I'm pretty suprised with some of the comments in threads disparaging the release of anything other than the latest Spiderman or similar blockbuster.

My exciting for getting to HD was to watch some of my favorite movies again. Infact, when I first saw HDTV about 6 years ago, I decided I wouldn't watch certain titles again until they came out in HD.

A favorite classic title I'd love to see in HD would be "Silent Running"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

Daniel.

I want the best of both the old masters and the new releases. I have Casablanca, Robin Hood, Mutiny on the Bounty, Forbidden Planet, Goodfellas and Casino amongst others. Transformers is ok as is 300, but the best are frequently the oldies but goodies.

Bill

I believe I have every high-def title, Blu-ray and HD DVD, for movies released prior to 1980. So I am.:)

I agree, but only if they do it correctly. Titles like "Coming to America" don't look that great in HD right now because I'm presuming they didn't re-master it for HD. However, titles like Casablanca look spectacular. I'm all for classic titles that they spent time on resurrecting.

I can not WAIT for Star Wars in HD. That is my most anticipated classic, even though it isn't my particularly favorite movie.

With regards to star wars, somebody told me the original film copies were lost and that the dvd re-issues were done from a old laser disc issue. That couldn't be true could it?

Daniel.

probably only g.l. and co. know for sure, and ill bet they arent gonna say anything even if its true. which i doubt (just a hunch)

I definitely love a lot of older titles (LoA, Seventh Seal, Godfather, Goodfellas, Dog Day afternoon, etc. etc. and tons of old Japanese movies).

I can't wait for stuff like Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Harakiri, Rashomon, Kill! and tons of others -- Those are the kinds of releases where I like the extras... A 50gb disc full would be nice.

Criterion needs to hurry up :/ (although I dread their inevitable pricing)

While I did not buy into HD DVD for the older movies the fact that the demographic that HD DVD seemed to be targeting seeming likely to encourage the release of a wider range of movie genres was an attraction (this was in my opinion and I can't back it up with facts links or other. I saw stand alone's, the libraries of the supporting studios what was rumored for release at that time that the PS3 and came to that conclusion).

The great thing is is that it has now opened up a whole bunch of movies to me that I had never seen before. Partly for the great reviews on the restores and partly just because of the awareness that was generated by folks talking about them I have now see and enjoyed the likes of : Grand Prix, The Searchers, Mutiny on the Bounty, Robin Hood, Battle of the Bulge, Casablanca (I know I shame myself having not seen this hahaa), Edit: Almost forgot Forbidden Planet ;-)and there are others I cannot think of off the top of my head.

If for nothing else, I got my moneys worth from HD DVD in bringing these into my home and allowing me the opportunity to gain some appreciation for movies I may otherwise continue to have bypassed. HD DVD has broadened/awakened my viewing tastes and for that I am grateful.

Cheers,

Richard

PS. I have also bought 4-5 music selections which would be the only music purchases of any kind I have made for personal use in the last 5 years or so.

I buy them when released, but they aren't released all that often. I snapped-up the Kubrick films, I'm actually also pretty happy that Omega Man is coming, even if it would have never happened minus the "I Am Legend" remake coming our way.

I have,
Robbin Hood
The Searchers
Casablanca
Forbidden Planet
Dog Day Afternoon
Willy Wonka
2001
Clockwork Orange
The Shinning
The FOG

I miss Huey, Dewey, and Louie.:)

Yes, I'm in for the classics and I've got them all... :)

I miss Huey, Dewey, and Louie.:)

and unca donald, gyro gearloose, mcscrooge(?)

I have:

Casablanca
Forbidden Planet
Robbin Hood

and still have plans to pick up Willy Wonka.

I do get the point that some folks make, which is for the mass market these titles won't sell in the volumes that a 300 or Transformers does.

Honestly I'd like to see the old classic Bob Hope movies redone for HD. But I don't see that happening since they won't even do widescreen versions of the films.

