My votes:
 

I would defintely want to see a release of all the Hammer Productions. I don't need extras, but I want the full uncut versions and a good 16 x 9 transfer.
CAPTAIN KRONOS THE VAMPIRE HUNTER (Clemens)
FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (Fisher)
THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (Fisher)
LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (Hancock)
THE SKULL (Francis)
DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (Francis)
Another one that I am really waiting for is
LE LOCATAIRE / THE TENANT Polanksi's masterpiece.
Real classics which deserve a place in the collection of every horror fan!

Best regards.

MH

In order of preference:

Day of the Locust
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Foul Play
If

To be honest, the first three are purchases with or without extras (if the transfers are good and anamorphic widescreen and a reasonable price), but I'm on the cuff with If, and only likely to purchase with some worthwhile extras.

My votes for inclusion of special features are for:

If
Day Of The Locust
Wings

Re: Paramount Poll
 

Dear Mr. Blythe,

Thank you for taking the time and care to communicate with DVD collectors through dvdtalk. Thank you also for the mix of popular, cult and classics in the 11 titles on topic. I appreciate
this range of titles very much.

In response to your invitation:

IF would benefit from a film historian´s commentary and careful mastering. The editing is
very precise and losing small pieces of film would be detrimental. This title is for me a premium object for purchase. Buying ratings reflect subjective title attractivity regardless of extras.

THE LADIES MAN would benefit from a director´s commentary and from the materials cited
above related to Mr. Bogdanovich. A premium purchase object and an excellent way of introducing Jerry Lewis movies to DVD. Off-topic, I would personally appreciate collecting
Mr. Lewis films in double-feature DVDs similar to Fox and MGM product. Reason? There are many. Two-for-one-pricing is a strong argument for buying. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, HOLLYWOOD OR BUST and ARTISTS AND MODELS are exceptions. Why? They are classics of American film comedy and standouts in the collected works of Mr. Lewis. NUTTY PROFESSOR with a commentary by Lewis, Stella Stevens, and HOLLYWOOD OR BUST and ARTISTS AND MODELS with commentary by Lewis and/or a film historian are premium objects for purchase.

WINGS would benefit from a commentary by a film historian such as Kevin Brownlow. An excellent opportunity to introduce silent Paramount titles to DVD. A premium object for
purchase.

THE DAY OF THE LOCUST woud benefit from director´s commentary and a literature historian´s commentary. A prime purchase.

DARLING LILI would benefit from original cut seamlessly branched with director´s cut, plus a director´s and Julie Andrews commentary. A prime purchase.

CAPTAIN KRONOS with director and screenwriter commentary would be a semi-premium buying object.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS would benefit from a director´s commentary addressing items such as adapting Agatha Christie and directing an all-star cast. A semi-premium buying object.

Off-topic I support releases of these premium objects for purchase:
FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET
BLOOD AND ROSES ties in excellently with the general interest in Hammer/AIP titles
DANGER DIABOLIK - excellent tie-in with Austin Powers (pop art aspect; film clips used in recent rock video, sorry I forget the song artist´s name)
THE TENANT - director commentary
THE CONFORMIST - director and cameraman commentary
TRADING PLACES - director commentary, new documentary, deleted scenes

Objects for 2-DVD editions:
1900 - original cut, new documentary, director and cameraman commentary
REDS - new documentary, director and cameraman commentary

I support OAR and original production featurettes on all releases.

Yours faithfully,
Stefan Andersson
SWEDEN

Paramount DVD's
 

Foul Play
Darling Lili (the original and the revised cut)
Looking For Mr. Goodbar

What about "Black Sunday" from the 70's or "Urban Cowboy", "Saturday Night Fever", "Grease"? Are these coming soon?

I would definately buy If...., even a bare bones release, but I do think it really 'needs' some special features. For intance, the switching between B&W and color sequences may be confusing to uninformed viewers.
I would buy Wings (1927) too.

Wings!

I think Paramount should give this classic, historic film the special treatment it deserves and then should start going through their silents catalog to issue on DVD.

Thank you Paramount!

The only one I've seen was Murder on the Orient Express, here are the features I'd like to see on the disc:

Commentary
Behind the scenes featurettes
Cast/Crew bios
Trailers
Delete scenes

Murder on the Orient Express, Foul Play, Wings.
These 3 should all have an SE treatment. The first 2 would need 16 x 9 treatment.
Foul Play could have a commentary with the stars, since they are not to busy these days.
Orient Express has a slew of things that can be done with it. I hope it is done right.
Wings might have a film historian do a comentary, etc...

Off topic.
I talked to A. C. Lyles during dinner after the Time Machine (original) event in Omaha last year.
I asked that he pass along that there is a large following of the 60's series COMBAT!
The news Starz Encore Licenses From Paramount Classic Series Combat once again after a couple years on hiatus was well recieved by COMBAT! fandom.
COMBAT! was never on home video in the U.S. except for 6 EP episodes on VHS. COMBAT! also has a following in Japan. Several episodes made it to Laser Disk there.
Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/combatfan/?yguid=99257770 to get an idea of the following this show has.
There have even been several COMBAT! conventions with the stars to date.
COMBAT! on VHS and DVD would be a money maker.
Thank you for the chance to bring this to Paramount's attention.

Personally I'm only interested in these. My favorite extras are deleted scenes and commentary. For Captain Kronos a feature about the planned series woudl also be great.

Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter and the Hammers
Murder on the Orient Express

First and foremost, here are my top three choices:

If.... is a brilliant allegory, one of the absolute best films of its kind.
The Day of the Locust is an important adaptation of Nathanael West's landmark novel.
The Geisha Boy and other classic Jerry Lewis films deserve special treatment.

