Limited Edition Blu-ray (only 3,000 copies) - Nov. 2011

Hello prbronx5,

Generally I don't care too much about Blu-ray. Except where absolutely necessary -- as with some TT releases -- I'm more than happy with perfectly fine standard DVD. The slight improvement in picture definition isn't worth the extra money, and for the most part yet more bonus features are irrelevant to me.

But all this is a matter of personal taste, and should be a matter of personal choice -- something the boobs running TT don't realize or understand. In the interview the founder gave on line a few months back, he said that because Fright Night sold out -- which they seemed surprised at -- they concluded it was Blu-ray that people wanted: again, missing the point entirely that it's the title, not the format, that matters most.

A look at the three discs that have sold out their 3000 copies proves this: Fright Night, Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth. All sci-fi or horror, which have the widest audiences. Not to mention that all three were already available on standard DVD...meaning that the avid collectors of such films who want an even "better" picture will jump at the chance to get the Blu, especially as it's a limited edition.

Meanwhile, all their other discs remain in stock. Again, if all that was needed to sell these films was to release them in Blu, then why aren't all the other Blu-rays sold out? TT has gone so far as to produce their discs exclusively in a Region 0 (region-free) format since last fall, to enable them to sell abroad, which I think is a sign of desperation. (The early DVDs were Region 1.)

You mentioned The Egyptian, which is the only title TT brought out in both standard and Blu-ray. It's also a title long in demand from a select band of collectors, so naturally, given this demographic, the Blu has outsold the DVD. Yet even here both remain in stock. I guess even this film has a limited market. (If I may correct you on one point: it's only been a little over a year since TT released it -- not three years. They didn't issue their first disc, The Krmelin Letter, until March, 2011. I believe The Egyptian came out last July.)

The two men who started TT spent years in the industry, but not in movies -- in music. They moved into an area in which they had little more than an amateur's understanding. For one thing, they chose movies they liked and assumed would have a wide audience. The founder admits they made many mistakes, especially with one disc, which he says it will take them 20 years to sell out of. He refused to identify the title, but it was clear from the context that it's Woman Obsessed, an obscure and not very good 1959 film that few have ever heard of or seen, which was the fourth film they issued. (Of course, I suppose he thinks that if they had brought it out on Blu-ray, it would have been a runaway best seller!)

But any look at the list of Fox films they've issued makes it plain that a majority (there are exceptions) are second-rate titles of very limited appeal. But except for their Blu of Journey to the Center of the Earth (which I bought), the only other titles I've gotten are Violent Saturday, Fate is the Hunter, The Egyptian, the not-too-good 1966 Stagecoach for comparison purposes (I have the original), plus the Blu's of The Roots of Heaven and the latest, High Time. There are two or three others I might get, but only because there's no other choice. For me, aside from Violent Saturday and Fate is the Hunter, Twilight Time has largely been a big disappointment on all counts, especially given its early promise.

Their Columbia films are all already out on DVD, and are generally major films, so their Blu-rays have a specialized appeal that may help them sell. But the Fox stuff (except for Journey) is all new to home video, so here, it's title, not format, that counts most, and it's here that TT is sinking. I won't bore you any longer with more chatter, but there's a link at the top of the SAE main page (screenarchives.com) that lists all the past and upcoming (to the end of the year) TT releases, and in the upcoming discs, the usual pattern of weak titles prevails.

The list is accompanied by a photo of TT's owner, which makes him look like either the guy who foreclosed on your house, or perhaps someone who trolls playgrounds for young boys.