Building a VHS collection (a.k.a. "It'll never be on DVD")
 

I'm wondering if there any noteworthy movies that have received some sort of confirmation to the effect of, "we have no plans to release this movie now, or ever in the future." Take the following quote from Wikipedia:

This is a movie that has never been released on any form of home media in the United States. Iger said that this is "not a decision that is made forever," but I think it's pretty safe to say that the film won't get a home media release anytime soon.

That made me wonder, are there any films where it would be wise to track down the VHS to own and preserve a copy in my collection? That is, I collect movies...not formats. If there are some noteworthy titles out there on VHS that likely won't, or better yet, have been confirmed to never be getting another home media release (be it because of rights issues, political correctness, the lack of transferable materials, or whatever), I would love to add them to my collection before they become too rare to find. As we progress to HD-DVD, BluRay, and whatever else comes in the future...many VHS tapes will continue to find their ways into trash cans or be destroyed by house fires and floods. With a movie like Citizen Kane, this isn't an issue since it'll be available on every home media format from here until eternity. However, for a movie like "Twisted Nerve," a wonderful film could eventually find itself lost...and those are the titles that I'm interested in picking up on other formats before they do fall out of sight, out of mind.

So, list away. But I'm really not looking for, "there was that one direct to video 1986 B-movie, in fact it might've been a student film, about the fire breathing tarantula that stalked a nurse...that'll probably never be released again." That is, I'm not talking about movies that aren't being released on home video because they're so bad that they don't deserve a release. I'm talking about movies that have won awards, are well received by audiences and critics...movies that deserve to hold a spot in any collection, but for whatever reason likely won't be released again. And most importantly, I want ones that DO have a stateside VHS release that I can attempt to hunt down during my used video store- and pawn-shopping sprees.

-JP

probably the following...

FRIENDS (1971) (will be considered taboo today)
CRUISING (too controversial)
THE DEVILS (same)
POSSESSION OF JOEL DELANY (full frontal nudity from a 12 year old boy is taboo today)
PRIVATE SCHOOL (tangled in ownership hell)

most library titles from Sony, as there was a thread that stated Sony pretty much doesn't want to bother releasing titles that are older than 20 year ago.

ditto for MCA, who's hasn't even bothered releasing any catalog titles from their vault this year, unless it was a box set.

also any box office bombs with tons of music will most likely not come out due to music clearence issues

and documentaries, as I read some older documentaries have trouble getting clearence from people being interviews, etc for DVD market.

so there are some VHS's you have to hang onto, no matter what.

It's sad that something like Song Of The South will probably never come out but I find it funny that the guy said he was asking for his 10 year old.

I'll look into the titles you mentioned to see if they're movies that I'd like to have in my collection. Thanks for the response. Also, any specific titles you could recommend based on each of the points in your last 4 paragraphs (Sony; MCA; Music Rights; Documentaries)?

-JP

Sometimes a Great Notion - adapted from the Ken Kesey book.
Why?? Who in the heck knows?

cause it's MCA, and they dont care?

Salamander,

Added all of those to my wishlist (a list that I started tonight). They all sound great, though I'm afraid that "The Devils" might not be my cup of tea. I'm still going to give it a look though, one because it's Ken Russell, and two, the comments I read about it were all glowing with praise.

Did you manage to come up with any other titles that are indefinitely held up due to the practices of Sony and MCA, music rights, or documentary hold-ups? I'm specifically interested in the latter since I love documentaries, and would definitely be interested in checking out some of the great ones that likely won't ever get the DVD, HD-DVD, or whatever comes after that treatment.

"Cruising" also gave me the idea of going through the filmographies of guys like Pacino, De Niro, all the way back to Brando and earlier with guys like Cagney and Stewart and company to see what unreleased films sound worth my time but haven't gotten a release yet. Any recommendations on this front?

-JP

If Chopping Mall can get a DVD release, anything can!

De Niro is very well represented on DVD actually. I believe the only films of his not on DVD are Jacknife, 1900, Night and the City and True Confessions. TC just ran on Encore recently, letterboxed, and I'm not sure what the hold up is on that one.

