Displaying items by tag: Warner 90th Anniversary, White Heat, Jazz Singer, Clint Eastwood, The Right Stuff

Morning, everyone! We’ve got some REALLY great stuff for you today.

Kicking things off, the good Dr. Jahnke has turned in his next installment of The Hell Plaza Oktoberfest 666 with a review of Ken Russell’s The Devils on Region 2 DVD. And be sure to check back in the wee early hours of Friday morning for his look at the long awaited Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection on Blu-ray!

Now then… I had the good fortune yesterday to attend Warner’s official press event at which they unveiling their plans for next year’s 90th Anniversary celebration. Suffice it to say that the studio has a very nice slate of titles and releases on the way, all of which will be branded with the official Anniversary logo seen here.

It all starts on 1/29/13 with the release of the largest multi-film Blu-ray and DVD box sets from any major studio, including Best of Warner Bros.: 100 Film DVD Collection and Best of Warner Bros.: 50 Film Blu-ray Collection (SRP $597.92 each) .

The 100 Film DVD Collection will include: The Broadway Melody (1929), Cimarron (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), Grand Hotel (1932), 42nd Street (1933), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), A Night at the Opera (1935), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Dark Victory (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Citizen Kane (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Casablanca (1942), Gaslight (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Big Sleep (1946), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Director’s Version (1951), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), A Star Is Born (1954), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), The Searchers (1956), Giant (1956), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), A Face in the Crowd (1957), Gigi (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Ben-Hur (1959), How the West Was Won (1962), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Dirty Dozen (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Bullitt (1968), The Wild Bunch: The Original Director’s Cut (1969), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Dirty Harry (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Cabaret (1972), Enter the Dragon (1973), The Exorcist: Extended Director’s Cut (1973), Blazing Saddles (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), All the President’s Men (1976), Superman: The Movie (1978), The Shining (1980), Caddyshack (1980), Clash of the Titans (1981), Chariots of Fire (1981), The Outsiders (1983), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Risky Business (1983), The Right Stuff (1983), Amadeus: Director’s Cut (1984), The Goonies (1985), The Color Purple (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Batman (1989), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), GoodFellas (1990), Unforgiven (1992), The Bodyguard (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Natural Born Killers: The Director’s Cut (1994), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Seven (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Matrix (1999), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Notebook  (2004), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Departed (2006), 300 (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), The Hangover (2009), The Blind Side (2009), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Inception (2010).

The 50 Film Blu-ray Collection will include: Grand Hotel (1932), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Casablanca (1942), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), A Streetcar Named Desire: The Original Restored Version (1951), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Gigi (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Ben-Hur (1959), How the West Was Won (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Cool Hand Luke (1967), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Bullitt (1968), Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Dirty Harry (1971), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Exorcist: Extended Director’s Cut (1973), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Superman: The Movie (1978), The Shining (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981), Risky Business (1983), Amadeus: Director’s Cut (1984), The Color Purple (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), GoodFellas (1990), Unforgiven (1992), The Bodyguard (1992), Natural Born Killers: The Director’s Cut (1994), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Matrix (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Departed (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), The Hangover (2009), The Blind Side (2009), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Inception (2010).

Both will also include a pair of brand new documentaries Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot (which was entirely shot on the studio lot and features interesting stories from various actors, directors and studio employees) and Warner Bros. Lot Tour (which is just what it sounds like).

A set of additional Best of Warner Bros.: 20 Film DVD Collections (SRP $99.92 each) will be released throughout the year including Best Picture Winners (1/29), Musicals (2/5), Romance (4/2), Comedies (7/2) and Thrillers (9/1).

Actor/director Clint Eastwood will be the special focus of a pair of new box sets (due Q2, sometime in mid-May), including a Clint Eastwood 40 Film DVD Collection and a Clint Eastwood 20 Film Blu-ray Collection. Details of the BD set weren’t available, but the DVD will include Where Eagles Dare, Kelly’s Heroes, Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Enforcer, The Gauntlet, Every Which Way But Loose, Bronco Billy, Any Which Way You Can, Firefox, Honkytonk Man, Sudden Impact, Tightrope, City Heat, Pale Rider, Heartbreak Ridge, The Dead Pool, Bird, Pink Cadillac, White Hunter Black Heat, The Rookie, Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, Absolute Power, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, True Crime, Space Cowboys, Blood Work, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima, Gran Torino, Invictus, The Eastwood Factor documentary, Hereafter, J. Edgar, Trouble with the Curve and Eastwood: Directs: The Untold Story (an all new documentary directed by Richard Schickel).

TV and animated titles will feature in new DVD collector’s sets including Best of Warner Bros.: Superman TV Collection (May 2013 – SRP $100), Best of Warner Bros. : Hanna-Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection (May), Best of Warner Bros. : Looney Tunes 25 Cartoon Collection (July) and Best of Warner Bros. : DC Comics 25 Cartoon Collection (August). SRP on the 25 Cartoon Collections will be $26.99 each.

For Blu-ray fans, among the films that will be released for the first time ever on the format in 2013 are Mrs. Miniver, Grand Hotel and Driving Miss Daisy (already announced for release on 1/8), The Jazz Singer and Cabaret (Q1 2013), Little Caesar, Public Enemy, Petrified Forest and White Heat (Q2 – as part of an Original Gangsters Collection: Volume 2 or BD singles), House of Wax Blu-ray 3D (Q3), East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant (TBA - available as BD Book singles or together in a James Dean: Ultimate Collector’s Edition), The Big Parade (Q4), The Right Stuff: 30th Anniversary Edition (Q4) and The Best Years of Our Lives, A Star is Born (1976), Sommersby, Easter Parade, Westworld, Best in Show and The Nativity Story (all TBA).

Note that the James Dean: Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be a 9-disc set that includes all three films remastered with a trio of new documentaries (James Dean: Forever Young, James Dean: Sense Memories and James Dean: TNT Biopic), plus a book and more.

A few previously released catalog films will also be revisited during 2013. Among them are:

The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray box set (Q3) which includes all three films plus exclusive collectables and nearly an hour of all new material.

The Mad Max Collection (Q2) that includes Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

The Enter the Dragon: 40th Anniversary Edition (Q2).

The complete Ocean’s Collection (Q3) including all three films plus new special features on the making of each film and the legacy of the franchise.

The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition (Q3).

A Christmas Story: 30th Anniversary Edition (Q4).

Here’s an interesting one: The Wizard of Oz: 75th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray 3D (Q4)! The film will also return to theatres for the anniversary.

Note that there will also be a Contemporary Gangsters: Volume 1 set that includes Goodfellas, Heat, The Departed and The Town (Q2).

Of course, all of the film’s catalog releases on Blu-ray and DVD will be rebranded with the 90th Anniversary logo.

And finally, among the new films you can expect on Blu-ray and DVD in 2013 are The Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas and Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (both TBA).

Obviously there’s always the possibility of additional catalog releases as yet unannounced. But there you go: The gems of Warner’s 2013 home video release slate on Blu-ray and DVD. More specific details and cover art will follow in the weeks and months ahead.

Start saving your money, folks.

- Bill Hunt