Times Square is so rare now, no DVD even

With the exceptions of "Halloween" and the "Evil Dead" films (which I think they have unlimited, eternal rights to), Anchor Bay seems to only issue their releases for a brief time. Unfortunately, this means that once they're out of print, people have a free for all scalping them. Most of Anchor Bay's releases are widely available and easy to find (at most stores that have a wide selection of DVDs) while they're in print -- I had a helluva time finding "Time Square." The only copy of the DVD I've ever seen is the one that I own... which I found used a year after it was released (and it's missing the chapter card/poster reproduction).

Unfortunately, the VHS release is a little easier to find but it's pretty terrible. In addition to being pan and scan, the picture's so dark that it's hard to make out details during some night scenes. The audio isn't bad -- if you have a hi-fi VCR. Strangely, the tape is not mono compatible, and it sounds terrible when played on a mono VCR.

The saddest part is that the movie is so obscure that it's not likely studios are fighting over the rights to release it. If a bigger, major movie studio owns it, it's not unthinkable that they'll just re-release the Anchor Bay print and trailer (Disney is notorious for duping A.B.'s hard work and Universal's done it a few times), but it won't include the great commentary. EMI distributed it on VHS (I believe they're owned by WB), so if they're the rights holders, there's a slim chance it could get another release, but if the rights are solely held by the Robert Stigwood Organization, I wouldn't look for a re-release any time soon.

Blockbuster and Netflix both have rental copies, and it's an early DVD release, so there's no copy block. I'm not endorsing copying something that's readily available but I stand firmly on my opinion that if it's not available for sale and used copies are ridiculously selling for $100 (as this flick currently is), nobody's getting hurt because of someone illegally making a copy for personal use.