Has John Sayles Been Forgotten On Blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

[richardburton84]

IMHO All of John Sayles' films are fantastic & deserve a release on the Criterion label, or at the least re-released on DVD & Blu; I would even settle for DVD-only re-releases. I believe the majority of his films have never been re-released on Disk - after the initial DVD. So, they are typically harder to find on the older DVD's due to the disks being OOP. Going along with this, 99% of his films have never had Blu releases.

Some of his movies that definitely deserve a Criterion release, or at least a re-release:

Limbo - superb; possibly Sayles' best film.

Men with Guns - the DVD is especially difficult to track down

Silver City

Casa De Los Babys

Honeydripper

The Secret of Roan Inish - only seen this in a pan & scan DVD; it definitely deserves an Anamorphic Widescreen (AW) release

Brother from Another Planet - excellent; I've also only seen this on a crummy pan & scan DVD. Not sure if it's ever been available in a AW release.

Baby, It's You

Lone Star - excellent "modern" western. The DVD is also tough to find; I haven't seen this film in years.

Sunshine State

Amigo

City of Hope

Passion Fish

Lianna

Return of the Secaucus Seven

To add to a previous post of mine - note that AFAIK City of Hope was only available during the VHS/Laser Disk era(s), and has never been available on DVD/Blu-ray.

I can’t remember where I read it, but I recall reading somewhere that Criterion was at least working on Lone Star.

 

[The Drifter]

I can’t remember where I read it, but I recall reading somewhere that Criterion was at least working on Lone Star.

Yes, I remember hearing the same rumor several years ago re: Lone Star. That would be an fantastic Criterion release....however, I'll believe it when I see it. For some reason it takes forever to re-release Sayles' films on physical media. The Matewan release in 2019 was amazing - but these are just extremely few & far between. I strongly suspect the obscurity of these films has something to do with this - maybe.

 

[Sam Favate]

Would love to see City of Hope (1991) come to Blu-ray. It’s only ever been released on VHS.

But really, I’ll take whatever Sayles I can get: Return if the Secaucus Seven, Lone Star, Limbo, etc.

 

[Dick]

Would love to see City of Hope (1991) come to Blu-ray. It’s only ever been released on VHS.

But really, I’ll take whatever Sayles I can get: Return if the Secaucus Seven, Lone Star, Limbo, etc.

To say nothing of SILVER CITY.

 

[Jobla]

I would love a release of RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN that would include interview with all surviving cast members, many of whom are still active in show business (notwithstanding the current strikes).

I remember one day, back in the 1990s, during which a clueless employee at a video store told me that his store carried "the original SEACAUCAS SEVEN" as well as the RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN. I didn't have the heart to tell him that there was no "original SEACAUCAS SEVEN."

 

[Jeffrey D]

To say nothing of SILVER CITY.

Sunshine State too.

 

[cda1143]

IMHO All of John Sayles' films are fantastic & deserve a release on the Criterion label, or at the least re-released on DVD & Blu; I would even settle for DVD-only re-releases. I believe the majority of his films have never been re-released on Disk - after the initial DVD. So, these older DVD's are typically harder to find due to being OOP. Going along with this, 99% of his films have never had Blu releases.

Some of his movies that definitely deserve a Criterion release, or at least a re-release:

Limbo - superb; possibly Sayles' best film.

Men with Guns - the DVD is especially difficult to track down

Silver City

Casa De Los Babys

Honeydripper

The Secret of Roan Inish - only seen this in a pan & scan DVD; it definitely deserves an Anamorphic Widescreen (AW) release

Brother from Another Planet - excellent; I've also only seen this on a crummy pan & scan DVD. Not sure if it's ever been available in a AW release.

Baby, It's You

Lone Star - excellent "modern" western. The DVD is also tough to find; I haven't seen this film in years.

Sunshine State

Amigo

City of Hope

Passion Fish

Lianna

Return of the Secaucus Seven

To add to a previous post of mine - note that AFAIK City of Hope was only available during the VHS/Laser Disk era(s), and has never been available on DVD/Blu-ray.

Lone Star has a very respectable iTunes HD. Secret of Roan Inish has a nice looking iTunes 4K. Brother from Another Planet - an iTunes SD. It doesn’t look great but it is widescreen at least.

 

[Sam Favate]

In a perfect world, we’d be getting one or two Sayles films per year on disc from Criterion.

 

[The Drifter]

In a perfect world, we’d be getting one or two Sayles films per year on disc from Criterion.

