It seems 2006 will have been a pretty typical year for Warner in terms of volume of classic titles, unless my estimations are way off.

With the exception of the Kubrick SEs, they have released or will release by the end of the year everything they said they would. It may just not seem like much because it's been a consistent trickle of releases (and many of them are of marginal interest to most).

My only consolation is that they've finally announced all their Superman DVDs and that they will now concentrate on more meaningful releases (namely some that they've been promising for the last couple of years now and still haven't gotten around to them - Performance, Ken Russell, Esther Williams, etc.).

I suppose we could also see announcements this month for the remaining box sets that were expected for 2006. But what I was wondering was whether we really saw a "major initiative" this year in comparison to the volume of releases of recent years.

I think another thing that makes this look not so much like a "major initiative" is that so many of the releases were in box sets, some with titles unavailable individually. All of the John Ford discs were sold individually and a couple were available presviously, but that's 13 films right there. The Gable box is 6 films, Tennessee Williams another 6, Busby Berkeley 5, and so on. If they had released an equivalent number of non-related films, it might seem like a much bigger deal. Without a count of 2005's releases, though, I'm having a hard time telling how "major" this initiative really was. 2005 certainly had its share of box sets, too: Bette Davis 1, Joan Crawford, Garbo, Film Noir 2, Astaire and Rogers 1, Thin Man.

One thing is sure: not much in the way of silents in '06.

Maybe those alleged efforts on Greed, Big Parade, et al will begin showing up in early '07.

Universal Outdid everyone when it came to HD releases. hopefully warner changes that in 2007.

Keep that noise in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray thread.

I'm just getting impatient about The Magnificent Ambersons.

Well, don't hold your breath. This is what Warners said in this year's chat:


And apart from the ones I mentioned above, I'm also tired of waiting for Zabriskie Point, America America and Brewster McCloud. Hopefully next year...

As painful as it is, I can understand the need to be patient for what they're doing on the Welles titles. However, they don't have the same excuse for Zabriskie Point, so I'll be pretty irritated if it doesn't show up by the end of next year.

Seconded for Zabriskie Point. Surely this is a no-brainer release for Warner? I'm quite sure we'd be quite happy at this point with the film, spruced up, in a box.

Yeah, I remember what they said, but for how long this has taken it's kind of unbelievable that there aren't at least decent elements for The Magnificent Ambersons in their possession somewhere. It sounds like they're just waiting for the original Welles cut to materialize out of nowhere before they start producing a DVD.

i was just thinking the same thing. if it was coming this year, we would've heard an annoucement already. same thing with the Harlow set.

From Barrie Maxwell at the Bits:

Surprised to see no reactions at all to this wonderful bit of news there. Warner continues to make supreme efforts to please the devoted cinephile.

Apart from what we already know it's coming, I'm personally anxious to see what surprises they might have up their sleeves.

What kind of reaction did you expect? This is par for the course for Warner these days. Sure, we're all happy, I'm sure. But that bit of news could just as easily have described 2006.

EDIT: I think many of us are probably just waiting to hear about specific titles (like Greed, Big Parade, O Lucky Man!, The Devils, etc.).

It did.


Yes, I'm already looking forward to Stroszeck's complaint that he wanted 200 different titles.

It is another great year for Warner.But I must confess that I get king of frustrated every time there's "repackagings of previously-released titles into box sets".Because I already have the movies but I will not have the box.Like the Bogart&Bacall signature collection.I had the movies,but I'm too lazy to sell it.And I always say to myself that is stupid to do all that just to get a paper box to put my dvds on.

By the look of things(and Warner chats) Garbo will not be part of that at all.And I found this on a Garbo message board.

I wouldn't want to find SUSAN LENNOX on a Gable box.That's stupid.I didn't even liked to see Dacing Lady on the Gable signature collection(but I'm happy to finally have it). Anyway,I hope they're wrong.

Apart from that it will be a great year. I'm especially anxious to get Greed, The Wind and The Scarlet Letter. Jean Harlow,Stanwyck and Glenn Ford box sets are most welcome.

Yes, but don't forget what they said about that: everytime an old release finds its way onto a new boxed set collection of titles, it will be in an upgraded form, meaning it will have a new A/V transfer and new extras as well, which is not bad at all and that way you will not feel like you're being cheated. Only slightly.

Titles that are getting that treatment are Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, An American in Paris and probably Splendor in the Grass and many others. Warner can count on my money for that lot.

I hope 7 Women and Wagon Master, can make it on disc next year.

TCM is playing both of them this month, November 21 and 22.

I'll be interested in the shape of the prints they air. I'm sad I don't have TCM anymore. I might need to ask anyone who happens to catch them. I also hope that we finally see Brewster McCloud in '07.

Watched ZABRISKIE POINT on TCM last night on large projection screen... totally lovely, poetically composed... Hopefully Warner Bros can slot this for release in 07....

Well, we all thought that we'd see Zabriskie Point before we saw Performance, after the Roger Water's website info, but there has been no further news.