Also like to see some old Warner Bros. cartoon collections in HD as well. :P

and unca donald, gyro gearloose, mcscrooge(?)

The beagle boys. lol :eek:

I certainly am, and that is one reason I LIKE the Universal catalog, they have so many excellent older films, especially the classic horror movies, like the Thing.

But then there are the true classics like Casablanca. I would love to see the Wizard of Oz released in high def, plus my favorite movie of all time LoA.

Since many new films actually isnt very good, classics are very important to me.

Latest purchase for me "The Thing" (im a sucker for monster movies)

I can't wait for stuff like Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Harakiri, Rashomon, Kill! and tons of others
Amen :D
Off the top of my head, Casablanca is the only "classic" film i've got in HD... but i'm most interested in the Kubrick films, westerns, and older titles. I really got into westerns recently, after seeing The Searchers and others on HD Net. Part of the appeal is since i'm young and never got to see these movies in a theater that its a whole different experience to me than seeing it in standard def. Paramount better release Sunset Blvd soon!

Who else bought into HD for old classic films?
My purchases are mostly catalog titles, especially older ones, so count me.

My two HD-DVD purchases are "Bullitt" and "Viva Las Vegas." If more catalog titles were available, I'd buy more.

1.What does LoA stand for?
2.I havnt heard of Grand Prix before. Is it recomended?

Finally, for our Blu-ray classic film buffs, what are we missing out on? Is Lawrence of Arabia out yet?

Ps. Isn't it great to have a thread without l*ssless or n*elsen mentioned!

1.What does LoA stand for?
2.I havnt heard of Grand Prix before. Is it recomended?

Finally, for our Blu-ray classic film buffs, what are we missing out on? Is Lawrence of Arabia out yet?

Ps. Isn't it great to have a thread without l*ssless or n*elsen mentioned!
Great thread, I agree.

I'd recommend GrandPrix. It's one of the few 70mm Panavision movies I think, and they managed to get a nice clean transfer.

I'm the classic fan by the way, and would go so far to buy the top 100 or 200 movies in HD, if/once available. Most of my HD-DVDs are classic movies.

btw: LoA=Lawrence of Arabia

I imagine LoA stands for Lawrence of Arabia, a film you mention in your next sentence. Ahem.

Anyway, YES I bought HD DVD primarily for older movies and primarily for 2001. Even a movie made in the thirties can benefit greatly from HD, provided the sources are good, the restoration is good, and the mastering is good. I want to kiss WB on the lips for their work, and I can't wait for Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and other of their b&w classics to get the HD upgrade. And the Looney Tunes cartoons they include are mastered in 1080p, how cool is that?!

I'm also excited that HD DVD is region-free, meaning if Criterion doesn't get their act together, I can still import the likes of 8 1/2, Hidden Fortress, and Andrei Rublev because other companies in other nations will likely release versions.

But this will not stop me from getting LotR or Star Trek: First Contact on HD. :D

With regards to star wars, somebody told me the original film copies were lost and that the dvd re-issues were done from a old laser disc issue. That couldn't be true could it?

Daniel.

I'm not certain about Empire or Jedi, but two or three years ago I had the fortune to attend a screening of the original film at a film school in North Carolina, and I can promise you that there is at least one immaculate technicolor anamorphic print WITH FULL 6 CHANNEL MAGNETIC SOUND out there. :)

I had never seen the original non-"special" edition on the big screen, and this was projected onto a 50-foot screen in a theater with the best sound system I've ever had the pleasure to listen to. I nearly cried it was so beautiful, kinda like at the end of Raiders where they open the Ark.

Since many new films actually isnt very good, classics are very important to me.

Latest purchase for me "The Thing" (im a sucker for monster movies)

The Thing should be required viewing for anybody with eyes :D

I have it on DVD, HD DVD and VHS, if anyone needs to borrow it.

Speaking of classics, who owns distro rights on the Lone Wolf and Cub series?

The orginal copy of starwars was very degraded that they used the orginal negative to cut the remastered version.

