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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Amadeus -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Michel_Hafner

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As far as the presence of smeary, detail removing digital filtering artifacts are concerned the comparison is not suspect at all since these artifacts simply don't exist on film masters of the time when Amadeus was made. That is a fact, not an opinion.
 

Michel_Hafner

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Indeed. I have now about 600 HD discs and over 90% of them I find very watchable, not excellent or reference, but very watchable. Real stinkers I have less than 10, I would guess. The ones I knew about I did not buy, of course.
 

RobertR

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Yeah, he thinks Patton looks great too. As much as I enjoy Glenn's essays on some movies, he's less than well informed when it comes to picture quality.
 

Stephen_J_H

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Also, remember that some of Glenn's equipment is from the dark ages. I think he's still using a 46" RPTV with 1080i via component. Under those circumstances the picture may look stunning to him.
 

Sam Davatchi

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Sorry I haven't read all this. I was wondering how is the Director's Cut compared to the original version? Is the original version, the version that won the Best Picture Oscar included in this set?
 

Sam Davatchi

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Wow! :eek: How is that possible? It won a Best Picture award. Anyway, is this Director's Cut at least as good as the original one?
 

JohnMor

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Sam, as Mike so accurately said, you will never know which one you prefer until you see both. I prefer DC. He prefers TC.

The one thing I will say to be careful of (which has come up in this thread and in the "French Connection" thread as well) is the "Oscar winning Best Picture" label. It is kind of meaningless in the larger discussions of films. All it really means that those Academy members who voted that year picked one specific film for whatever reason to be Best Picture. No more, no less.

If we accept it as an all-time benchmark by which we judge the merits of a picture, we have to accept that The Greatest Show On Earth (Oscar winner) is a better film than Citizen Kane (Oscar nominee) and that Hello, Dolly! (Oscar nominee) is a better film than Vertigo or Touch of Evil or Some Like It Hot (none even nominated.)
 

Robert Harris

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There are many of us that, with flaws acknowledged, look to the AMPAS Best categories, as being historical markers of the time, as well as having their own historical significance. Decisions of the Academy are far from meaningless, and more often than not, stand quite correctly with today's views of the era.

"Vertigo," for example, was not received well at the time of release. One would not have expected it to win anything, although today we perceive it with a different set of eyes.

RAH
 

JohnMor

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Understood, but I was referring to the use of the label as indication of a film's merits to new viewers today, not in an historical sense. I stand by my assertion that it means no more or less than what the Academy members who chose to vote in a single year thought at that time.

Which is not to say that one can't enjoy The Greatest Show On Earth (which I don't) or Oliver! (which I do), but that it's the film itself that determines my embrace of it today, not the label. That is an interesting historical footnote to me, nothing more. Same with its boxoffice take.
 

Aaron Silverman

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When I read his essays I'm always reminded that everyone's got an opinion.
htf_images_smilies_smile.gif


He repeatedly refers to Amadeus as a "biography," which it is not in any way (it's more like an assassination, of both Mozart and Salieri, but it's still a great movie).
 

Douglas R

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This looks great on my 42" plasma screen and, of course, vastly better than the DVD which, frankly is what matters to me. Warner Bros deserve credit for the excellent book-style presentation with booklet and bonus CD. I bought the US version because here in the UK we typically just get the single disc in a standard case and nothing else.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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I received mine and watched it -- first time seeing the DC.

PQ is indeed vastly better than the old DVD (on my 61" DLP RPTV from 9-to-10ft), *but* yes, it could certainly be better w/ a more film-like look -- the PQ reminds me a fair bit of Dark City. To me, the bigger beef now is the lack of the theatrical cut. I found pretty much all the additions to the DC to be pretty needless and just drags on pacing.

Also, while the digibook presentation looks nice at first glance, it'll probably turn out to be pretty poor over the long haul. NVM that the digibook will experience wear-and-tear like any actual book or even that it doesn't fit one's BD shelf neatly like a standard case. But why the heck is the digital copy disc attached to the back like that?? And I really dislike that Warner (and some other studios) often attaches a one-sheet backcover to whatever special packaging too. They really should just design these special packaging better and not have loose items on the outside like that. :angry: I need to find some good plastic(?) covers/bags for these digibooks -- and store the discs themselves in blank standard cases.

_Man_
 

JohnMor

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I think having both the TC and DC of films via seamless branching is the way to go. But somehow, I'm beginning to suspect that either Milos Forman or Saul Zaentz perfers to have only the DC of Amadeus be seen now. Like Oliver Stone's DC's, once they exist you don't seem to get a choice anymore. Unlike, say, Lawrence Kasdan's DC of Wyatt Earp which was released on VHS, but when the DVD and blu-rays were released, it was back to the TC. To me, if there isn't a creator's preference or serious problems with the elements of a particular version, then offer both.

Streisand just offered both cuts of Yentl on dvd via seamless branching and it was great.
 

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