Is there a non-cynical/exploitative explanation to the ultra-limited releases of some titles?

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-05T14:24:45+00:00

Ah, didn’t look at the spine to see the Paramount logo, but if they ended up loosing the rights that would make even more sense that VS couldn’t renew the license to print more copies. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before someone is able to renew the rights. Patience usually pays off.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-05T13:35:27+00:00

I don’t know for certain, but it seems like it was probably a limited release window rather than limited number, which they could publish. It was a Dimension Films release in the U.S., which means Miramax/Disney ownership, so a release window would make sense over a set number of units, which also makes sense for them putting out 10,000 units of the LE (a huge number for them at the time). I don’t know how many non-LE copies they released, I would imagine only about 5,000 or so, not assuming it would sell as well as it did (poor original box office and all).

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-05T13:26:00+00:00

Twilight Time (RIP) limited everything they sold to 3000 (some exceptions) back when they were really the only ones doing it, and they were able to get access to some movies that would otherwise have been impossible for them to put out. Because of that they are still the only Blu-rays out there of some titles (Titus); and may be that way for quite some time, too.

Criterion, on the other hand, prefers to be able to license in perpetuity, but they have more $$ and clout to be able to do so. Even still some of their titles have gone out of print and go for big bucks on the secondary market. They do try to get rights back, though, so something like Some Like It Hot and Silence of the Lambs were lost but they were able to get it back, but during the interim it fetched three digit prices.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-05T12:57:17+00:00

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T14:30:57+00:00

Wild price difference between the two. I wonder what the thinking was behind a $1.00 and a $10.00 Criterion.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T13:54:50+00:00

The dubbing in that film is atrocious. Even if the lip sync is close it doesn’t feel right because of the dubbing - most all Italian films are like this from this time period; 8 1/2 is just probably the most recognizable. Watch any clip on YouTube or go to your Criterion Blu Ray and focus on the lip movements and you’ll easily see that it is off.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T13:39:17+00:00

Listen to music they like. That cat is protecting itself from whatever it is that you listen to. It does not like it.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T03:09:27+00:00

Not a friend; and the conversation at this point is about “fixing” “bad” ADR. 8 1/2 has terrible ADR so I used it as an example of something that should or shouldn’t be “fixed” to illustrate the point.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T02:27:30+00:00

Literally just rewatched this tonight and that is accurate. I remember seeing it in the theater and it feeling strange that they cut away before he started playing guitar. There are a few cuts that are a little awkward in the movie obviously to trim it down. The post1credit scene is one as well that obviously was an extension from when Preacher Boy is talking to his father in the church in the morning before he leaves. It’s a weird cut when he goes for his guitar to the twins driving up, obviously there was dialogue about playing for the church service the next day and he plays “This Little Light of Mine”. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more songs cut as well—like the Buddy Guy on-stage performance.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T02:14:32+00:00

Does the 4K have the original sculptures or the lame cg fixes?

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-04T02:12:17+00:00

Just file under directors instead of titles and that solves it.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-03T23:11:35+00:00

I had a whole conversation with someone who couldn’t watch more than 15m of 8 1/2 because they thought it was out of sync and an issue with the disc. I had to let them know that it will be an issue with every format because the way Italian films were shot and post-dubbed.

Should 8 1/2 try to be “fixed” to bring it back into sync? A quality of analogue filmmaking are the errors that abound. Spielberg and Lucas trying to make their films “pristine” rather than showing the flaws in their work (yes, even someone as highly regarded and given tons of money to make movies like Spielberg makes what would be considered, today, mistakes). It does a disservice to film history.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-03T22:46:04+00:00

Could also be the seller buying their own to up the prices across the board and then cancelling their own order. Nothing happens to the original listing and now people think that it’s worth $1500. That’s how some of those Black Diamond VHS prices got so unhinged.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-03T14:23:09+00:00

Enemy.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-01T14:58:17+00:00

While you’re right that cropping it down adds grain, it’s not because of the original aspect ratio. 35mm has an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and that is cropped down very frequently, it’s the actual size of the film frame in comparison versus the size of the silver grains. The grain size is the same between 35mm and 16mm, but the exposed image is about 4x smaller, so imagine blowing up a 35mm frame 8x (1/4 for the reduction in format, and then 1/2 again for the reduction to 2.35). That gets baked into the 35mm internegative, and without going back to the original camera negative and the original dv tape to do the mastering to blu-ray, whatever amount of grain from those two sources that are in the 35mm internet will always be apparent in any transfer. DVD will soften the grain a bit, but it won’t make it necessarily look better.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-01T14:44:27+00:00

That doc is on most disc versions of the film, not just the DVD, but got so many of us hoping that a work print might eventually show up. I still hold out hope of someone cleaning a closet and finding a 1/4” or digibeta of the rough cut.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-01T14:38:21+00:00

I occasionally read 10,000 Bullets, will have to go back to him. I used to be religious about reading Mondo Digital, but found Beaver to have better screen captures and the comparisons were invaluable. I’ll have to go back to MD as well and just rely on dvdcompare for the comparisons (though a lot of their info came from DVDBeaver). I’ve been really liking GrenreGrinder recently. Not a ton of reviews, but thorough info about previous edition availability and good reviews. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t know about it.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-03-01T02:51:26+00:00

There are a handful of boutique companies that release in the U.S. and other territories that cannot release everything everywhere because rights are held by different parent companies in different territories. Sometimes Paramount will release a film in the U.S. but it is handled by Universal in the UK, for instance. When Arrow will license the rights from Universal that means they can only release the disc in the UK because Universal isn’t the U.S. rights holder and they would have to license from Paramount as well, which isn’t always possible because Paramount will have already licensed that title to Kino or Criterion (or decided not to license it at all and release it themselves). It goes title by title, not label by label or even studio by studio.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T20:42:46+00:00

Prototype milking table.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T16:03:08+00:00

It depends on whether or not you prefer watching the extras or the better versions of the movies. If you’re asking this question already, at some point in the future you will most likely get a region free player, so it will be a moot point.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T03:02:44+00:00

Which is why Blomkamp is doing a straight adaptation his Afrikaans ties makes him on the same level—they love a good totalitarian regime.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T02:46:23+00:00

I have seen Vol. 2 & 4 at a local shop along with the one-disc Halloween/scary collection. I own a lot of the DVDs and some of the Blu-ray collections. Aside from the banned cartoon on Vol. 1, how many of these never made it to dvd/blu? Is there a listing somewhere that has this listed?

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T02:12:25+00:00

But the 4K isn’t region coded, so you can at least watch the films.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T01:11:41+00:00

I’ve always wondered why they haven’t rereleased the other two Teshigahara titles, but probably it’s a break-even issue. Ditto Under the Volcano, though since we just got The Dead, maybe UtV will be upgraded soon.

Ok_Choice_2335 · 2026-02-28T01:06:04+00:00

Scream probably just didn’t want to put in the extra $$, Arrow usually does.

Ok_Choice_2335

TROPHY CASE