2006 And All That… December 28, 2006
Posted by John Hodson in : General, Film & DVD Reviews , trackbackWhat a really strange year. There have been so many fine releases of classic films on DVD during 2006 that only some crook-backed misanthrope would complain. Well, I’m not crook-backed, but…
It has been postulated elsewhere that 2005 was the year DVD hit the profitability ceiling, and that after what was a truly great 12 months for film fans, that 2006 was always going to be a ‘top that if you can’ kind of year. 2005 - a tough act to follow indeed.
That’s probably true, but chez ‘aitch, that was only part of the bigger picture. Around the turn of last year, we decorated. No biggie there, but it did mean that my entire DVD collection had to be boxed and stored for a while, and in doing so, I was slapped right in the kisser by that huge, slippery wet codfish also known as reality. Several truisms became crystal clear, coalescing right before my disbelieving eyes; my collection was quite simply out of control. My spending was beginning to rival the GDP of a small South American dictatorship, that I was buying too many films because I felt I should own them and not because I really wanted them. And, worse, as Mrs H was none too shy at pointing out on many an occasion, we were running quickly out of space.
Something had to be done. So I worked the ‘one out, one in’ principle for a while, selling off titles that I felt I would no longer watch, that were dupes, that were inferior transfers or that would simply make money because something else would inevitably come. Worked well too and was quite satisfying. I was buying films that I felt I really wanted, and I was making a little dough from others that were only gathering dust. I haven’t, sadly, reclaimed too much shelf space, but at least we haven’t had to move house to accommodate my DVD collection. Which would have been a little, ah, well…nuts.
I strongly suspect that 2006 was the year many a film collector woke up and smelt the celluloid, DVD wise. Only a hunch, but I get the feeling that my experience, or something resembling it, has been replicated in many a consumer household and that for various reasons those of us that gathered little shiny discs like they were going out of fashion, suddenly hit the brake.
I think we’ve also been helped in that respect by the major studios and distributors. 2006 appears to be the year that many of them simply upped and switched direction. Paramount, never the most prolific, had quite a decent 2005 - the Batjac releases a case in point (the last of which were postponed from 2005 until this year) - but 2006 was the year they could care less about releasing classic back catalogue movies from their vaulted little prisons. Still, they managed Reds, The Conformist and Oh! What a Lovely War, so it’s not all bad news.
Fox on the other hand seemed to realise that there was not enough profit in their own back catalogue, and that in particular their ‘Studio Classics’ line was not cutting the mustard when it comes to the corporate balance sheet. So, they brought in the higher price point ‘Cinema Classics’ line and chucked into the mix a number of dusted off and made over previous releases.
Their box sets - laudible though the titles and stars chosen were - were considered to be a little beyond the pale; placed against some of the offerings from Universal and Warners, Fox raised the bar price-wise and for many, it was just a little too much. Odd when you think of the prices many of us were paying at the turn of the century for DVDs; the price we paid then for a single disc is now considered much too much for a box set of three or four movies. Market forces indeed.
Which brings me neatly to Warners. Unchallenged at the top of the tree for several years now when it comes to that balance of quality and price, but I get the impression that even their accountants are beginning to squeal a little. Gone, in most cases, are the handsome gatefold digipacks, gone too are the inserts, the printed chapter listings and so forth. And gone too is an impeccable quality control with Warners dropping the ball on several occasions and making some quite silly, irritating, mistakes. There is no doubt that when it comes to classic releases, Warners are still the kings; maybe, just maybe, it is the sheer quantity of their output that is affecting quality? That may be considered a tough assessment when for every The Naked Spur you’ve got an impeccable The Maltese Falcon, that for every On Dangerous Ground, you’ve got a Grand Prix. Which is why Warners still get my vote for Region 1 supplier of the year.
We’ve tended to take Warners for granted, that they’ll hit the spot every single time. And, don’t forget, for a fraction of the profit that they made on similar releases five or six years ago. Tough, tough competitive game. When you’re a big name on the top of the DVD mountain, it seems you make an easier target to hit.
