Lots of excellent films don't come out on DVD for years, and some NEVER do. Examples: The Yakuza (starring Robert Mitchum) - an exciting film with some wonderful sword fights. Then there is The Holly and the Ivy - a great family film. The Riddle of the Sands was not released on DVD for years, but it is a brilliant classic adventure film.
Why is it that the owners of the film rights don't release them on the DVD format earlier? Surely these companies would make a fortune out of selling really good films.
It is not as though they are holding them back to sell them to television companies; these films are never on television.
The BBC is a major culprit. The BBC has loads of cracking programmes, including some wonderful classic series, that it seems to hold on to for ever. Why doesn't the BBC sell the film rights for DVD, and make some money to subsidise its running costs. The BBC produces programmes that are unbeatable; millions of people would like to buy them, but the BBC says: "NO."
2006-09-29 10:29:45 · 9 answers · asked by Jenny 1 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Movies
Two main reasons:
One... sometimes it's a legal battle over "rights" and licenses etc... one example was the Blues Brothers.
Two... Marketing! The old classics are filtered out one by one to encourage you, after years of impatient waiting, to pay £14.99 for them, when they could be reduced to £3.99 a few months later. If all the films were released simultaenously there wouldn't be enough shelf space in many stores like Tesco's, Woolworths etc.. and people generally will only buy so many at a time, so by holding out distribution for a while, they can keep the prices up.
This is coming to and end however, as imports from the Far East are amazingly cheap, and can be bought on Ebay.
2006-09-29 12:48:46 · answer #1 · answered by jezterfezter 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In a lot of cases the rights to a film may not be clearly held by one person or one company, and disputes between the rival claimants prevent the films being re-relaesed in a new format. Also, in the case of some older films an acceptable master film may not exist from which to make a DVD, and the owners don't feel that restoring the film to make a new master is worth the (considerable) expense when weighed against the film's likely sales on DVD. This is especially true of films which have been severely edited for television, as often the only prints that exist are those edited for television broadcast, sometimes with whole scenes discarded in order to fit in the comercials.
2006-09-29 17:48:48 · answer #2 · answered by World Famous Neffer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whomever owns the rights have their own reasons. None of which have to have anything to do with your reasons for wanting them releases.
You mentioned Mitchum's "The Yakuza" Wasn't that originally released many years before DVD? It could be that the owners never thought about it or never considered that there would be a market for it. Who knows? You mentioned a couple more titles. I have never heard of these. Perhaps their original distribution indicated a poor potential for sales. Again, who knows?
I know that MANY films are held back for rereleas for theatrical distribution. In other cases, the DVD release is limited, so that the films can be released to DVD, again, many years later. This forced "rarity" increases the films value.
But I share your frustration. I see "bargain bins" full of junk, available for pennies while other films are simply not available. I can only suggest to you that you contacat the studios of the films you wish to see released. They may not be aware that an interest exists. This is one of the reasons I am glad to see the advent of downloadable movie formats. Perhaps, someday, a studio's entire catalogue can be made available for downloads, on demand.
A system such as this could save the studio the costs of the production of discs, and they can glean every last dime of every film in their archives.
2006-09-29 17:47:20 · answer #3 · answered by Vince M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Were any of the actors on these films supposed to get proceeds from distribution? Have some agents blocked release because of the possible money making for the actors, directors, etc. they represent. All in all its about money.
2006-09-29 17:40:15 · answer #4 · answered by joe s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's mostly because people generally have bad taste. We'd rather watch The Simple Life season 48.
2006-09-29 17:37:57 · answer #5 · answered by ralph w 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
films only get released on dvd if there ratings were high at the pics if the ratinghs were poor then they wont never heard of yours sorry
2006-09-29 17:33:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ever try Columbia House or BMG?
2006-09-29 17:38:50 · answer #7 · answered by Mazz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's cos they're are 1st clas to you and not the ones who think they might profit from it.
2006-09-29 17:32:09 · answer #8 · answered by timone 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Money and power
2006-09-29 17:31:04 · answer #9 · answered by mise 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