Months ago, we here at JoBlo started writing about an issue near and dear to the hearts of film fanatics everywhere – the resurgence of physical media. After being shocked by how difficult it was to find the Ron Howard movie Cocoon, I decided to make a list of 10 movies that were difficult to find, but the comments on the article clued me into the fact that the issue of out-of-print classics is far more widespread than I assumed. Last week, I did an article about how movies like The Cannonball Run and Dogma are missing, and in that vein, here are five more cult classics that are surprisingly tough to find.
Ricochet:
This 1992 action film was an early attempt to turn Denzel Washington into an action star. Despite stylish direction by Russell Mulcahy and an unforgettable turn by John Lithgow as the movie’s villain, it was only a modest success. Still, you’d think Ricochet would have a decent release, but it only exists on a poor-quality DVD from the 90s. There’s an HD rip of it floating around out there, taken off of Cinemax, but it’s in the wrong aspect ratio.
Freaked:
This cult hit was a passion project for Bill & Ted star Alex Winter. It barely got released by 20th Century Fox, but it built up enough notoriety that it came out on DVD and Blu-ray via Anchor Bay, only to go out of print in recent years. It’s also not streaming.
PCU:
This college comedy has a unique leading man, with it an early role for Jeremy Piven as the head of a frat house who takes on the politically correct culture at his university. Sound ahead of its time? Perhaps the subject matter and the fact that Piven’s struggled to come back in recent years following sexual misconduct accusation (which he always denied) are one of the reasons why it’s unavailable anywhere – except on DVD.
Blood In Blood Out:
Taylor Hackford’s Chicano epic was a massive flop in 1993 but became a major cult classic once it hit VHS, which makes its absence from Blu-ray and streaming puzzling, as it could easily make a ton of money. But the fact that Disney owns it means it’s probably way down their list of priorities. It would be cool if a company like Kino Lorber could upgrade this Blu-ray.
28 Days Later:
Here is a shocking one. Danny Boyle’s classic 28 Days Later is currently out of print on Blu-ray and isn’t available streaming either. Of any movie on this list, this is arguably the easiest to find as you can get marketplace Blu-rays, but why isn’t it in print? One can only assume Disney has enormous plans for it in the future. The sequel, 28 Weeks Later, is widely available.
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