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The Warner Archive Blu-ray/DVD Thread

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  • The Warner Archive Blu-ray/DVD Thread

    So Andrew posted this first in the MOD thread but I figured this was cool enough to spin it off into it's own thing. Here's the official press release from WAC:



    The Warner Archive Collection (WAC) - the Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) division dedicated to releasing on DVD previously unavailable films and television shows - today announced the launch of its first Blu-rayâ„¢ titles. The two titles, Deathtrap and Gypsy, will debut on November 20. Beginning in February 2013, WAC expects to release a minimum of one to two Blu-ray titles per month. Future titles include The Hudsucker Proxy and Fearless.

    WAC reports that the Blu-ray discs will be replicated in limited quantities and fulfilled on demand. All releases will leverage high quality 1080p masters. In many instances, as with Deathtrap, the films will be available for the first time for home viewing in their original widescreen format.

    Starting as a modest initiative, WAC has quickly grown to become a new business model for the studio and a recognized industry leader. Since launching in March 2009, WAC has released more than 1,500 films, short subjects, TV movies and mini-series that otherwise would not have been available, providing a valuable service to film lovers everywhere.

    Now, WAC's entry into the Blu-ray market is the latest example of its fast growth and increasing popularity with consumers who have embraced the technology as the standard for the highest quality home movie viewing on disc. This year, domestic sales of catalog titles on Blu-ray grew 22% in the third quarter from a year earlier. In fact, Blu-ray sales have shown impressive gains every quarter in 2012, continuing the trend set in 2011 over 2010 when sales were up 20%.[1]

    In making the Blu-ray announcement, WBDD President Thomas Gewecke said, “This is an important innovation that fulfills consumer demand for high definition releases that otherwise would not be available in physical formats. We're excited to have the opportunity to further expand the Warner Archive Collection into the Blu-ray marketplace with an impressive slate of releases.”

    Warner Archive Collection titles can be purchased through their web site (www.warnerarchive.com) for $21.99 SRP or through other leading online retailers.
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    Rock! Shock! Pop!

  • #2
    Will keep this up to date with announcements from WAC as they start to filter in.
    Rock! Shock! Pop!

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    • #3
      I'm really excited about this development, we could see some great stuff on BD in the future.
      I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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      • #4
        Me too. They've got one of the best back catalogues out of all the major studios and they tend to treat it quite respectfully.
        Rock! Shock! Pop!

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        • #5
          GYPSY has many virtues, especially Natalie Wood, but I've always been a little disappointed in the film. It chickens out with the strip dances. The film needs to show flesh to communicate the emotional toll in those days of working in the sex trade. So it replaces that with soapsud melodrama. If, biographically, working in the sex-trade did not cost her, what was the payoff for her besides earning a meager living? Rita Morena does a strip at end of MARLOWE (1968) that blows all the strips in this film down the drain. Maybe GYPSY needs to be remade.
          "I've been to college, but I can still speak English when business demands it."
          - Raymond Chandler, 1939.

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          • #6
            Any news on them dropping the prices of the MOD DVDs? The blu-rays are strangely almost on par.

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            • #7
              Nope, but Blu's make a lot more sense at that price point than the DVD-R's do. Though if you keep your eye out, you can get good sale prices on the DVD-Rs.
              Rock! Shock! Pop!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Ian Jane View Post
                Nope, but Blu's make a lot more sense at that price point than the DVD-R's do. Though if you keep your eye out, you can get good sale prices on the DVD-Rs.
                Yeah, I've never bought WAC stuff at full price. Every once in a while they do a 5 for $50 sale, and that's when I buy their releases. But that'll probably change with the new blu-ray releases...

                (not the sale, I don't know anything about that. I mean that I'm much more inclined to pay full price for a blu-ray than for a DVD-R)

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Apronikoff View Post
                  (not the sale, I don't know anything about that. I mean that I'm much more inclined to pay full price for a blu-ray than for a DVD-R)
                  Same here. Especially as these will be pressed discs (albeit made in smaller quantities than larger more mainstream titles) and not burn on demand format.
                  Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                  • #10
                    There's an interview in the NY Post with WAC's George Feltenstein regarding the process for the Blu-rays and some titles coming soon (though they are not confirmed for BD yet so assume they're DVD only until we know otherwise?).
                    Rock! Shock! Pop!

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                    • #11
                      Interesting article there, Ian. Some of the upcoming stuff sounds like it's definitely dvd only - but some mouth watering titles there. MASK OF DIMITRIOS, the second FALCON collection, MY FORBIDDEN PAST. And for the 90th anniversary next year "more Bogart and more Forbidden Hollywood"....and "lots more B pictures in collections" that could be very interesting. I wonder if Warner own the WHISTLER and CRIME DOCTOR series? Those are by far the most noir of the B mystery series and both are very good.
                      I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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                      • #12
                        I know William Castle did a few of the Whistler films early in his career, and I've been curious about them ever since. Would LOVE to see this on disc!

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                        • #13
                          William Castle also directed a few of the CRIME DOCTOR films. A couple of THE WHISTLER films were based on stories by Cornell Woolrich. That series is easily my favorite of all the B mystery films. Most of them are quite noir and a couple also have horror elements. TCM ran 6 of them or so but there's a couple I still need to see. There's a terrific book on THE WHISTLER films by Dan Van Neste, and I'm reminded that it was a Columbia series so WB is probably out as far as ownership.
                          I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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                          • #14
                            I wonder if there's any chance we'll get THE BIG SLEEP on BD as part of the anniversary celebration next year? Naturally I mean a regular release, not part of the WAC BDs. That mention of more Bogart gives me a glimmer of hope. I watched it again last night. God, I love it. Sure it's convoluted as hell but every minute is a pleasure. There's some wonderful sly humor in it. And I am in love with Dorothy Malone in this film, she's so gorgeous as the bookstore employee Bogart kills time with while he's scoping out the place across the street.
                            I don't go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Andrew Monroe View Post
                              And I am in love with Dorothy Malone in this film, she's so gorgeous as the bookstore employee Bogart kills time with while he's scoping out the place across the street.
                              Oh hell yeah!
                              "The popcorn you're eating has been pissed in. Film at 11".

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