Weekend Roundtable: “Holy Grail” Blu-ray Wish List – 2012 Edition

This year has seen (or will see shortly) the Blu-ray releases of numerous big-ticket catalog titles that people have long clamored to own in high definition. In September alone, we’ll get the Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection, the complete ‘Indiana Jones’ series, the remaining James Bond films, and ‘Titanic’. Before the end of the year, we’ll also receive the likes of ‘E.T.’, ‘Finding Nemo’, Universal’s classic monsters, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and more. With that in mind, what “holy grail” titles are you still waiting to see released on Blu-ray?

Aaron Peck

I’ll go a little out of the norm here and pick a TV show. What’s worse is that this particular TV show might not even be able to be transferred to Blu-ray all that well considering its original source. Still, I’d love to have the complete series of ‘The X Files’ on Blu-ray with the kind of painstaking restoration that went into ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. I’m a huge fan of television on Blu-ray, and ‘The X Files’ is one of my favorite shows ever, so it’s only natural that I’d want the two to meet at some point. Now, I understand that ‘The X Files’ comes from a less than desirable video source, so if there’s absolutely no way that Fox could make it happen and make it look good, then seasons 1-3 of ‘Arrested Development’ should help to ease my pain.

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk)

I want a complete high-definition Studio Ghibli collection as much as anyone, but you and I both know that’s more or less an inevitability. For the sake of this discussion, I think I’ll stick to movies that I have little-to-no expectation will ever find their way to Blu-ray.

I’d love to see underappreciated, left-of-the-dial ’80s comedies likes ‘UHF’, ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’, and ‘One Crazy Summer’ get proper high-def releases. I’m one of eight people on the planet who genuinely loves ‘Josie and the Pussycats’, and maybe Universal will fill cutout bins with that movie one of these days. There aren’t nearly enough werewolves on Blu-ray, and bringing out ‘Ginger Snaps’ (heck, why not the whole trilogy while you’re at it?) would help even things out. I clearly have a taste for schlock, and the South Korean 3D ‘King Kong’ knockoff ‘A*P*E’ and the futuristic disco-musical ‘The Apple’ fill that bill.

I know that this is really general, but I wish that you could bank on TV shows that air in high-def to find their way onto Blu-ray. ‘Parks and Recreation’, ‘Community’, ‘Children’s Hospital’, ‘New Girl’, and ‘Pretty Little Liars’ (Sssshh! Don’t tell anyone I watch that!) are still heading exclusively to DVD, and that’s no fun for anybody. Oh, and I’d cheerfully open up my wallet to buy ‘Party Down’, ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘Arrested Development’, ‘A Nero Wolfe Mystery’, and ‘The Middleman’ again if they somehow scored releases on Blu-ray. I’d especially flip if ‘The Outer Limits’ could get the same otherworldly special edition treatment that ‘The Twilight Zone’ did.

Brian Hoss

I was fortunate enough to import ‘Ghost in the Shell: Innocence – Absolute Edition’ when it was first released, and thereby managed to get a copy with both Dolby TrueHD 6.1 and DTS-HD MA 6.1 tracks. Getting the ‘Ghost in the Shell’ television series is another matter. Blu-rays of the series in its original episode format (rather than the consolidated and truncated movie versions) exist, but even at a combined cost of over a $1,000 for 52 episodes, the Blu-rays don’t have English subtitles or lossless audio.

Warner Bros., I want to replace my ‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’ DVD with a Blu-ray that has some special features. Even the HBO First Look “Behind the Mask” EPK would be nice to have. Paramount, it’s past time for a Blu-ray of ‘Witness’. Skip the remake, and get this movie a decent Blu-ray.

Mike Attebery

As I’ve posted many times in the Roundtable now, I’m still holding my breath for a Blu-ray release of an 11-year-old catalog title: ‘Wonder Boys’. With this week’s release of ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, I think that just about every Curtis Hanson film, save for ‘In Her Shoes’, has now hit Blu-ray. ‘Wonder Boys’ is more than deserving (and certainly more deserving than ‘In Her Shoes’, even if Shirley MacLaine is great in that). Can I please get a little 1080p Grady Tripp?!!

