b movies - What obstacles (legal or otherwise) prevent Moontrap (1989) from being released on a modern format or otherwise made available?

I see several listings of this movie on Amazon, and though it doesn't say so outright I suspect that these are all bootleg and of poor quality. The latter can't be stressed enough, apparently these are all copies of VHS tapes that were already worn out by the time the copies were made.

Does this film have a peculiar copyright status, or are the ownership rights contested or ambiguous? Will it ever be released on DVD (I don't know that it's a candidate for Bluray, considering the low budget it may not even have been 35mm.)

Answer

As far as I can tell, the company that was involved in making the film (MOONTRAP LIMITED PARTNERSHIP) had a legal argument with the company funding the production; SGE ENTERTAINMENT in which they were accused of having

improperly distributed to its principals, funds that were designated for the payment of production expenses.

and that as a result of the judgement (which cancelled the distribution contract)

[the] defendant will lose the benefits of an agreement to distribute the film in perpetuity.

You can read the full judgement at http://statecasefiles.justia.com/documents/michigan/court-of-appeals-unpublished/19981218_C185564(0077)_185564.OPN.PDF?ts=1383754926

Regardless of the rights or wrongs of the legal battle (which seems to have ended in something of a stalemate) it follows that if either party now attempt to distribute the film, that would breach the judgement reached and result in immediate legal action on both sides.

EDIT/UPDATE - It looks like a company called DigiDreams has secured the rights to distribute the film in Germany. They've acquired a 35MM source (slightly higher quality than the VHS copy) and have upscaled it to Bluray quality as well as adding a director's commentary and an interview with the actors. It's described as :

"not perfect (there are some jump cuts in the print where footage has been repaired) but certainly a improvement on the VHS version we’ve been wearing out since it was first released."

There doesn't appear to be a US or UK release yet, but the German copy has the full US soundtrack on it, so you can always purchase it from overseas.

Comments

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