The use of the LD for the DVD was more of convinience. They could have recut it.

I bought into it for both opld and new.

The film most likely to make me 'have an accident' if I saw it announced in high def would be A Matter of Life and Death (1946).

BTW, if anyone's interested, this would probably be Sony (BD) in the USA and Studio Canal (HD DVD) in Europe.

Steve W

I imagine LoA stands for Lawrence of Arabia, a film you mention in your next sentence. Ahem.

Anyway, YES I bought HD DVD primarily for older movies and primarily for 2001. Even a movie made in the thirties can benefit greatly from HD, provided the sources are good, the restoration is good, and the mastering is good. I want to kiss WB on the lips for their work, and I can't wait for Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and other of their b&w classics to get the HD upgrade. And the Looney Tunes cartoons they include are mastered in 1080p, how cool is that?!

I'm also excited that HD DVD is region-free, meaning if Criterion doesn't get their act together, I can still import the likes of 8 1/2, Hidden Fortress, and Andrei Rublev because other companies in other nations will likely release versions.

But this will not stop me from getting LotR or Star Trek: First Contact on HD. :D

Extremely cool, I only wish they would start releasing Hi-Def collections of the cartoons like they have for SD-DVD.

Yes, it's all about the classics as far as I am concerned.

It's ironic: when I come across folks who are iffy on hidef I pop in Casablanca to show them the opening few minutes through the bazaar. Trouble is, each demo takes at least 92 minutes ... ;)

I'd love to have Marx Bros, Petrified Forest, Laura, Citizen Kane, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Double Indemnity, Maltese Falcon ... well, you get the idea.

I'm not certain about Empire or Jedi, but two or three years ago I had the fortune to attend a screening of the original film at a film school in North Carolina, and I can promise you that there is at least one immaculate technicolor anamorphic print WITH FULL 6 CHANNEL MAGNETIC SOUND out there. Not possible.....

Technicolor never made ANY 70mm prints and a 35mm print can only carry a maximum of 4 mag channels. In addition, Technicolor hasn't made any 35mm prints for a number of years now.

I don't know what you saw, but it either wasn't 6 channel or it wasn't a 35mm IB Technicolor print.

Of course, even the 70mm prints were actually made up with 3 front channels + surrounds and the LC and RC channels were formatted as "Baby Boom" channels meaning they only carried low frequencies (< 200 Hz or so).

Vern

The beagle boys. lol :eek:
true desperados !

I bought in for everything, old just as much as new, great movies are great movies, regardless of when they came out, but I have to admit, seeing the older stuff cleaned up and restored really does add a little something extra to 'em.

I'm pretty suprised with some of the comments in threads disparaging the release of anything other than the latest Spiderman or similar blockbuster.

My exciting for getting to HD was to watch some of my favorite movies again. Infact, when I first saw HDTV about 6 years ago, I decided I wouldn't watch certain titles again until they came out in HD.

A favorite classic title I'd love to see in HD would be "Silent Running"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

Daniel.
Yes, Silent Running is a great, albeit depressing, movie.
My preference is definitely older movies, especially older scifi movies. That's one reason why I prefer HD DVD, for the catalog titles. Ironically, one of the major reasons I bought into BD, is because of Sony's and Fox's catalog titles. I'm not overly interested in the blockbuster of the week.
J

With regards to star wars, somebody told me the original film copies were lost and that the dvd re-issues were done from a old laser disc issue. That couldn't be true could it?

Daniel.

No. George Lucas allowed for distributing a version with the original cut(and effects), but he only let them user LaserDisc as source. Lucas feels his work is art in a state of flux, and only wants full quality presentation of the version he currently feels is the correct picture. (in essence when he added a lot of new effects, those new versions BECAME star wars in his mind.)

I have:

Casablanca
Forbidden Planet
Robbin Hood

and still have plans to pick up Willy Wonka.

