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{{quote|It should be so simple. The technology exists to distribute old movies, and there are people out there who want to see them. And yet every movie buff has had the experience of reading up on some great film or filmmaker, then hitting the video store and discovering that for one reason or another—rights issues, perhaps, or lack of broad public interest—the movies they want to see are unavailable on DVD. |''[[The Onion|The AV Club]]'', [http://www.avclub.com/articles/noflix-23-great-movies-not-available-on-region1-dv,16754/ NoFlix: 23 great movies not available on region-1 DVD] (eleven of those got released since the article came out in 2008)}}
* ''1492: Conquest of Paradise'': Despite being helmed by [[Ridley Scott]], scored by [[Blade Runner|Vangelis]] and starring a very well-rounded cast (including Gerard Depardieu, Sigourney Weaver and Frank Langella), it's still unclear why this 1992 film hasn't been released stateside. While official versions have been released in France (along with scores of unofficial bootlegs that come from Asia), the film hasn't been released since it appeared on laserdisc more than a decade-and-a-half ago. Rumors suggest that there was a planned "Special Edition" release back in 2004, but those plans were apparently scuttled at the last minute. There have been several reasons bandied about for the delay: that the film is [[Old Shame]] for Scott, the film's failure at the U.S. box office, claims of misrepresentation about Columbus' chronicled actions when he landed at the New World and the claim that a special 3-hour director's cut is being worked on. This one is less painful than most, because you ''can'' find it on Netflix, but good luck trying to source a physical copy with a decent transfer.
* A lot of classic European movies from the 1930's through the 1950's have never been officially released on VHS ''or'' DVD in the United States. Case in point: Sara (Sarita) Montiel and Maria Felix; these two actresses are regarded worldwide as among the giants of Spanish-language cinema, but most of their classic films from the 1940's through the 1960's have never been released in the USA except by small labels which may or may not own the license to reproduce them commercially. Basically, the only way for an American fan to get ahold of these movies is to either order whatever DVD's may be available from foreign vendors (you'd better have a DVD player capable of playing discs from regions other than 1) or download them from more-or-less dodgy online sources as mentioned above.
** Very few of the films of Danielle Darrieux (one of the acknowledged ''grande dames'' of French cinema, who is still working today after a career spanning nearly 80 years) are legitimately available in the United States. The same goes for Martine Carol and Diana Dors (called, respectively, France's and Britain's answers to Marilyn Monroe during the 1950's) or the Italian bombshell Silvana Pampanini.
** Up until about three years ago, [[Romy Schneider]]'s ''Sissi'' trilogy (which established her as an international star and contributed hugely to the postwar revival of German film) was unavailable on DVD or VHS in its full form in the United States; those wishing to see the movies had to order them from Canadian vendors, without any guarantee of getting a version dubbed or subtitled in English. Koch Lorber finally did fill the gap, however, with a box set containing not just the three full-length films but also the edited version released in America in the 1950's and Schneider's companion piece "The Young Victoria", which had never before been released in the U.S. Several of her other 1950's [[Period Pieces]] are still unavailable in America, however.
** Many of the movies of Italian legend [[Gina Lollobrigida]] - ''La Donna Piu' Bella Del Mondo'' (The Most Beautiful Woman in the World), ''La morte ha fatto l'uovo'' (Death Lays An Egg, La Lollo's only excursion into the [[Giallo]] horror genre), ''Un Bellissimo Novembre'' (That Splendid November), ''Stuntman'', ''Hotel Paradiso'' (with Alec Guinness), ''Woman of Straw'' (with Sean Connery), ''Anna di Brooklyn'' (Fast and Sexy), ''La Romana'' (Woman of Rome), ''Le Infedeli'' (The Unfaithfuls) and ''Les Belles de Nuit'' (with Gerard Philippe and the aforementioned Martine Carol) have never, ever been released on DVD in the U.S.
* ''[[At Long Last Love]]'', a legendarily awful 1975 musical starring Burt Reynolds and Cybill Shepherd. The movie was so hated that director Peter Bogdanovich took out ads in several newspapers throughout the country, apologizing for the film. He also saw to it that the movie was never released on video in any format. Bootlegs are hard to find but do exist, and those who have seen them can't seem to agree if the flick is [[So Bad
** Another infamous 20th Century Fox production that has appeared a few times on Fox Movie Channel (since Fall 2011 to be exact) is the 1976 version of ''[[The Blue Bird]]'', in spite of its [[All
* ''Cocksucker Blues'', the infamous [[Rolling Stones]] documentary about the 1972 ''Exile On Main Street'' album tour (featuring lots of language, sex, and general mayhem). The band sued over the content of the film, and so it can't be shown in public without the director being present. (The director does hold frequent screenings.) This hasn't stopped it from being a mainstay on the bootlegging scene for many years.
