Premium Blu-Ray Companies

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by BILLONEEG, Apr 16, 2018.

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  1. BILLONEEG

    BILLONEEG Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I am on a "Classics Movies" trip & loving it! I've been getting Blu-Rays from Criterion, Puwerhouse/Indicator, Twilight Time & Olive Films & they've been fabulous! I'd like to know if there are other companies in this league. Thank you all for the help!
     
  2. Claus LH

    Claus LH Forum Resident

    In addition to the ones mentioned, two major players are the BFI and Eureka/Masters of Cinema in Britain.
     
    longdist01 and stepeanut like this.
  3. Malinky

    Malinky Almost a Gentleman.

    Location:
    U.K.
    `Artificial Eye` are part of the `Curzon` group, they release about 30 DVDs and Blu-rays a year, mainly European `Art House` movies.
    Similar to `Criterion` but more obscure selection, and not the same quality.

    Curzon Artificial Eye
     
  4. Al Kuenster

    Al Kuenster Senior Member

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV - US
    Arrow Video , Shout Factory
     
    Galley likes this.
  5. tone ded freb

    tone ded freb Senior Member

    Location:
    Arizona Snowbowl
    All the biggest ones have been mentioned. Cohen Media Group is another.
     
    longdist01 likes this.
  6. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    The Arrow Academy range may be a better fit for the OP’s taste than the main Arrow Video range, although both carry a worthy selection of titles.
     
  7. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    And I would put in a plug for a company I do work for, Vinegar Syndrome, which specializes in cult films, horror films, exploitation films, and fairly rare 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s genre films...

    https://vinegarsyndrome.com/
     
  8. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Some other U.K. boutique labels worth keeping on eye on:

    Classic Film & TV on DVD, Blu-ray and On Demand

    Second Sight has really upped their game of late, with a stacked edition of The Colour of Pomegranates that tops the Criterion version. Box sets of Heimat and Berlin Alexanderplatz are forthcoming.

    Home - Signal One Entertainment

    A fairly new label, with a small, but interesting, selection of classic and cult titles. They are releasing the fantastic noir Nightmare Alley later this year, in a stacked limited edition.

    Network On Air

    Filling an important niche, Network release titles from the ITV catalogue. Their focus is vintage British film and television series, including The Prisoner, Department S, etc. Look out for their big summer sale; always great prices on almost everything in their catalogue.
     
  9. Claus LH

    Claus LH Forum Resident

    Just to round things out, Mr. Bongo is a small niche label putting out a variety of lesser-known films, including Eastern European and Italian works:

    Mr Bongo Films – Mr Bongo
     
  10. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Their stuff is often ropey quality, though, and some people have even questioned their right to issue certain titles. I wouldn’t recommend buying a Mr. Bongo release, unless there is no other choice available worldwide.
     
    Claus LH likes this.
  11. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    are you region free?
     
  12. Claus LH

    Claus LH Forum Resident

    I agree and I should have put in the caveat, since some of their titles (like 'Santa Sangre') are available from other companies. Pick and choose.
    I got "The Saragossa Manuscript" from them, and the transfer is quite high quality, if a bit too "scrubbed" for grain, so some titles are worth it for the rarity.
     
  13. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I have the 2001 Image Entertainment DVD of The Saragossa Manuscript, and never got around to upgrading it to BD. I did buy the Mr. Bongo BD of The Hourglass Sanatorium, though. I also have all of their Orson Welles BDs.

    I want their DVD of Antonioni’s Chung Kuo China, but it appears to be OOP and hard to find on the secondary market.
     
  14. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Synapse Films
     
  15. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Image Entertainment was a terrific company in the 1990s, and I did a lot of work for them back in the day. I was sorry to see them go -- they really cared about their titles and the quality of their video releases.
     
  16. Olive films is a mixed bag IMHO. They have improved quite a bit from their bare bones, so-so presentations.
     
    Derek Gee likes this.
  17. longdist01

    longdist01 Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    You can also check out a "few" Blu-Ray titles from Flicker Alley/Lobster films/Blackhawk films group [Silent films, Cinerama, etc...]

    Good luck with so many choices today!!
     
    Derek Gee likes this.
  18. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Their Olive Signature line is excellent. Terrific editions of Johnny Guitar and Orson Welles’s Macbeth, amongst others.

    Plus, Olive gave us one of my favourite cinematic guilty pleasures, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, on BD; I’ll always love them for that.
     
    PhantomStranger likes this.
  19. They've been doing a bang-up job with their releases. The cult sci-fi Liquid Sky looked absolutely fantastic on their Blu-ray edition.

    Liquid Sky Blu-ray Review - DoBlu.com
     
    longdist01 likes this.
  20. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Vinegar Syndrome rules. I never expected the kinds of films they release to get the level of attention and care that they've demonstrated time and again. It's almost like Something Weird Video and Criterion shacked up and had a bastard love-child.
     
  21. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I believe that is a compliment. We got some rave reviews on the 4K reissue of Liquid Sky recently, even in the NY Times. Many reviews said "this is the best this film has ever looked," which is what we want to hear.

    I was gratified by the reviews -- that took about 100 hours of work for color correction, plus dust-busting and all kinds of other technical restoration work, much of it supervised by ace cinematographer Yuri Neyman. Given that this was shot 36 years ago, it's amazing what a bold, stark, and colorful look the film has.
     
  22. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Well, to me it's high praise, but I suppose not everyone might take it as such.:)
     
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