New viewing technology allows audiences to see a film with astounding visual clarity and a pitch perfect soundtrack. The problem, however, with HD-DVD’s, BluRay’s and DVD’s in general, is that it's hard to go back and "update" the millions of films that have been released in the past one hundred years.
This list is incredibly small and in no way represents the "best" films not available on DVD. But here are ten films that are important entries in cinematic history and deserve restoration for a new generation of viewers.
BLOOD AND ROSES dir: Roger Vadim, 1960.
One of Roger Vadim's first films is this erotically charged adaptation of the first vampire tale ever written:
Sheridan la Fanu's Carmilla. The film features a surreal dream sequence that is cut down or completely out of most available prints.
LA LUNA dir: Bernardo Bertolucci, 1979.
This highly controversial entry from Bertoluci stars
Jill Clayburg as an American opera star whose son is falling into trouble and in love with her.
Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is dreamy and
Ennio Morricone's score is haunting.
JOHNNY GUITAR dir: Nicholas Ray, 1954.
Nicholas Ray's feminist western has, unfortunately, not received the respect it deserves. The film boasts an amazing cast including
Joan Crawford,
Sterling Hayden,
Mercedes McCambridge and
Ernest Borgnine. Often described as a "Shakespearean Western." Great use of Technicolor to boot.
HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER'S APOCALYPSE dir: Eleanor Coppola, 1991.A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at filming
Apocalypse Now. Watch
Francis Ford Coppola slowly come apart as his film goes over budget and out of control. Some of the best footage ever compiled concerning the filmmaking process. It's a shame this wasn't included in any of the recent DVDs.
YELLOW EARTH dir: Chen Kaige, 1984.Before he made
Hero and
The Curse of the Golden Flower,
Zhang Yimou served as a cinematographer on Chen Kaige's fifth-generation masterpiece. The film is an exquisite tale of struggles in recent Chinese history and an examination of the natural conflict that exists between culture and government.
PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES dir: Mario Bava, 1965.There are a lot of films that take credit for inspiring
Alien, but this is probably the least well-known. Mario Bava's tale of a planet that inhabits souls of a lost race has also inspired thousands of prime-time rip-offs. Innovative use of color and production design, espicailly for its low budget!
ZABRISKIE POINT dir: Michelangelo Antonioni, 1970.Antonioni's hippie film is still just as frustratingly beautiful as the day it was released. A great soundtrack by
Pink Floyd,
Jerry Garcia,
The Youngbloods, and
Patti Page complements a young couple's attempt to find love in a plastic society. A dreamlike desert orgy and an apocalyptic ending make this essential counterculture viewing.
KINGS OF THE ROAD dir: Wim Wenders, 1976.One of Wim Wender's first contributions to
New German Cinema is still not available on DVD. Great black and white cinematography by
Robby Müller captures the desolation of the East German countryside. A clear influence on
Jim Jarmusch.
HAMLET dir: Kenneth Branagh, 1996.
The last feature-length film to be shot on 70mm and it's still not available on DVD or widescreen VHS. The film uses the complete text of Shakespeare's play and updates the setting to the late 19th century. The film is a lush, visual feast and deserves a quality transfer.
BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980.
Fassbinder's magnum opus is a fifteen hour mini-series that has rarely been seen since its inception, although it has strong cult following. A critical look at working-class Germany, many consider this Fassbinder's best work. A
Criterion Collection DVD has been in talks for years.
# posted by Benjamin Crossley-Marra @ 6/12/2007 03:09:00 PM
Comments (20)
God, I wish all of those were available right now.
Luckily, Hamlet isn't too far away:
"Warner has just finally confirmed the release of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet: 2-Disc Special Edition on 8/14 (SRP $26.99). The set will contain the remastered film in anamorphic widescreen video (transferred from the original 70mm elements) with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, a new introduction to the film by director/star Kenneth Branagh, audio commentary by Branagh and Shakespeare scholar Russell Jackson, the To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet featurette, the 1996 Cannes Film Festival promo and a Shakespeare movies trailer gallery."
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posted by David Lowery @ 6/13/2007 12:55 AM
It kills me that there are three versions of Apocalypse Now and not one of them has Hearts of Darkness included. The original version, Redux and the most recent Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition). Not so special, I guess.
Quadruple dipping.
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posted by William @ 6/13/2007 8:42 AM
How about Mother and The Whore? Where's that? Where's Butcher Boy? I had to get that from Germany? wtf? There's tons of great films that you can't get here.
Who gives a shit about Hamlet? I saw enough of that in the theater. It's not good.
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posted by @ 6/13/2007 10:15 AM
Actually, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES was released on DVD through MGM Home Entertainment. It's an in-house reconstruction, however, and not as complete as the version subsequently issued abroad on disc in France and Italy.
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posted by Tim Lucas @ 6/13/2007 11:53 AM
What about Oliver Stone's classic mind-fuck horror flick, SEIZURE? I hear even HE can't get his hands on a print of this lost classic. (Avoid the various bootlegs)
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posted by André Salas @ 6/13/2007 12:17 PM
Anonymous, The Butcher Boy got a nice special edition release a few months ago. It was a long time coming...
