Warner Archive Announcements Thread (11 Viewers)

[JoshZ]

WAC seems to be getting more aggressive with pushing TV series as part of their line up. But where oh where is the complete Dallas? It's been remastered. The Alaskans is a good pic. But The Flash was pretty atrocious. There's a reason it only ran from Sept. 1980 to May 1981.

WAC has a goldmine of vintage TV it could offer up. The Dukes of Hazzard, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, Growing Pains, Head of the Class, Perfect Strangers, to say nothing of the mini-series: North and South, and, The Thorn Birds.

But The Flash?!? Scraping the bottom of the barrel on that one!

It has a lot of fans. Quite frankly, I'd rather have The Flash than any of the ones you list there.

The Flash may not have been successful in its day, but it has a significant cult fandom, especially since that version of the character was made canon with numerous appearances in the CW network's very popular Flash reboot series and other Arrowverse crossovers.

Superhero content in general still has tremendous market appeal right now. It's also a short, contained series that's easy to binge. This show is an incredibly easy package to market and will undoubtedly sell well to collectors.

Meanwhile, I'd reckon that audiences still interested in shelling out to permanently own multiple box sets of long-running 1980s soap operas like Falcon Crest or Knott's Landing must be dwindling to near zero by this point. All of those shows mentioned above are better suited to streaming. They don't stand any chance of making a profit on physical media in today's market.

 

[Garysb]

Here is the UK listing for a box set with stuff for the 4K North By Northwest coming later this year. Art work for packaging not finalized.

North by Northwest Ultimate Collector's Edition with Steelbook [4K Ultra HD] [1959]

Celebrate 65 years of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary North by Northwest with a brand new 4K restoration and Ultimate Collector's Edition featuring a Steelbook with new key art, theatrical poster lenticular, and other vintage premiums. Cary Grant is the screen's supreme man-on-the-run in his fourth...

shop.warnerbros.co.uk

 

[BobO'Link]

I finally watched my long-ago-purchased DVD set of The Flash a few months back. I'd not seen it during its original airings and didn't expected much from it, being a single season superhero show of that era, but was pleasantly surprised. It has a real comic book feel, though *is* a bit cheesy at times, and was lots of fun. I liked it much better than the more recent, long running, Flash series from Warner and will gladly upgrade it for my collection.

 

[timk1041]

It seems like some of us have a broader taste in movies than others is one thing I learned from this thread and similar announcement threads like the Criterion and Kino threads.

Agreed. For me, I have broad tastes in films and TV shows: westerns, comedies, dramas, horror, sci-fi, musicals, film noir, etc. The difference, I generally don't care for later or more recent shows and films, however I don't deny the rights or disagree with others who have different tastes.

 

[Keith Cobby]

You really think North by Northwest is not going to have a big announcement?

I would have expected an announcement before a listing. Hopefully, it will be released before 31 December.

 

[Robin9]

The Alaskans, which I've also not seen, reinforces my view that the selection of titles is simply those which are the least expensive to release.

It's been that way with Warner Archive from the first moment they took over releasing catalog titles on Blu-ray discs. People should remember that before then, the quality of Warner Blu-ray discs was not high.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I would have expected an announcement before a listing. Hopefully, it will be released before 31 December.

OMG! Vendors - especially Amazon - post preorders and packaging leaks weeks before an official studio announcement. Trust me, this is not uncommon.

 

[jayembee]

I finally watched my long-ago-purchased DVD set of The Flash a few months back. I'd not seen it during its original airings and didn't expected much from it, being a single season superhero show of that era, but was pleasantly surprised. It has a real comic book feel, though *is* a bit cheesy at times, and was lots of fun. I liked it much better than the more recent, long running, Flash series from Warner and will gladly upgrade it for my collection.

And any release with Amanda Pays in HD is a treat!

 

[Robert Crawford]

OMG! Vendors - especially Amazon - post preorders and packaging leaks weeks before an official studio announcement. Trust me, this is not uncommon.

Thank you. Furthermore I’m surprised that more HTF posters didn’t realize that a December 31st release date on such preorders is nothing more than a placeholder for the vendor. Veteran home video participants should know better than to take that date in a literal way.

 

[moviebuff75]

I wonder if some of their popular classic TV will make it to 4k?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I wonder if some of their popular classic TV will make it to 4k?

I seriously doubt it.

 

[TravisR]

I wonder if some of their popular classic TV will make it to 4k?

I think that only the original Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and maybe Twin Peaks have any kind of a chance to hit UHD.

 

[BRAD1963]

The Alaskans, which I've also not seen, reinforces my view that the selection of titles is simply those which are the least expensive to release. We are halfway through the year (in terms of due dates) and there is a dearth of top tier titles. That North by Northwest (not a WA title, I know) was listed but not given an announcement illustrates the low profile of disc releases and the general lack of enthusiasm.

It is not that titles are less expensive to release. Warner obviously has remastered The Alaskans and WAC chose to release it on Blu-ray. Warner Archive seems to have to some input on titles they would like to release, but ultimately, they release. what is available to them from the studio. George Feltenstein has said many times they will only release newly mastered titles and will no longer use old masters as they did when Warner Archive started releasing Blu-ray. This is the reason why many titles still remain un-released.

