DVDizzy Forum

Well, never ever did I expect to say this, but I nominate Fox for Blu-ray studio of the year.

From quite frankly disastrous beginnings (releases with no extras ported over, insane region locking decisions* and in the UK at least ludicrous listed prices) I feel Fox has grown into the blu-ray studio of 2010.

Why? Quite frankly because Fox have excelled themselves this year. Wonderful releases of Moulin Rouge!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Alien Anthology and The Sound of Music place them well above other studio's output. All are superb.

The restorations/transfers on each are top-notch. All have supplements which push the blu-ray format.

The PiP track on Moulin Rogue! looks marvellous offering much added content over what is basically the 2001 DVD commentary. The Alien Anthology is indexed and cross-referenced better than most reference books. The Rocky Horror Picture show offers a full HD shadowcast performance. And finally, like the Alien Anthology, The Sound of Music is crammed to breaking point with hours of archive/vintage material.

Out of those I selected The Sound of Music especially being a revelation both visually and auditory. Those who doubt the qualifications of Blu-ray need only to see a minute or two of this to see exactly what the format is capable of. I personally have little interest in the film (only buying the release today on impulse because it was relatively cheap) but even I want to watch the film from start to end. (I was planning on just dropping in and out of the supplements).

And of course, tomorrow we have the Collectors' Edition of Avatar to look forward too, which promises to break all disc sales records.

Add to this much less strict region locking, decent prices (I'm amazed how little I picked up the Alien Anthology for in the UK, and you can get The Sound of Music for less than a tenner if you shop around) and you most certainly get most improved Blu-ray studio, if not best Blu-ray studio of the year.

Despite the continuing problems with the format, 2010 has been a good year for blu-ray, with lots of top-quality releases, continuing innovation and increasing archive releases becoming available. [Hugs his copy of BFI's The Innocents - taken incidentaly from a 20th Century Fox master]

2011 promises more, with Warners releasing Citizen Kane and Ben Hur Ultimate Collectors' Editions, Universal to release more Hitchcock (starting with The Birds) and Parmount to release Escapay's long awaited The Ten Commandments.

What would I like to see in 2011 from all studios? Universal to release a classic monster set, Warners to release The Haunting (with the supplements it deserves, not just a port of the DVD's), MGM to release West Side Story and Fox to release X-Files: Fight the Future and The Robe in the UK please!

* I still can't buy a copy of X-Files: Fight the Future despite desperately wanting to give Fox my money. And I'm still stuck with a useless copy of The Robe which refuses to play on any of my equipment. Grrrr.

2099net wrote:Why? Quite frankly because Fox have excelled themselves this year. Wonderful releases of Moulin Rouge!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Alien Anthology and The Sound of Music place them well above other studio's output. All are superb.

I've got three of the four mentioned here (the only one I'm missing is the mad expensive Alien Anthology). And they are indeed superb releases.

netty wrote:Out of those I selected The Sound of Music especially being a revelation both visually and auditory. Those who doubt the qualifications of Blu-ray need only to see a minute or two of this to see exactly what the format is capable of.

I was showing it to my mom last night. At first she complained saying "You already have this on DVD, why did you buy it again?" and then I showed her the film. She was all "look at the TREES!" as if you could reach out and touch them. Then I switched on some of the "Your Favorite Things" interactive features, and to my surprise, she thought it was cool that there was PiP in the corner and trivia boxes.

netty wrote:2011 promises more, with Warners releasing Citizen Kane and Ben Hur Ultimate Collectors' Editions, Universal to release more Hitchcock (starting with The Birds) and Parmount to release Escapay's long awaited The Ten Commandments.

Never mind any other studios' offerings. Once The Ten Commandments hits the format, I'll be a 100% happy Blu camper.

netty wrote:What would I like to see in 2011 from all studios?

From Fox, I want a better transfer of the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma! on Blu-Ray. And since we've already got South Pacific and The Sound of Music, I hope the other four make it to Blu-Ray sooner rather than later. Especially since I never got to pick up Carousel or The King and I in their two-disc DVD versions.

Columbia/Sony has been on the right track somewhat with their Collector's Choice box sets, and the new restorations done for the films in the sets would look great in high-def. From the titles in their CC box sets, I particularly want A Matter of Life and Death, Gilda, and The Big Heat on Blu-Ray.

I want Criterion to Blu-ify The Thief of Bagdad.

MGM needs to release more Bond films, though I heard they're holding back on them until the newest one is in production, so that they can release the older ones in anticipation of the theatrical release. Harrumph. I'd also like to see It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World hit Blu-Ray with branching options to watch the original theatrical version or the 1988 Stanley-Kramer-approved extended version, provided they could restore the workprint footage to better quality.

