Colossus - The Forbin Project on blu-ray?

I'm a fan of this scifi movie from 1970, and I know that there is a DVD available. But said DVD is of the dreaded pan-and-scan non-widescreen variety.

A blu-ray with a widescreen presentation is available, but it is a European only release. Does anyone here know why Colossus - The Forbin Project hasn't been released on blu-ray in the USA?

 

I don't have an answer but I'd love to see this too. War Games borrowed a lot of ideas from this movie.

 

Universal isn't interested in issuing it. They did license it overseas but I believe the source was a very dated master.

 

Maybe they're not interesting in reissuing it because a remake has been in the works for several years and they'd rather a new audience not know the ending.

 

Would Twilight Time license for a HD Blu-ray reissue?

 

You could suggest it certainly. I kept hoping that Shout a Factory would put it out with some special features. The film was shelved for a year because Universal didn't think there was a market for it.

 

I think that, if the Will Smith project takes off, they would release it much as The Andromeda Strain got a Blu-Ray release when the remake aired.

 

Good news. It appears there is going to be a blu-ray edition of Colossus: The Forbin Project released early 2018. Hooray!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0776221Y...ts-20&linkId=0ad77a25b6cba590c2f00eaa616d8bf8

 

Yep, I just preordered. It's from Shout so hopefully the Universal transfer is nice. I was about to come here and post about it. It's dated. Sure but the basic plot holds up remarkably well.

 

Very glad to hear this -- I can still recall the outcry when the laserdisc came out and it was 4x3 pan/scan. People went nuts!

 

I'd advise against it...I put the DVD copy in the Oppo 2 years ago, and it took over my DAC, spread to my server, upstairs to the main computer...and now all I can get on my cable is a screen saver with the dancing baby on it.

Oh - also my Keurig comes on every morning at 3am, demanding white vinegar.

 

here goes F'n Shout again over pricing the BD as usual...it'd be $9.99 if the label put it out...too bad...love the movie hate the price!

 

My wife and I had several people over for a sci-fi marathon and a friend of ours... procured it. We are a pretty critical bunch but it went over really well for the reasons you said - despite the 70's look and a couple of scenes that would not fly in films of today, plot and structure are solid.

 

I remember watching this once years ago and I liked it then. I took the chance and pre-ordered from Amazon with the hopes it will significantly drop in price <-$20> before release day. That still is a bit high, but I can't help myself!

 

My prediction is it will go to $17.99 briefly then go up.

 

If it's a fresh scan with bonus features, frankly, I'm ok with it if the quality is all good. It won't be selling for the retail and you could see it drop as much as $17.99. If they owned it, they could afford to drop the price further.

 

I just wish the studios wouldn't license to Shout...and do it themselves...as Shout has a monopoly on the movies I'm interested in! LOL...and I do not have deep pockets.

 

yes..a bit high! Good luck with that...I'm still waiting for a half dozen shout BD to drop below $20 for a few years...

 

This will be a definite must-buy for me.... I've been waiting forever to get rid of my old full-screen DVD!

 

I think the issue is that there's a large "gray area" of movies the studios just don't give a crap about, and it falls to third-party distributors to license the titles and release them to a small but dedicated fan base. If these distributors didn't do it, you might never see these films at all.

Note that the studios are generally in charge of scanning and mastering the film to digital, but there's a lot of political and economic reasons as to why they don't release them on Blu-ray. I think they see the future as being "all streaming / all the time," for better or worse. I do know of cases where the studios and the distributor split the mastering costs, but the studio winds up owning everything in the end.

 

Another thing at play for older films are restorations and the budgets given to those departments. The head of the departments have to make decisions as to which one should be the priority based on how much work has to be done, the sales potential, condition of the source material, etc. I have to give Warner Archive props for constantly surprising me with cult titles I never expected to see on a Blu.

 

I wonder why Criterion didn't take this movie under their wing and give it a blu-ray makeover. They've tackled older sci-fi movies in the past.

 

So the film has been released in a handsome Blu-ray transfer. Clearly restored, the film hasn't looked this good.

 

You should pick up the new Shout Blu-ray. Looks marvelous with a very handsome looking restored transfer.

 

It’s amazing the filmmakers were able to make a watchable film, let alone a good film that people still want to watch forty years later. They had a very limited budget and no monster effects for their monster. It’s just a voice-over while looking at blinking lights

A very obvious influence on the later Terminator film