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

[Stephen PI]

Apologies, John The tests show that the distortion is not a product of the original optics, but rather, the decompression of the transfer R

Robert, is the distortion problem linked in any way to the problem illustrated below (from the MGM HD broadcast of "In the Heat of the Night"), after all this is another MGM mastering job:

I don't understand how a transfer can get out looking like this.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Saw this on TV recently, it was exactly as noted by Mr Harris in his first post. Quote in bold below.

There does seem to be a problem with the image being overly stretched horizontally, but once this reaches the studio level, I presume replacement discs will be made available.

My question is a simple one, has this been fixed yet, if it hasn't been fixed, why. ?

 

[Keith Cobby]

I couldn't wait any longer and have bought the UK release. It's not quite perfect but overall it is an excellent blu-ray. This was the first western I watched as a child (on television) and was allowed to stay up late. I remember it being a long film and a great one. Every time I watch it my appreciation for it increases.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

As has been reported on this forum (mainly in the Aspect Ratio thread) the UK & US discs are identical in having the wrong unsqueeze factor. Not everyone can see it and having bought the US version I mistaken trusted the judgement of somebody writing on Amazon UK and also ordered the UK one. Then, after I'd ordered, he (another buyer) finally understood what he was looking at.

How can a major company entrust work to a person lacking the general knowledge of formats that could be learned simply by reading the American Widescreen Museum pages?

As months after purchasers of the US version reported the problem the UK version was issued unchanged the chances of rectification & replacement are as encouraging as the distance I could throw The Big Muddy.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

I don't know how my profile has changed to call me a Stunt Coordinator. It is not only far from Damascus but impossibly far from the truth. I've tried to change it back to Sound Engineer but have failed.

 

[Ken Volok]

How did distortion ever get past QC? Bored intern?? And if they're bored by that film they have no business in the business!

 

[Ken Volok]

I don't know how my profile has changed to call me a Stunt Coordinator. It is not only far from Damascus but impossibly far from the truth. I've tried to change it back to Sound Engineer but have failed.

It's in fun, I'm also a site "Stunt Coordinator" and while I've coordinated stunts, I've done so as director. I haven't won three real life Oscars either but I'm stoked on my HTF three.

 

[TonyD]

Whatever happened to NealG who said he would post screen shots and comparisons?

Anyway I doubt this was ever fixed, probably not important enough or noticable enough of an error for them to care.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Anyway I doubt this was ever fixed, probably not important enough or noticable enough of an error for them to care.

I bought the fixed edition.

You can also buy it, just not "officially" and yes i think the original release is bad and the fault is noticeable.

 

[nealg]

Whatever happened to NealG who said he would post screen shots and comparisons?

Here is a Picasa link to what I did at that time: Big Country Comparisons.

These are photos of the TCM and blu-ray images off my display. The size of the frames do not match because TCM windowboxed their image; I did not change camera position or framing to compensate for the discrepancy. I know, not ideal, which is why I did not share them. The images are for comparison of the stretch/squeeze only--no attempt was made to match color or contrast.

Robert Harris suggested that I use the screen shots at the "other" website and match my TCM grabs. A technical snag made it difficult for me to do that, so I never followed through. Then, time passed and others could see the error, so I let it go.

 

[nealg]

I bought the fixed edition.

You can also buy it, just not "officially" and yes i think the original release is bad and the fault is noticeable.

"Fixed" edition? Please elaborate.

 

[John Hermes]

I bought the fixed edition.

You can also buy it, just not "officially" and yes i think the original release is bad and the fault is noticeable.

I'd like to see them fix the color breathing (flicker) which is way more bothersome to me than the distorted perspective.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

yes, please elaborate on the fixed edition. I noticed the incorrect stretch as soon as I viewed The Big Country and maybe I'm particularly sensitive to this, but it really bugged me ..
If there's a 'fixed' edition I'll buy it immediately! But as far as I'm aware, the UK edition is the same as the US.

 

[Robin9]

I don't know how my profile has changed to call me a Stunt Coordinator. It is not only far from Damascus but impossibly far from the truth. I've tried to change it back to Sound Engineer but have failed.

I've now become a screenwriter!

 

[sonomatom1]

Ok, guys, it's been a couple of years now. So what's the verdict - did MGM ever fix the distortion issues, and reissue a new blu-ray (and, if so, how can a wise consumer know which edition to purchase)?

 

[TonyD]

I bought the fixed edition. You can also buy it, just not "officially" and yes i think the original release is bad and the fault is noticeable.

Still hasn't answered to this yet.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

The error has never been corrected in an official version. The horizontal streching is there in every US and international ecition.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Sorry, edition!

 

[FoxyMulder]

Still hasn't answered to this yet.

I answered by private PM, unfortunately the "fix" is not available via any "official" release.

 

[nealg]

I answered by private PM, unfortunately the "fix" is not available via any "official" release.

Sorry, but the image can't be "fixed" if it is derived from the blu-ray. The distortion can be corrected, but there's no way to restore the missing picture information on the sides. And then the aspect ratio couldn't be corrected without shaving some off the top and bottom.

Again, the TCM print has no distortion, more picture information on the sides, and is in the proper aspect ratio. You can see my IMPERFECT COMPARISON HERE.