I do get the point that some folks make, which is for the mass market these titles won't sell in the volumes that a 300 or Transformers does.

2Channel: I love your posts. I am not a fan of John Wayne westerns, but check out "The Searchers." The story is very 1950's but a good one, not too PC by today's standards, but you can still enjoy it. The film impressed me and I am not a John Wayne type of guy.

I also get more excited about the older films than current blockbusters. 2001 is spectacular! I showed this and the Road Warrior to my uncle who loves both films, and he is now planning on buying an HD DVD player! There are many such folks around who are swayed into HDM by similar classics. Of course, I also have great new titles like Transformers, Hot Fuzz, Breach, Children Of Men, etc.

I definitely love a lot of older titles (LoA, Seventh Seal, Godfather, Goodfellas, Dog Day afternoon, etc. etc. and tons of old Japanese movies).

I can't wait for stuff like Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Harakiri, Rashomon, Kill! and tons of others -- Those are the kinds of releases where I like the extras... A 50gb disc full would be nice.

Criterion needs to hurry up :/ (although I dread their inevitable pricing)

+1

...yeah...$80 a disc :(

the Thing, what a great and under appreciated film. Carpenter made such great horror flicks back then - Halloween and the Thing, two of the best in last 40 years. Another one, a bit more recent, is the Frighteners.

Lots of great movies mentioned, and all worth seeing, no matter what the format.

With regards to star wars, somebody told me the original film copies were lost and that the dvd re-issues were done from a old laser disc issue. That couldn't be true could it?

Daniel.

:confused:

Have you NOT seen the HD OAR versions playing on HBO?

(Oops ... those are the SE versions. Sorry....)

Honestly I'd like to see the old classic Bob Hope movies redone for HD. But I don't see that happening since they won't even do widescreen versions of the films.

Also like to see some old Warner Bros. cartoon collections in HD as well. :P

I believe The Paleface (or is it Son of Paleface?) is coming soon to HD DVD.:)

I certainly am, and that is one reason I LIKE the Universal catalog, they have so many excellent older films, especially the classic horror movies, like the Thing.

But then there are the true classics like Casablanca. I would love to see the Wizard of Oz released in high def, plus my favorite movie of all time LoA.

I stopped watching Casablanca with my classes after probably seeing it with them 40 times. Then I got the HD DVD. Wow!:eek:

It is a revelation, even for people like me who've seen it jillions of times in SD.

As for The Seven Samurai, Citizen Kane, and The Wizard of Oz...yes, please!

The Thing should be required viewing for anybody with eyes :D

I have it on DVD, HD DVD and VHS, if anyone needs to borrow it.

Speaking of classics, who owns distro rights on the Lone Wolf and Cub series?

I didn't think The Thing was on HD DVD yet. Even though it is b/w and over 50 years old, it must look terrific! Is it an import?

Not possible.....

Technicolor never made ANY 70mm prints and a 35mm print can only carry a maximum of 4 mag channels. In addition, Technicolor hasn't made any 35mm prints for a number of years now.

I don't know what you saw, but it either wasn't 6 channel or it wasn't a 35mm IB Technicolor print.

Of course, even the 70mm prints were actually made up with 3 front channels + surrounds and the LC and RC channels were formatted as "Baby Boom" channels meaning they only carried low frequencies (< 200 Hz or so).

Vern

The wife and I saw JEDI on at a 70mm theater in Toronto on a visit when it first came out.

I didn't think The Thing was on HD DVD yet. Even though it is b/w and over 50 years old, it must look terrific! Is it an import?
You're thinking of the original. This is the Carpenter version.
J

You're thinking of the original. This is the Carpenter version.
J

Oops! My bad.

To the OP, the comments on older titles are not meant to disparage the old releases. Many movies on my list of collectibles are old, LoA, GWTW are among the titles I would like to have in hdm.

But there's a thread in here that keeps track of sales units of movies, and from what we can see, most (if not 80%+) of the sales in HDM are new blockbusters, and that means that there's very few of us collectors of old classics among existing owners of either formats.

