The Warner Archive Collection

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by Wes

I feel like I've disqualified myself from this thread with my negative comments from earlier, but let us know how it goes Delirium, hopefully it will be a good positive experience !

Not at all.. you raised some valid points which echoed my concerns, and posted an interesting link. They are DVD-R's after all, professional or otherwise.

I'm sure the quality differs greatly title to title, but I shall report back on the title I picked up, with screen shots if possible. I hope the cover is well printed as I like the design. A couple of reviews suggest although there's some visible print damage, it's a perfectly decent anamorphic widescreen presentation worthy of DVD.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Wes

Glad to hear it, there are a good few titles I need to get...

Buy with confidence mate.
This sadly,is the only way we're gonna see some of these classic movies.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by VicDakin

Artistically the cover leaves alot to be desired,but it does seem to be printed on decent quality paper,although not the most eye catching of covers.

Attachment 94215

I love that cover Vic!
Almost a carbon copy of the original!

Paper-wise they're far superior to those terrible MGM sleeves Stephen!

Wes.Don't be daft mate-disqualified yourself from bugger all!

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Other titles I'd highly recommend are;
THE NIGHT DIGGER
NO BLADE OF GRASS (Surely the wrong-reel copies are gone from circulation!)
RAGE
A RETURN TO SALEM'S LOT

[VicDakin]

I really like the old Warner Bros cover,but the dvd one isn't as good looking

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Not quite,but in this day of photochop shite,it's just fine imo.

[Pete]

Did Warner release YOR: HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE? I know Sony did a DVD-R of it but I'm sure I saw a Warner release too.

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Only ever seen the Sony release Pete.

[Delirium]

Ok, so got my Pretty Maids All in a Row (Roger Vadim, 1971) disc from the Warner Archive Collection. I said I'd give some feedback so here you go.

Disc and packaging presentation:

Very nice as you can see. The cover is glossy and professional standard. The back has a decent synopsis and the usual logos/studio/film info one gets. Pretty much the standard of a studio release. The amaray is one of those cheap flimsy ones.

The disc is boring, but the print is professional. Yes it's a blue bottomed DVD-R.

Menus/Transfer:

Apart from the piracy warning, it skips straight to a static menu with a picture of the DVD case. No extras of course. Functional, but I didn't expect anything else.

As for the transfer - much nicer than I was expecting! A rather handsome looking anamorphic transfer with relatively strong colours, detail and a satisfying amount of grain. There's some minor film damage - scratches & grit - but nothing you wouldn't expect considering the film's age. Although not reference quality, it's a satisfying transfer worthy of DVD and I couldn't be more happy with it. The mono audio track also sounded fine to my ears for the most part, although the volume fluctates in a couple of scenes where it sounds like overdubbing at a slightly louder volume.

The Film:

I was drawn to Pretty Maids all in a Row after discovering a rather compelling young actress called Aimée Eccles who caught my eye in a film called Little Big Man directed by Arthur Penn and starring Dustin Hoffman. Although it was only a small role, I IMDB'ed her and discovered Pretty Maids in her limited filmography. On seeing this was directed by Roger Vadim (Blood & Roses/Barbarella) with an interesting cast attached, it was a no-brainer to seek it out.

The film itself is a fluffy, uneven but extremely enjoyable high-school sex comedy given a murder mystery twist. The emphasis here is certainly on the sex as hunky student counsellor/high-school coach 'Tiger' McDrew (Rock Hudson) beds an endless array of beautiful coeds while Telly Savalas' detective hangs around on campus with a watchful eye. A side plot involves Tiger attempting to get young virginal student, Ponce (John Carson) laid; so Tiger enlists the help of sultry new teacher, Miss Smith (Angie Dickinson looking fabulous) - school was never like that in my day! It's pretty tame on all fronts, with limited flesh on display and little to chew over regarding the rather blasé whodunnit plot, but its spirited, cheery abandon and liberal sexual politics make it a joy to watch all the same. Also starring Roddy McDowall and Barbara Leigh.

Images:

[Delirium]

Hmm. The VLC snapshots I attached were much bigger, folks.

I've no idea how to get them closer to original size..