I guess I just don't see this as being a "greedy" business model. Twilight Time pays all of the licensing fees for their titles upfront. The financial risk is completely on them and my guess is that a good chunk of their titles barely break even if anything. Despite what some people online perceive to be a bad attitude, I really do think of Twilight Time as a labor of love. Of course they have to make a profit. They wouldn't exist if they didn't.

Most of these titles would not be getting a release if not for Twilight Time. Sure some of the bigger titles would get picked up by other boutique labels, but that would just push other titles off of their respective release list. People always clamor for Criterion to get the license to this title or that title, but they have such a huge backlog of stuff, it may be years before they see the light of day. I say let's get as many titles out on the format as possible while we still can.

Just last week Sony warned its shareholders that their profits are going to be way down this year and one of the major reasons (they claim) is that the blu-ray market never lived up to expectations. They basically admitted that blu-ray is dead (or dying) and that's coming from the company that invented the format!

While they're not exactly the same, look at what has happened to the vinyl market. Before cds came along, what would you expect to pay for a new vinyl release? A few bucks? 7.99? 8.99? Now what do they charge for a new release? $19.99? $29.99? I'm sure the price is partially inflated as companies try to gouge the hipsters caught up in the trendiness of vinyl, but the limited nature of the product has just as much to do with it. However, people will pay the price because if they don't, vinyl albums will go away. The same thing will happen to blu-ray. Mp3s killed the physical audio media market and streaming is killing the physical video media market.

Thankfully we have these smaller companies picking up the slack from the big studios. I might not like paying $30 for a single blu-ray, but I know my options. I can probably find a dvd copy for about $5, or I can subscribe to any number of streaming services. When it comes to a movie I like, I'll take the blu-ray option whenever possible. Unfortunately finances make it impossible some of the time and I'm just going to have to learn to live with that.

I think Twilight Time would have been better off limiting a majority of their catalog to 1500 units and numbering them. They are charging a premium in the marketplace for mostly obscure films and only a handful of their discs have sold out.

What they really need to do is package their releases in decently designed SteelBooks. Every one of them would sell out.

According to another forum
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot bus already sold out


TT and MGM can both go bankrupt

Hasn't it been available for over a month?

I posted a list almost a month ago of the low quantity list. Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines is also close to being sold out if it isn't already.

Why didn't you buy it?

Anyway TT posted that on their fb page, also this yesterday........



Twilight Time Low Quantity Alert:
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT fewer than 100 remaining
THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES fewer than 200 remaining
OUR MAN FLINT fewer than 500 remaining
MY COUSIN RACHEL (DVD) fewer than 500 remaining

Going, going....

because I have it in HD on my DVR and I hate TT's business model
I may import it if I need the DVR space

Ok, so just bitching to bitch. Total me move.

I would just torrent it

Sept and Oct releases have been announced. The Blob is going to be 5000 copies instead of 3000. Looks like they're adapting.


THE KILLER ELITE (1975) BLU-RAY w/ Noon Wine (1966) - Sept 9th
SALVADOR (1986) BLU-RAY - Sept 9th
THE DOGS OF WAR (1980) BLU-RAY - Sept 9th
CHE! (1969) BLU-RAY - Sept 9th
LA BAMBA (1987) BLU-RAY - Sept 9th
AUDREY ROSE (1977) BLU-RAY - Oct 14th
THE BELIEVERS (1987) BLU-RAY - Oct 14th
THE BLOB (1988) BLU-RAY - Oct 14th (Limited Edition of 5,000 units.)
MAN HUNT (1941) BLU-RAY - Oct 14th
UNDER FIRE (1983) BLU-RAY - Oct 14th

I have the German edition of Salvador.

Salvador is a great film- but I watched it too frequently in the late 80's after discovering it. Not that anxious to revisit it, especially at a premium price.
Man Hunt is another great thriller, but I balked at buying this on DVD in the day when it cost under $10 because I realized I just didn't need it (amusing, since that sensible reaction usually eludes me).

I was hoping there would be something compelling for me in the two months to bundle a purchase of Buddy Holly with but there isn't.

In for The Killer Elite and Salvador.

Where would you say Man Hunt ranks amongst Lang's American work? He's one of those directors who I'm consistently drawn to, but the last couple I watched (Fury and Cloak & Dagger) were a little disappointing to me. The disappointment is probably the result of studio interference more than anything. I'll probably check this one out via Netflix first. I just realized it's available to stream.

I picked up Fury at Big Lots years ago and still haven't watched it. Never Seen C&D either.
Man Hunt was a solid, entertaining 40's era thriller with a minimum of the contrivances that genre usually needs to function.
I don't know where I would place it in Lang's oeuvre, but most likely in the upper tiers. I personally thought more highly of it than something like Hitchcock's 39 Steps and would probably put it on par with something like Night Train To Munich and maybe a few steps below 49th Parallel and Green For Danger . The common relation to all these, being spy and/or WWII era thrillers.

I remember the dvd being quite decent, so depending upon your screen size and viewing angle (distance away), the $20+ premium for the Bd may not be justifiable anyway.

Definitely a good job by Pidgeon in the lead. Looking back now, I wouldn't mind seeing this one again sooner rather than later.

I just looked and this is still available on Foxconnect.com and you can use the Apology coupon with it for 40% off ($6 + s/h).
It's a good disc, from back when Fox was routinely offering added value content on deeper catalog. Comes with an audio commentary and making of feature. From what I recall, the source had some issues and had passages that weren't in the best of shape or attractive. I expect TT will port over all the features and it will be interesting to see how the bump in res affects the image.

Fury's a potentially great film that allegedly lost a lot of it's bite due to studio interference. I also didn't love Spencer Tracy in the lead. Cloak & Dagger is enjoyable, but a little more routine. It's another Hitchcock-esque WWII era thriller that starts out fun, but kind of loses steam along the way. It's ending was also tampered with if I recall. Both are worth watching (especially Fury), but I went in with high expectations.

Those are all movies that I like/love to varying degrees, so the fact that you put Man Hunt in the same sentence makes me think I will enjoy it. It's streaming on Netflix right now so I'll probably check it out this week.

Salvador and Man Hunt for me.

Apparently Nick from TT posted that Man Hunt is from a new restoration/transfer made post the DVD release.

Very unappealing list of movies considering the price point. Seems like their choice of movies has taken a turn for the worse.

A month or two back I would have been a lot more disappointed.

Between Kino's UA deal with MGM and being region free, which opens up a lot of interesting deep catalog from MGM, Fox, and Universal available elsewhere, being able to ignore more $30+ releases is what I see as a good thing.

Yeah, Kino is beginning to make TT look bad. Better movies + lower prices + no limited editions. I'll have to start giving my money to them now.

Twilight Time has indicated that they have 12 more Woody Allen films in the pipeline.

Killer Elite is a must buy for me. I loved Salvador and Under Fire back in the day - great films, but the extras will make the call for me as far as a purchase.

Killer Elite is a must because of the 'Noon Wine' inclusion.

Has that one ever been on disc or even VHS?

Educate me on Salvador. I've seen that Amazon Instant Video has it, free with Prime. It is on my watch list. I Know that it has James Woods and it's by Oliver Stone. But that's it. From the cover on AIV... Is Woods a photographer of some sort?