WB chat at HTF on 2-21-06
 

This chat will be strictly about movies so hold off your questions about Space Ghost,Birdman and the Herculoids until they have a chat with someone in charge of classic animation-forgot to mention Popeye.

Since I've been banned from HTF, I guess I'll have to wait to read a transcript.

No doubt Superman 2 and Blade Runner will be mentioned.

I'm hoping someone asks about the following. Current releases suck.

Frantic
Presumed Innocent
Tango & Cash

You don't have to be a member to "attend" the chat.

I'm very curious to know what you did to get banned.

Guys we really need to mention the extended version of Superman 4,
Seriously, everyone mention it. It's probably the only chance we have left to get some type of answer from WB.

Also, what about a Mars Attacks special edition?

What I would like to know is whether the holdup on Electric Dreams is due to a rights issue, or if it's just that they don't want to release it because they don't think it will be profitable. The DVD of 1984 that MGM released went OOP after not too long, and I noticed that the movie was apparently made by the same company (Virgin's film unit). So, I'm wondering if there is a rights issue with the Virgin films.

Someone's gotta ask it: what is HTF?

Home Theater Forum, the other major DVD forum.

I think you just named two of the worst movies of all time :)

It's very VERY easy to get banned over there. They run it pretty close to Nazi germany as far as what you can and cannot say.

A mod was acting "holier than thou" about PAL over NTSC which I called him out on. Next thing I know, I can't post any more.

Good times.

Would love to here some news on new widescreen special editions of these movies..
Grumpy old men
Grumpier old men
Bridges of madison county
Spies like us
Doc hollywood
With honors

Would also like to see a special edition of Maverick, the 94 film...

Hope to hear some news on an 2-Disc SE for The Road Warrior

With Honors was just shown in HD on HBO I believe.

i'm hoping for these:

Airborne
The Bees
Bloodbrothers (1978)
Class of '44
Crossing Delancey
Cruising
Electric Dreams
Eyes of a stranger (uncut)
The Hand
Heart Beat
Girlfriends (1978)
Impulse (1990)
Inside Daisy Clover
Irreconcilable Differences
Last Summer
Murder By Phone
Night School
The Pack
Prince Of The City
A Return To Salem's Lot
Seven Minutes In Heaven
Someone's Watching Me!
Straight Time
Suburbia (1996)
Tilt
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Young Love (Lemon Popsicle film)


How about you?

I would love to see Warner do a 2-disc SE of these

Fearless - the old release is only on FOOLSCREEN. :mad:
Excalibur
Ladyhawke
Road Warrior
Demolition Man - I liked to see the case come with a free seashell. :)

I'm still waiting for a Beetlejuice special edition.

"I'm still waiting for a Beetlejuice special edition."

Since the Current Edition is apparnetly 16x9 (with some decent Special features), the least they could do is reissue it in a keepcase (along with PeeWee's Big Adventure

Not anamorphic
No special features.

Do you have a release from another region?

The current Beetlejuice disc is anamorphic, but about the only good thing about it is that it starts right up to the movie when you insert the disc.

It actually has an isolated score.

Yeah, I got rid of mine a few years ago when rumors started about an SE. Just realized that last night while I was watching Corpse Bride. Where is the SE?!

Yeah, that's a movie that is screaming for one of their 2-disc SE's.

I would also love for them to go back and fix all those old "Budget Line" titles.

Well I just broke down and bought Beetlejuice last week...so I wouldn't be too surprised if a special edition is announced soon. When it is, you can all thank me then!

It's to their credit that a major studio like Warners would allocate time to interact with consumers. I also give Warners credit for schedule a separate animation chat. They got some heat last year for their handling of the Tom & Jerry cartoons and failed to send a rep to the chat. They're not gonna make that mistake this year.

I'd like to know the backstory as to why Fox, which used to do annual chats as well, has declined to do so the past 2 years.

Animation is such a big part of Warner Brothers historically. Last year it was really disappointing when they didn't send an animation person. Half the questions went out the window.

Paul

I guess I can be proud of saying I left before I got the opportunity to be banned.

Regardless, the only problem with these chats is the management doesn't allow a pre-chat thread where the titles to be asked about can be planned out. They claim it will give the studio too much notice. So they end up with a worthless chat where the same stupid title gets asked about ten times because nobody's paying attention and they didn't get their battleplan together beforehand.

Based on past chats, there'll be about one major piece of news and a few little tidbits. Better than nothing I guess. We scared off our studio rep years ago :(

:lol: That's right, haven't seen Blythe in a LONG time. Does he even post at HTF anymore?

As of early 2005, Martin Blythe left Paramount (he was replaced by a woman named Brenda Ciccone). Last I heard, he was still doing some consulting work for the studio.

sorry to post this twice, but I thought it fit well in both threads.....I have a feeling a lot of dates and confirmation will be made in the chat....the bits already reports...

