Any sign of a Blu-ray Disc release?
The greatest film ever made.
A relatively new retoration 'in the can'.
Powell & Pressburger's laundry lists scanned and published in HD.
But still no AMOLAD.
Steve W
What ho Steve,
Now you know that I think that Blu-Ray is over-rated and isn't much of an improvement over DVD when it's used on an old film
But I'll ask Thelma when I next see her, she should be coming over later this month
Steve
I'd be thrilled to see AMOLAD on blu ray.
shareGet it on DVD, it's just as good really. Blu-ray is 99% hype
Steve
Well...thats a matter for debate (a polite way of saying I disagree). I have the old UK Carlton DVD and that has a really annoying (to me) layer change. Layer changes are my pet hate and that there was a layer change at all was very sloppy mastering.
I also bought the Telegraph Must have Movies 70th Anniversary DVD, which is seriously 'bare bones', it doesn't even have chapters.
I believe the only US R1 includes 'Age of Consent', a movie I'm not interested in, and buying a third DVD is perhaps a little excessive.
I too thought blu ray was overly hyped. 'DVD is good enough'. I still believe that to be true, based on my experience of people, with TVs that look dreadful and pirated movies on DVD they bought at a market...
I bought a blu ray player in October 2011, along with a 55" plasma TV, and I am impressed. Movies with sympathetic transfers looks stunning. The reviews of movies like Casablanca and The Day the Earth Stood Still - both in black and white, are extremely favourable. Although I've also seen blu rays that used the same transfer as the DVD, and cannot see any difference between blu ray and DVD discs.
A Matter of Life and Death probably doesn't have a large enough market to justify the expense of a great blu ray transfer, but that doesn't mean we can't dream.
That's my objection to Blu-ray. When you have something on DVD and Blu-ray which are both made from the same source like the Criterion DVD and Blu-ray of the digitally restored print of The Red Shoes, and I switch back & forth between them, showing them on an HD TV, nobody can tell the difference. Of those that think they can (or should be able to detect a difference), 50% get it wrong
So if you have something that looks great on Blu-ray, ask yourself what it would look like from a DVD made with the same care & attention
Steve
If the blu ray was made from the source used for a DVD release then you are unlikely to see much (if any) difference. Which is why a blu ray needs a remastered original, in the case of any movie that wasn't released in the blu ray era. But then I have seen DVDs that are simply copies of old VHS tapes (fortunately they are more obscure titles).
In the case of A Matter of Life and Death a lot would depend on the quality of existing prints I suppose. It does show in the cinemas in London from time to time and I've dragged friends to see it. I've loved this movie since I saw it on TV as a child, and as I spend a lot of time in California I love the Anglo-American 'banter'.
Which makes me think - I would love to have a showing here in Palm Springs at the Camelot theatre. I wonder where I can obtain a print...
With The Red Shoes, the DVD was made from the same source that was intended for the Blu-ray release. They were both remastered, and there is no difference. They were both remastered from the digital restoration which is the same quality as any modern film. There aren't many cases where you can do a comparison like that and compare the two technologies with what is known to be the same source material
That's why I say that Blu-ray is 99% hype. There can be bad productions of videos, DVDs or Blu-rays. But they can both look as good as each other when they're properly mastered from a decent source.
As for getting a screening of AMOLAD in Palm Springs, contact Park Circus at http://www.parkcircus.com/. They hold the world-wide rights to most P&P films. Tell them that I sent you.
Steve
DVD uses crappy, obsolete video&audio compression methods. Film stores a lot more information than it is possible display with DVD format. Movies from 1920's, when properly scanned and edited, look miles better on Blurays.
I'd say in 99% of cases Bluray is a better idea picture & audio quality wise compared to ancient DVD's.
Blu-ray uses similar crappy, obsolete compression methods. I'll agree that there's a lot more information stored on film. As soon as you digitise anything you start to lose information
Steve
As we can't all have our own film projection rooms....DVD and blu ray are pretty decent alternatives. For casual viewing DVD is fine, even on my 55" screen. At 12 feet away the difference between DVD and blu ray isn't great. But get closer and blu ray can look lovely. As the thread was in danger of becoming blu ray (or DVD) bashing I thought I'd mention this.
http://www.dvdclassik.com/news/une-salve-de-cinema-anglais-chez-elephant
In short, Elephant Films plan on releasing a DVD/blu ray combo of A Matter of Life and Death probably in early 2013.
