The Quest to Own Our Favorite Movies

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Hey, here’s a movie that actually has a Blu-Ray/4K combo available! I initially had this movie on DVD, and I bought it the day it was available. I’ll always hold this movie close to my chest. I love when a movie studio releases a new remaster of a movie and tosses in the old Blu-Ray as an extra. It’s an easy way to guarantee I’m not losing any features by upgrading, but I’m still able to enjoy a higher-quality version of a movie I already love. It also just makes it easier to play in more players, loan to friends, etc. This is as definitive a release of the movie as you’re going to get, and I’m lucky it went from flop (that I saw in theaters three times) to true cult classic.
Difficulty: Easy

Scream (1996)
We own a great steelbook of this movie that we got from Best Buy (sigh…) but you can still buy the 4K UHD disc on its own. Oddly, there exists a remastered Blu-Ray as well, but it’s available separately. It’s not enough for me to bump this up a difficulty level, but it’s a little annoying for the average consumer, especially for a movie so well-acclaimed.
Difficulty: Easy

Scream, Queen!: My Nightmare on Elm Street (2019)
Another release by a Vinegar Syndrome partner (ETR Media), this excellent documentary only has 666 copies left in stock as of this writing. Again, I’m left with the feeling that limited releases, even generous ones for niche movies, are inherently anti-preservation. Maybe it’s just me and I should be grateful this happened at all.
Difficulty: Easy, soon to be Hard

Shaun of the Dead (2004)
See: Hot Fuzz. Isn’t it nice when they make it easy for us?
Difficulty: Easy

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (1996)
This may be the movie I’ve watched more than any other movie in my life. I had it on tape, a white VHS tape I still own, and I watched it over and over. I never owned the DVD release because I had it on tape and by the time I was getting into collecting DVDs, it was long out-of-print. Nowadays, the only way you’re going to get it on DVD is if you find a really expensive copy online, and even that’s difficult because there are a lot of bootlegs out there. The reason for so many bootlegs is because it’s a popular and desired product! So why hasn’t Discotek or someone similar rereleased it or remastered it?

I actually asked them as such on one of their release streams. The cool thing about Discotek is that they’re very forthright with answering licensing questions and talking about the process of distribution. Apparently, the rights for this movie are complicated. They know who owns the movie – it’s Sega – and they absolutely want to rerelease it, but so many of the documents that make this possible (such as, for example, knowing who to pay for the music licensing considering the original composer and masters for the soundtrack were missing for years) are buried in archives somewhere and no one in the company wants to dig them up and jump through the legal hoops to get this a Region A release. It’s available for streaming in Japan, and that’s about all we have right now. I doubt this is something that will change, so until then, I made my own bootleg DVD and that’s what I’ll have to stick with.
Difficulty: Hard, Basically Impossible

Speed Racer (2008)
The Wachowskis’ eye-popping thrill ride is an interesting one when it comes to owning it physically. There exists a Blu-Ray/DVD combo that also comes with a third disc, that of a DVD game! It fluctuates when it comes to being in-print, and it regularly runs for a high price online. Thankfully, we were able to find it at a thrift store for cheap eventually. For the longest time, rumors of a 4K swirled around, but no release was ever made. Recently, a listing appeared on Amazon for a 4K release exclusive to the UK, but as far as I can tell no one has their preordered copies yet. We’ll see if it comes to the US, and if it does, if they’ll include the DVD game disc. I doubt they will. Criterion, get on it.
Difficulty: Medium

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)
I bought this movie on Blu-Ray as soon as I was able. It also introduced me to Movies Anywhere, the app that collates a few services you can buy movies from to centralize your library. It’s not perfect, because Vudu won’t play nice, but it’s useful to have. In the meantime, even better versions of this movie have been released, both as a solo 4K UHD and as a double-pack with the equally eye-popping (if slightly-less emotionally resonant) sequel, Across The Spiderverse. This is a movie that demands to be seen with the loudest speakers and at the nicest quality…or on a CRT in December late at night. There are only two options.
Difficulty: Easy

Spirited Away (2001)
Another license rescue from Disney, the GKIDS release of this movie is mostly perfect, and as a movie you’re getting a great package, but if you’re someone who wants every single bonus feature from previous releases included in one package, it’s missing the John Lasseter intro (for the best, perhaps) and a featurette about Miyazaki. Still, it’s in-print and easy to pick up at your local Wal-Mart.
Difficulty: Easy

Steins;Gate: The Movie – Load Region of Deja Vu (2013)
I’m genuinely shocked that this movie was available at all let alone with a Blu-Ray/DVD combo. It’s hard to know what non-Ghibli anime movies will be available, and with some of my favorite series’ out-of-print, I was sure this was going to be impossible. Luckily, it’s not! Thanks, Funimation!
Difficulty: Easy

Strangers On A Train (1951)
Don’t let the ultimate rating of “easy” fool you! This one drives me crazy! This is probably my favorite Hitchcock movie, and despite it having a good Blu-Ray release with film critic commentary and even an earlier cut of the movie included, it drives me crazy that the rights for it are separate from the other major Hitchcock movies on this list! I guess I should be lucky it’s easy to get at all, but what I wouldn’t give for it to be included in that aforementioned Hitchcock four-pack instead of The Birds.
Difficulty: Easy