** Ten minutes of excerpts from ''Cocksucker Blues'' eventually found their way into 2010's ''Stones In Exile'', but obviously it isn't anywhere near the same experience.
* ''[[Don't Cry,
* ''[[Electric Dreams]]'', starring Lenny Von Dolen, Virginia Madsen, and Bud Cort. It's a love triangle between a man, a woman, and a computer. Made in 1984, the VHS copies of this movie (all of which are apparently former rentals) cost enough to buy a supercomputer. There's no discernable reason given or obvious why this movie remains out of print. Being dated hardly counts. The only remote hope for a DVD release is if someone does a much unwanted remake, thereby possibly generating interest in the original as is sometimes the case.
** Rescued! The film has now been released on DVD, and it didn't even take a remake to do it.
* The Producer's Cut of ''[[Halloween (
* The Director's Cut of ''[[Hellraiser Bloodline]]''.
* [[The Beatles]]' documentary film ''[[Let It Be]]'' has been out of print for decades, but fans have been distributing it themselves for almost as long. The film was commissioned as a documentary about the recording of what ended up being the band's final album, but it ended up putting a spotlight on the many personal conflicts that led to their breakup. Since showing such an ugly side of The Beatles is not in the best interest of Apple Corps, the movie will probably never be released in it original form again. (This makes it an unusual example of a film that won an Academy Award -- "Best Music, Original Song Score" for 1970 -- going out of print.)
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* [[David Bowie]]'s second leading man effort, and subsequent [[Old Shame]], ''Just a Gigolo'' (1978) has only had a Region 2 DVD release in Germany. There are legit VHS copies from the late 1980s floating around in Region 1, taken from the slightly shorter (from 105 to 98 minutes) 1981 cut United Artists Classics released in the U.S. In any case, it's unlikely that the original ''147-minute'' cut (pulled after a disastrous premiere in Germany) will ever resurface.
* Any version of ''[[Nightbreed]]'' in the UK.
* ''[[Once Upon a Time
** While the director's cut did make it to DVD, it's missing a controversial but important scene. Want to see the complete movie? A special edition DVD set is available...[[No Export for You|in Brazil]].
* The 1981 horror/slasher spoof ''Pandemonium'', despite its cult status, has yet to be released. VHS copies are available and in high demand.
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* [[Bob Dylan]]'s epic documentary/concert film/experimental drama ''Renaldo and Clara''. After the original four hour version was lambasted by critics upon its 1978 release and a two hour recut failed to stir up interest, it's been more or less kept out of circulation by Dylan, who holds the distribution rights. It did slightly better business in Europe and has been shown on TV a few times there. A multi-generation dub of a British TV broadcast of the longer version circulates among Dylan fans. A bonus DVD with two songs from the movie was included with the ''Live 1975'' Bootleg Series album, but there's never been any sign that Dylan will ever release the whole movie on DVD. It didn't help when some critics used their reviews of ''I'm Not There'' to retroactively bash ''Renaldo'', including critics who had never seen "Renaldo."
** In a similar vein to ''Let It Be'', the Dylan documentary called ''Eat The Document'' that's built from unused footage from the famous doc ''Don't Look Back''. Dylan himself edited the excess footage together. The result was considered too surreal (read: incomprehensible) for mainstream audiences, and was thus never given official release. The film will likely never see a proper release, but bootlegs are handed around madly to this day.
* ''[[The Poughkeepsie Tapes]]'' can only be seen as a bootleg due to MGM shelving the film a month before it was set to open (due to their financial issues). As a result, trailers and posters were all over theatres in 2008 for a film that was never released. However, strong reactions from the bootleg (taken from a festival version of the film) got the directors two studio films since the film was shelved (''[[Quarantine (
** And it is now available legally...through Blockbuster Online. Still no DVD or Blu Ray release.
* David Cronenberg's feature film debut, ''Shivers'' (aka ''They Came From Within'') has seen only scant and OOP video release over the years, despite Cronenberg's godlike status among horror fans and the general good success of his films (like ''The Fly'', ''Scanners'', and ''A History of Violence''). It's odd that Anchor Bay released a special edition VHS, but didn't re-release it on DVD. Strange and infuriating.
