tylergfoster

With MGM going under and the value of catalog DVDs dropping like a stone, I guess Fox has decided to license a slew of MGM titles to a company called TGG Direct, or The Garr Group, which is putting them out in double/triple feature packages.

So far, I've seen the following:

Blown Away/The Killer Elite
Colors/At Close Range
Easy Money/Throw Momma From the Train
No Way Out/Company Business

Cadillac Man/Running Scared/The Couch Trip
The Mechanic/Messenger of Death/Murphy's Law (?)

jdpatri

Uhh.... are we going to get the real damned AR for The Couch Trip?? Please?

tylergfoster

I would be shocked but the triple feature set (if I remember correctly) said "2 DVD" on the front, so at least two of the movies are on one brand-new disc. Maybe they nabbed a WS version?

stingermck

I saw The Mechanic/Messenger of Death/Assassination at Best Buy yesterday for $5. I already have Messenger in the 5 disc Bronson box set, but I bought it anyway.

jdpatri

People have been put to death for lesser things than continually releasing The Couch Trip in 1:33... well maybe not death, but they've at least lost a finger.

I can't find any mention of the specific aspect ratios on these movies. Can anyone verify?

Daniel McKenzey

Huh? Aren't all these titles already available on DVD? When is Fox going to wake up and do something with the 100s of mgm library titles sitting in the vaults????

Brian T

Four-film sets or nothing.

jdpatri

For anyone that's still interested, the Couch Trip is the same f#ckin transfer as the original DVD. Not that I expected otherwise.... but a guy can dream.

Daniel McKenzey

I found this today on the Midnite Movies message group:

I recently had some e-mail exchanges with Eric Doctorow at Fox, who is
responsible for MGM library titles on DVD. When I first asked him if Fox had
any further plans to release the remainder of MGM's cult/horror/sci-fi
classics on DVD this year, he replied, "Nothing to report at this time. Thanks
for checking in." I then fired back with the understanding that we were going
to have yet another disappointing year and he replied, "Not yet. Still
looking. Key is we have to be convinced we can sell enough to make
investments."

When I questioned if they're so worried about releasing these titles that
are not worth their money, why don't they just license them to a company
like Shout! Factory, he answered, "They aren't gonna pay enough. I have other thoughts." My final thoughts to him were of a "we get nothing and everybody loses" nature. And his last and final response was a simple and plain, "wait."

Eric Doctorow does respond to e-mails, and his address is
[email protected] if you would like to contact him with your thoughts and requests.

alamo21

Those movies are great and for a great price too.

Boba Fett

From the reviews on Amazon the Bronson triple feature: Assassination/The Mechanic/The Messenger is glitched with a third of The Mechanic actually physically missing. The movie skips to the end at around the 60 minute mark. More than one buyer confirmed the issue.

I'd definitely be wary of these.

Drake

Somebody over at Home Theater Forum posted this updated list......I wonder if Miracle Mile and Bank Shot (George C Scott) will be in widescreen ?

Wild Bill / Rancho Deluxe
From a Whisper to a Scream / Theatre of Blood
State of Grace / At Close Range
Locusts / Wicker Park
Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 / Runaway Train
Moll Flanders / Fight for Life - 1987 TV Movie w/ Jerry Lewis-- Previously Unreleased
Pit & The Pendulum / Tales of Terror
Manhattan Project / Miracle Mile / Real Men
Good Wife / Claim
Stanley & Iris / Hotel New Hampshire
Hospital / Bank Shot
January Man / Fatal Instinct
Man of La Mancha / Fantasticks
Organization / Sheba Baby
People That Time Forgot / War-Gods of Deep / Deep Space -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Alexander the Great / Solomon and Sheba
American Ninja 2 / American Ninja 3 - Blood Hunt
Irma La douce / Avanti
Blood Vows / Betrayed / Intimate Betrayal -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Convicts / Birdman of Alcatraz
Blue Fire Lady / Call of Wild / A Dogs Best Friend (1959) -- Call of the Wild is the 1997 film. Both are previously unreleased
Happy Hooker / Happer Hooker Goes to Washington
Dangerous Game / Chilly Scenes of Winter / Women vs Men -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Company Business / Eureka / Full Moon in Blue Wate
Beauty & The Beast / Sleeping Beauty -- Previously unreleased in R1
Happy Hooker / Happer Hooker Goes to Washington
Company Business / Eureka / Full Moon in Blue Wate
Diggstown / Triumph of the Spirit
The Escape / Some Girls -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Larger Than Life / Clifford
Original Gangstas / Soda Cracker (aka The Kill Reflex) -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Fortune Cookie / Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Blue State / Love Or Money -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Witness for Prosecution / Dirty Pictures / 12 Angry Men
Lenny / Bojangles
Nicholas Nickleby / Jack the Giant Killer
At First Sight / Evelyn / Oleanna
1984 / Megaville -- Previously unreleased on DVD
Love Field / Pancho Barnes Previously unreleased. DVD Cancelled?
Bad Influence / Masquerade
Golden Gate / City of Ghosts
For Queen and Country / Carbon Copy