I suppose the same can be said of Criterion. Criterion has after all, set itself up as the byword for DVD quality. We still call them expensive, but that’s only in relation to the rest of the market. When they produce work of the quality of their latest The Seven Samurai iteration, managing to secure a copy for circa £20 seems to me to be a bargain in the great scheme of things. They have turned out some excellent stuff this year, from Young Mr Lincoln to Kind Hearts and Coronets, A Canterbury Tale and the aforementioned Kurosawa, only blotting their copybook by continuing to window box Academy ratio transfers, but for the most part, Criterion does indeed equate with quality. My Region 1 suppliers runners-up.
Universal meanwhile, plods on, generally suprising us with the quality of their transfers, causing few eyebrows to be raised by supplying few if any extras (this has mostly been their style for some time). It’s slow progress, but at least it’s progress inasmuch as the transfer appears to be king, and for that reason they get the Region 1 suppliers third place spot.
Sony, well, what can I say? How can a company that can produced such beautiful package as The Cary Grant Box Set or The Frank Capra Collection be so generally awful otherwise? Hopes that they would come up with the goods at least with their MGM catalogue were raised when the marketing of same was handed to Fox, but thus far, all that appears to have happened there is a number of bland re-releases. For shame; Sony, of all the big names, is without doubt the worst Region 1 supplier.
In the UK, the Region 2 suppliers among the big name studios are generally worse than their Region 1 counterparts, certainly when it comes to classics. Only Universal is exempt; ironically, while others get black marks for releasing titles in R2 that have fewer extras than in R1, Universal can’t do any less than ‘none’, so all we can go off is the quantity and quality of their transfers - which are pretty good.
In the UK, the big name player is Granada Ventures which holds the rights to 100s of great - and not so great - British films. For 2006, Granada made the decision to release fewer titles itself, licensing them out itself to other companies - Network & DD Home Entertainment - and doing deals for joint box sets with themselves and Optimum, which itself was transformed from a minor to a major player the instant it was taken over by the giant French company Studio Canal.
Unlike their American counterparts, companies like Network and DDHE, have generally eschewed boxed sets, and their output has been, in terms of quality, highly variable. But there is no doubt that they have both upped their game; witness Network’s fabulous release of Odd Man Out. Whether they can go a step further, however, is questionable. Optimum, meanwhile, has been on something of a binge, issuing titles and re-issuing others that only went out of print a few months previously when the Warners / Studio Canal deal lapsed. Again, quality has been variable; some downright dreadful, others - like their The Third Man - beautiful.
The sometimes esoteric Masters of Cinema range from Eureka has rightly earned the British outfit comparisons with Criterion and quite rightly so. Eureka continues to turn out quality discs, and even if you can’t always appreciate the content, you can’t fail to recognise that they are striving for top quality with every single release. My Favourite? The Prisoner of Shark Island…
Eureka then has earned the title of UK Region 2 supplier of the year, with Network and Optimum coming a close joint second for the huge strides they’ve made. Universal must take third spot, and it’s quite satisfying in some perverse way to see releases like the forthcoming Douglas Sirk box ruffling a few feathers among the insular ’why can’t we have that?’ multi-regionless DVD fans over the Pond. They must remember that the real shame for us over here is that when it comes to most of the big studios, R2 has to be content with the scraps from R1’s table.
And so, in no particular order…
My Top Three Classic DVD Releases of 2006 - Region 1
The John Wayne / John Ford Collection & The John Ford Collection: Released the same month, I cannot split these superb boxed collections containing 13 films by arguably America’s foremost director of the 20th century. There was some controversy over Warner’s restoration of the The Searchers with some complaining (and Warner admitting) it lacked the vibrant Technicolor shades, unique to VistaVision, of original prints. The row threatened to knock the gilt off this golden box set, but for my part, the latest transfer was streets ahead of previous releases on home video. Presented for the first time in its full width, this magnificent film overcame any shortcomings in the transfer and remains truly breathtaking.