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** Some people have seen a DVD of the film at video game stores that also sell DVDs, typically with a white case and not much of a blurb on the back.
* The first PG-rated Disney movie, ''Take Down''. The copies that are seen on internet stores tend to be obscenely expensive, but that's your only hope of seeing this unknown film.
* The only way to see the original version of ''[[The Thief and
* The 1988 feature-length version of [[Mike Jittlov]]'s ''[[The Wizard
* This can extend to special features from special or collector's edition sets that aren't ported over when the movie is released on a new format. If you don't have the older version (which is out-of-print), you'll miss out on (sometimes very important) footage and material related to the film. These include:
** Many laserdiscs from [[The Criterion Collection]], which contain features which haven't been released on any other medium. Notable examples include:
*** The [[Madonna]] film ''Evita'', which had a director commentary, TV spots, a music video, promotional footage, documentaries, interviews and archival footage of the real Evita that were never released again. It's easily the most complete package of the film.
*** ''[[The Fisher King]]'', which was last released on DVD in 2003 (sans extras). The Criterion laserdisc had a commentary track with Terry Gilliam, deleted scenes, costume tests and a scene-by-scene analysis of the entire film using storyboards, screenplay excerpts and behind-the-scenes photos.
*** The first three [[James Bond (
**** Meanwhile, the Ultimate Edition of ''[[
*** This also happens when a film's license holder takes a film away from Criterion to make their own (often inferior) DVD release. For example, [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[
*** ''[[Se7en]]'', which has a multi-commentary exploration of the title sequence, outtakes, Canadian TV spots and an isolated score that weren't included on the subsequent New Line Platinum Series edition.
*** ''She's Gotta Have It'', Spike Lee's first feature-length film, which has been released in barebones editions for years. The Criterion laserdisc version had an exclusive director's cut version, deleted scenes, commentary, outtakes, music videos, still photo galleries and tie-in TV ads. Criterion doesn't own the rights to the film, and its DVD distributor (MGM) doesn't see fit to release a special edition for it, so you'll have to hunt for anything more than the barebones release.
*** ''[[This Is Spinal Tap]]'' is widely available on the Special Edition DVD released by MGM in 2000, but the movie had originally been released for home viewing on Criterion laserdisc in 1994 and 1998 (on Criterion DVD). The special features are substantially different between the different releases, in part because the Criterion version had the cast and crew speak as themselves while the MGM version had them in character. The Criterion release had two commentary tracks, several deleted scenes, performance footage and three short promotional films which were not included on the MGM release.
** The recently-released ''[[Alien (
** After its original theatrical release, ''[[
* Tom Schiller's only feature film, ''[[Nothing Lasts Forever]]'', has assumed near-legendary status both for being extremely rare and extremely odd (it includes [[Bill Murray]] as the conductor on a bus ride to the moon, [[Lauren Tom]] as an alien, and a political coup by the Manhattan Port Authority - all rendered with pseudo-1930s stylings). For unclear reasons, it received only a limited cinema release and has never been available on video or DVD.
* At the end of the 80's, the home video market collapsed due to an overabundance of low-quality product, resulting in the collapse of many independent VHS companies along with their libraries, some substantial and hosting many sought-after cult items. While a few of these libraries have been purchased (such as Media Home Entertainment and Vestron Video) more often than not the new parent companies will simply clamp down on the rights and keep potentially successful cult films out of circulation for unknown reasons (looking at YOU, Lionsgate).
* When a Director's Cut of a film is released, the older, theatrical release of the film is taken out of circulation, seen as the inferior version by distributors and the director. Sometimes this can anger fans, and only recently have DVD companies wised up and included both versions on new DVD releases. An awful lot of movies, though, still have theatrical versions that have been left in the dust without the consent of fans.
** The original theatrical cuts of the ''[[Star Wars]] Trilogy'' have flirted with this on many occasions. For a period of time between 1997 and 2006, VHS and DVD sets of the "Special Edition" trilogy were the only official releases on the market (with the 1995 "Faces" VHS set proudly boasting that it was the last release for the original films). The theatrical cuts came back into circulation for a limited time in 2006 as part of a (barely-advertised) set, which included a non-anamorphic laserdisc port (which was thrown in with the Special Edition cuts). The release of the Complete Saga Blu-Ray boxset has also knocked those sets out of circulation, so the theatrical cuts are once again unavailable unless you resort to the (highly active) fan community.