inri222

Good to see 1984 back in print.

PhantomStranger

Most of these multi-packs have been very poor quality. It's obvious the distributor slapped together whatever they could find as cheaply as possible, to fill the bins at Walmart.

Drake

The reviews at HTF for this title, TGG Direct have released a double feature of Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine/Doctor Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, seem positive.
They are also saying that MGM is giving the transfers to TGG, and that maybe the MGM MOD program has come to an end ?.....of course no one seems to officially confirm this.

I just double checked my collection and I do own the 3 Pack - Mechanic, The (1972) - Assassination (1987)
- Messenger of Death (1988) Charles Bronson collection from TGG and Assassination looked fine when I watched it, so as good as any MGM pressed DVD.

dex14

That Bronson pack had issues where the Mechanic either lost sound or became unsynced halfway through.

Drake

I had already own that so I never watched that disc , but the other 2 discs were fine.
There also was a problem with the Death Wish II,III,IV set too , right ?......but I think people said it was fixed or at least newer copies were fine.

Drake

Stopped by a Walmart yesterday and picked up Foreign Intrigue (1956) / Quiet American (1958), First time Foreign Intrigue has made it to DVD, Robert Mitchum 1956 film.

It was widescreen and there were lots of white specks and some lines , but there were parts of the movie that looked very clean, pretty sharp overall
obviously MGM did not remaster or upgrade the print in any way, but hey for $5 to see a long forgotten Robert Mitchum film (who is very cool as always in this) ya can't complain.
What really stood out during the film is the score by Paul Durand , very cool in a Lalo Schifrin way, but of course years before Schifrin started scoring movies.
The score reminded me of the Venetian Affair that Schifrin scored, Hypnotic bass with percussion/bongos really lent to the spy vibe , really effective.

I also watched 40 minutes of The Quiet American, which was a very clean print , of course this was already released on DVD a few years back......overall a great double feature!

Nebiroth

The Goldfoot double is fine. However, it's a shame that TGG are missing sales by making the things so darn hard to get. Most online stores only have them up for "preorder" and DeepDiscount have actually pulled them. Oldies.com seems to have got stock though.

It's dumb, really; they are missing sales by keeping them in WalMart bargain bins.

As I'm in the Uk I got really lucky and found someone who wanted to sell their Goldfoot disc at cost...

I;ve always wanted them and now I have them mwahahaha

Drake

The Runaway Train (1985) disc is a MAJOR upgrade from the original Dvd release....couldn't believe how great it looked.

FJTwist

I am very interested in MIRACLE MILE / THE MANHATTAN PROJECT - 2 DVD Set, but I need to know the key technical data: format, anamorphic enhancement (or not), languages, subtitles ....

Please be so kind to inform me about the formats, enhanced anamorphic (or not), languages and subtitles of this item?

Thanks a lot.

Lastdaysofrain

I have been looking for that Miracle MIle disc as well and haven't even been able to find it in any Walmarts.

hilts

It'll be better to see it delivered. I've had this on order with Amazon since May 9th.

Living Deadpan

Has anyone bought any of the Amazon.com Exclusive TGG Direct DVD-r's? Their release of Absolution w/ Richard Burton is supposed to be anamorphic widescreen. Can anyone comment on the image quality?

zyzzle

Are these now dead in the water? Have my eyes on 1984 / Megaville and People that time forgot, etc. Amazon lists a $6.95 price, but no availability or even a release date. So, are we SOL?