The Gary Cooper Signature Collection: Bravo Warners; an excellent collection, some of the films marvellous, some less so, but all celebrating the fact that ‘Coop’ was a major star, and a damn fine actor.
Mr Arkadin: I can’t imagine any other company other than Criterion coming up with such a comprehensive package. Utterly wonderful; and the film’s not bad either…
Highly Commended
The Sam Peckinpah Legendary Westerns Collection: To have these films collected together at what was then a bargain price (and moreso now), seemed more than enough back in January, and it’s possibly churlish to gripe over the mostly frothy extras. I can even overlook the monstrous travesty that is the new cut of ‘Garrett’ (what were you thinking of Warner?); after all, I have Peckinpah’s cut, even if it appears to have been chucked in to the set like some overlooked orphan. Artististic appreciation is subjective I know, but I don’t think, in this case, it was wise to try and second guess one of the great cinematic geniuses.
The Cary Grant Box Set: Sony hasn’t done much worth a damn, and this could so easily have been a bunch of previous titles warmed over and tossed out on to the market. Not so. In terms of presentation, this is a quite beautiful set with mostly excellent new transfers, nice extras, and all at a very nice price indeed.
Young Mr Lincoln: Criterion’s pristine transfer of Ford’s homage to the ‘young jake-legged lawyer’ and President to be, complete with some excellent extra features, not least the excellent Parkinson interview licensed from the BBC plus one half of the Lindsay Anderson narrated BBC documentary on Ford. I can’t wait for part two…in fact I can’t wait to see the title that accompanies it (whatever that may be…)
My Top Three Classic DVD Releases of 2006 - Region 2
The Ipcress File: Network kicked off the New Year with this ’special edition’ also available with Len Deighton’s novel and the movie soundtrack in a nicely designed box. It was this kind of presentation that raised hopes that we would be getting something similar at least once a month. Alas…
Buster Keaton - College / Steamboat Bill Jr. / Three Ages: A quite wonderful set from Cinema Club and French outfit Mk2; beautiful transfers and sparse but informative extras.
Odd Man Out: Another winner courtesy of Network from the Granada vaults. Granada had been boasting of their restorations of a number of British films, but nothing could prepare me for the tear-jerking beauty of Carol Reed’s masterpiece. It is quite stunning.
Highly Commended
Adam Adamant Lives!: A superb set from 2 Entertain, with mostly fine quality transfers of what remains of both wonderfully entertaining series, excellent extras and quite possibly the best researched and most informative booklet included with any DVD presentation.
The Prisoner of Shark Island: Beautiful transfer, excellent, authoritative extras, a John Ford film. What more do you want?
High Noon SE: Cheating here because this is a Paramount Dutch release, but cheat I must. I’ve stated before that this possibly the best restoration and transfer of any black and white film of 2006, or maybe any other year. Superb.
I’m terrible at lists. No doubt in several hours I will have changed my mind on several of the above selections, and wonder why I didn’t choose ‘x’ or ‘y’. Yes, there are many, many other releases that could have - probably should have - maybe made either of those lists; The Seven Samurai (I haven’t waded though all the extras, so I thought it would be cheating to include it), any of the the Bette Davis Collection, the Clark Gable and James Stewart sets, the Humphrey Bogart Signature Collection 2 (what kind of numpty could miss the three-disc The Maltese Falcon off any list like this?), the Paul Newman and Brando sets, Forbidden Planet 50th AE, the Busby Berkeley Collection, the Astaire Rogers Ultimate Collectors Box Set (I already owned set one, and bought the exclusive partial set from Amazon.com - fabulous, just fabulous) excellent The Quiller Memorandum from Network, and the Jack Rosenthal set again from Network, The Innocents from the BFI, any of the value for money Universal ‘Glamour Collections’, or any of the releases of films from more recent years, the tremendous Brokeback Mountain for one, on and on…
On and on into 2007 in fact; let’s hope it’s a classic…
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