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

[Robert Crawford]

Perhaps they don't send these to you because you are honest and will not give things an automatic pass, as is happening on some other sites where these have been reviewed. That's my opinion, anyway.

Or perhaps, the titles were just late arriving for him.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/334193-on-the-beach-blu-ray-review/#entry4138448

 

[haineshisway]

Or perhaps, the titles were just late arriving for him.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/334193-on-the-beach-blu-ray-review/#entry4138448

Or perhaps they read his complaints here and sent them pronto.

 

[Jon Hertzberg]

Barely out of the gate in terms of time, yes, but, in terms of sheer number of titles, they are way ahead of where the other companies were in their respective timelines.

The KL Studio Classics titles that most seem to have issue with--where there is consensus--are MARTY (aspect ratio) and SHERLOCK HOLMES (dubious source materials). Maybe there's another I'm missing, I don't know. Now, with ON THE BEACH, there's a tech issue, which seems to be affecting some viewers and not others.

There is much less attention (than should be) being paid to the films in which KL Studio Classics is initiating and paying for (or, partially paying for) new HD transfers. Instead, the old canards about how Kino Lorber doesn't do any new transfers or any restoration work keep being thrown about, which neglects the long history of the label (which includes countless restorations and re-releases of so many historically important titles) as both a theatrical and home video distributor.

Well, KLSC is barely out of the gate with this series, and I'm only 1 for 2. Bruce doesn't seem to be faring any better, maybe worse because he took a chance on The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Doesn't appear as if RAH is having such a rollicking good time either.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Or perhaps they read his complaints here and sent them pronto.

If you want to think such thoughts.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Or perhaps they read his complaints here and sent them pronto.

If you want to think such thoughts.

MY opinion on this matter is that they read my posts criticising things and quickly righted the wrongs.

 

[ahollis]

I agree, The Fox TT titles (The Blue Max, etc) are excellent as well. But I'd would still say the MGM releases, IMO, are more in the 3.5 range. Some of that is attributable to the ones I have (The Mechanic, Rollerball, etc) being very bland films visually IMO.

I do not have Rollerball or Mechanic, but I do have 6 Twilight MGM titles from Khartoum to Follow That Dream and I'm happy with all six. I guess it depends on what we have.

 

[ahollis]

Barely out of the gate in terms of time, yes, but, in terms of sheer number of titles, they are way ahead of where the other companies were in their respective timelines. The KL Studio Classics titles that most seem to have issue with--where there is consensus--are MARTY (aspect ratio) and SHERLOCK HOLMES (dubious source materials). Maybe there's another I'm missing, I don't know. Now, with ON THE BEACH, there's a tech issue, which seems to be affecting some viewers and not others.There is much less attention (than should be) being paid to the films in which KL Studio Classics is initiating and paying for (or, partially paying for) new HD transfers. Instead, the old canards about how Kino Lorber doesn't do any new transfers or any restoration work keep being thrown about, which neglects the long history of the label (which includes countless restorations and re-releases of so many historically important titles) as both a theatrical and home video distributor.

Jon I think if you will look back you will see that there have been four reviewers that noted the sync problem in their reviews. Kino has an excellent record with working on new transfers of some very classic films, mostly titles that they control after the work is completed. I have many of those titles. The MGM deal is a limited time deal so there is not an upside to pay to work on those titles and I understand that as I'm sure others do. I was upset at the way the company handled the Marty problem. Anyone that argued was called idiots by a Kino official (Jeffery Wells Blog, not on HTF). I did not have a hunt in Sherlock Holmes, but Kino should have known that it was not the best transfer and warned potential buyers as another small company did with two of its releases. Now the Beach problem, there are many threads here about companies that sent a replacement disc to customers that thought their was a problem with their disc and those companies were praised. Perhaps it was an equipment problem, no questions were asked or as WAC does on FB, here's a contact, let them know what the problem is. All we got was there is no problem, we tried 8 to 10 discs without a problem and we alerted the reviewers that there is not a problem. The main oversight is they could check all the discs they want to but can't say anything until they test the complaining customers disc.I am not upset about the transfers as I am sure that's as best as they will be (what else can you expect from MGM). I could do as some people, wait for the reviews and decide if I want it but right now I'm just hanging back. I'm just ticked at lack of decent response.

