Twilight Time

[VeZius]

I decided to create a thread for Twilight Time releases, since I couldn't find one. If there is one, the mods are more than welcome to execute this thread!

Twilight Time releases are being sold through Screen Archives Entertainment

All their releases are limited to either 3000 or 5000 copies and are typically priced $29.95 a piece. Each release is under a 3 year contract, after which they can re-release a title if they can/want to licence it again.

So far they have also been very customs friendly.

Yesterday, a bunch of new titles came available for pre-order, the release date for these is March 10th:

First Men in the Moon (1964)
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1964 / Color
103 MINUTES
NOT RATED
REGION FREE

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Randall William Cook Introduces the “Men in the Moon" / Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen and FX Artist Randall William Cook / Tomorrow the Moon / Original Theatrical Trailer

Limited Edition of 5,000 Units

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) This is their second re-release to date and it has a brand new 4k transfer and some extras that weren't available on the previous release.
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA / English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1959 / Color
129 MINUTES
RATED: G
REGION FREE

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Audio Commentary with Actress Diane Baker, and Film Historians Steven C. Smith & Nick Redman / Original Theatrical Trailer

Limited Edition of 5,000 Units

U Turn (1997)
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 1.85:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1997 / Color
124 MINUTES
RATED: R
REGION FREE

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Oliver Stone Introduces U Turn / Audio Commentary with Director Oliver Stone / Audio Commentary with Producer/Production Executive Mike Medavoy and Film Historian Nick Redman / Original Theatrical Trailer

Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

The Bounty (1984)
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1984 / Color
131 MINUTES
RATED: PG
REGION FREE

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Audio Commentary with Director Roger Donaldson, Producer Bernard Williams, and Production Designer John Graysmark / Audio Commentary with Historical Consultant Stephen Walters / Original Theatrical Trailer

Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

Solomon and Sheba (1959)
LANGUAGE: English
VIDEO: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1
AUDIO: English 2.0 DTS-HD MA
SUBTITLES: English SDH
1959 / Color
141 MINUTES
NOT RATED
REGION FREE

Special Features: Isolated Music & Effects Track / Original Theatrical Trailer

Limited Edition of 3,000 Units

[VeZius]

Here are rest of the Twilight Time releases, that have not been sold out.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

I'm not a fan of Twilight Time's business model at all.

I do understand the need for limited edition models where Blu-ray is concerned (after all, it is a niche format what with DVD still going strong and streaming taking an increasingly larger bite out of the home media market), but the way in which Sony and SAE in particular handle the Twilight Time banner is, to me, a bit of a middle finger to the fans.

Basically, you're paying a premium price ($30 ex. shipping) for an often barebones product of a film owned and supplied by a studio such as Sony (I know Fox and MGM have since jumped on-board with a few titles too) that is then licensed to TT for a set period of years (often meaning total lock-out elsewhere in the world)... then afterwards, they will re-evaluate the licence and perhaps extend/renew (as in the case of Fright Night), or the title reverts back to Sony who will undoubtedly sit on it for an undistinguished amount of time.

Obviously, there is a demand for these titles due to how well some of them sell, but a lot of the time it's tantamount to hysteria propagated by the fear of missing out as people throw money at a title which would otherwise be priced at $10-15, like most other catalogue titles are from other studios - after all, we're not talking niche and/or cult titles that have received a lot of restoration work and newly created extras here, basically TT are just slapping an already prepared HD master on a disc and sticking it in a case. Obviously TT and Sony are making a lot of money from this model, but I for one refuse to support it, especially when there are labels out there doing it so much better and not shafting the fans by giving them a product worthy of the money they're laying down for it (Arrow, Scorpion, Vinegar Syndrome - all of whom have utilised the limited edition model much better than TT... at least from the fans' point of view as opposed to the distributors' own wallets).

