First thing that came to my mind as well. Great movie and should be in every high school in America on DVD.
Shame.
Walloon how are you making those lists?
Several of the contents I have seen or even own. Perhapse there is no current printing in the US, but they are often easily available.
(though I am awaiting many on your list to come out, like ‘if’ and ‘O you luicky man’)
With the Internet Movie Database, clicking through to Amazon.com.
IMDb can often be horribly out of date as far as DVD availability goes. I can’t count how many movies it claims aren’t available when a simple search on Amazon would prove otherwise, or ones it says are available that are long out of production.
Which is baffling, when you think about it. Being an Amazon company, you’d think they’d be directly linked to their database.
The Seven Percent Solution, from 1976. my favorite Sherlock Holmes movie. My video copy is wearing out!!!
It’s obscure but the fantasy films of Karl Zeman would all be purchased by me if they came out in DVD.
Movies at the IMDb are linked directly to the Amazon inventory database.
Henry V (Branagh version) is out on DVD in the U.S. I have a copy. Maybe it’s out of print at the moment, but it has been released.
I would make a distinction between movies that were released on DVD in the US but are now out of print, and movies like Song of the South or The Day The Clown Cried (the Jerry Lewis Holocaust film) that will never see the light of day. The latter is a much smaller list. Note that the OP asked for renowned films, and many of these are actually known for being awful or offensive.
You’re reading my mind. A lot of the films named so far are really under the radar … and I’m don’t find it surprising that they’re not on DVD.
Pulling from Walloon’s more recent list, the following are more like what I had in mind:
• Reds (1981), directed by and starring Warren Beatty
• Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott
• The Last Emperor (1987), multiple Oscar-winner, including Best Picture
• Throw Momma from the Train (1987)*
• The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
• Henry V (1989), starring Kenneth Branagh
• Beauty and the Beast (1991), Disney
• The Player (1992), directed by Robert Altman
• Schindler’s List (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg
• Lolita (1997)*, directed by Adrian Lyne from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov
… except that I have seen *Bladerunner * on DVD very recently (a copy of the Director’s Cut borrowed from a friend). To me, “out of print, but easily rentable or available in second-hand stores/Ebay” still qualifies as “available on DVD”.
Not exactly what you’d call a “big name” movie but Love and Human Remains (1993) with Thomas Gibson (Greg from Dharma & Greg) and Mia Kirshner from The L Word is not available on DVD. I only mention it since I thought it was at least a somewhat interesting movie.
Pirates of Penzance. Damn, I love that movie. I want my DVD.
Branagh’s Hamlet on DVD did not show up on Netflix the last time I looked for it there.
Not really major movies, but…A Rose for Emily and The Rocking Horse Winner, both short story adaptations, are unavailable on DVD. You can’t even get the RHW on VHS these days either.
Umm…
…are all in print. Check Amazon or Netflix.
Amazon has the Criterion version for sale. Blockbuster Online, last I checked, had it on wait list. Netflix doesn’t carry it at all, for some reason.
…are out of print. Emperor has been released several times, but for some reason, Bernardo Bertolucci has a hard time getting his early movies released in the U.S., Oscars or no Oscars – 1900 is out in Region 2, but I can’t find La Luna anywhere. Lolita surprised me, I just rented that from Netflix a few weeks ago. BATB is on Disney’s 7-year rotation plan; the Platinum Edition came out in 2002.
Never on DVD, not even other regions, as far as I can tell.
They can’t be, otherwise there’d be no discrepancy between them.
I can find many examples if you want them, but one I know of right off hand is Different From the Others, which IMDb says isn’t available anywhere, but Amazon lists as available and in stock.
I thought at first maybe it was because of the difference in titles–Amazon uses the English title and IMDb keeps the orginal German–but that doesn’t hold for other films. Leaves from Satan’s Book is availble on Amazon and IMDb knows this, despite it listing it under Blade af Satans Bog. They appear to be wholly disconnected.
One that has personally annoyed me for some time now:
Cannery Row (1982)
I have never heard any explanation for why it is not now nor ever has been made available on DVD.
With that “umm”, you don’t sound very sure that they are.
Shoot the Piano Player is available from Criterion and it’s new so I don’t know why IMDB wouldn’t know that. They must do it some weird way because Lolita’s Canada VHS flag is lit up even though it’s only used copies available, yet there are used copies of the DVD on Amazon.com and IMDB doesn’t recognize that.
Which means that just because a flag’s lit up, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s even in print right now either. I don’t get it.
Umm…
Blade Runner (Director’s Cut)
Throw Momma From The Train
The Player
Schindler’s List
Henry V (Criterion Collection)
The Last Emperor (Director’s Cut) – OOP
Lolita (1997) – OOP
Beauty and the Beast (Special Platinum Edition) – OOP
Then what’s with the “umm”?