Also, any Hammer Film releases are well worth bonuses, although I personally am not too interested in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter.

By the way Mr. Blythe, Paramount is my favorite studio (Star Trek, hint, hint) and I have always appreciated your presence and participation on this forum. As my collection grows, I find that I am far less interested in barebones discs. As it may be worth buying a DVD for the movie alone, the inclusion of bonus materials in the primary incentive for me to purchase any title.

Murder on the Orient Express

Re: New Poll: Invitation from Paramount
 

Any Hammer please!

p.s. Thanks for caring about what we think and want, Warner could learn a lot from you.

Dude - it's all about the Wings!

Paramount DVDs
 

Of the given list, I'd suggest that a Special Edition DVD is long overdue for:

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

Hammer Films appear to be gaining in popularity once again, as now both MGM (The Hound of the Baskervilles) and Warners (The Mummy) have followed Anchor Bay (Too many Hammer titles to list here) in delivering available titles to DVD. Add to that the popularity of the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer which carries the same theme as Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and I'd say that Paramount could do fairly well with the title.

Just this Hammer fan's two bits worth...

Cheers!

Hammer Films
 

I'd love to see both Hammer's CAPTAIN KRONOS and FRANKENSTEIN & THE MONSTER FROM HELL on DVD - especially with commentary tracks from the talent involved.

Re: KRONOS - Horst Janson, Caroline Munro, Brian Clemmens, and John Carson are still with us, and would make for a very exciting discussion panel.

Re: MONSTER FROM HELL - Shane Briant, Madeline Smith and producer Roy Skeggs would make another very interesting panel.

And please have a moderator for any commentary (to keep the chat focused and relevant).

Hopefully moderated by a respected hammer historian (say, Jonathan Sothcott or Marcus Hearn).

Paramount Poll
 

Hi Mr. Blythe,

They're all terrific films but I'd go with Captain Kronos and the other titles in the Paramount Hammer collection, especially Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. They're excellent genre films that deserve that something extra.

The Jerry Lewis titles would come in a close second--Lewis commentaries would be fantastic!

And a Sidney Lumet commentary on Murder in the Orient Express would be a blast as well.

By the way, a huge thank you for Four Flies on Grey Velvet. I can't wait. Now if only the great Danger: Diabolik were to show its gorgeous face... it would make a fine tie-in to Austin Powers, yes?

Ciao!

My votes for special features treatment:

Murder On The Orient Express
Looking For Mr. Goodbar
Day Of The Locust

My suggestions in order of importance:

1. Bugsy Malone! I was in a stage version of this once, and the film is also great. Audio commentary by Alan Parker and Scott Baio PLEASE!!! Other special features would be nice, but a commentary from those two would be simply amazing!

2. Foul Play! This would work terrific as a little tribute to Dudley Moore and Burgess Meredith. How about an audio commentary reunion from Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase?? Goldie's life-partner Kurt Russel is a big fan of these, and Chevy Chase just did his first audio commentary for European Vacation.

3. Stayin Alive, with participation from director Sylvester Stallone. Perhaps a short interview with Travolta can be recorded at the same time as Sat. Night Fever.

Before I go on, I must tell you my theory about audio commentaries. Bare-bones releases are easy to turn into 'definitive editions' simply by adding a commentary. When people see that there is a commentary listed on the disc, they know that they've probably got the final version of it, and that there won't be an update in a few years. Short documentaries are nice, but they're more timeconsuming and expensive. Just do commentaries! Warners has caught on to this if you read their latest announcements (i.e. Wolfen, Swarm, Gremlins). Another thing: It's always nice to see a picture of the commentary recording session. Anchor Bay has done this with some. It's very simple and you can just put the picture in a gallery or on the commentary menu.

4. Wings - with photo gallery and historian commentary. This is a good classic film, but it's not a terrific film. Historian commentary is invaluable!

5. If - It would be amazing if the 1933 short film Zero de Conduite were on the disc as well. If... was based on this wonderful film by Jean Vigo. Maybe commentary by Malcolm McDowell and a historian on zero de conduite.

Finally, PLEASE get Jerry Lewis involved in his films on DVD.

Mike

Invitation from Paramount
 

Please release the Hammer Films in your collection - especially Kronos. A commentary by Brian Clemens and Caroline Munro would be nice.

A vote for Murder on the Orient Express

Although there's tons of movie I wish I could vote for, I find Paramount using this forum very amazing, hope to see more of this.

In all cases, just want to say.
Original Aspect Ratio on all dvds. Don't waste time on pan and scan.

Thanks:up:

p.s Hope Star Trek Films part 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 get S.E treatments next year. DTS sound would be great as well.

WINGS -- with trailer and footage of the original Oscar ceremony, if these things exist, but most importantly, the DELTED AIR RAID SEQUENCE, which wound up in another Paramount picture. From Internet Movie Database, regarding Wings:

~~~YAWN~~~ I know Paramount has much better library titles than these that they could be spending their dollars for to put out special edition DVD's of. I can tell you honestly that I wouldn't buy a single one of these titles, special edition or not.

The one's I'm most interested in seeing with special features would be.

1. Capt. Kronos (and all other Hammer)
2. Murder on the Orient Express
3. If

Paramount has usually done a good job with the transfers, but has usually done been weak in the areas of extras and pricing. I understand extras add to the total cost, but more and more DVD's seem to be coming out fully loaded and in the 15-20 MRSP range. Barebones and 30 just doesn't work for me. At a minimum it needs to be OAR, carefully mastered audio and video and anamorphic (if the ratio permits). I prefer commentaries (especially with the screen writer & director) and any deleted sceens, a featurette is always nice but definitely third in my opinion.

Overall this is a nice list of movies.

James