** George Lucas also hasn't done the same for the theatrical version of ''[[
** This was the case for many years with [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner]]'', as the theatrical version's VHS was steadily rising in price for collectors. However, with the release of the Final Cut box set, every cut of his masterpiece are together at last.
* The 1959 film version of ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' has not been in release since the early 1970s. Sam Goldwyn leased the film rights for only 15 years, and renegotiating them with the Gershwin and Heyward estates has proved impossible.
* The 2006 film version of ''[[
* F.W. Murnau's silent arthouse classic ''[[Sunrise (
* Infamous 1973 Turkish film ''3 Dev Adam'', which features Spiderman as a sadistic villain. It would be lost entirely were it not for someone who had the hindsight to record it when it was repeated on TV some time in the 80s. Unfortunately the video has degraded both visually and audibly as might be expected for a home recording of that vintage. There have been DVD releases, but they are all made from this recording.
* Most prints of [[Bruce Lee]]'s first film [[The Big Boss]] are missing several scenes that were in the original Mandarin version shown in theaters in 1971. Whilst some scenes were cut for being violent there are others which were removed for seemingly no reason, such as some which were featured in some of the film's trailers. Apparently the uncut version still exists, circulates amongst collectors and was even touted for an official release at one point, but nobody knows for sure.
* The [[Surreal Horror]] film ''Paper House'' is another victim of Lionsgate's apathetic attitude towards 1980's films, but it is available on DVD in the UK.
* ''That Night'', a little-seen but acclaimed 1993 comedy with Juliette Lewis, C. Thomas Howell and a young [[Eliza Dushku]] (in her film debut) about a girl's romance told from the point of view of her neighbor, a 10 year-old wanting to know what love is. The film was released on VHS but is out-of-print and Warner Bros. has no plans to release it on DVD.
* While ''[[The
* A modern adaptation of ''[[Richard III]]'', produced by and starring David Carradine, has its own wiki article and IMDb page ... but good luck finding anything else about it, let alone a copy, digital or not.
* No DVD releases of ''[[
* ''The Charge of the Light Brigade'', a film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1936, who was the director for ''Casablanca'', has never been released for VHS or DVD. While all other blockbuster films directed by Michael Curtiz have been released, it has never been re-released anywhere. The main reason is said to be trip wires during the major battle of the movie to trip the cavalry horses. Causing over a dozen deaths of said horses and forcing U.S. Congress to ensure the safety of animals in motion pictures.
* ''Dragonworld'' was only released on VHS by Paramount Home Video in the `90s and ''never'' released on DVD. It's so obscure, [[This Very Wiki]] doesn't even have a page for it.
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* ''The Conqueror'' was an attempted epic starring John Wayne (as Genghis Kahn!) and produced by Howard Hughes, is generally considered one of the worst movies ever made. But its real infamy comes from the fact that it was filmed near a nuclear test site. In the years following, nearly half of the 200 person cast and crew (including Wayne) developed cancer. Hughes, racked with guilt, bought up every copy of the film and refused to show it anywhere for 18 years.
** It has however seen several releases since then (including a pair of DVD releases).
* The 1981 Polish arthouse horror flick ''[[Possession (1981 film)|Possession]]'' is rather hard to find, having only been released on an out-of-print DVD by Anchor Bay. It's gained a cult following in recent years -- to the point of Turner Classic Movies airing it in early 2012 as part of their [[Cult Classic]] showcase "TCM Underground" -- so why can't it get an updated release?
** A special edition has been in the works for a few years (by a company formed solely to release director Andrzej Zuwalski's films) but no date has ever been announced.
* The 1996 HBO film ''Rasputin:Dark Servant of Destiny'' has never been released on DVD in Region 1, although a fairly rare Region 2 DVD and an even rarer VHS version do exist. The film stars [[Alan Rickman]] in the wonderful scene-chewing titular role. It also features [[Ian McKellen]] and Greta Scacchi in solid performances as Nicholas II and Alexandra as well as some excellent cinematography.
* The infamously terrible threequel ''Addams Family Reunion'', starring Tim Curry and Daryl Hannah as Gomez and Morticia, as well as some of the most appalling CGI work to see commercial release, has never been released outside of VHS -- which, admittedly, can be found for dirt cheap in thrift stores and bookstores that still stock VHS tapes.
* ''The Thorn'', formerly known as ''The Divine Mr. J'', is only available as out-of-print videocassettes from Magnum Entertainment due to Bette Midler liking absolutely none of its titles, [[Hair
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