Need Restoration
by Anonymous-733 | created - 29 Mar 2014 | updated - 03 Mar 2017 | PublicMovies and TV shows that don't exist on Blu-Ray. Please leave a comment if you have a suggestion! "Digital HD" means the film is available on stores like Amazon Instant Video and iTunes.
I have another list for movies that are on Blu-Ray, but not in America.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070973738/
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- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
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1. Greed (1924)
Not Rated | 140 min | Drama, Thriller, Western
The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
Director: Erich von Stroheim | Stars: Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller
Votes: 10,759 | Gross: $0.16M
No complete version of this exists. However, no HD versions of the shortened versions exist either. An HD transfer of the truncated should be possible. Best: 4-hour-long iTunes version / Turner Classic Movies broadcasts / various VHS & Betamax copies
2. The Thief and the Cobbler (1993)
G | 99 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A lonely princess and a poor cobbler fall in love while trying to retrieve three magical orbs that were stolen by a bumbling thief, all while outwitting a powerful sorcerer as adventure and comedic pop culture references abound.
Director: Richard Williams | Stars: Vincent Price, Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Beals, Bobbi Page
Votes: 4,620 | Gross: $0.67M
[For The Thief and the Cobbler.] Best available: The Thief and the Cobbler (Re-Cobbled Cut Mark 4 [semi-final version, 2013-09]), and/or the workprint that was screened 2013-12-12 and 2014-06-01.
AMPAS (the company that runs the Academy Awards) has a "digital print" of this workprint.
Lionsgate got the rights to the movie (or perhaps just the "Princess" version) in 2014. They are releasing yet another 480p DVD in late 2014 (October?).
3. Let It Be (1970)
G | 81 min | Documentary, Music
The filmed account of The Beatles' attempt to recapture their old group spirit by making a back to basics album, which instead drove them further apart.
Director: Michael Lindsay-Hogg | Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Votes: 6,578 | Gross: $1.06M
Best available: "Let It Be: The Big Picture" (DVD / VHS quality). Logically, the surviving Beatles and their wives may object to releasing a remastered Let It Be.
4. SpongeBob SquarePants (1999– )
TV-Y7 | 23 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
The misadventures of a talking sea sponge who works at a fast food restaurant, attends a boating school, and lives in an underwater pineapple.
Stars: Tom Kenny, Rodger Bumpass, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown
Votes: 111,334
Best: DVD. Season 1 is on animation cels, which can be scanned in at a resolution higher than DVD quality if they still exist. The original scans may also be higher than DVD quality. Seasons 2+ are digitally painted. Whether the mastering resolution of the digital canvas was TV-quality 480p or something higher remains to be seen. Also, seasons 2 and later were released interlaced. Even if the mastering quality was 480p, it would be a step-up from the DVDs' 480i.
5. Primer (2004)
PG-13 | 77 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
Director: Shane Carruth | Stars: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya
Votes: 114,158 | Gross: $0.42M
Best: Digital HD (720p from official site). The director has said (in the solo DVD commentary) that the actual 16mm film looks fine, but an improperly set-up 35mm transfer added considerable amounts of digital noise, particularly noticeable during night scenes. Todo: Examine 1080p version which came out of the ether.
6. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,449,554 | Gross: $322.74M
Best: a non-theatrical Blu-Ray. Note: "Despecialized" 720p editions exist and efforts are underway to make 1080p versions.
7. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,379,693 | Gross: $290.48M
Best: a non-theatrical Blu-Ray. See above.
8. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
PG | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, the Rebel Alliance attempt to destroy the second Death Star, while Luke struggles to help Darth Vader back from the dark side.
Director: Richard Marquand | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,121,392 | Gross: $309.13M
Best: a non-theatrical Blu-Ray. See above.
9. Seinfeld (1989– )
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy
The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander
Votes: 351,438
Best: European HDTV rips / US webrips / US HDTV rips. This was shot with "widescreen" film, so there's extra detail on the left and right sides that was cropped out for the TV / DVD releases. The actual release on Hulu seems to have been cropped, adding detail to the sides but removing detail from the top.
10. Daisy, a Hen Into the Wild (2011)
Not Rated | 93 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
Leafie is a hen who manages to escape the horrible conditions of an egg production line. After surviving a harrowing encounter with a one-eyed weasel and being rejected by the barnyard ... See full summary »
Director: Seong-yun Oh | Stars: Moon So-ri, Yoo Seung-ho, Choi Min-sik, Park Chul-min
Votes: 1,051
The Blu-Rays are missing one scene. The DVDs are apparently unaffected.
