PhantomStranger

Beck has never been anything but upfront and forthright. I have no reason to not believe his info. It was WB that pushed DVD as a format and then the HD move to HD-DVD/BD. That is crushing news for physical media collectors like us if WB has truly thrown in the towel.

I had been told the major studios were planning to move away from media by 2024-2025 but that was before Covid shut down Hollywood for an entire year.

B5Erik

I should have taken advantage of that last sale. But I had just bought a couple expensive TPB's and an Omnibus, so I held off, hoping they'd do another one. But the sale did say, "Last chance," so I'm doubting that another sale is going to happen. I hope that they do have another one, anyway.

B5Erik

I hope they DO license this stuff out to 3rd parties. I'm still holding out hope for a Babylon 5 Blu Ray set.

Why So Blu?

This Beck dude just posted a clarification post that his statement was taken out of context. He doesn't work directly for WB and doesn't know what they're plans on. He does not know what WB's plans are. FYI.

rocket1312

The reason it was announced as the "last sale" is because they transitioned fulfillment companies. The old WB shop (which was not run by WB) is closed for good. From that perspective, it was the last sale. Their new store is an Amazon storefront. No one knows what if any sales might happen down the road.

whotony

That tweet was deleted.
This is one of the reasons I complain about just posting links to tweets without also saying what was in the tweet.

what did Beck say in the deleted tweet?

dex14

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...x_mNVatayCwl4w

Gizmo

Coming from TDB is anyone shocked? This is absolutely coming to a end given retailers have reduced stock and will continue to do so. Discs are essentially worthless on the second hand market and many consumers are just as content streaming.

rocket1312

g

When Disks go out of print, which is quite common now, there is demand and they are far from worthless.

Gizmo

Sure, that certainly can happen. But the bulk of them don’t sell for more than $2-3 now. Try unloading a collection…good luck

LorenzoL

I believe that the available titles will be greatly diminished in physical media format but to say that it’s dead, it’s totally ridiculous. Streaming will be a main source of film availability but it won’t be the only one.

davidlynchfan

You gotta collect the boutique labels if you don’t want your Bds to end up worth being 2-3 bucks.

LorenzoL

I got my copy of WB Archives Drunken Master II yesterday from Amazon Canada. Let me say that I’m extremely pleased to have this. No more Miramax cut and dubbing to worry about.

rocket1312

I received my copy as well and was able to give it a spin. My immediate reaction is do not let the inclusion of the original subtitles with spelling and grammatical errors stop you from buying this. Would I have preferred a new translation? Sure, but these subs are not that bad. There are maybe half a dozen lines where the grammar left me scratching my head and maybe half a dozen more where the sentence structure could have been cleaned up a bit to read more clearly. I didn't notice any spelling errors. There are also some instances where the subs flash too quickly, but that's sometimes even a problem on the best translations. I can't speak to their accuracy, but maybe I'll get around to comparing them to the HKR version. Nothing jumped out to me though. If they hadn't made a big deal about the original subs in the it's release, I don't think anyone would have thought twice. I'll take these subs any day over the subs Celestial sends out with their Shaw Brothers titles. Oh, and thank goodness the subs themselves are white and in an appropriate font. None of this yellow, all caps garbage from the Mr. Nice Guy blu.

The picture quality is not what I would expect with a 4k scan coming from Warner Archive, but I don't think Warner Archive actually did the work. This is a slightly superior master from the same source used for the Asian releases. The wording on their press release made it sound like something it's not. It's still the best it has looked (and likely ever will) on home video.

My one major complaint is that I wish they had included the export cut of the film. Not the Miramax version (which I do kind of like, but it's already out on Blu), but rather the cut that accompanied the original English dub. It's the same movie, but it ends immediately after the factory fight. As it is, if you choose the English dub, the last scene reverts to Cantonese with subs. It's a small thing, but it would have been so easy to do with simple branching. And let's be honest. That last scene kind of sucks.

Despite the flaws, and depending on how one feels about the Ritrovata restorations of Police Story 1&2 found on the Criterion, this might be the best release of a "classic" Jackie title in the US. I absolutely would have preferred this to get the 88 or Eureka treatment, but I'll take what I can get. Now please, please, please can we get an uncut Rumble and First Strike before Warner Archive goes kaput for good?

LorenzoL

Yeah, I wasn’t going to miss the chance to own this film after so many years having the Miramax cut and dub as my only option. I paid double of what’s currently is at the US Amazon as the Canadian one is selling it for over $32 Canadian. I didn’t care.

Rewatching it this morning, just reminded me how good Anita Mui could be.

rocket1312

She's hysterical. What's amazing is that she's equally as hysterical no matter which dub you watch it with.

OldBoy

Any good? Never even heard of,,,

Adam Tyner

Another holy grail Warner Archive release -- Angels With Dirty Faces -- is down to $17.99 on Amazon.

Norm de Plume

Is Straight Time any good? Hell, yes!

Adam Tyner

I posted about Stage Fright in the Hitchcock thread, but equally notable for me, Warner Archive is finishing off the Thin Man series in January:

Brian T

Warner finally has THE BROTHERS GRIMM on the schedule, for March 29:

milo bloom

Might have to blind buy that, looks like the kind of mixed storytelling I'd enjoy.

Not to mention Barbara Eden and Yvette Mimieux.

Brian T

They've also got a restored 1937 A STAR IS BORN slated for March 29. Really looking forward to that, too. It's always been barely passable on video thanks to what I've read were public domain prints, but now it's been given a 4K scan from the original technicolor negatives, so it should look phenomenal:

Brian T

Back to BROTHERS GRIMM for a moment, this trailer's been on YT for a while, and maybe even posted here previously, but it's worth a look: