# Major movies that have NEVER been released on home media **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425 "2018-10-04T14:10:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/1 "2018-10-04T14:10:53Z")
In reading the [Wikipedia article on the 1967 film _Gunn_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunn_%28film%29), I was struck by the following line: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Although the complete _Peter Gunn_ television series is available on VHS and DVD, the film version of _Gunn_ has never been issued on home video in any format. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/2 "2018-10-04T14:30:49Z")
Last I heard, Two Lane Blacktop was never issued on VHS or DVD. But I haven’t looked in years.:rolleyes:😃 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/3 "2018-10-04T14:32:10Z")
“Major” might be eliminating my choice, but I saw the film [Lucky Luciano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Luciano_(film)) 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 Deceased](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119952/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)and 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? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/4 "2018-10-04T14:33:41Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Last I heard, Two Lane Blacktop was never issued on VHS or DVD. > > But I haven’t looked in years.:rolleyes:😃 [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Two-Lane-Blacktop-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B009RWRIMU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538663553&sr=8-3&keywords=two+lane+blacktop) DVD and Blu-ray. Fun movie. eta I see the Blu Ray is UK format only. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/5 "2018-10-04T16:03:36Z")
Disney has never released the full Song of the South in the US but it has been released overseas. > **[Song of the South](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South)** > > Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson; produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based on the Uncle Remus stories as adapted by Joel Chandler Harris, and stars James Baskett as Uncle Remus in his final film role. The film takes place in Georgia during the Reconstruction era, a period of American history after the end of the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The story foll... ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/6 "2018-10-04T16:17:08Z")
[Let It Be?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065976/) If it was ever available for home viewing, it wasn’t for very long. Edit: [here](https://www.amazon.com/Let-Be-VHS-John-Lennon/dp/B000192Y3G/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1538669879&sr=1-3&keywords=let+it+be&dpID=51PFsbGLpfL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch) it is. For $150, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/7 "2018-10-04T16:56:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/8 "2018-10-04T16:58:44Z")
[Looking for Mr Goodbar](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076327/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt) received 2 academy award nominations and yet is nearly impossible to find anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/9 "2018-10-04T17:06:37Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > [Let It Be?](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065976/) If it was ever available for home viewing, it wasn’t for very long. 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\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_My_Regards_to_Broad_Street_%28film%29)) at home on its original [RCA SelectaVision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance_Electronic_Disc) release. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/10 "2018-10-04T17:14:36Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > Last I heard, Two Lane Blacktop was never issued on VHS or DVD. > > But I haven’t looked in years.:rolleyes:😃 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. One of the best ‘car guy’ movies ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/11 "2018-10-04T17:27:23Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Cost me about $40. Don’t know if it can still be found. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Two-Lane-Blacktop-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B009RWRIMU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1538663553&sr=8-3&keywords=two+lane+blacktop) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/12 "2018-10-04T17:27:40Z")
[_Nothing Lasts Forever_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/13 "2018-10-04T17:39:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [_Nothing Lasts Forever_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Lasts_Forever_(film)) I saw that when they showed it on TCM. While I agree it should be made available, I’m…not sure the world is missing anything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/14 "2018-10-04T18:41:00Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/15 "2018-10-04T18:57:33Z")
The other day, I was thinking about this 80s miniseries from my youth. It was called [Amerika](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika_(miniseries)), 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. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/16 "2018-10-04T19:56:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/17 "2018-10-04T20:05:11Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Disney has never released the full Song of the South in the US but it has been released overseas. > > [Song of the South - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South) I’m doubtful that the claims regarding the release overseas are accurate. I think any copies in circulation are bootlegs. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/18 "2018-10-04T20:10:10Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > I’m doubtful that the claims regarding the release overseas are accurate. I think any copies in circulation are bootlegs. 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. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/19 "2018-10-04T20:11:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > 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. It did take a really long time to be released, but you can finally get all three seasons on DVD and Blu Ray on Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425/20 "2018-10-04T20:20:16Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I am an Oscar completist in certain categories. A few winners are lost films, which explains why they haven’t been released. That reminds me, I guess we can add most or all of [these films](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_films) to the list of those that have never been released on home media. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-movies-that-have-never-been-released-on-home-media/822425.md?page=2)