Now then... let's talk titles. Warner claims to have invented the 2-disc special edition with their 2001 DVD release of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. They plan to continue their line of 2-disc special editions in 2006. All of these titles will feature newly-remastered HD transfers (and again, many will be released simultaneously in HD-DVD):

Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) - with a new feature-length documentary and audio commentaries

Forbidden Planet (1956) - with a new feature-length documentary

The Maltese Falcon (1941) - packaged with The Maltese Falcon - Dangerous Female (1931) and Satan Met a Lady (1936)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Look for 4 new Stanley Kubrick SEs including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980) and the original unrated version Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Each will include new documentaries and never-before-seen footage blessed by the Kubrick Estate (although don't look for deleted scenes - Stanley himself never wanted them released).

There's a new John Wayne/John Ford Collection on the way, which will include The Searchers: 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition (1956), along with a Stagecoach: Two-Disc Special Edition (1939), Fort Apache (1948), The Long Voyage Home (1940), The Wings of Eagles (1957), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), They Were Expendable (1945) and 3 Godfathers (1948).

There's also The John Ford Collection that will include The Lost Patrol (1934), The Informer (1935), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), Mary of Scotland (1936) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).

Now... here's a look at some more of the 200 new-to-DVD titles coming in 2006:

Grand Prix: 2-Disc Special Edition (1966)

The Astaire and Rogers Collection, Volume 2 - featuring Flying Down to Rio (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Carefree (1938) and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

The Busby Berkley Collection - featuring Footlight Parade (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Dames (1934) and Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)

The Warner Tough Guys Collection - featuring 'G' Men (1935), Bullets or Ballots (1936), San Quentin (1937), A Slight Case of Murder (1938), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and City for Conquest (1940)

Knute Rockne All American (1940) - just for you Notre Dame alumni!

The Marlon Brando Signature Collection - featuring Julius Ceasar (1953), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) and The Formula (1980)

The Bette Davis Collection, Volume 2 - including a new Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?: Two-Disc Special Edition (1962 - with new and vintage documentaries and never-before-seen footage), Jezebel (1938), Old Acquaintance (1943), Marked Woman (1937) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942).

The Lucy and Desi Collection (due 5/9, SRP $29.92) - featuring The Long, Long Trailer (1954), Forever, Darling (1955) and Too Many Girls (1940)

The Tennessee Williams Film Collection (due 5/2, SRP $79.92) - featuring A Streetcar Named Desire: Two-Disc Special Edition (1951), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Deluxe Edition (1958), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Baby Doll (1956), The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).

Additional DVD box sets will be released featuring (known titles listed as follows, but more are TBA):

Clark Gable - including Mogambo (1953), Dancing Lady (1933) and Boom Town (1940)

James Stewart - including The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) and The Naked Spur (1953)

Humphrey Bogart - including Passage to Marseille (1944), Action in the North Atlantic (1943) and Across the Pacific (1942)

More Film Nior titles including Lady in the Lake (1947)

Paul Newman

Taylor & Burton

Gary Cooper - including Sergeant York (1941) and The Hanging Tree (1959)

Already announced for 4/18 is a TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection (SRP $39.92), including Bonnie Scotland and The Devil's Brother (both 1933), along with vintage excerpts and the Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story feature-length documentary.

On 4/25, look for the Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory Collection (SRP $59.92) including It's Always Fair Weather (1955), Summer Stock (1950), Three Little Words (1950), Til the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946).

TCM Achives will also release a whole new series of Forbidden Hollywood Collections. The first release will include Baby Face (1933), Red Headed Woman (1932) and Waterloo Bridge (1931 - unseen since its original theatrical release) along with a new feature-length TCM documentary.

Warner is also going to launch a new series of Ultimate Collector's Editions, patterned after last year's deluxe version of King Kong. These will include tons of bonus features, books and booklets, production art cards, soundtrack CDs, souvenir programs and more.

The first of these will be John Wayne and John Ford's The Searchers (already mentioned above).

Late in 2006 (tentatively in November, timed to coincide with the DVD release of Bryan Singer's Superman Returns), look for a 14-disc Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set. This will feature new deluxe editions of all four of the original feature films, including a Superman II: Special Edition with something called The Donner Cut. This is being assembled by editor Michael Thaw based on the film's original shooting script and Donnor's original notes. At least 50% of the film will be footage you've never seen, more than 70% of it directed by Donner. You'll also get Richard Lester's final theatrical cut of the film. The Donner Cut will only be available on DVD in the Ultimate Collector's Edition box set, although it will also be released in HD-DVD (and likely Blu-ray Disc if that format is available).

