Why You Need To Buy Warner Bros 100 Year Anniversary Titles!

Warner Bros. has been one of Hollywood’s flagship studios now for a century. Producing memorable characters, films, and franchises. I have always loved the Warner Bros brand, from their Super-Man films, to Tim Burton’s Batman, Beetlejuice and Gremlins in the 1980s to Unforgiven, The Lethal Weapon sequels and The Matrix in the 1990s, The Dark Knight Trilogy and Harry Potter films in the 2000s to Mad Max: Fury Road, The DCEU and many others in the 2010s. Warner Bros. track record is very impressive, but a lot of the studio's classics that made it what it is today, are not talked about nearly enough.

The studio celebrates its 100th year anniversary this year and to celebrate, has been releasing some of the best and most recognisable titles on 4K Ultra High Definition (4K UHD). In April we saw the re-release of the Superman sequels on 4K along with ‘Maltese Falcon’, ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ and ‘Cool Hand Luke’. Now in July and August, we are getting more great titles with the re-release of the John Wayne, Western classic ‘Rio Bravo’, another James Dean film, ‘East of Eden’ Bruce Lee’s classic 1973 martial arts masterpiece ‘Enter The Dragon’, and National Lampoon’s classic Chevy Chase comedy, ‘Vacation’. If you’re a film fan you best be saving for these ones, because you will want them in your collection!

Rio Bravo (1959) –

Western films of the 1950s and 1960s were a dime a dozen and John Wayne was the king of them all, starring in classics such as ‘True Grit’, ‘The Man Who Shot liberty Vance’, ‘The Alamo’ and of course ‘Rio Bravo’. Very few are regarded as highly as ‘Rio Bravo’. The film holds an impressive 83 Meta Critic score and a 96% critical rating on IMDb, not to mention its 8/10 rating on IMDB, which sees it sitting in the top 300 films of all time, which is pretty damn good considering just how many films there are. Rio Bravo follows Sheriff John T. Chance (played by John Wayne), as he enlists the help of a drunk, a disabled man and a young gunfighter in an effort to hold in jail, the brother of a local troublemaker. It’s a premise we’ve seen done many times before, but what elevates the film is the direction from legendary filmmaker Howard Hawks. Hawks do a superb job of capturing the comradery between this ragtag group of locals. The film shares a lot in common with other stories where a group of unlikely heroes must band together to defeat a common threat, like Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and John Sturges spiritual remake, ‘The Magnificent Seven’. Similar to both of those films and countless others, our group of misfits are so likeable and enjoyable on screen, that we can’t help but barrack for them, even when the odds are stacked against them. John Wayne shines as Sheriff Chance. He brings a gritty realism to the character, which we got to see a lot especially as his career went on. This rivals his best work for me, and I had a blast re-visiting him in this role.

Buy Rio Bravo on 4K UHD here

Vacation (1983) –

The comedy genre has been so versatile for so long. Various different types of comedy have dominated the silver screen for the better part of the last 80 years. From Charlie Chaplin to Adam Sandler, we have seen it all over the years. However, Harold Ramis, John Hughes and Chevy Chase changed comedy forever in 1983 with their now comedy classic, National Lampoon’s ‘Vacation’. Sure, there have been funnier comedies released since Vacation, but very few reach the comedic heights and quotability of this film. The cast and crew really took a gamble with this film, and it paid off, with three successful sequels and a remake in 2015. I still, to this date, quote Vacation nearly every day of my life. The simple premise of the Griswald family taking a road trip across America to the Wally World theme park isn’t an inherently funny premise, but the wacky antics, absurd situations, and fantastic physical comedy from Chevy Chase, cement it as a comedy classic. If there were a Mount Rushmore of comedy films, you better believe that Vacation is there, along with three of Harold Ramis’s other films, ‘Ghostbusters’ (1984), ‘Caddyshack’ (1980) and ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993). Vacation is a comedic masterpiece and is a must watch for comedy and film fans.

Buy Vacation on 4K UHD here

East of Eden (1956) –

James Dean is one of the best actors of all time and was taken from us far too soon. Only starring in 3 major motion pictures, ‘Giant’, ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and of course ‘East of Eden’, which earned the actor a posthumous Academy Award (Oscar) nomination, along with ‘Giant’. East of Eden follows two brothers in the 1910s, who struggle to maintain their strict fathers' favour as an old secret about their long absent mother comes to light. ‘East of Eden’ is, in my opinion, James Dean’s most dramatic performance. Here he is able to really showcase his range as an actor, going to dramatic depths that he has definitely touched on in his other films and in vastly different ways, but not to the extent he does in this film. Elia Kazan’s direction is also superb. The veteran director has made his mark on Hollywood with classics such as ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ (1951) and ‘On the Waterfront’ (1954). He knows how to utilise some of the best actors of all time working with Marlon Brando on multiple occasions and James Dean. Their collaboration here will go down as one of the best of all time. ‘East of Eden’ is well-worth the watch, especially on 4K UHD.

Buy East of Eden on 4K UHD here

Enter the Dragon (1973) –

Bruce Lee has gone down as one of the most talented physical actors of all-time. His contribution to cinema and representation in an era, where it was rare to see a man of Chinese descent in major motion pictures, let alone leading them, is monumental. His physical presence was unmatched for many years and the greatest example of his work is his performance in the 1973 classic, ‘Enter The Dragon’. Enter The Dragon was directed by Robert Clouse, who was a frequent collaborator with Bruce Lee, directing him in a number of films and starred Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, John Saxon and a very early, uncredited performance from international superstar, Jackie Chan. The film follows a Shaolin martial artist, who travels to an island fortress as a spy for an opium lord, who is also a former monk from his temple where he trained. He arrives under the guise of attending a fighting tournament. The film has been parodied to death, but the concept itself is the perfect set-up for a martial arts themed film. The film's influence can still be seen today, being an obvious inspiration for films such as Gareth Evans classic ‘The Raid’ and its sequel ‘The Raid 2: Redemption’. If you are a martial arts fan or a cinema fan in general, you need to add ‘Enter The Dragon’ to your collection, especially in glorious 4K UHD, it’s a must-own in this format!

Buy Enter The Dragon on 4K UHD here

These Warner Bros. titles are among some of their best in their back catalogue. They have covered so many different genres with these releases.  With the 100-year celebrations continuing, expect more great titles to make their way to 4K UHD. These releases are stunning and must-owns for any cinema fan. Shop Sanity’s wide range of movies below and secure your copies of your favourite Warner Bros titles.

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Find all Warner Bros 100 Year Anniversary Titles on DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD here

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here