This is just my view though, there are a lot of companies out there releasing great products and vying for my money in the home media marketplace (it’s pretty much where most of my free cash each month goes), and therefore it’s up to me to prioritise where and how I spend my money. If money was no object then it might be a different story, but when I can buy arguably better quality product from the likes of 88 Films, Arrow, Artificial Eye, BFI, Blue Underground, Eureka, Olive, Kino, Network, Severin, Studio Canal, Synapse, Third Window, Vinegar Syndrome, Warner etc. (hell, even Criterion titles) often at the fraction of the price of a TT product, then for me it is a no-brainer… there of course is also the option of just waiting and being patient to often see a lot of the more heavy-hitting and more desirable titles appearing in other regions (Christine, Fright Night, The Fury, Leave Her to Heaven, The Other, Rollerball etc.) sometimes in better quality versions, and for again, a fraction of the price.

All that said, I really don't begrudge paying a premium price for something; however, I expect a premium product if I'm doing so (I buy Camera Obscura releases for instance), and TT's product just isn't worth the money for me. It's nice to see some TT titles getting released elsewhere in other territories when the deals do expire, and it's also nice to see other companies trying the LE model without resorting to raping their fans as well - mainly because I can see LE models becoming the norm in future for a lot of the more niche titles as the physical media market shrinks, and the more people adopting the greedy, exploitive TT model, then the worse the world of buying physical media will be in my opinion.

[Gold6082]

I refuse to line their pockets they are greedy and selfish in their practices and as pointed out you get no more than the film itself. They also don't stop other greedy scalpers bulk buying when they don't want the item so they too can rip off those who do. If any company deserves to go under in this market it's them and. Code red. Sorry but I don't believe in such greedy behaviour all this limited rubbish. No other companies than Tt and code red limit every single release. It's two fingers to fans of the film and. A green light for scalpers to exploit what the company doesn't.

[shel]

I own their NOTLD blu (bought it as I'm a Romero completist, had I known it was a "smurf" version I wouldn't have bothered, that was like being punched in the face after they had mugged me), and it speaks volumes that the HD version on Netflix is both better and has the same amount of extras (i.e. none).

For the amount they charge I want something comparable to Arrow's also-limited Nekromantic; digipack, book, extras, making of etc. etc. The fact I could have had two Nekromantics for the price I paid for bare bones NOTLD gives me a headache.

[VeZius]

I see now why there wasn't a thread for this before.

I largely agree with most of the criticism, but I have to say that they've improved a lot on the special features side. Many of the more recent releases have a good collection of extras.

Also I feel you can quite well trust on their transfers being good. Every company fails on those sometimes, like NOTLD in this case.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Just checked the specs for The Bounty.

They haven't even bothered to port the 50 min doc from the dvd , although they have used both chat tracks.

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Just checked the specs for The Bounty.

They haven't even bothered to port the 50 min doc from the dvd , although they have used both chat tracks.

It's not a case of "haven't bothered". If they were allowed to put it on the disc, they would've. End of. I hope this thread dosn't end up like the one on blu-ray.com, (i.e. Every post bashing them, hoping they go out of business).

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Gold6082

I refuse to line their pockets they are greedy and selfish in their practices and as pointed out you get no more than the film itself. They also don't stop other greedy scalpers bulk buying when they don't want the item so they too can rip off those who do. If any company deserves to go under in this market it's them and. Code red. Sorry but I don't believe in such greedy behaviour all this limited rubbish. No other companies than Tt and code red limit every single release. It's two fingers to fans of the film and. A green light for scalpers to exploit what the company doesn't.

Terrible attitude mate. You don't like the way a company puts out their product, so you hope they go out of business?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Stephen@Cult Labs

It's not a case of "haven't bothered". If they were allowed to put it on the disc, they would've. End of. I hope this thread dosn't end up like the one on blu-ray.com, (i.e. Every post bashing them, hoping they go out of business).

I don't read Blu-ray.com.

Why do people bash them?