Only the film's copyright holder can release it into the public domain. They must do so by an overt act or statement that indicates the work is no longer subject to copyright.
Merely submitting copies of the work to a court as part of a lawsuit doesn't do this as there is no statement that copyright is relinquished. Quite the opposite--copies of the film still bear a copyright notice.
Maybe take the middle road? Grab a copy now if you can't wait and buy it later when it comes out on DVD/Blueray. Fortunately it's being aired here in the UK on Channel 4 tomorrow so I haven't got this dilemma.
Is that good enough (taken from further up in this thread)?