The New Avengers on Bluray? (UPDATE)

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:06 pm

Talk at the Treasure Hunt was that Lumiere are having problems locating master prints of some episodes of The New Avengers and this was the delay in getting a blu-ray collection together for the series.

mrspeel01 · Post by **mrspeel01** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:38 pm

Ah! That makes sense. Many thanks for that info.
I am assuming it is Studio Canal now, who purchased everything from Lumiere. They obviously had to sort through everything that Lumiere held for Avengers/TNA.

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:14 pm

Sorry, yes, that should be Studio Canal.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:56 pm

mrspeel01 wrote:It would be good to know if that is the case-though what it might be is guesswork. But more often than not when proposed/desired releases are held-up, cancelled or just can't be done there is some sort of issue around it. Unlike the original Avengers, TNA was an "Avengers Mark 1 production", formed by Clemens/Fennell and music composer Laurie Johnson. Although Studio Canal bought the rights perhaps there is some issue there?? Presumably, as Brian Clemens is sadly no longer with us, his share is now owned by his "estate". which might be a factor ???

Or it could be a completely different issue, such as the cost of restoration. in these tough financial times when budgets are being slashed, might be too much at present for the expected returns. Or even something to do with the master transfers perhaps? For the original series a set of unused pristine-condition masters were found which enabled new restoration with outstanding results. Perhaps this is not the case with TNA, to enable greatly improved results. Or it could be something else entirely!!

probably all of the above....then again, the estates of those who are departed, could hinder...or depending on the contract..could help...all in all, it boils down to monies....

QuiteQuiteFantastic · Post by **QuiteQuiteFantastic** » Sat May 05, 2018 4:36 pm

My understanding is that the TNA DVDs are sourced from old analog telecines from the late nineties. The US and UK releases seem to use the same source material, except the US release seems to be more compressed. They are barely DVD quality in my opinion, fuzzy and lacking in detail with strong vignettes in various places. Every time I watch them, I think how beautiful the film could look if re-scanned from the original negatives on a high-definition film scanner in 4K or even 2K. Alas, as streaming becomes more and more the norm, media companies are less and less likely to contemplate physical disc releases, especially those of what they likely consider niche content.

Michael

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Sat May 05, 2018 10:30 pm

The situation is that a long search of UK and international archives has been undertaken but it has drawn a blank - the 35mm negatives have yet to be found. StudioCanal, despite owning the series outright (there are NO rights problems), have never had the film materials in their archive - only early 1990s telecine transfers on videotape.

Somehow, each of the UK, France and Germany have issued The New Avengers from slightly different videotape transfers - and the German DVDs have the best (though there is a mastering fault with Obsession, which has erroneously been given a green tint), and the UK by far the worst.

I suspect that the 'compressed' look of the US DVDs is probably down to the videotape masters being standards converted from PAL to NTSC.

QuiteQuiteFantastic · Sat May 05, 2018 11:08 pm

Alan wrote:The situation is that a long search of UK and international archives has been undertaken but it has drawn a blank - the 35mm negatives have yet to be found. StudioCanal, despite owning the series outright (there are NO rights problems), have never had the film materials in their archive - only early 1990s telecine transfers on videotape.

So, the original negatives are missing? That's tragic. I wonder if maybe there are some interpositives hanging around somewhere. In any case, I suspect that they're probably hidden somewhere in plain sight. Perhaps a good scouring of the archives would turn them up, but they're probably unwilling to spend the time or money.

Michael

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Sat May 05, 2018 11:28 pm

Sorry, you misunderstand. A scouring of archives HAS happened, supported by StudioCanal, who wished to release the series on Blu-ray. No negs, inter-positves were found, only a handful of positive prints - a mix of 16mm and 35mm.

The search continues, but signs are not good at this point.

QuiteQuiteFantastic · Post by **QuiteQuiteFantastic** » Sun May 06, 2018 2:02 am

Alan wrote:Sorry, you misunderstand. A scouring of archives HAS happened, supported by StudioCanal, who wished to release the series on Blu-ray. No negs, inter-positves were found, only a handful of positive prints - a mix of 16mm and 35mm.

I see. I misread that. I guess it might be an Ice Warriors situation where they turn up in a cupboard. It is strange that they disappeared. It's hard to imagine what might have happened. Maybe they're in the US! Maybe Macnee took them with him.

However, it seems like even prints re-scanned would look better than what we have now.

Michael

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Sun May 06, 2018 9:37 am

QuiteQuiteFantastic wrote:However, it seems like even prints re-scanned would look better than what we have now.

Yes, but quite understandably StudioCanal would not want to issue what would in effect be a small upgrade if there is the chance that once they have the negs will be found.

This is why I've gone out of my way to find the best existing DVD set - and after several comparisons, it's definitely the German set.