MovieChat Forums > Hawaii (1966) Discussion > Hawaii on DVD - will it ever come out?

Hawaii on DVD - will it ever come out?


Why isn't this lovely film on DVD??? If the studios can put out movies like Ben Hur and the 10 Commandments, also big, sprawling epic pictures, why not this one? Does anyone have any information on when or if this picture will be released??

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The 'Hawaii' DVD is set to release on 12 April (USA)!!!!!

*HRH The Princess Of All Things Nice*.

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i have never seen this film and i really want to i cant find it any were here. does anyone know when it will come out on dvd in england

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The DVD coming out next week is the EDITED version. You will be missing almost 1/2 hour of this magnificent film. Boycott this release until MGM/UA finally gets a clue that we are not a bunch of idiots willing to plunk down our hard-earned cash for only part of the film.

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You seem to give the 'studios' a LOT of credit to be able to distinguish between low sales due to a boycott, and low sales due to lack of interest or an unpopular film...
Clue:
The finance people don't care why the investors do not get a better profit than they do/did, they just move on to the next project.


If there is ANY chance of a boycott making a difference...
Well, let me just say letters (signed!) should have been written to the studio(s) long before even the announcement of a DVD release. That should also have included requests that the DVD release be in the original format (widescreen!), and NOT CUT, with the full music, and special features, not limited to theatrical trailers, 'making of' featurette, and interviews with the cast and director. Merely saying you want a DVD release is probably not really what you want.
Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it... (and aparently, "we" have)




There are some very 'clueless' (or unscrupulous) people in the world, and two older film releases on DVD come to mind, regarding re-releases.

CONVOY
A film that may have ignited the popular CB radio craze among the public, or was made in reaction to the craze. A related film would be SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. As of this writing, there has now been a second re-release of the movie. The first (re-)release on DVD had the unfortunate idea to horizontally squeeze the frames, and it just plain looks weird!! That could be from ignorance about how film/prints/negatives and theater projectors work though.
An acquaintance worked for years as the projectionist at a small multi-screen movie theater. He once mentioned there were 19 different projector lense sets for the various film formats, so the projected image looked right. That may have explained why the first DVD (re-)release was compressed left-to-right, because the projector lenses would have optically widened the picture for the screen, and the people doing the film-to-DVD conversion were not aware of all that. Or, they may have thought the flat-screen TVs could use the different modes to widen the image, but not all flatscreens can do that, and fewer of the newer ones can. Of course the original release to home entertainment was a pan-and-scan VHS version...

COLOSSUS; THE FORBIN PROJECT
Of the early movies that had a computer system become self-aware, this was one of the earlier movies, based from a book. It had a few twists that are still unique though. As the story goes, COLOSSUS was created to control the USA ICBMs and interceptor missiles (similar to the computer in the movie WARGAMES, but more sophisticated, self-repairing, and tamper-proof). Shortly after the system is activated, it deduces the Soviet Union has built a similar system, (Guardian?) and demands to be connected to it, in order to determine its 'intentions', or else "action will be taken". (Similar concept to the current TV series PERSON OF INTEREST with the two AI systems controlled by two different groups, with different intentions.)
Naturally, there is another 'wrinkle', and it seems the two systems were programmed somewhat ambiguously "to protect humans". (Think of the movie/book 2001 with the HAL computer programmed to carry out the mission, and calculating the humans on board the spaceship pose a risk to completing its mission, and takes steps to eliminate them.)
The book was written before the term "techno-thriller" described such books and movies, and it got a little lost when it was grouped with sci-fi/horror.
The movie was filmed in widescreen, (1.85:1 as I remember), and a double feature laserdisc is the only version of home entertainment media in widescreen. Both the VHS and a much later DVD release were done in 1.33:1 pan-and-scan. The first few days of the DVD release sold well, before the fans realized it was only the full frame format, and sales correspondingly plummeted. There has been no mention of a widescreen re-release of that film, presumably due to the poor sales of the original DVD.

I did have a copy of that laserdisc set, and it sold on eBay for well over $100, plus shipping costs, so there is/was a market for the widescreen version. **sigh**

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Most who enjoyed "Hawaii" await it's distribution in DVD format! I'll purchase it in ANY format!
Louis in LaSalle ON CA

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Actually if you read any of the DVD sites, I believe you'll find that the majority of people who have been waiting years for the DVD release of "Hawaii" are planning to boycott this botched MGM/UA release. Why in heaven's name would you pay to only see a part of the film? Especially when the unedited version was released in both laserdisc and VHS formats? But, to each his own: if you want to pay to see only part of the movie, go for it!!