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posted by David Lowery @ 6/13/2007 2:13 PM
Cameo (www.cameo.es), a cool spanish DVD editor, is going to release Berlin Alexandeplatz next autum, or so they announced on their site.
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posted by @ 6/13/2007 3:50 PM
I'm just glad they finally got around to releasing The Conformist and the Sam Peckinpah collection. Next ones on my list for the long-awaited DVD treatment: A real DVD release of Rocco and His Brothers (I hear the current release is a hack job) and a forgotten little gem written and directed by Robert Duvall, Angelo, My Love
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posted by William @ 6/13/2007 5:04 PM
Branagh's Hamlet will be appreciated by many high school English teachers looking for class-time filler, but I can do without it. My list would include Werner Schroeter, Alexander Kluge, and Ulrike Ottinger.
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posted by @ 6/14/2007 6:20 PM
Nitpicking I know, but it's the Grateful Dead, not Jerry Garcia as a solo artist, on the soundtrack of Zabriskie Point. Reportedly the Dead were not that pleased that one brief snippet of a twenty-three minute track was excised and dropped into Antonioni's Great American Movie. They did, however, cash the check.
Good article. I'd add Lindsay Anderson's If..., except I think it did finally came out on DVD.
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posted by @ 6/16/2007 11:09 AM
One of the directors of Hearts of Darkness was on the IFC show "Dinner for Five" a few years ago and said that Coppola was holding up the release of the film on DVD. Apparently he had some issues with the way he was portrayed at certain points in the film. So until he comes to terms with it or the film is re-edited, we're unlikely to see it.
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posted by @ 6/16/2007 8:50 PM
Our Man in Havana.
In 1960 Carol Reed directed Alec Guinness,Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Noel coward, Ralph Richardson and Ernie Kovacs in an adpatation of a Graham Greene novel.
Once, ten years ago I saw the last part of this black and white flick on the IFC Channel and have never forgotten it. I've only found European region 2 releases and this movie would benefit from the love a Criterion packaging could give it.
Dark, sad, bitter and witty all at once. An underrated gem.
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posted by @ 6/16/2007 9:52 PM
estiv, you're correct that there's a snippet of "Dark Star" in Zabriskie Point but the 7-minute solo guitar improvisation under the "desert orgy" scene is, you know, a solo guitar improvisation, and it's all Garcia.
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posted by @ 6/17/2007 12:32 AM
Actually Hamlet is indeed available in widescreen on VHS (or was at one point). I know because I snatched one up many years back and still watch it on my ancient VCR every now and again. Fortunately, as David Lowery mentions, its DVD release is soon coming up. Of course, I couldn't agree more about Zabrinske Point and the Hearts of Dearkness documentary.
As an employee in a video store I get requests all the time for movies that have not yet been released on DVD. Probably the most frqeuently mentioned title is The African Queen. I also occasionally get a someone who wants Sometimes a Great Notion (mostly because it was shot here in Oregon) and a movie that I personally wish were out on DVD is Twilight Zone: the Movie. Shirley Valentine was another one I heard a lot, but luckily they released it not too long ago.
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posted by Damian @ 6/17/2007 2:04 AM
Top 10 Not on DVD—
If I might add to your list (while these might not be historical documents, I think these films deserve the chance to be studied further; something being released on DVD would help)…
Brewster McCloud (Altman’s first post-MASH batch of total weirdness)
Privilege (because all of Peter Watkin’s films should be available)
Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Robert Aldrich)
Run of the Arrow (Sam Fuller)
Drive, He Said (Jack Nicholson’s directorial debut)
The Hellstrom Chronicles (1970 Oscar for best documentary; directed by Walon Green, Wild Bunch co-screenwriter)
Life Is Sweet (Mike Leigh)
Phase IV (Saul Bass’ solo directorial effort)
Decline of Western Civilization (more punk rock!)
Skidoo (Preminger, Gleason & LSD!)
Honorable mention: The D.I., Pete Kelly’s Blues and/or -30-, all directed by Jack Webb
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posted by @ 6/17/2007 11:53 AM
Brewster McCloud seconded---and along with that, Altman's marvelous mini-film Jazz '34, which really should be on the Kansas City disc and isn't.
Also Alex Cox's Walker---it's a crime that it's only available on Region 2.
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posted by @ 6/18/2007 8:26 AM
What about HUSBANDS by Cassavetes? Anybody hear any news about this being released on DVD?
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posted by Preston @ 6/21/2007 6:37 AM
Criterion is releasing BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ on DVD this fall.
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posted by @ 6/21/2007 1:42 PM
Many of these are shown on cable TV, such as "Johnny Guitar" on TCM--make your own DVD!
I also own "Yellow Earth," purchased on VHS from a video rental store.
John in Los Angeles.
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posted by @ 6/29/2007 3:44 AM
