MovieChat Forums > Il grande silenzio (1969) Discussion > About the Japanese Blu-ray

About the Japanese Blu-ray

posted 10 years ago by svallee-5
3 replies | jump to latest

A few weeks ago I found out that a Blu-Ray was released in Japan, and because I'm a huge fan of the film (but didn't own the DVD), I decided to shell the somewhat steep $50 (with shipping) to import it to the US, from Amazon.

The whole packaging and most menus as in Japanese, but it's easy enough to navigate. Here's the problem tho: it didn't seem HD at all. It seems to me that they simple put the DVD master on the blu-ray, and didn't really re-import from the films themselves.

It's also possible that they did, indeed, re-import in HD, but the original film is so grainy, so raw, so "unpolished" (I mention all that in a good way, I love the rawness of this movie). And so it doesn't matter much if it's in HD or not.

It also has a few extras, including an interview with what I believe is Corbucci's wife (in Italian, and no english subtitles, so I couldn't tell for sure). It has the famous alternate ending, with sound (IIRC the DVD version was silent, right?).

I don't regret the purchase, I finally own it. And maybe I'm wrong and it's slightly better than the DVD master.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] monty-britton 9 years ago

I have three versions of this DVD hoping the next one would be better than others. I purchased this blu ray from Amazon Japan and glad I did! It may only be 1080i, but most of this looks really good except for a few spots. Since I love this film sooo much, I may have a more open mind about this transfer. I am displaying it on a 65" 4K TV so the ugly parts really stand out even more. Hoping a great company restores this classic and gives it the 1080p treatment it deserves (I hear the elements aren't there for a full blown HD restoration like we fans want). I love Italian westerns and The Great Silence may be the very best!!

[–] alexmoviefreak 8 years ago

The Japan Blu-ray is an upscale of a very old master. The film deserves a new remaster and I am 100% sure it's possible to restore it in almost pristine quality, like all other films too.
They restored the german "Winnetou" films (they were very popular and the condition of the 35mm negative and positive source materials was not that good) and they look great now, very sharp, missing or damaged shots got replaced with a 2nd generation copy.
It is possible to restore "The Great Silence" in 2k or 4k.