With the way Paramount's discontinuing plenty of their DVDs or shuffling them off to smaller studios (Lionsgate handled Apocalypse Now for some odd reason), I'm grateful that we're at least getting The Ten Commandments. But I also want them to release the seven Audrey Hepburn films they've got in their catalogue (6 were produced, 1 acquired). Five already have good supplements (the four Centennial Collections and My Fair Lady, so long as they include the 1994 documentary), while the other two (War and Peace and Paris When It Sizzles) are little-more-than-barebones and could use some supplements. So far the only Audrey on Blu that's out there is Criterion's Charade.

A small title, but I want Universal to release Somewhere in Time, since their old DVD is non-anamorphic. And more Hitchcock. I sold off my Rear Window DVD and planned to get the two-disc DVD, but now I'll just hold off until it comes to Blu-ray.

From Warner, I just want the Show Boat collection (1929, 1936, 1951) they've promised us for years on DVD. George Feltenstein, when are you going to get around to doing that?!?

albert

Paramount only did the distribution for Apocalypse Now. It's owned by American Zoetrope, and when the distribution rights deal ended, Coppola took the rights to Lionsgate.

I have to vote for Criterion. There's only one studio that seems to give every title the treatment it deserves, and that's Criterion. Too many good titles to mention, but some of them were Paths of Glory, The Thin Red Line, Night of the Hunter, 8 1/2, By Brakhage, Seven Samurai, The Red Shoes, and the American Lost and Found box set. That some of these are studio properties that they were willing to license out is telling of the current situation at the studios. It's a sad state of affairs, but I'm really happy with these releases.

KubrickFan wrote:Paramount only did the distribution for Apocalypse Now. It's owned by American Zoetrope, and when the distribution rights deal ended, Coppola took the rights to Lionsgate.

Ah, okay, that makes sense. I thought Paramount co-produced it too.

albert

Escapay wrote:

KubrickFan wrote:Paramount only did the distribution for Apocalypse Now. It's owned by American Zoetrope, and when the distribution rights deal ended, Coppola took the rights to Lionsgate.

Ah, okay, that makes sense. I thought Paramount co-produced it too.

albert

They probably could've still had the rights, if they made the right offer (must resist using a Godfather joke here ) but they probably didn't want to. Not the smartest thing to do, but hey. We do get The Conversation on Blu-ray from Lionsgate next year, and that's also a title I'm very excited about. But other than that, Lionsgate doesn't seem to release that many titles. YMMV, though.

Hopefully somebody at Disney is reading this and will feel guilt-tripped by way of its absence into assuring that Disney becomes a killer studio again when it comes to home entertainment.

I have to agree that 20th Century Fox is blowing away the competitors with their quantity and quality of releases to date.

I have added "Alien Anthology" and "The Sound of Music" to my Blu-ray collection because of their quality of maintaining 'new' things along with all the ported over stuff. "Alien Anthology" is a good example of this as they have used the Blu-ray better than any other so far.

Even their 'budget' Blu-rays are superior to others that have been released.

Lionsgate is running a close second, and since I just don't care about Criterion anymore they are running strong in the Blu-ray releases. They still haven't fixed their other standard DVD releases and done any anamorphic corrections to their releases.

Wonderlicious wrote:Hopefully somebody at Disney is reading this and will feel guilt-tripped by way of its absence into assuring that Disney becomes a killer studio again when it comes to home entertainment.

I will give Disney some credit in one area: they led the other studios in creating the BluRay/DVD combo packs which is a great buy for people like me who arent financially ready for BluRay players but want to be caught up with their video collection. This works out great for me since most of my movies are Disney.

Now if only they can improve their quality and quantity of supplements.

dvdjunkie wrote: Lionsgate is running a close second, and since I just don't care about Criterion anymore they are running strong in the Blu-ray releases. They still haven't fixed their other standard DVD releases and done any anamorphic corrections to their releases.

Are you talking about Criterion? You do know that they lost the rights to many of their older movies, right? Correcting them isn't possible when you can't release a new version.

I have to nominate Eureka/Masters of Cinema. Brilliant releases this year such as M, City Girl, La planète sauvage, Make Way for Tomorrow, The Burmese Harp and Metropolis.

Fox just reinforced their stand as the best Blu-ray company in the present market.

The Avatar-Special 3-Disc Collector's Edition on Blu-ray is second only to the "Alien Anthology" in goodies and presentation. All three versions of the movie are on Disc One and the other two discs have all the behind-the-scenes stuff that we have expected for some time. A flawless presentation that just jumps out at you.

Wal-Mart has the best price for the Blu-ray at $24.96 through Saturday. MSRP is $39.99 so you are saving a bundle.

Escapay wrote:

2099net wrote:Why? Quite frankly because Fox have excelled themselves this year. Wonderful releases of Moulin Rouge!, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Alien Anthology and The Sound of Music place them well above other studio's output. All are superb.

I've got three of the four mentioned here (the only one I'm missing is the mad expensive Alien Anthology). And they are indeed superb releases.

