Universal Catalog Titles on Blu

[captveg]

It's also worth noting that US rights for The Getaway (1994) have moved to Warner.

[Ashirg]

Also, while they have Region A releases, Universal has yet to release US BDs of The Hitcher (2007), Slither (2006), and White Noise 2

I omit these because they were released in in Canada/Region A territory.

[Emilio]

Munich, Sneakers and the Andromeda Strain are announced for February (Bestbuy exclusives, so far)... but great news nonetheless for Munich in particular.

[flyonthewall2983]

That and Sneakers are a nice one-two punch for me. The Paper and Midnight Run still remain.

[eerik]

The Breakfast Club 30th Anniversary Edition. Digitally Remastered and Fully Restored From 35mm Original Film Elements.

[criterion10]

The Breakfast Club 30th Anniversary Edition. Digitally Remastered and Fully Restored From 35mm Original Film Elements.

Buy/Sell: The release is still DNR-ed to smithereens.

[John Doe]

April blu-ray titles:

Silent Running
Imitation of Life 2 disc collection 1934/1959
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun

[tenia]

Imitation of Life 1959 is also planned for a BD release in France (via Elephant Films). I hope the master is better than the one used for the German BD, which doesn't seem to look good at all.

[Drucker]

Imitation of Life is playing at Film Forum in a brand new 4k restoration. Very disappointed it's not coming from Criterion.

Of course, if they lavish the attention on it that they lavished on Touch of Evil/Double Indemnity, I will be thrilled.

[Ashirg]

Special Features
Disc 1 - Imitation of Life (1934):
Theatrical Trailer
Optional Feature Commentary with African-American Cultural Scholar Avery Clayton

Disc 1 - Imitation of Life (1959):
Lasting Legacy – An Imitation of Life
Theatrical Trailer
Optional Feature Commentary with Film Historian Foster Hirsch

[Lowry_Sam]

Special Features
Disc 1 - Imitation of Life (1934):
Theatrical Trailer
Optional Feature Commentary with African-American Cultural Scholar Avery Clayton

Disc 1 - Imitation of Life (1959):
Lasting Legacy – An Imitation of Life
Theatrical Trailer
Optional Feature Commentary with Film Historian Foster Hirsch

That's pathetic. I was really hoping Criterion would get this one.

[FrauBlucher]

The majors seem to have ramped up catalogue for blu ray, which is something the masses want. Some studios will do a good job (WB, SONY and Fox), the others will be hit or miss (mostly miss). it's a catch-22, though, as the films will be less available to the likes of Criterion. Although, there is only so much CC can put out without increasing their own production.

[tenia]

Criterion and co can only release so many movies per year. Look at all the movies restored that we're still waiting to be out on BD in an accessible way.

If the studios exploit properly some good new restorations (in this case, it seems the 4K restoration of the '59 movie), I'm happy to see them released on BD even if it's not through Criterion. Sure, it will lack in the extras department, but at least it's out.

[Drucker]

Tenia, you're right. My main concern though is PQ. If the transfer is good, without digital manipulation, than the majors can absolutely keep 'em coming!

[tenia]

In a way, I can also understand how Universal handling a catalog title can be worrying due to their poor previous experience.

[Gregory]

Are they not even carrying over the making-of documentary from the 2008 release?

[PfR73]

Are they not even carrying over the making-of documentary from the 2008 release?

It's listed there. It's called "Lasting Legacy – An Imitation of Life"

[Gregory]

I skimmed those specs a few times but my eyes kept seeing nothing but trailers and commentaries.
Okay, I'll join up with team "As long as the transfers are good, keep them coming," but will cautiously await reviews. And we'll probably continue to only see a sparse number of releases of older catalog titles like this.

As their "restoration chief" said a couple of years ago in the Time article linked in this thread, "We have a commitment to restore 3 to 5 new prints a year. Right now, we’re working on A Touch of Evil, High Plains Drifter, Double Indemnity—and we’ll probably add another title or two at the end of the year." I wonder what happened to High Plains Drifter, apart from it being offered in a big Clint Eastwood Blu-ray shoebox in the UK that I've seen no reviews of.

[aox]

HPD Blu-Ray.com review

[Gregory]

Thanks, I guess I'm pretty hopeless today. I'd seen no mention of that Blu-ray on this forum, and Amazon's new practice of combining search results with multiple formats lumped together didn't help either, but my fault really. Glad to know it's out, and it looks superb.

[Minkin]

Imitation of Life is playing at Film Forum in a brand new 4k restoration. Very disappointed it's not coming from Criterion.

This seems like an odd decision coming from Universal (what with their massive horror catalog that they've just scraped the surface of exploiting) and at this particular time (when all the other studios are jumping ship - MGM/Sony in particular have all but left the business w/their catalog). At least Universal is great at letting other companies do their own disc - even within a few months of their own blu (Brazil, etc). So, perhaps the Sirk will still come eventually (but how big could the Sirk market be to support multiple blus?)

[Anthony Thorne]

Universal's HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER restoration is also out in Australia, Region free, and looks gorgeous.

[solaris72]

Excited for Silent Running! Been meaning to pick up the MOC but I do prefer region A or region free because I do a lot of movie watching at friends' houses.

[Forrest Taft]

Universal is releasing an eight-disc Clint Eastwood Blu-ray box in the UK in August

Coogan's Bluff (1968)
Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
The Beguiled (1971)
Play Misty for Me (1971)
Joe Kidd (1972)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Breezy (1973)
The Eiger Sanction (1975)

In Germany, they've released a set that includes six of these titles. You don't get High Plains Drifter and Coogan's Bluff, but those can be bought separately (the latter has only been released separately in Germany though). The good news is that they don't come in a shoebox, and you can get the German set for less than half the price of the UK one.

Edit: I see now that all of these are getting individual releases in Scandinavia in april, so I'm guessing they'll be out in other countries soon too.

[John Doe]

May blu-ray titles:

Spielberg;s singles (1941, Always, Duel, The Sugarland Express and Munich)

Clint Eastwood: The Universal Pictures 7-Movie Collection