Amazon DVD Sale: Huge Warner Savings

[AndyDursin]

I've been poking around Amazon's DVD sale recently and there are some gems to be found.

Warner 2-Disc Special Editions $12.97 each
AMADEUS Director's Cut, THX-1138, ADV. OF ROBIN HOOD, UNFORGIVEN, MEET ME IN ST LOUIS, CASABALANCA, TRUE ROMANCE, WYATT EARP, BOOGIE NIGHTS, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THIEVES
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/fe ... 84-6189568

Warner $6.97 Titles
Many Clint Eastwood bargains (TIGHTROPE, WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART, etc.), plenty of catalog titles (2010, POLTERGEIST, etc.)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/br ... 84-6189568

[MikeSkerritt]

I keep seeing POLTERGEIST pop up in bargain bins. Is out going out of print? If so, does that mean a deluxe edition is on the horizon?

[AndyDursin]

Mike,
Alas, sadly...I believe Warner put off the Deluxe Edition a year or so ago, with the whole Tobe Hooper/Spielberg issue being the central reason (why give us a bland assortment of special features that don't address the issue, right?).

I'd LOVE to see some deleted scenes -- I believe there were a decent amount of sequences that were discarded -- but for now we'll have to live with that old MGM DVD.

Speaking of which, if you don't have it, it's well worth the money: 16:9 transfer and 5.1 Digital sound are a bit aged, but it's still a lot better than most of the "first gen" DVDs that came out.

I still have my MGM DVD with the superior case and collector's insert booklet, lol

BTW, SUPERMAN II, III and IV are also in the $7 Amazon sale section I linked to as well, though there MAY be Special Editions (especially of II) upcoming pending the release of the 2006 film.

[Eric W.]

Nice! Thanks for the heads up!

I wonder if 2001 and 2010 are ever going to get the deluxe super lovin' treatement.

[MarkB]

I wonder if 2001 and 2010 are ever going to get the deluxe super lovin' treatement.

According to the good folks at Warner, there is a special edition of 2001 in the works for 2006, with more Kubrick SEs likely to follow. (We should finally see some anamorphic widescreen editions of THE SHINING, EYES WIDE SHUT, and others.)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... fchat.html

I haven't heard anything about 2010, though I'd love to see a SE of that myself.

Mark

[AndyDursin]

I wonder if 2001 and 2010 are ever going to get the deluxe super lovin' treatement.

According to the good folks at Warner, there is a special edition of 2001 in the works for 2006, with more Kubrick SEs likely to follow. (We should finally see some anamorphic widescreen editions of THE SHINING, EYES WIDE SHUT, and others.)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... fchat.html

I haven't heard anything about 2010, though I'd love to see a SE of that myself.

Mark

Those 4:3 full-frame transfers were done with his blessing, though...apparently that's the ratio he wanted them in on video...but that's another topic entirely

The 2001 transfer on Warner's 16:9 DVD is excellent! (and that's the one on sale, btw). Excellent price.

[MarkB]

Those 4:3 full-frame transfers were done with his blessing, though...apparently that's the ratio he wanted them in on video...but that's another topic entirely

Which is why I avoided it.

Kubrick may have approved those 4:3 transfers, but my 16:9 TV sure didn't!

And I agree that the current version of 2001 looks and sounds great!

Mark

[AndyDursin]

Those 4:3 full-frame transfers were done with his blessing, though...apparently that's the ratio he wanted them in on video...but that's another topic entirely

Which is why I avoided it.

Kubrick may have approved those 4:3 transfers, but my 16:9 TV sure didn't!

And I agree that the current version of 2001 looks and sounds great!

Mark

To be fair Mark, your 16:9 TV may have also appreciated the fake-widescreen transfers Warner did of the IT and BOURNE IDENTITY mini-series from the '80s (and the KUNG FU series from the '70s) but they weren't legitimate widescreen...there is a definite movement to placate 16:9 TV owners even if the ratio isn't valid. Naturally the Kubrick films are a different matter, but I hope Warner proceeds with more caution than they've shown on certain other full-screen transfers in the past.

[MarkB]

I'm in full agreement with you, Andy. I have no use for phony "widescreen." But the Kubrick films were originally designed for widescreen theatrical exhibition (no matter what Kubrick's estate may have claimed later), so as long as the widescreen DVD presentation is true to the theatrically exhibited aspect ratio, they too would have to be considered "director approved."

Mark

[AndyDursin]

I'm in full agreement with you, Andy. I have no use for phony "widescreen." But the Kubrick films were originally designed for widescreen theatrical exhibition (no matter what Kubrick's estate may have claimed later), so as long as the widescreen DVD presentation is true to the theatrically exhibited aspect ratio, they too would have to be considered "director approved."

Mark

Exactly Mark. Kubrick didn't make use of anamorphic widescreen very often -- except for 2001 and SPARTACUS did he shoot another movie in a legitimate widescreen format? My only hang-up is that often times studios will format 1.66 movies in 1.85, cropping out some details that directors do, at times, care about at the top/bottom of the frame. I would hope Warner would pay attention to this sort of thing, because I think it's clear Kubrick was shooting almost strictly for full-screen given his preference for 4:3.

[MarkB]

I'm still not sold on 4:3 being Kubrick's preference. I've heard all of Jan Harlan's arguments, but you'll never convince me, for instance, that Kubrick intended for the audience to see the filming helicopter's shadow and rotor blades in the opening shots of THE SHINING.

Mark

[AndyDursin]

Walmart also has THE SHINING and EYES WIDE SHUT for $5.50. Anyone interested should make SURE you pick up the discs with the "Stanley Kubrick Collection -- Digitally Restored and Remastered" banner on the front cover...big difference between that DVD and the older ones!