I guess I am even more of a fan of the classics than I thought. Or ate least have been appreciating them more in HD DVD than I thought. While I do have over 100 HD DVD's and I have ZIP'd (A Canadian kind of Netflx) having read the list here are some others I forgot in my list.

I also have The Thing, Full Metal Jacket (Is the new one a better master? might even consider a double dip for it if it is that much better or if there is an exchange discount in the offering), 2001 shipped yesterday from AMZ, I have the Road Warrior and the Frighteners as well.

I agree on the vintage cartoons stuff. While I forget for the moment which disks extras have some included they do look incridable. While some threads try to downplay movies like Shrek or Rat not needing the HD treatment cause one format or the other doesn't get them I say it is worth the upgrade in EVERY case if done with care. Sure Shrek and Rat will look great in well upconverted SD DVD, but who wants to settle for great when we can have prestine. There is a clear sensory impact with the HD material without a doubt that is just not there even with the best upconverted SD-DVD (I have an Oppo 970xx outputing 480i to my Anthem D2 via HDMI for upconverting so I am getting about as good as it gets and I can still see a clear difference soooo).

Have never seen Citizen Kane (oooh) and would love to check it out on HD DVD ;-)

Cheers,

Richard

I'm pretty suprised with some of the comments in threads disparaging the release of anything other than the latest Spiderman or similar blockbuster.

My exciting for getting to HD was to watch some of my favorite movies again. Infact, when I first saw HDTV about 6 years ago, I decided I wouldn't watch certain titles again until they came out in HD.

A favorite classic title I'd love to see in HD would be "Silent Running"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

Daniel.

My primary pupose was upscaling, HD capability was secondary (though certainly desirable :)!)

I'm pretty suprised with some of the comments in threads disparaging the release of anything other than the latest Spiderman or similar blockbuster.

My exciting for getting to HD was to watch some of my favorite movies again. Infact, when I first saw HDTV about 6 years ago, I decided I wouldn't watch certain titles again until they came out in HD.

A favorite classic title I'd love to see in HD would be "Silent Running"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

Daniel.

You may want to clarify what you mean by "old classic" films because that's a subjective term.

As an old classic film fan, I haven't bought into either format because I envisioned that newer films would be given availability preference over the oldies and so far my hesitation has been justified.

I'd love to see "Shane" on HD...can't wait...

I'm pretty disappointed that Warner is the only studio that can really be trusted to do catalog titles in HD so far. Most of the best movies were not made in the past 5 years.

N.B Forrest, I know what your saying, but you have to vote with your feet!

I will only be buying my favorite films, ill rent anything else.

Daniel.

I believe The Paleface (or is it Son of Paleface?) is coming soon to HD DVD.:)

That would be awesome. Especially since I just bought a HD DVD player. :P They were my favorites as a kid.

and unca donald, gyro gearloose, mcscrooge(?)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/

I bought in for both old and new, but I am very tempted by the releases of "older" movies like 2001 and Bladerunner.

Anyone who knows about the HD-release of Bridge over River Kwai ? Swedish Discshop has it in their list (blu-ray region B), due to be released before end of year. You can not preoder it at Discshop however. I would love to have that !

2Channel: I love your posts. I am not a fan of John Wayne westerns, but check out "The Searchers." The story is very 1950's but a good one, not too PC by today's standards, but you can still enjoy it. The film impressed me and I am not a John Wayne type of guy.

The best part of The Searchers is it's really cool to pick out the shots that appear as an homage in Star Wars. :D

The best part of The Searchers is it's really cool to pick out the shots that appear as an homage in Star Wars. :D

Don't forget about "Taxi Driver.":cool:

Dirty Dozen
Forbidden Planet
The Searchers
Grand Prix
Mutiny on The Bounty
The Sting
A Clockwork Orange
2001 ASO
Casablanca
The Shinning
Robin Hood
Spartacus

I wish for many many more because I could never stay busy using my theater with the number of worthwhile recent releases.