If, as I read, ITV did the remastering, the French don't add forced subtitles to the film, or there's a UK release, (and please, no region coding) this could be exactly what I've been waiting for.
Those who have been waiting for AMOLAD on blu ray may soon rejoice!
Others have pointed out that dvdclassik announcement
It's a shame that there's nothing about them on Elephant's own site
http://www.elephantfilms.com/ and that dvdclassik don't respond to queries asking who told them about the Elephant releases
But we'll keep an eye on it, with our fingers crossed
Steve
I have the DVD of Cololnel Blimp and the Blu Ray of Colonel Blimp.
The Blu Ray is streets ahead in contrast, colour etc. I never had complaints about the DVD but I never knew what I was missing until I finally graduated to the Blu-ray.
New players don't cost much more than DVD players anymore and they play your old DVDs better too. ("Oh but you can't unlock for Multi Region DVD playing." - Woe is me!!!! )
It's by no means the be-all end-all of home video but I think it's time to stop just calling Bluray a hype. If you're in the market for new hardware, it's a logical choice. You're not buying a white elephant.
Glasgow's FOREMOST authority -Italics = irony. Infer the opposite please.
If you can't see the difference, its time to get your prescriptions updated:
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_58/life_and_death_of_co lonel_blimp_blu-ray_/large/large_life_and_death_of_colonel_blimp_blu-r ay_03.jpg
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare2/colblimp/17.24-r2.JPG
Thats not to say EVERY old movie will benefit that much from the increased resolution. IMO there is always an improvement. Also I watch from 8 feet away on a 73" DLP :D
If you can't see the difference, its time to get your prescriptions updated
Me and all the other people who have viewed a DVD and Blu-ray made from the same high resolution source (that's important) on a large screen HD TV and who have been unable to reliably say which was which.
Have you tried this test?
It's important that the comparison is made between the different technologies which were made from the same high quality source. Most comparisons (like the DVD Beaver comparisons) are made between discs made from very different sources so of course there are differences between those.
It's also important to note that whereas machines can detect differences, the vast majority of humans can't.
Blu-ray is amazing, it's a tribute to the power of advertising
Steve
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I'm pretty sure that DVD comes from the same master (it sure looks like it to me), its also from Criterion.
And yes, I've done my own eyeball comparisons of DVD to Blu-ray. Saying the vast majority of humans can't see the difference is just plain silly. The ironic thing is I've been called moronic on the Bluray forum for saying many BD's don't really have 1080p detail, more like 720p.
Tons and tons and tons of screenshots comparisons can be found here:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/811102/blu-ray-hd-dvd-sd-dvd-comparison-screenshots-warning-large-picture-files
The "mouseovers" are the best way to compare IMO. Many of the movies compared are too recent to have a new separate remaster done to them, so it can't factor in.
Edit: hmm many of the links there are dead. But here is a good one:
http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=710
And that is down-scaling the BD to DVD resolution. Doing the opposite will make the difference even more obvious.
Yes, saying that the vast majority of human beings can't tell the difference would be silly. That's why I didn't say that. I said that the majority of people who had done a valid comparison couldn't tell the difference
No other comparison is a real comparison because it isn't comparing like with like
Steve
What, pray tell, do you consider to be a "valid comparison"? I've already agreed that any fair comparison needs to be done from the same master.
shareYou & I might have agreed that but most so called "comparisons" are comparing totally different things
Steve
I guess it's going to be a long wait before we see AMOLAD on blu ray.
shareAt last. Une Question de vie ou de mort [Combo Blu-ray + DVD] available for pre-order at amazon.fr. Release date October 7. Region B.
shareSee link below for Elephant Films review in French, but that page offers an english translation (Google Chrome).
Seems that the Technicolor three-strip alignment was not adequately corrected, mostly because the work done commenced in 2001.
http://www.dvdclassik.com/test/blu-ray-une-question-de-vie-ou-de-mort-elephant-films-combo-blu-ray-dvd
Seems that the Technicolor three-strip alignment was not adequately corrected, mostly because the work done commenced in 2001.
Exactly, the version available on the recent DVDs (from Sony and from Elephant) and the Blu-Ray versions are NOT restorations, they are just another print made from the same tired & damaged old negatives (or inter-positives).
We are still waiting for a full restoration of A Matter of Life and Death as has been done on The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and The Tales of Hoffmann. But each full restoration takes many years and costs many millions of dollars.
Steve
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