11. The X-Files (1993–2018)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
Stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis
Votes: 249,789
"Other choices, like the replacement of the show's original (and quite distinctive) fonts, seem more arbitrary and may actually invite at least as much umbrage as the reframed aspect ratio issue."
12. Lost Horizon (1937)
Approved | 132 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
When a revered diplomat's plane is diverted and crashes in the peaks of Tibet, he and the other survivors are guided to an isolated monastery at Shangri-La, where they wrestle with the invitation to stay.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton, John Howard
Votes: 14,452
Best: DVD
13. You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The son of a snobbish Wall Street banker becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family not realizing that his father is trying to force her family from their home for a real estate development.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold
Votes: 27,905 | Gross: $4.66M
Best: Digital HD
14. You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
In order to cover up his philandering ways, a married Broadway producer sets one of his dancers up on a date with a chorus girl for whom he had bought a gift, but the two dancers fall in love for real.
Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Robert Benchley, John Hubbard
Votes: 2,868
Best: Digital HD
15. The Big Sleep (1946)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 90,521 | Gross: $6.54M
Best: DVD
16. You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
In Buenos Aires, a man who has decreed that his daughters must marry in order of age allows an American dancer to perform at his club under the condition that he play suitor to his second-oldest daughter.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom
Votes: 4,082 | Gross: $0.67M
Best: DVD
17. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander
Votes: 23,211
Best: Digital HD
18. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Not Rated | 131 min | Drama
A bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use their young houseguests to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Votes: 79,909
Best: Digital HD
19. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A waifish prostitute wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Giulietta Masina, François Périer, Franca Marzi, Dorian Gray
Votes: 51,936 | Gross: $0.75M
Best: DVD
20. Roman Holiday (1953)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power
Votes: 147,637
Best: Digital HD
21. Come and See (1985)
Not Rated | 142 min | Drama, Thriller, War
After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
Director: Elem Klimov | Stars: Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas
Votes: 97,241
Best: DVD
22. Stalker (1979)
Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
Votes: 144,750 | Gross: $0.23M
Best: DVD
23. The Celebration (1998)
R | 105 min | Drama
At Helge's 60th birthday party, some unpleasant family truths are revealed.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Ulrich Thomsen, Henning Moritzen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Paprika Steen
Votes: 93,875 | Gross: $1.65M
Best: DVD
24. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005–2008)
TV-Y7-FV | 23 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
In a war-torn world of elemental powers, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar, and bring peace to the world.
Stars: Dee Bradley Baker, Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack De Sena
Votes: 373,031
Best: DVD
25. The Sweatbox (2002)
PG-13 | 95 min | Documentary
Sting's wife Trudie Styler documents the turbulent bureaucracy both Sting and the filmmakers went through in order to complete The Emperor's New Groove (2000), a Disney film that underwent extensive storyline changes from start to finish.
Directors: John-Paul Davidson, Trudie Styler | Stars: John Goodman, Tom Jones, Eartha Kitt, Marc Shaiman
Votes: 630
Best: VHS workprint
26. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
PG | 104 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cartoon rabbit is accused of murder, he enlists the help of a burnt out private investigator to prove his innocence.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer
Votes: 216,825 | Gross: $156.45M
Laserdisc version has an unedited scene. The risque elements were toned down for later releases.
27. Léon: The Professional (1994)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Drama
12-year-old Mathilda is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Votes: 1,245,829 | Gross: $19.50M
Best: BR. The NYC skyline at the end has the Twin Towers removed, even though they were probably present in the theatrical release.
28. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 428,034 | Gross: $51.97M
Best: Blu-Ray (director's cut) or DVD (theatrical). A fan edit combining the two exists.
29. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,183 | Gross: $6.10M
The shortened US theatrical cut is not on Blu-Ray. Ideally, it would be an option on the existing Blu-Rays.
30. An American Tail (1986)
G | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
While emigrating to the United States, a young Russian mouse gets separated from his family and must relocate them while trying to survive in a new country.
Director: Don Bluth | Stars: Dom DeLuise, Christopher Plummer, Erica Yohn, Nehemiah Persoff
Votes: 58,058 | Gross: $47.48M
Best: BR. An Amazon review suggests that some SFX and minor voices were changed from the VHS / theatrical version.
31. Armageddon (1998)
PG-13 | 151 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas will impact Earth in less than a month, NASA recruits a misfit team of deep-core drillers to save the planet.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler
Votes: 450,804 | Gross: $201.57M
Blu-Ray + Criterion commentary.
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