



BILL

Paul Mavis

It would have been a hell of a lot easier to judge transfer issues had they sent a variety of titles, including at least one in color and widescreen (like Freebie), rather than just the 70+ year-old B&W title they did send, from an unrestored, crappy print. I'm not putting Richard Rush above Noel Coward, but some kind of multi-reference baseline would have been helpful for us. And them.

"Aged oddly?" The film that invented the modern action/comedy cop buddy genre? I refuse to believe that, Bill....

I guess at this point, I'd be interested most in hearing how sales are going. Is it becoming a viable service? Is it building with customers, or has the novelty worn off?

Grainy

I had been waiting for years to see "The Sergeant" with Rod Steiger on DVD. When I saw it in the WB Archives I ordered it immediately and received it 3 days later! I was surprised with the whole package. The case and artwork were very acceptable considering the warning on their website that these will be bare bones releases. This film is from the late 1960's and the transfer was very good. It reminded me of the presentation you would see in a 2nd rate theater (as most of them are). There was some dirt and specks in the print but it did not detract from the overall appearance. Color was very good as was the sound. I was also surprised that it was enhanced for 16X9. I was pleased with the purchased. It did appear they burned this disc for my order because the disc paint still seemed a little tacky to the touch. When you consider these titles may have never seen a digital release I think it's worth it if you see they have a film available that you have been looking for. I also think that yes, there is probably going to be a huge quality gap between a lot of these titles especially comparing a 35 year old film and a 70 year old film. The Sergeant may be at one end while Private Lives may be at the other end.

mackjay

I have seen THE SERGEANT, CONVICTS 4 and BYE BYE BRAVERMAN from the WB Archive DVDs. All look very good. Image quality is superb. I was especially impressed by the eye-popping color in the letterboxed BRAVERMAN

doubledown44

Does anyone have a picture of the box of one of these? I am specifically curious as to what the spine looks like.

Thanks in advance for anyone who does.