 

[JohnMor]

Jon I think if you will look back you will see that there have been four reviewers that noted the sync problem in their reviews.Kino has an excellent record with working on new transfers of some very classic films, mostly silent titles that they will control after the work is completed. The MGM deal is a limited time deal so there is not an upside to pay to work on those titles and I understand that as I'm sure many do.I was upset at the way the company handled the Marty problem. Anyone that argued was called idiots by a Kino official (Jeffery Wells Blog, not on HTF). I did not have a hunt in Sherlock Holmes, but Kino should have known that it was not the best transfer and warned potential buyers as another small company did with two of its releases. Now the Beach problem, there are many threads here about companies that sent a replacement disc to customers that thought their was a problem with their disc and those companies were praised. Perhaps it was an equipment problem, no questions were asked or as WAC does on FB, here's a contact, let them know what the problem is. All we got was there is no problem, we tried 8 to 10 discs without a problem and we alerted the reviewers that there is not a problem. The main oversight is they could check all the discs they want to but can't say anything until they test the complaining customers disc.

Allen, in all fairness, I don't believe anyone properly contacted Kino Customer Service about On the Beach and got that answer. They simply went off when MisterLime gave that answer here in a thread, as well as pointing out that he wasn't customer service. Now, granted, he could have very easily (and should have) given out the customer service contact info, but that does not excuse people from not doing their own leg work going through proper channels if they have an issue. I googled Kino and found the website in 5 seconds. None of the companies you talk about that replaced discs did so just because they read posts on our forum. People who had issues with discs contacted the companies through the proper channels. In fact, just about EVERY time there has been any issue with any disc, I have seen multiple posts here where people said, "I just googled Studio X and here's their contact info to contact them about the issue..." But did anyone do that here? No, it was much easier and more satisfying to get revenge on Kino and MisterLime for the Marty debacle than to actually act like adults and report the issue to Kino Customer Service.

I agree MisterLime did not react well, but we're all adults here. And MisterLime is not the be all and end all of Kino. Is it really fair to simply stop at his post and then say Kino itself did nothing? That may prove to be the case in time, but I don't think that is what really transpired here.

 

[ahollis]

Allen, in all fairness, I don't believe anyone properly contacted Kino Customer Service about On the Beach and got that answer. They simply went off when MisterLime gave that answer here in a thread, as well as pointing out that he wasn't customer service. Now, granted, he could have very easily (and should have) given out the customer service contact info, but that does not excuse people from not doing their own leg work going through proper channels if they have an issue. I googled Kino and found the website in 5 seconds. None of the companies you talk about that replaced discs did so just because they read posts on our forum. People who had issues with discs contacted the companies through the proper channels. In fact, just about EVERY time there has been any issue with any disc, I have seen multiple posts here where people said, "I just googled Studio X and here's their contact info to contact them about the issue..." But did anyone do that here? No, it was much easier and more satisfying to get revenge on Kino and MisterLime for the Marty debacle than to actually act like adults and report the issue to Kino Customer Service.I agree MisterLime did not react well, but we're all adults here. And MisterLime is not the be all and end all of Kino. Is it really fair to simply stop at his post and then say Kino itself did nothing? That may prove to be the case in time, but I don't think that is what really transpired here.

Agree, in fairness they did not get that answer from a contact at Kino and they should have done that. Maybe it was revenge on Kino and Mr Lime, I don't know that. But all of this could have been handled in a different way. We are all adults and the first response should have been here's a contact. That should have shut the whole thing down in that something was being done. Many times in business I was not the proper person to respond to a guest problem or complaint, but since I worked for the same company I clearly allowed it to be my problem and made sure the guest got to the right person. Just say we tested several discs here and there is not a sync issue is accusing the poster, for there is clearly is an issue since even Matt's review today says there is a sync problem. And in fairness he was not completely bothered by it. Can we still be friends?

 

[ROclockCK]

Since I have no stomach to keep any Blu-ray in my collection with such serious audio sync flaws, I'm directing my problem with this disc back to Amazon.

And if the Big 'A' receives enough disgruntled returns, you can be sure Kino will hear about it...and through a channel they won't ignore.

 

[JohnMor]

Agree, in fairness they did not get that answer from a contact at Kino and they should have done that. Maybe it was revenge on Kino and Mr Lime, I don't know that. But all of this could have been handled in a different way. We are all adults and the first response should have been here's a contact. That should have shut the whole thing down in that something was being done. Many times in business I was not the proper person to respond to a guest problem or complaint, but since I worked for the same company I clearly allowed it to be my problem and made sure the guest got to the right person. Just say we tested several discs here and there is not a sync issue is accusing the poster, for there is clearly is an issue since even Matt's review today says there is a sync problem. And in fairness he was not completely bothered by it.Can we still be friends?

Since I have no stomach to keep any Blu-ray in my collection with such serious audio sync flaws, I'm directing my problem with this disc back to Amazon.

And if the Big 'A' receives enough disgruntled returns, you can be sure Kino will hear about it...and through a channel they won't ignore.

Totally agree with both posts. (Although I'm keeping my disc, at least for the time being.)

BTW, did you see where Amazon has pulled the new Twin Peaks blu-ray set because of complaints about sync problems in spots. It's currently "under review" and you can only get it from 3rd party sellers.