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I would certainly not buy a butchered DVD. I did pick up an almost mint VHS tape of the movie at a local video store going out of business. I picked it up about 3 weeks ago. Still would like to have it on DVD though.

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We must send a message to MGM that we will not have great art whether literature or film be BUTCHERED. We must boycott and send letters to MGM about this travesty. They didn't cut "Gone With the Wind" or "Zhivago." We must demand a re-release of the entire film on DVD.

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I have just rented HAWAII on DVD from Netflix. It appears to be the complete version (2 hours and 46 minutes) plus it has optional musical overture into.
Is this the complete version?

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I doubt it, Timothy. The full length version is over 3 hours. One way to tell is the shipboard scenes - if you don't see any bananas, you have the butchered version.

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There was a short shot of a bunch of bananas almost falling on Julie Andrews during the storm and then she begged God to let her die. (Not sure if it was the bananas or Max von Sydow's bedroom angst that induced her plea). Those were the only bananas in sight. Guess I've got the short version.
I guess I am enjoying it in ignorant bliss, not knowing what I am missing.

I just wish the sequel, "The Hawaiians" would be released on DVD, too. I saw part of it while on vacation in Kauai last year and really want to see the rest. I would have stayed inside and watched it then, but I was thinkin', "I'm in Hawaii!! What am I doing watching TV?!?! I'll just rent this when I get back to the mainland." Sheesh!

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Timothy - yes, I forgot about that shot where the swaying bananas knock Jerusha off her feet. Anyway, sorry to say that you have the edited version. In the full length version, Abner forces Jerusha to eat bananas, even though they make her sick. Won't spoil the full length version for you, except to say that, after the storm, Jerusha does get her licks in re those awful bananas. Don't feel too bad - I saw "Hawaii" in 1966 and for forty years I thought I had seen the intact version. It turns out that only ten cities had the initial print and you had to see it in one of those ten cities to see the intact version on the big screen. The studio called back the prints and George Roy Hill (under protest) edited out about 20 minutes of action. Many of the scenes included Julie, and it is a mystery to me why so many of her scenes (which greatly developed her character) were cut. The unedited version can still be had on VHS if you look on eBay. There are two tapes in a clamshell type box.

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I guess the one I bought on Monday was edited then.
I have been looking for it for ages. The people at my local JB Hi-fi kept insisting it wasn't available. Then I came across it and a lot of other 'supposedly not available' stuff in a stall that suddenly popped up in the middle of the mall.
It's probably been 30 years since I last saw it on TV.

There's an art to making love. And you don't even have a paintbrush.

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"I saw "Hawaii" in 1966 and for forty years I thought I had seen the intact version. It turns out that only ten cities had the initial print and you had to see it in one of those ten cities to see the intact version on the big screen. The studio called back the prints and George Roy Hill (under protest) edited out about 20 minutes of action. Many of the scenes included Julie, and it is a mystery to me why so many of her scenes (which greatly developed her character) were cut. The unedited version can still be had on VHS if you look on eBay. There are two tapes in a clamshell type box."


The complete version of the original 1966 roadshow version is also available on a two-disc Laserdisc in letterbox format, which I do own. The running time is 190 minutes.

"The dogs may bark, but the caravan passes on."

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Yes it now has

Twilight Time/ Screen Archives have jst produced a Blu Ray version
included is BOTH versions 161 mins and the Roadshow vewrsion of 189 mins
Hope this helps.

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I have this on a double cassette pack, running time is 3 hours and 15 minutes.
previously I had taped it from the tele, and running time including ads was 3 hours 30 minutes..so work it out!!!
From Aussie Land.

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I did some research and called Eric Doctorow's office at 310-369-4047 and let his associate know that a lot of consumers are looking for this movie to be rereleased without all the editing. Eric Doctorow is in charge of marketing of home video at Fox. His associate told me that he would pass my request on to marketing. The more people that call and air their request to them, the better the chances of getting what we want. I also mentioned that the 50th aniversary of Hawaii's statehood is comming up and that it might be an idea to reissue this movie.

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Hi there and to let everyone know
that the wonderful company in the USA Screen Archives/ Twilight Time
have just issued a Blue Ray version which is 169 the cut version BUT included is the Original Roadshow version at 189 minutes in standard definition.

AT LAST.

Hope this helps everyone

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