Tom Landy

You know what? I honestly can’t think of anything big left on my high-definition wish list. All of the remaining hold-outs either arrived or are Blu-ray bound in 2012 – from ‘Jaws’ and ‘E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial’, to the ‘Indiana Jones’, classic Universal monsters and Alfred Hitchcock box sets. So, my mind is seriously drawing a blank right now. I guess I’ll go with the complete ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ series – although, in all honesty, I predict that’s going to be a very long wait.

M. Enois Duarte

With the ‘Indiana Jones’ collection, the Hitchcock set and the Universal monsters box set already coming, I’m having a really hard time thinking of any “holy grail” titles, except for maybe more cult material like ‘Krull’ or something. If I really think about it, I’d love to see a Hammer Horror collection. I can pick up a few scattered titles overseas and some in the States with okay transfers, but what I want are fresh new masters of all the classics in one big collection. That would be awesome. And since we’re also seeing lots of Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger lately, how about some Jason Voorhees as well? A ‘Friday the 13th’ collection would be nice too.

Josh Zyber

The last time we did this topic in early 2011, I wished for a complete ‘Twin Peaks’ collection. That’s still high on my list, even though HD streaming versions of the show (and a pretty good import Blu-ray for ‘Fire Walk With Me‘) have come available in the meantime.

Failing that, I’m also still jonesing for more Fellini in high-definition. I’ve seen the director’s masterpiece ‘La dolce vita’ a couple times in 35mm, but have refused to watch the existing sub-par DVD edition. A quality Criterion Collection restoration would convince me to finally watch the film in my own home theater.

Those are the titles we still eagerly await on Blu-ray. What are your “holy grails”? Tell us in the Comments.

50 comments

  1. Dave T

    The upcoming Criterion release of Rosemary’s Baby had been my #1 Holy Grail disc for a long time. Can’t wait for that one!

    As another reader mentioned, I’ll cast my vote for the Mamet films (written and/or directed), particularly the con men pictures: House of Games, The Spanish Prisoner, and Glengarry Glen Ross. All well made with terrific acting and fascinating subject matter.

  2. Wayne Dennis

    I would love region A blu-rays of classics like Cabaret, Don’t Look Now, Hud, East Of Eden, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, War Of The Worlds, White Heat, The Asphalt Jungle, Elmer Gantry, Blow-Up, Kiss Me Kate, The Lion In Winter, To Have And Have Not and a number of others that could make this a very long list.

  3. flskydiver

    List indeed is getting smaller, but there are still some pretty glaring omissions.

    In order:

    Hooper
    Pink Floyd: The Wall
    From the Earth to the Moon (HBO)
    Strange Days
    The Abyss (Both Versions Please; with Making Of)
    True Lies
    The Hudsucker Proxy (You know, for kids!)
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit
    Caveman (1981)
    Mary Poppins
    Babylon 5
    The Right Stuff
    Duel
    Innerspace
    Schindler’s List

    and when Hell freezes over,
    or I outlive George Lucas,
    the Original Original Star Wars Trilogy

  4. Vincent Radzikowski

    A number of mine are already on the list, but probably near the top would be the rest of the Spielberg titles, including all the content on the SEs of the Munich and The Terminal DVDs. The rest of Michael Mann’s films, especially Thief (only a non-anamorphic DVD?) The Keep (Still have my laserdisc copy, the Bluray would no doubt be a new director’s cut), and LA Takedown, the TV movie that became Heat. Most of George Lucas’ productions, like Willow, Tucker, the Young Indiana Jones series, The Ewoks and Droids animated series, Captain EO (in 3D of course!), and the other Holy Grail besides the Original SW trilogy, the Star Wars Holiday Special.

    Other notables would be the rest of Tony Scott’s films(too bad we’ll never get a commentary on The Fan), The Saint ( with the deleted scenes promised by Noyce in his laserdisc commentary), Charley Varrick, Casualties of War, John Carpenter’s Christine, Weird Science, Switchback, Ace Ventura 1 and 2, the Paul Verhoeven Euro Collection, 1492 (what happened the DVD announced a few years back?), the Star Trek films’ alternate versions, Quick and the Dead ( with Raimi commentary and the longer international cut. I want more Bruce Campbell!), Mary Poppins, and Song Of the South.

    I think that’s about all for now.