15 Top Movies That Should Be On DVD, But Aren't

@joefromchicago,

I agree -- Kino and Criterion are always excellent as well as some Janus Film DVD releases I found at the old Tower Records years ago.

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@joefromchicago,

joefromchicago wrote:

It all depends on the source material. Public domain DVDs are generally made by copying a film that was sent out to the theaters, not the original film negative. The duplicate may, however, be a duplicate of a duplicate (of a duplicate, etc.). In fact, some really cheap versions are copied off of television broadcasts. Consequently, you really never know what you're getting with these public domain DVDs, which is why it's always preferable to stick with the studio releases or with reputable outfits like Criterion or Kino.

I agree with you. The western movies of which I wrote (The Gunfighter, etc) were from fox. The jackets direct people to foxhome.com

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@edgarblythe,

Well, if I manage to live long enough, I will probably be treated to a Blu-Ray restored "The African Queen" and many of the others that deserve the finest treatment. Golly, films like "2001" and "Blade Runner" have had multiple releases with consistently better restorations and prints each time -- I read the review of "2001" and bought it after buying the last DVD release not that long ago. It's a remarkable job on picture and sound.

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@joefromchicago,

Yep - I am terrible with names (even names of movies).

Thanks - but it should be - I tried to find it for my kids figuring they would like it, but I couldn't find it on DVD.

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@Linkat,

Buy The Incredible Mr. Limpet at Amazon.

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@Lightwizard,

Lightwizard wrote:

I agree -- Kino and Criterion are always excellent as well as some Janus Film DVD releases I found at the old Tower Records years ago.

As I've mentioned several times before, when buying silent films it's especially important to get DVDs from a reputable seller. With more and more of these films passing into the public domain every year, what you're really buying is the film restoration, the musical accompaniment, and the extra features, since anyone with recording equipment can now make and sell copies of these public domain titles. I recently saw a DVD of Lon Chaney's Hunchback of Notre Dame -- the film quality was abysmal and the score was just random music, with no connection to what was happening on screen. It was painful to watch.

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@joefromchicago,

I recorded the Lon Chaney "Hunchback" off TCM and it was an excellent print with the sound as good as one should expect. Ted Turner was a pioneer in restoration of classic movies and still provides funding for continuing efforts. Sunday night I think is still classical silents in uncut, on a new print from the negative, and I've burned a few DVD's including D. W. Griffith's "Intolerance." It included a newly recorded musical scoring on organ. However, the film still need some judicious restoration to clean up the picture noise -- restorers can now even get rid of the jerkiness of the 16 fps.

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@joefromchicago,

And only $6.49 awesome - I never saw it on DVD and just assumed it was available.

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@Linkat,

Yes and if you can put together a $25.00 DVD order, the shipping is free.

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@Lightwizard,

Well I need to buy HSM 3 so that should put me over.

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An update: The African Queen has now been released on DVD.

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One movie I've been waiting to come out on DVD is Miracle In Rome (Milagro en Roma), a great Columbian film from 1988 based on a García Marquéz' short story "The Saint" (La Santa) with a soundtrack that includes a Shostakovich quartet, "Una Furtiva Lacrima" performed by Caruso, and Handel's "Hallelujah" Chorus. I first saw it on PBS back in the day.

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@joefromchicago,

Affair (with Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne), Viva Zapata (with Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn) and Scarlet Pimpernel (with Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon) DVDs are available in dollar stores.

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I had mentioned in my initial post that Kid Millions was one of the films that I thought should be on DVD. Well, it still isn't, but another Eddie Cantor musical, Whoopee (also not available on DVD), can now be watched on-line at Hulu.

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http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fxO54MRKL._SS500_.jpg

This is a new DVD collection of films produced at Hammer Studios in the 1950's and 1960's. The six movies are horror-suspense movies (rather than the Dracula-Frankenstein movies that Hammer is better known for). One of the six films, "These are the Damned" was written by Joseph Losey. Hammer productions were cheap, but surprisingly well-crafted and well-acted.

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perhaps it is available but I'd like to see Village of the Damned from the book Midwich Cuckoos. The political element was quite fascinating.

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15 Top Movies That Should Be On DVD, But Aren't

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