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

[jim_falconer]

Interesting take, thanks for your input. I’ve only ever watched the roadshow edition since I’ve purchased this some 10 years ago. After reading your comments, I’ll have to go and watch the theatrical version, and specifically focus on the audio.

 

[edelweissflower]

SOUTH PACIFIC (which I saw on Broadway at the Shubert Theater, although not with the original cast) was turned into a mediocre movie. I do not know whose bright idea it was to use color filters to "augment the mood" of the musical numbers -- Josh Logan's or the studio's of the cinematographer's -- if that was even the reason for them, but they do the opposite for me -- they take me right out of the film. What should have been gorgeous, paradise-greens on Bali Hai become instead a horrible yellow-green that is painful to watch for seven or eight minutes, and this sort of travesty occurs for most of the songs. Plus, or course, Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor are not Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin. The Blu-ray is absolutely perfect -- I rented it -- but I have no interest now in ever seeing this film again.

it has too many cuts in it I am trying to get them to put back the cuts they made even before the Roadshow print was done and hash they made in particular to the 'I'm Gonna Wah That Man' number.

 

[edelweissflower]

Looking over some earlier comments it would appear that when issued a couple years ago, the Theatrical version of South Pacific was on Blu ray and the Roadshow version was on DVD. It has been upgraded now and the 4 disc set I bought in spring 2022 now includes both DVD and Blu ray versions of both versions.

I was looking forward to seeing the Roadshow version, so I could see the extra footage that was soon cut out, even knowing that extra footage was markedly inferior in video quality. But I was unpleasantly surprised to see that the Roadshow English sound track was Dolby digital 5.1 whereas the Theatrical version was DTS HD MA 5.1. But I started watching the Roadshow version anyway. I found it disappointing. This is a musical and the music is important. After watching up through chapter 14, Cockeyed Optimist, I switched to the Theatrical version and started with chapter 14, Cockeyed Optimist. It was so much better that I continued the Theatrical version to the end. It was a little louder, which makes it sound better but even after adjusting the volume down to match the Roadshow, the sound and music were so much richer and more deeply satisfying, and more emotionally connecting. Looking at the data rate for the intermission music, the rate was around 600 KBS on the Roadshow and about 7 MBS on the Theatrical. When there was video the rate was typically about 10 MBS Roadshow versus 30 MBS Theatrical. I didn’t notice a significant difference in the image quality, but the sound is vastly better at the higher DTS HD MA 5.1 data rate.

After thoroughly enjoying the remainder of the Theatrical version, I rewatched the first 14 chapters of it. The missing/extra footage doesn’t remove/add anything really significant. The vastly improved sound quality of the Theatrical DTS HD MA 5.1 soundtrack immeasurably enhances the movie experience of watching and listening to South Pacific. I did skim through the rest of the Roadshow version looking for the reduced image quality of the extra scenes and watched them. But I don’t think I will ever watch it again, unless perhaps the Roadshow version is released with a DTS HD MA 5.1 or better soundtrack. The loss of high quality sound detracts much more from the film than extra scenes can possibly make up.

The Roadshow version for me is better at least you get the reprise of 'Some Enchanted Evening' which for me is a bonus, with out that terrible cutting, although even the Roadshow version still contains the terrible hashing of 'The I'm Gonna Was That Man' number the full sequence still survives so I am told.

 

[Garysb]

Again movie versions of stage shows are almost always going to have songs cut. Its just a fact. The reverse is also true, when movie musicals are turned into stage shows they add songs to the stage versions. Examples include "State Fair", "Meet Me In St Louis", "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", and "Gigi". None of whom were successful on Broadway, but they had more music.

Seek out recordings of the stage versions of shows if you want to see and hear the complete original score. Or accept movie versions for what they are, the movie version of the show with much larger orchestras that would never fit in an orchestra pit and most likely fewer and sometimes different music. The movie is not going to be a carbon copy of the stage version. I don't think anyone wants that.

 

[DarkVader]

Again movie versions of stage shows are almost always going to have songs cut. Its just a fact. The reverse is also true, when movie musicals are turned into stage shows they add songs to the stage versions. Examples include "State Fair", "Meet Me In St Louis", "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", and "Gigi". None of whom were successful on Broadway, but they had more music.

Seek out recordings of the stage versions of shows if you want to see and hear the complete original score. Or accept movie versions for what they are, the movie version of the show with much larger orchestras that would never fit in an orchestra pit and most likely fewer and sometimes different music. The movie is not going to be a carbon copy of the stage version. I don't think anyone wants that.

I love how people assign themselves the arbiter of other people's wants and needs...

 

[Robert Crawford]

I love how people assign themselves the arbiter of other people's wants and needs...

It’s one thing to disagree with one’s stated opinion but such a snarky comment wasn’t necessary to express your disagreement.

 

[edelweissflower]

Again movie versions of stage shows are almost always going to have songs cut. Its just a fact. The reverse is also true, when movie musicals are turned into stage shows they add songs to the stage versions. Examples include "State Fair", "Meet Me In St Louis", "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", and "Gigi". None of whom were successful on Broadway, but they had more music.

Seek out recordings of the stage versions of shows if you want to see and hear the complete original score. Or accept movie versions for what they are, the movie version of the show with much larger orchestras that would never fit in an orchestra pit and most likely fewer and sometimes different music. The movie is not going to be a carbon copy of the stage version. I don't think anyone wants that.

I agree with you and until Rodgers & Hammerstein, film versions of Broadway shows could be completely different they didn't always even have the same songs in them let alone cutting some of the songs from the original score. They stamped or try to stamp that out and I agreed with them why would they want for example some one to film 'Oklahoma!' and they make major cuts of song and story it wouldn't be their show it wouldn't it their opinion be 'RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S that's why they produced it themselves because other people THEY KNEW probably would, they would have even put different songs in it that were never in the Broadway show. and before them ,shows were easier to cut story wise and song wise because there wasn't the depth of story or the quality of songs in those shows.
You can't blame them for protecting what was so carefully created by them, but with a lot of Broadway shows I completely agree with you, and they were before and after Rodgers and Hammerstein, filmed in versions that were totally different from their Broadway origins after all its two different mediums the stage and screen. I agree but with R&H shows you start to make too many changes and for me they don't make sense your going too far away from what they intended that show to be whether your making a film version , television version etc.
at the end of the day they wrote their shows so that they were hard to cut ,adapt etc from their originals on purpose, because they didn't want them changed dramatically/drastically. That is not to say as you point out that they should be a carbon copy of the stage version no they shouldn't.
Although I'm saying all this but what was the film version of 'My Fair Lady' which was successful enough, although I know it was criticised by some as being too much 'a carbon copy' of the stage version. Go figure. and of Course not everyone can/could afford to goes to the theatre to see these shows in their original form that another reason why Rodgers 7 Hammerstein wanted people to see as good a version of their Broadway stage shows as possible and a lot people only knew the R&H stage shows through their film versions and of course they started the success of the original cast album with 'Oklahoma!' in 1943 because then because the show was so successful even if people had tickets it took them years to be able to see it!!