Now, given the popularity of the TV series and the big names involved behind the camera—co-written by William Peter Blatty (The Exorcist), directed by Blake Edwards (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Pink Panther series), released by Paramount—the lack of any home video release seems unusual.
What other major motion pictures have never seen any sort of home media release at all? That is, this thread isn’t for whinging about your favourite film not yet being streamed by Netflix, not yet being released on DVD or Blu-ray, or even long out of print on VHS. (Naturally, I’m also excepting new films that are or were very recently still in theatres.)
“Major” might be eliminating my choice, but I saw the film Lucky Luciano in the theater when it was new and I was a kid, and AFAIK it was never out in any form. I’ve always wanted to see it as an adult. Probably sucks, but looks like I’ll never kn ow.
I really liked A Friend of the Deceasedand would like to own it, but it seems to never have been available.
OK, except on VHS. I just checked Amazon, and someone has a VHS for $80. In my opinion, that’s still unavailable, despite the OP.
TV-wise, when is Memphis Beat going to be available? Why isn’t it? Why isn’t there a boxed set of Lassie or Rin Tin Tin?
I am an Oscar completist in certain categories. A few winners are lost films, which explains why they haven’t been released. E.g., The Way of All Flesh (best actor Emil Jannings, 1927). Others are not lost but surprisingly hard to track down on home media. I managed to catch a few on TCM or YouTube. A few have just been released within recent years. E.g., Kentucky (1938, best actress Loretta Young). I have a list somewhere, but off the top of my head … Skippy (1931, best director Norman Taurog). It was one of the most popular films of 1931. As far as I can tell, it has never been released on home media, though it does air occasionally on TCM.
Marie-Louise (1944, best original screenplay). The dialogue is mostly in French, which I suppose explains why there isn’t much demand for it here. It has been released in Europe in PAL format but that doesn’t do me any good. It’s on YouTube, but without English subtitles. My comprehension of spoken French isn’t good enough to follow it.
I thought someone might mention this. I’m probably one of the few people to have seen this (along with McCartney’s gawd-awful *Give My Regards to Broad Street*) at home on its original RCA SelectaVision release.
I have it on VHS, distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, bought a long time ago. And also on DVD, something called The Criterion Collection, that includes a booklet of the entire screenplay and other material. Cost me about $40. Don’t know if it can still be found.
I first saw it at the Sunset Drive-In during the summer of '72. I liked it so much that I told my girlfriend she should just put her shirt back on, I am watching this. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson (yeah the singer and the Beach Boy) could not act their way out of a high school drama club, but Warren Oates should have been nominated for an Academy Award. He stole that movie.
Inchon (1981), the Korean War film with Laurence Olivier as Douglas MacArthur, has never been released on tape or disc as far as I know. I understand the rights situation is murky; it was financed by the Unification Church.
Inchon was a box-office flop, but I saw it during its original release, and I don’t remember it being that bad. Not great, but not horrible either. There are bootleg copies floating around, but I haven’t been motivated to track one down.
The other day, I was thinking about this 80s miniseries from my youth. It was called Amerika, starring Kris Kristofferson and Robert Urich about a USSR takeover. It was pretty famous at the time, where Tecumseh, Nebraska puts it on their town sign. It was released in VHS in the mid-90s, but never on DVD.
Not a movie, but my brother claims that the TV series Batman will never be released in home media because the copyright issues are so messed up that no one will be able to get legal permission to do so.
I lived in Belgium in the early 90s. I remember my friend’s brother watching a french dub of the film on VHS. It was definitely released in other countries.