Or even better, 3-4 Sayles films per year on disk from Criterion. That way all of his films could be on re-released, remastered disks within 5-6 years. Though I know this is extremely unlikely & probably borderline-impossible - the justification for this would be that they need to make up for lost time because his disks have been unavailable for so many years However, it seems that even asking for 1 Sayles film per year is too much.

I would love a release of RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN that would include interview with all surviving cast members, many of whom are still active in show business (notwithstanding the current strikes).

I remember one day, back in the 1990s, during which a clueless employee at a video store told me that his store carried "the original SEACAUCAS SEVEN" as well as the RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN. I didn't have the heart to tell him that there was no "original SEACAUCAS SEVEN."

Agree completely that RotSS needs a decent, re-mastered re-release w/extras. I haven't seen this since the old bare-bones DVD back in the 200X's. Excellent indy film. I remember enjoying this much more than the more popular/well-known The Big Chill (1983); the story-lines were roughly similar, but I felt RotSS was the superior film. Though, "Return" obviously didn't have a big Hollywood budget to pay for an expensive rock/pop soundtrack (as we saw in TBC), etc.

Not surprised at all about the general cluelessness of many video rental store employees. When those stores were still around, I remember being significantly more knowledgeable about most film(s) than they were. That being said, this is completely understandable since I doubt many/any?! of them were hardcore film fan(s) like myself & many of us on this board

 

[bujaki]

I also agree that Return of the SECAUCUS Seven is superior to the big-budgeted, star-laden film The Big Chill.

 

[John Lloyd]

Criterion just announced Lone Star on 4K for January. Hopefully there will be additional titles in the future.

 

[Sam Favate]

City of Hope is coming to Blu-ray! April 16!

Pre-Order - City of Hope (1991) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link. https://www.amazon.com/City-of-Hope-Blu-ray/dp/B0CYQ9VPQT?tag=bluray-011-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[Jeffrey D]

City of Hope is coming to Blu-ray! April 16!

Pre-Order - City of Hope (1991) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link. https://www.amazon.com/City-of-Hope-Blu-ray/dp/B0CYQ9VPQT?tag=bluray-011-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

www.hometheaterforum.com

Haven’t seen it, but will likely get this one. I bought Matewan Criterion a while ago, but haven’t gotten around to watching it- never saw this one either. Hopefully Sunshine State eventually comes out- really like this one.

 

[bujaki]

I vote for the release of The Return of the Secaucus Seven, which I prefer to its big-budget sibling, The Big Chill.

 

[Sam Favate]

Haven’t seen it, but will likely get this one. I bought Matewan Criterion a while ago, but haven’t gotten around to watching it- never saw this one either. Hopefully Sunshine State eventually comes out- really like this one.

Matewan is another masterpiece. The Criterion also looks amazing. I’d eagerly get Sunshine State on Blu-ray too.

I vote for the release of The Return of the Secaucus Seven, which I prefer to its big-budget sibling, The Big Chill.

Oh yes. Secaucus is long overdue, as is Brother From Another Planet, Limbo, and Silver City.

 

[The Drifter]

Recently saw Sayles' Amigo (2010) in it's entirety for the first time. Excellent historical drama about the Philippine-American war in 1900. This was a war I knew nothing about & which doesn't appear to get much attention in history books and/or in movies. So, kudos to Sayles & co. for making a film about this little-known conflict.

Excellent cast as well, including Chris Cooper in a small but important role, Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead), & D.J. Qualls (Road Trip; Hustle & Flow).

I suspect this is little-seen by many, other than Sayles fans. This has never even gotten a mainstream DVD release. And, it definitely deserves to be on Blu.

 

[bujaki]

Recently saw Sayles' Amigo (2010) in it's entirety for the first time. Excellent historical film about the Philippine-American war in 1900. This was a war/conflict I knew nothing about, so it was especially interesting to see a film about this topic. Excellent cast as well, including Chris Cooper in a small but important role, Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead), & D.J. Qualls (Road Trip; Hustle & Flow).

I suspect this is little-seen by many, other than Sayles fans. This has never even gotten a mainstream DVD release. And, it definitely deserves to be on Blu.

It portrays the Filipino-American war with great accuracy.

 

[jayembee]

I would love a release of RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN that would include interview with all surviving cast members, many of whom are still active in show business (notwithstanding the current strikes).

I remember one day, back in the 1990s, during which a clueless employee at a video store told me that his store carried "the original SEACAUCAS SEVEN" as well as the RETURN OF THE SEACAUCAS SEVEN. I didn't have the heart to tell him that there was no "original SEACAUCAS SEVEN."

No doubt he was thinking that The Big Chill was "the original Secaucus Seven", but yeah...