MovieChat Forums > Ice Palace (1960) Discussion > DVD?

DVD?

posted 15 years ago by hobnob53
2 replies | jump to latest

With so much about Alaska in the news in 2008 -- most of it bad -- Warner should seize the day (especially given the midnight sun) and release this minor epic on a proper widescreen DVD. I have the old VHS but the disc format is past due, especially as they've released the other Edna Ferber "state" films -- Giant, as well as both versions of Cimarron.

The film even has a prescient conflict between a rapacious-industry type (Richard Burton) and an environmental/native activist type (Robert Ryan -- okay, he doesn't play a native, but he's their champion)...issues even more prevalent in the state today.

Plus, the character of Thor Storm is based on E.L. "Bob" Bartlett, known as "The father of Alaska statehood" -- Alaska's last territorial delegate to Congress, and one of her first two senators, the most beloved and popular man in the state in his lifetime. With the likes of public thieves like Ted Stevens and Don Young, and arrogant dimwits like Sarah Palin, now dominating public life in the state, it'd be nice to be reminded of a time when honest and intelligent public servants represented Alaska.

[–] leeni-2 15 years ago

What about a download? I, too, have this on VHS and would either like to purchase the DVD or download it.

[–] hobnob53 15 years ago

What I'm hoping is that Warner Home Video may release this at some point in their new Warner Archives series. These are films that Warner may not get around to releasing on standard DVD, so they burn copies on demand, using higher-grade equipment than is normally used for DVD-Rs. The picture and sound quality are very good. The titles come in standard DVD cases with the usual sort of information on them. No extras, except the theatrical trailer where available, but this isn't unusual with most releases of older films. The discs only play in standard DVD players, not in recorders or PC drives, and are encrypted so they can't be copied, again like most DVDs.

Currently they have 165 titles of many types available, from the WB, MGM, RKO and AA libraries. This service just started a few weeks ago. Originally they said they planned to add 20-30 titles a month but so far they've added only 15 after the initial batch of 150. Still, they plan to continue to add a lot of titles each month and have many to choose from. Ice Palace isn't yet among them but it would seem an obvious candidate for such a release.

You can only buy these DVDs direct from the Warners website, WBshop.com, not in stores or on other sites. (Late note: other sites now do offer films from this series, but at a price ten dollars ($10) higher than Warner's $19.95 SRP...often "discounted" to around $25. So buying direct from the Warner site is obviously the way to go.) Click on the Warner Archives link and check out this line. They now release new Archive titles on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, so if and when IP shows up I (or someone, I'm sure) will post a thread about it here.

NEW UPDATE! WARNER ARCHIVE RELEASE NOW AVAILABLE! As I guessed, Ice Palace has just been released as part of the Warner Archives series (on Sept. 15, 2009). Go to WBshop.com for details and ordering ($19.95, the Archives' standard price for its releases).

Another late note after re-editing this post a second time: I just got my copy of Ice Palace and it looks great. It's in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio also.