laureatedvd.com

K.White · Guest

Congratulations on the Road box set. Terrific entertainment and beautifully mastered, I've never seen these films look better. Any chance of your doing "Road To Rio" as a special edition ?

Ken Barnes · Guest

Dear Mr. White,

I'm glad you liked the "Roads" box set. We set out to improve the picture and sound quality over the U.S. set and we've certainly achieved that. Also, we've eliminated the historical inaccuracies that were a part of the Region 1 set. This is something for which we've had many letters of thanks.

I would love to do a Special Editiom of "Road To Rio" which, to my mind, is far and away the best of the "Road" series. But the contractual situation is too convoluted to allow this. The current PAL Region 2 version has been issued illegally in the UK - and Columbia ( who own the rights outside of the USA ) have done nothing about it.
So where can I go from here - except to break the law ?
And we don't operate that way.

I hope someday the chance will arise to rectify the situation. But for now it's unlikely.

Once again, thanks for your interest.

Ken Barnes

Windy Ferguson · Guest

Okay, nevermind lol. I just answered my own question. When are they going to be AVAILABLE in the us??

binginly,
windy

Ken Barnes · Guest

Hi Windy,

The first four "Roads" ( which form the contents of our "Roads" package )are available in the USA in a differently conceived box set as part of the Bob Hope Tribute Collection. It comes in a quite hideous maroon box and is hard to recognise as a Road To.. package. It has a 15 minute featurette called "Bob Hope's Road To Laughter" in which a couple of so-called historians tell the story of
Bob and the "Road" pictures. It's full of inaccuracies, which is why I decided not to use it in the U.K. set.There are also a couple of "sing-along" sequences which we also declined to use. You know the sort of thing I mean..with the bouncing ball on the lyrics. Who needs that ?

Because of the Hope package I don't think there's much chance of our version being issued in the USA, although we have been released in Australia. People who have seen both sets tell me that we've done a far superior job on mastering of both picture and sound and our "extras" include
an accurate history of the "Roads" plus trailers, an expanded photo gallery, a clip of Bing Crosby at the London Stage Door Canteen in 1944 and the 30-minute documentary "Hollywood Victory Caravan."

While it's difficult for you to play Region 2 on a standard U.S. player, there is a reaonably priced DVD player available that can play all regions without any problems.

If you want details, just let me know and I'll e-mail them to you.

Thanks for your interest

Ken

Windy Ferguson · Guest

Interesting, give me further details

Ken Barnes · Guest

Hi Windy,

The player, which was recommended by Florida resident, Ryan Bottoms, is Cyberhome CH-DVD 500 Orogressive-Scan model.
It can be purchased on line from Amazon.com

Best
Ken