In an effort to show continued dedication to film preservation, Warner Bros. has made Hollywood’s largest film vault available to the public in the form of the Warner Archive Collection¹. Through our partnership with Warner Bros., we now offer this collection, which currently consists of over 300 titles with additional titles added each month.
The Warner Archive Collection provides classic titles, most of which may have never been offered for sale through retail vendors due to the high cost of remastering, producing, and promoting², from over 60 years of Warner Bros. Studio history. The titles—all from pre-1986 MGM, RKO Radio Pictures, and Warner Bros. films, such as Once upon a Honeymoon, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and Sunrise at Campobello—are made available through DVD on-demand¹.
What is DVD on-demand?
According to Warner Bros., “DVDs produced on-demand are similar to, but not quite [the] same as, DVDs you'd buy at the local video store. DVD movies you buy at the local video outlet are manufactured from a mold via a stamping process whereas on-demand DVDs are 'burned.' Each carries information read by the DVD player; [however], the physical properties of the two are different”³. Therefore, Archive Collection titles are individually burned based on order, rather than churned out in bulk amounts and disseminated to retailers and media distributors.
According to Warner Bros., “DVDs produced on-demand are similar to, but not quite [the] same as, DVDs you'd buy at the local video store. DVD movies you buy at the local video outlet are manufactured from a mold via a stamping process whereas on-demand DVDs are 'burned.' Each carries information read by the DVD player; [however], the physical properties of the two are different”³. Therefore, Archive Collection titles are individually burned based on order, rather than churned out in bulk amounts and disseminated to retailers and media distributors.
Warner Bros. continues, explaining that their “on-demand DVDs are manufactured using the most widely accepted [DVD] format, DVD-R”³. As noted in an earlier News & Views post (DVD-R vs. DVD+R), DVD-Rs are developed through duplication (disc burning) with retail DVDs that are manufactured with a cost-effective violet dye, thus creating the violet or blue disc bottoms. Almost all contemporary DVD players can read the DVD-R format.
How can I find this collection at Midwest Tape online?
There are several ways you can access Midwest Tape’s “Warner Archive” collection via the Midwest Tape website:
There are several ways you can access Midwest Tape’s “Warner Archive” collection via the Midwest Tape website:
- Select “Warner Archive” while browsing DVD collections via Browse.
- Search via SmartBrowse stock number prefix WDO to access all available Warner Archive Collection titles.
- Select the “Warner Archive” collection displayed on the Midwest Tape homepage.
