MGM Home Entertainment recently informed us that the DVD versions of “Dr. Zhivago” and “Ben Hur” are currently slated for a release in the third quarter of 1999.

“Dr. Zhivago” had been officially announced earlier this year, but postponed shortly before its scheduled release. A MGM spokesman told us back then that the quality of the available transfer was not satisfactory for a DVD release of this classic movie. As a result, MGM decided to go back and strike a completely new, anamorphic transfer of the restored film for use on this high caliber DVD.
The same is true for another one of MGM’s classic jewels, “Ben Hur”, starring Charlton Heston. MGM informed us that this film will also be released in a fully restored version.