I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN
I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF
INVASION OF THE SAUCERMEN
AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN
IT CONQUERED THE WORLD
ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU
BEFORE I HANG
THE BLACK ROOM
the rest of the MA AND PA KETTLE and FRANCIS series
too many AIP on ORION/VESTRON/MGM/UA to list
TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL
A STUDY IN TERROR
THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM
lots of 3 STOOGES
Personally I don't expect much in the way of any more deep catalog releases except from Fox and WB(which includes MGM,RKO and Allied Artists)

Remember! There were many titles that were not even released on VHS, and Laserdisc format also. There's a first time for everything. Any title could have a possibility to be release on DVD eventually, depending on studio discretions, and terms, but time is the essence, and patience is a virtue.

Howard the Duck anyone?

What the hell is <b>VHS</b>?

= J

The Wizard - I doubt Nintendo will release that. Yet they think naming their new system WII is a good idea.

Moonwalker

Up The Creek

A few titles I have on VHS that have yet to find their way to an R1 release:

<i>Morodor's</i> reconstruction of <b>METROPOLIS</b>

<b>I AM A CAMERA</b> - the film version of the original Broadway play that introduced Sally Bowles long before she invited you to "come to the Cabaret".

<b>JOHNNY GUITAR</b> - western classic with Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge is out in R2, but not here

Night of the Comet

Well if there are movies that truely won't come to DVD they might be on laserdisc. Far superior quality to VHS.

I have never seen the film, but I recall the famous song in the film. However, studios playing god like this just really upsets me. If they can release it on VHS they can release it on DVD. There is no need for them to deny public viewing of the film because they feel it's kinda offensive to people. That has been the problem with studios releasing DVD's. Didn't bother them when they put the VHS tapes out, or LD's, but DVD is such a bigger format that it's almost like re-releasing films into theaters in some highly strange way.

I always thought that when DVD first launched it would mean more films like "Song Of The South" would get released and studios would be more open to releasing films in that kind of quality. But that was my first impression and as the years have gone by it's becoming the exact opposite.

DVD has become way to mainstream for media with studios. When it shouldn't be, there are other ways for them to release films on the format without having to try and take over the world with each release. If that makes any sense.

A) I have a VCR. I don't have a Laserdisc player.
B) VHS tapes are far easier to track down locally than laserdiscs.
C) They're also cheaper...locally at least.
D) VHS can be stored in my existing units. Laserdisc can't.
E) I really don't care all that much about A/V quality. Certainly not enough to attempt to overcome A-D just to build this relatively small sub-collection with laserdisc instead of VHS.

-JP

One of my passions is for videos of great stageplays... especially Shakespeare, classical theater or other heavy drama.

Most of this stuff is only released once, with no re-releases ever. It just disappears after its initial play on PBS, BBC or wherever... Broadway Theatre Archive and other places are doing a great job, but there's a treasure-trove of such stuff that'll never make it to DVD. Hell, you're lucky to find OOP commercial VHS tapes for alot of it, sometimes you end up buying home recordings...

I think you misread an earlier post; it was released on VHS in other countries, but never released in any home-purchase format in America.

While I would like it if the film were released, I do accept that Disney feels more strongly identified with children's movies in our country than in others (though they haven't specifically explained it this way), so they'd be more reluctant to release it here.

I think it's kind of a cost/benefit thing ... the most they could benefit would be a little bit of money, less than most of the classics they own, and if it happened to really hit, and sell a lot, then that would just cause further protest.

Do you really think so? I've found numerous movies which had been out of print for so long on VHS that they were virtually impossible to find, unless you happened upon a video store that was closing and selling off its stock much, much easier to find on DVD. Add to that dozens (probably more) of movies which studios never bothered to release because the profit margin looked low suddenly given beautiful new transfers ... I can think of three Altman movies which had been entirely unavailable due to music rights, but the rights were worked out for the DVD releases.

And that doesn't even begin to get into the whole seasons of television stuff ...

Has it really been that big an experience for you? What movies are you missing out on besides 'Song of the South', which was never available on VHS either?

The original Star Wars trilogy?

On Song of the South Disneys censorship is really out of control. Political Correctness is the enemy of commen sense. Who else saw the Drawn Together episode with a Darth Vader like Mickey Mouse trying to commit genocide against politically incorrect cartoons. Too funny.