 

[Alan Tully]

It's a mystery to me how WAC decide what to release. All those great TV series they have, & we get, Colt 45, The Alaskans & The Flash, all those great (& well known) movies still awaiting a Blu-ray release, & they release a lot of fairly obscure 39s & 40s films (not that obscure to some members here obviously). I know all this is WACs business, but I do wonder if the WAC will shut up shop sometime, citing low sales.

 

[RICK BOND]

Here is the UK listing for a box set with stuff for the 4K North By Northwest coming later this year. Art work for packaging not finalized.

North by Northwest Ultimate Collector's Edition with Steelbook [4K Ultra HD] [1959]

Celebrate 65 years of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary North by Northwest with a brand new 4K restoration and Ultimate Collector's Edition featuring a Steelbook with new key art, theatrical poster lenticular, and other vintage premiums. Cary Grant is the screen's supreme man-on-the-run in his fourth...

shop.warnerbros.co.uk

View attachment 220726

I hope BEN-HUR (1959) gets this 4K UHD Royal treatment this year also.

 

[commander richardson]

I hope BEN-HUR (1959) gets this 4K UHD Royal treatment this year also.

that would be so good.........but wait at £45 in UK North by Northwest 4K release has no CD included of Bernard Herrmann's film score .

 

[Garysb]

It could be that the North By Northwest Collector's Edition box set is limited to the UK. That is what happened with "Casablanca." The UK set has a list price of £45.00.
4K only for the US and a box set for the UK. Since 4K discs are region free the box set could be ordered from the UK, if the US doesn't get the option of a box set.

Fathom event May 19 and May 22 of the restoration. Free mini poster to 1st 30 people at each theater.

North By Northwest 65th Anniversary - Fathom Events

Other Upcoming Events

www.fathomevents.com

Here is a comment from someone who saw the the new restoration of North By Northwest at the TCM Festival.

FSM Board: NORTH BY NORTHWEST RESTORATION

Last week, during the TCM Classic Film Festival, there was a world premiere screening of the restoration of NORTH BY NORTHWEST. The work was supported by the Film Foundation and Warner Bros. The original VistaVision camera negative was scanned, and the picture quality is spectacular. The music is now in surround sound, and dialogue and sound effects moved back and forth across the screen as well. The presenter, filmmaker Nancy Meyers, didn't discuss how the sound was handled, and I was wondering if they used a process like Perspecta for the dialogue and effects. Seeing this on the big Chinese Theatre screen was a special treat! Meyers also said that a 70 mm print is going to be struck.

 

[LouA]

Still hoping for "Please Don't Eat The Daisies" or "Lucky Me" with Doris Day!
More Elvis! And "Forever, Darling" with Lucy and Desi ("The Long Long Trailer" on BR is perfection!)
While we're at it... some 80s classics would be great! It's been a while since they have released any 80s comedies... "Cookie", "Burglar", "The Late Show", "Who's That Girl?" (even though we have the Spain edition. I would definitely double-dip if it's a new master.)
Could also do with a BR release of Jerry Lewis' "Cracking Up"!

Yes , more Elvis, and the Late Show!

 

[BRAD1963]

It's a mystery to me how WAC decide what to release. All those great TV series they have, & we get, Colt 45, The Alaskans & The Flash, all those great (& well known) movies still awaiting a Blu-ray release, & they release a lot of fairly obscure 39s & 40s films (not that obscure to some members here obviously). I know all this is WACs business, but I do wonder if the WAC will shut up shop sometime, citing low sales.

Sales are far from low, in fact they are quite good.

These TV shows and films have a great nostalgic factor, collector's love them, and WAC is the perfect vessel to present them. Warner controls 100 years of assets, and they are trying to cover all bases, and their choices reflect quite a bit of feedback from fans (these forums). They release what they have available to them by Warner.

 

[cadavra]

Coming to Blu-ray on June 14th from the Warner Archive Collection!
New 2024 1080p HD masters from 4K scans of the original camera negatives.

THE ALASKANS (1959-60)
8 BD-50 Disc Set
1944 Minutes
B&W
16x9 1.33:1 with side mattes
DTS-HD MA 2.0
English SDH

Cast: Roger Moore, Jeff York, Dorothy Provine

Set against the backdrop of the 1890s gold rush in the Yukon, Roger Moore, Jeff York and Dorothy Provine star in The Alaskans. This Warner Bros. Television series built on the growing popularity of the studio’s westerns which became a mainstay on ABC in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with . Years before establishing himself as The Saint and later James Bond, Moore brought his unique stylish swagger to the series, adding distinctive class to the role of Silky Harris, an adventurer who teams up with his friend Reno McKeean (Jeff York). Joined in their ever-exciting activities by showgirl Rocky Shaw (Dorothy Provine), the trio stake their luck, love and lives on ice-coated gambles for riches and survival. The series also had the benefit of an impressive array of guest stars including James Coburn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Troy Donahue, Lee Van Cleef, Neil Hamilton, Alan Hale, Werner Klemperer, and Julie Adams to name but a few. Long unavailable for viewing in any media, the series has now been remastered in 1080p HD for this Warner Archive Blu-ray™ release, derived from new 4K scans of the original camera negatives.
View attachment 220670

Boy, never in a zillion years did I ever expect to see this. I still remember the Yeti episode--scared the crap outta me as a kid! Probably won't now, but I can't wait to see it again. Now hopefully we may get THE ROARING 20s somewhere down the line.