A Few Words About A few words about...™ Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Jacksmyname]

I was about 9 or 10 when I first saw this one (65 now). Grabbed a hold of me and hasn't let go. I'm a big fan of William Powell, and I'd love to add this BD to my collection. But I'm kind of leary about doing so based on Robert's review. I'm getting a bit tired of buying BD's of films that have been favorites for 40 or 50 years and been disappointed in the PQ.
Growing up in the 50's-60's, watching these wonderful old films on a b&w TV, cut to smithereens to fit a time slot, full of what we called "snow", dirt, ghosting due to rabbit ears antennas, etc., etc., etc.
Now, we have a terrific thing called Blu Ray. Because of people like Robert and many others who, because of their love of films, work hard to bring us classics like Lawrence, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, and many more, we're able to see them restored to almost pristine condition, and the way they were meant to be seen. And what happens? Someone decides, hey, it's good enough. Unfortunately, "good enough" all too often ruins the hard work and TLC of Robert and others.
If I may, Robert, my display is a calibrated 46" Sony XBR4. PQ displaying a properly done BD is outstanding. What do you think? Will I be disappointed or will the problems you see not be so obvious on my smaller display? Thank you.

 

[JoHud]

If I may, Robert, my display is a calibrated 46" Sony XBR4. PQ displaying a properly done BD is outstanding. What do you think? Will I be disappointed or will the problems you see not be so obvious on my smaller display? Thank you.

RAH, despite its shortcomings, recommends this blu-ray and I do too. The only real issue is the less-than-pristine source elements. Otherwise the blu-ray is rather good. I've seen much worse from Olive. Not demo quality or Casablanca quality but good for what it is. Just don't expect a full digital restoration.

 

[Jacksmyname]

RAH, despite its shortcomings, recommends this blu-ray and I do too. The only real issue is the less-than-pristine source elements. Otherwise the blu-ray is rather good. I've seen much worse from Olive. Not demo quality or Casablanca quality but good for what it is. Just don't expect a full digital restoration.

Thanks, Joe.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

RAH gave it a 3.5 rating which means many of us would probably rate it a 4-4.5 score. IMO, that means most of us would be very happy with this BD. Having watched this disc several weeks ago I gladly concur with that happiness.

Kyrsten informed me that our blu copy of Mr. Peabody & The Mermaid has arrived. Now waiting for Splash (from the Aussies) to get home as well. Planning a Mermaid night at the Movies.
Will let y'all know how MPATM went over.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Some Brief Notes by Brad about: Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) Blu-ray.

Viewed on Vizio Razor 70" E-Series with Sony S590 blu-ray player.


Well finally got to watch Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid blu from Olive films for the very first time. And of course lovely Kyrsten watched it with me as part of our Mermaid double feature (though we have to wait till tonight to watch Splash (1984)).

The Movie: Now I see why this film came so highly HTF recommended. What an amazing film. Definitely quite different from Splash though there are some similarities as well. In both films the main male protagonist has his love turned upside down by a beautiful mermaid though only in this film is the main male character married. And the mermaid (played beautifully by the lovely (and still with us) Ann Blyth was absolutely breathtaking.

Technical Aspects: Pretty much in line with RAH's description. I noticed the speckles & dirt too but overall the film seemed pretty clean. Looked quite beautiful on the Vizio 70 on which this film yielded approximately a 54 inch 4:3 B&W image. I actually gave the PQ rating a bit higher, about 3.8.
My only wish is that we could have had a nice color version originally shot in color (Technicolor perhaps) for some of the beautiful locales shown (This does not detract from my artistic appreciation for classic noir films) I guess you could make a nice colorized version with today's colorization technologies but I know this would go over like a lead balloon with classic film collectors.

In summary I loved this film. Actually as I write this Kyrs and I are now watching Splash (oh how I miss John Candy). Comparison coming later.