Streets of Fire (1984)
Another movie I’m glad is a cult classic, as Shout Factory has done their damndest to give this a release and keep it in print. I first bought it on Blu-Ray along with Spiderverse, and then they released a slightly nicer version with more features, and nowadays you can get a great-looking (and sounding!) 4K UHD release that includes the movie, the older Blu-Ray release, and a whole extra disc of special features. If I didn’t love my pretty steelbook so much, I’d pick this up. If you like this movie even a little bit, you should too.
Difficulty: Easy

Super Mario Bros. (1993)
This used to be harder. I had this movie on DVD, which was for a while the only way to watch it in America. I got rid of the case in a move, and when I was reassembling our movie collection it was one of the first ones I replaced to make sure we had it on our shelf. There was a Blu-Ray release in the UK at some point, but it wasn’t until recently that Umbrella, an Australia-based boutique label, released their amazing 4K restoration of the movie that even includes as special features a ton of scenes rescued from the “Jankel & Morton Workprint” cut that was painstakingly restored by a group of dedicated fans. While it’s a shame they can’t have the reassembled cut actually included on a disc, it’s still amazing that a region-free 4K and Blu-Ray version of this movie exists.

However, there’s a catch. While we were able to get a nice edition that included the discs and a slipcover, right now the only way to get this movie is via an expensive and absolutely loaded special edition. I don’t mind a nice special edition, but I don’t think that should be the only way to own a movie. I’m hoping the regular version is back in stock soon, but we’ll see. Also, while it’s easy to order the movie via the Umbrella site, the US is in a weird space right now regarding import tariffs that may make people less likely to import at all.
Difficulty: Medium

Swiss Army Man (2016)
Interestingly, possibly because this was also a Lionsgate movie, this is easy to find and isn’t available in a fancy overpriced edition on the A24 store. The extra features on this disc are fairly basic (but at least we get a commentary from the “sound designer/Fartist”) and I’d really love to see a much stronger release now that the Daniels are on the map with Everything Everywhere All At Once, but I’m glad you can at least get the movie easily enough.
Difficulty: Easy

Tarzan (1999)
A Blu-Ray/DVD set exists, which we own. It’s interesting, though, because unlike pretty much any other major Disney animated release, this one’s difficult to find in the wild, and there’s been no UHD upscale released either. I’m guessing that has to do with the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, but who knows.
Difficulty: Easy

Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011)
This may be the silliest one yet. You have two options if you want to own this movie: you can either get an out-of-print DVD (and I owned this before it was out-of-print!), or if you want it on Blu-Ray you can try and find a copy of “Tekken Hybrid” for the Playstation 3, which is a disc that contains a copy of Tekken Tag Tournament Remastered if you put it in a PS3 or the movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance if you put it in a Blu-Ray player. No standalone Blu-Ray or UHD of this movie exists otherwise. I only came across Tekken Hybrid completely by accident by wandering into a used game store in the area I had never been to before shortly after joking to Mandy that “the only thing I’d buy here would be Tekken Hybrid, and there’s no way they’ll have it”.
Difficulty: Hard

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006)
This is another movie rescued by the fact that it took forever to write this article. When I first started laying this down, we already owned a DVD of this movie since it’s a favorite of Mandy’s. I accepted that, but then I got curious and realized that that DVD was the only way to watch this movie! That was a shock to me since it was such a big deal in high school. I complained about it online in one of my favorite haunts, and I suppose the universe must have heard me because Shout Factory announced just a few weeks later that they were releasing a Blu-Ray of it, which has since come out and is packed full of features and looks great.
Difficulty: Easy

Terrifier 2 (2022)
There are so many ways to own this movie. Being a modern horror cult classic perfect for the Spencer’s Gifts demographic, there have been several prints of this movie both on 4K and Blu-Ray, along with several different slipcovers and regular covers. We own one of the many Blu-Rays, and we’re happy with it.
Difficulty: Easy

The Big Lebowski (1998)
The 20th Anniversary Edition UHD looks and sounds great, and it includes the older Blu-Ray complete with all previous special features ported over. I tell you, it really does feel good when they make it this easy!
Difficulty: Easy

The Conjuring 2 (2016)
If you thought Terrifier 2 had way too many prints out, just wait until you see the Blu-Ray.com page for this movie! Movie collections, Wal-Mart exclusive covers, tons of printings, all for around $10 and all, as far as I can tell, the same disc in different packaging. And it’s a good disc! If you just search “The Conjuring 2 Blu-Ray” on your storefront of choice, you’re going to get what you’re looking for, so the many cosmetic differences don’t bump the difficulty up if you ask me.
Difficulty: Easy

The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
All right, another asterisk release! Amazon recently released a 4K UHD steelbook that contains the theatrical cut of the movie, a documentary about the movie, and a disc of special features. It’s a transfer that looks and sounds exactly as grainy and filthy as it should. So far, so good, right? Well, there’s a catch. The previous Blu-Ray was the “unrated” edition – and when making the new 4K release, they couldn’t get the unrated parts to remaster so the Unrated Cut is not in the new version. But, well, there are honestly very few differences between the theatrical and unrated cuts outside of swapped takes. It would have been nice for them to just toss in the old Blu-Ray so we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but as of right now they’re both easily available. Still, it’s another one of those things that makes you realize how hard a “definitive” release really is.
Difficulty: Easy