We were actually shown a clip of the new Donner Cut at the event - the original opening to Superman II, in which Lois Lane notices a picture of Superman in a copy of The Daily Planet... and then she looks at Clark Kent standing nearby... and she begins drawing glasses, a suit and hat on the picture of Superman. She figures it out. Then she tells Clark she knows who he really is... and jumps out Perry White's office window to prove she's right. Clark runs at super-speed downstairs, and blows up at the falling Lois to slow her fall. She lands safely in a fruit stand, by which time Clark has already run back upstairs to preserve his identity. Someone asks him where Lois is, and he replies, "Uh... she just stepped out for a minute."

An interesting thing to note however, is that it seems Richard Donner himself hasn't yet been involved (and is not involved in cutting the new version of the film). During the event, I chatted with AICN's Drew McWeeny (well known as "Moriarty" over there) who told me that he's been interviewing Donner recently (watch for that to be posted on AICN soon). The director has reportedly told Drew that he's not really interested in revisiting the film. When asked during the event what Donner's involvement was (whether or not he'd do commentary, etc), Warner execs said, "That's still to be decided." Our guess is that the studio is still negotiating with Donner to participate, and that it's merely a matter of a dollar figure that everyone is happy with. Cross your fingers on this, because it'd be a real shame if he declined to be involved. FYI, IGN also has a brief interview with Donner that touches on this.

Some other interesting Warner release news... look for a movie-only version of King Kong to be released on 3/28 (SRP $14.97). That same day, Warner will package the Kong tin set together with Mighty Joe Young and Son of Kong for SRP $49.92.

The studio is also continuing its series of Action and Family Double Feature DVD releases in 2006.

A Cool Hand Luke: Special Edition (1967) is tentatively being planned for 2007.

Quo Vadis (1951) is being considered for future DVD release, but the Technicolor classic is going to require Ultra-Resolution restoration. Given the film's length, that's going to take significant time and be VERY expensive.

And finally, here's a bit of news that's going to get a lot of you excited (and I made a point to specifically ask about this title, believe me)... Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is currently on track for release as a multi-disc special edition in time for its 25th anniversary in 2007. The release is far from certain (as usual, there's a lot more that I can't post about this title yet - think of the old saying, "Loose lips sink ships"), but Warner says that work is proceeding, most of the key players are involved and things are "looking good" for release next year. We'll see.

At the conclusion of the event, I had the chance to speak with both Ronnee Sass and George Feltenstein directly. I've known Ronnee since the early days, and it turns out that George is a big reader of The Bits (we're glad to have you, George!). You'll be glad to know that George, Ronnee and some of their fellow WHV execs are going to be participating in another live online chat with The Home Theater Forum soon, so you'll have the chance to ask them questions of your own. I'll confirm the date with Ron and Parker and let you know. As always, we'll have the complete transcript here at The Bits the following morning.

The Jimmy stewart box gives me some sort of hope that just possibly Carbine Williams will finally see the light of day.

Until then

Carbine Williams on DVD when? Jimmy Stewart 1952

and my other Warner hopeful

Executive Suite 1954? Warner Brothers Desicion still not out.

By the way, did you blatantly steal that from the HTF?

Just a partial list of films I would like to ask Warner about in the chat:

7 Women
Act of Violence
All Fall Down
America, America
Angel Face
Beast With Five Fingers, The
Big Steal, The
Breaking Point, The
Butcher Boy, The
Bye Bye Braverman
Caged
Catered Affair, The
Devil-Doll, The
Devils, The
Far From the Madding Crowd
Fine Madness, A
Flamingo Road
Fountainhead, The
Green Slime, The
Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The
Hill, The
Hot Millions
I Love You, Alice B Toklas!
Intruder in the Dust
Journey Into Fear
Land of the Pharohs
Loved One, The
Mad Love
Magnificent Ambersons, The
Man Who Came to Dinner, The
Mask of Dimitrios, The
Mask of Fu Manchu, The
Night Must Fall
On Dangerous Ground
Performance
Petulia
Picture of Dorian Gray, The
Prince of the City
Sea Wolf, The
Search, The
Some Came Running
Straight Time
Stranger on the Third Floor
Subject Was Roses, The
Super Cops, the
Sylvia Scarlett
Teahouse of the August Moon
There Was a Crooked Man
They Live by Night
They Won't Believe Me
They Won't Forget
Three Strangers
Up the Down Staircase
Verdict, The
What Price Hollywood?
Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Yakuza, The
Zabriskie Point

I would like to see an individual release of Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) on DVD, instead of it being buried away, with very little promotion on the House of Wax (1953) DVD!!!!!!!!

I just want "The Ritz Brothers: Signature Collection"

: )

No. He blatantly stole it from The Digital Bits.

(1/31/06 update)

seeing as I stated "the bits already reports" Its quoting, not strealing

I believe they're trying to setup a seperate animation chat for this year.

great chat...lots of good stuff this year...transcript should be here any minute

Finally no more of the open matte BS... The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut will be 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen on the new DVD's. A Clockwork Orange will be 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen. All from new HD transfers.