And I got my Alien Anthology (from a store!) for £34.99 - that's less than £6 per disc! I can't believe how cheap it was, which is one of the reasons I'm saying Fox is Blu-ray studio of the year. You can get the Sound of Music for less than £10 if you shop on-line. Both are unbelievable prices when you consider how much Fox UK wanted to rip people off as short a period as 18 months ago or so.

Escapay wrote:

netty wrote:Out of those I selected The Sound of Music especially being a revelation both visually and auditory. Those who doubt the qualifications of Blu-ray need only to see a minute or two of this to see exactly what the format is capable of.

I was showing it to my mom last night. At first she complained saying "You already have this on DVD, why did you buy it again?" and then I showed her the film. She was all "look at the TREES!" as if you could reach out and touch them. Then I switched on some of the "Your Favorite Things" interactive features, and to my surprise, she thought it was cool that there was PiP in the corner and trivia boxes.

Yeah, but I'm not convinced the PiP stuff it that good on The Sound of Music. I'll wait until I've seen the thing (which is likely to be a long time from now, its so long). But talking of PiP stuff, the visuals presented with the (old?) Moulin Rouge! DVD commentary track really seem to work. I've only viewed the start, but they have been selected, edited and presented with consummate skill. If it really is done to an existing commentary, its even more incredible when you consider the contextual mess some PiP content is.

Escapay wrote:

netty wrote:What would I like to see in 2011 from all studios?

From Fox, I want a better transfer of the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma! on Blu-Ray. And since we've already got South Pacific and The Sound of Music, I hope the other four make it to Blu-Ray sooner rather than later. Especially since I never got to pick up Carousel or The King and I in their two-disc DVD versions.

Columbia/Sony has been on the right track somewhat with their Collector's Choice box sets, and the new restorations done for the films in the sets would look great in high-def. From the titles in their CC box sets, I particularly want A Matter of Life and Death, Gilda, and The Big Heat on Blu-Ray.

I'm sure I read somewhere not so long ago when ITV released The Red Shoes over here that A Matter of Life and Death was being worked on. My guess is like similar other releases from smaller companies ITV and Criterion will contribute to the restoration and/or new transfer and share the results.

Escapay wrote:I want Criterion to Blu-ify The Thief of Bagdad.

Older films? Not many I would like, I'm skipping Metropolis for example. And King Kong. I would probably like The Lost World(1925) on Blu-ray though - I've have to give my DVD another spin.

I'd like the original Phantom of the Opera too - but I'm hoping that will appear on my desperately wanted Universal Classic Monsters set. How much I want that set! If Universal only have half the love for these classic properties as I do, we could have a wonderful set (and perhaps they could follow it up with a Universal 50's Sci-Fi set!)

Escapay wrote:MGM needs to release more Bond films, though I heard they're holding back on them until the newest one is in production, so that they can release the older ones in anticipation of the theatrical release. Harrumph. I'd also like to see It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World hit Blu-Ray with branching options to watch the original theatrical version or the 1988 Stanley-Kramer-approved extended version, provided they could restore the workprint footage to better quality.

Well, the UK got even less, and the Bond films suffered from Fox's stupid Region Locking excess (I'm saying Fox, because Fox distributed them). I find the fact that Fox of all people are now releasing most of their films region free or region AB pretty funny really - even newer films. Just shows that they have learned open trade is better than restricted trade - which lets face it, is the theory behind capitalism which we're all supposed to adore so much.

(Let me say, I have no problem with any studio releasing a film on Blu-ray with region locking if it is to protect a theatrical window. What infuriates me is when older films are region locked - especially if the distributor is unchanged from region to region!)

dvdjunkie wrote:The Avatar-Special 3-Disc Collector's Edition on Blu-ray is second only to the "Alien Anthology" in goodies and presentation. All three versions of the movie are on Disc One and the other two discs have all the behind-the-scenes stuff that we have expected for some time. A flawless presentation that just jumps out at you.

Yes, I just purchased this the other day (again at a reasonable price - Yay Fox). But why do I now feel so dirty for doing so?

2099net wrote:But talking of PiP stuff, the visuals presented with the (old?) Moulin Rouge! DVD commentary track really seem to work. I've only viewed the start, but they have been selected, edited and presented with consummate skill. If it really is done to an existing commentary, its even more incredible when you consider the contextual mess some PiP content is.

I think the commentary track is new, as it is Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Donald McAlpine, and Craig Pearce all together, whereas the older commentary tracks were Luhrmann/Martin/McAlpine on one track and Luhrmann/Pearce on another. I still need to give it a listen to see if they just combined the two tracks together or if they recorded a new one.

netty wrote:I'm sure I read somewhere not so long ago when ITV released The Red Shoes over here that A Matter of Life and Death was being worked on. My guess is like similar other releases from smaller companies ITV and Criterion will contribute to the restoration and/or new transfer and share the results.

Awesome. I can't see Sony releasing A Matter of Life and Death on Blu-Ray soon, but hopefully they'll licence it out to Criterion.

albert