Art

As a Sci-Fi fan, Forbidden Planet is on my list of potential purchases but that is the only truly "classic" film that is.

I didn't buy into HD for old classic films. I bought into HD to see great films presented in the best format possible. Whether those "great films" were made in 1907 or 2007 makes no difference to me. My DVD collection has films covering every year from 2007 back to 1927 (and quite a few previous to 1927). It's not the production year that's important to me, but the quality of the film itself.

I didn't buy into HD for old classic films. I bought into HD to see great films presented in the best format possible. Whether those "great films" were made in 1907 or 2007 makes no difference to me. My DVD collection has films covering every year from 2007 back to 1927 (and quite a few previous to 1927). It's not the production year that's important to me, but the quality of the film itself.

Well stated! I am in complete agreement!

Me too. Bring on Lawrence of Arabia.

I didn't buy into HD for old classic films. I bought into HD to see great films presented in the best format possible. Whether those "great films" were made in 1907 or 2007 makes no difference to me. My DVD collection has films covering every year from 2007 back to 1927 (and quite a few previous to 1927). It's not the production year that's important to me, but the quality of the film itself.

I agree and have great films that are of recent vintage but there simply are not enough of those, by themselves, to fill my viewing time. There are some spectacular films (for all sorts of reasons) which I love. Lets hope the age of the film isn't any sort of impediment for it ending up in HDM and in our homes !

As I've said before, this is agreat time to be alive and a great time to be a fan of great film.



Art

Art:

Pick up BULLITT.

A true classic crime story with the greatest car chase ever filmed. (the 3 greatest stunt drivers; Bill Hickman, Carey Loftin and Bud Ekins preformed the car stunts for this movie - only time all three worked together. No roll cages or special equipment other than heavy duty springs and shocks on the vehicles)

And as a bonus you get a 90 minute . . in HD . . Documentary on film editing (BULLITT won the Aced. Award for Film Editing that year). Shows TONS of classic films clips - all in HD - all in OAR.

Like getting 2 movies for the price of one.:D

Lee, didn't Steve McQueen do his own stunt driving? I was always under the impression that he did. Exceptional movie by the way.

Art:

Pick up BULLITT.

A true classic crime story with the greatest car chase ever filmed. (the 3 greatest stunt drivers; Bill Hickman, Carey Loftin and Bud Ekins preformed the car stunts for this movie - only time all three worked together. No roll cages or special equipment other than heavy duty springs and shocks on the vehicles)

And as a bonus you get a 90 minute . . in HD . . Documentary on film editing (BULLITT won the Aced. Award for Film Editing that year). Shows TONS of classic films clips - all in HD - all in OAR.

Like getting 2 movies for the price of one.:D

I saw this in the theater with my family when I was young,that was the last time. Thanks for bringing it up, I'll get it.

Art

Lee, didn't Steve McQueen do his own stunt driving? I was always under the impression that he did. Exceptional movie by the way.

He did some of the driving - but not the dangerous stuff like the jumps.

Bill Hickman is the driver of the Charger. In the scene when they are coming around the corner and a guy throws down his motorcycle right in the path of the two cars (that was Bud Ekins BTW) - McQueen lost control of the Mustang - wiped it out and almost killed himself.

Carey Loftin does all the jumps in the Mustang, he also did the Charger launch into the gas station that ends the chase along with the sideways slide at the very end of the chase - which McQueen tried 3X to do - and failed. He handed the keys to Loftin who did the slide in one take.

McQueen did do the banging scenes before the gas station - done at over 90 MPH.

I didn't think The Thing was on HD DVD yet. Even though it is b/w and over 50 years old, it must look terrific! Is it an import?


I for one would snag the original! I watched it the other night off my PVR and really enjoyed it! Amazing flick for the time. I love classic flicks. I watched Fail Safe the other day and that would be a great movie to do a HDM release on.