There’s a major injustice that exists in the world right now, and it becomes most apparent during this time of year. I was reminded of this blatant disservice over the weekend while I was upgrading my copies of A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Christmas Vacation to their high definition counterparts. It’s a travesty of epic proportions in regards to Christmas viewing and begs a simple question:
Where the hell is the Blu-Ray release of Scrooged?
Seriously, where is it? So far, we’ve only gotten a bare bones DVD release, and that came out back in 1999. It’s been over ten years and there hasn’t even been a special edition release.
That alone is bad enough, but I remember back in summer of 2008 there was the announcement that there would be a 20th anniversary release of the film. Several sites reported it, and the box art was even revealed. Finally, the Christmas classic was getting the respect it deserved.
Alas, it was not to be. Without any word or explanation, the release just quietly and mysteriously disappeared from the schedule (kind of like how the Tron Blu-Ray did this year). I didn’t even realize it hadn’t come out until I went out to purchase it on the date originally listed and found the shelves bereft of the last time Karen Allen did anything worthwhile in a film.
So what gives? Debate it or not based on your own feelings about the film, but Scrooged is definitely considered to be a Christmas staple, on par with the Ralpies and the Griswolds and even a certain cotton-headed ninny-muggins. Even AMC made it a point to show it for four nights in a row. Four nights.
What movie gets more than three anymore?
Then there’s quotability. Most people I know can quote the hell out of this movie. There are just so many great scenes to chose from. A major reason why Scrooged is such a great flick is because of how much fun the dialogue is. Bill Murray is given most of the best lines, but his delivery makes them all immediately memorable. The opening alone puts this film over the top – Lee Majors saving Santa Claus from terrorists! Any film that can pull that off should have had a Blu release before Blu was invented.
So, where the frell is it? We currently live in a world where Santa Claus: The Movie has not only had a special edition DVD release (20th Anniversary Edition in 2005), but was also granted a Blu release this year (25th Anniversary Edition). And while I’ll admit to having some love for what is obviously another example of the insanity flowing through the minds of the Salkinds in the eighties, it still boggles my neural-net processor that this film has gotten more love and attention than a film that could be added to the list of Bill Murray classics.
It’s enough to make me staple antlers to doormice.