haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
Yes, I know there's another thread and it's a really good one. But I got lucky and got the Blu-ray and watched tonight and there was no way I wasn't going to give this its own thread, just so it doesn't get lost.
You all know I am one picky person about color. For me, not having correct color is the ruination of a transfer for me (or even a fading or faded print). I don't know why color isn't, for example, as important as sound to devotees of Blu-ray. They will scream if a 1940s movie has a lossy soundtrack, like anyone could tell the difference between it and lossless in a blind listening test – they could not, they’d just be guessing (not talking about modern sound). They will scream if they perceive the ratio is off a millimeter or if the top of hair is cut off at the top of the frame when that's most likely the way the shot was framed. But they will usually not say a word about color. This I will never understand. If a movie is a color film, then the color is part of that film's emotional landscape and is as important as every other element. So, yes, if a movie has off color then I am not involved in the film as I should be, I am at a distance, just as I would be with lousy sound, milky black-and-white, incorrect ratio, or whatever.
I was so excited when the laserdisc came out, and so disappointed in the color I could barely watch it, even though I was grateful to finally see the longer version. I have a long history with the film. I fell in love with it when I saw it on its opening night at the Picwood Theater in Westwood with not too many people in the audience, and I stayed in love with it on the six or seven subsequent viewings during its brief run there - I kept dragging everyone I knew to see it. Then the DVD of The Boy Friend came out and while it was better, the color was still way off, too brown, and nothing like the eye-popping color the film should have. In fact, I began to doubt my sanity about the color, and feared I'd never be able to have people finally say, "Gee, you were right." Well, I was. I also liked the film less and less with those brown viewings.
Tonight I watched the new Blu-ray of this wonderful film and from the first shot, the close-up of Twiggy, I knew I was in for a treat, and I knew the film had absolutely perfect color, the same bold Technicolor-like color I'd seen back in 1971 at the Picwood. And as the film went on, I was suddenly and completely involved, completely enraptured - everything worked better because it looked RIGHT. I can't say enough about this perfect transfer. And the sound - the film was released in mono here and to hear this with glorious stereo is De Thrill, if you get my meaning. As to the transfer, the detail is incredible, the contrast is incredible, it's rock-solid, and sparkles like the diamond it is.
And today, the film absolutely looks like a masterpiece. Ken Russell's decision to make it a show within a movie was brilliant - in 1971 had MGM made a straight film of the musical people would have run from the theater screaming (sadly, the film that Russell did make was a box-office disaster here in the US, but did well elsewhere). His concept works beautifully. The cast is superb. Twiggy is so endearing and lovable and perfect as Polly and the ASM. Tommy Tune looks so impossibly young and is so charming and what a dancer. But the entire cast is incredible - you just don't have people like Max Adrian, Bryan Pringle, Murray Melvin or any of these kinds of actors, really. And then you get Glenda Jackson, whose cameo is hilarious.
But what really shines through are the unique and stunning arrangements/orchestrations of Peter Maxwell Davies - his work is simply stupendous (and his musical supervisor, Peter Greenwell, is hilarious as the pit pianist with the endless falling ashes) - and boy do they sound great on this Blu-ray. The costumes of Shirley Russell are fantabulous, and the sets of Tony Walton - I don't know that I've ever seen more inventive, breathtaking, and JOYFUL sets in a movie. He should have won an Oscar. But then he would have to have been nominated. The film should have been up for everything that year – it was nominated for one music award, which it lost to Fiddler on the Roof.
So, the bottom line is you will want this. You will want this now. You will want this before now. You will not want to be silly and wait for two dollars off. You can thank me and Robert A. Harris later.
You all know I am one picky person about color. For me, not having correct color is the ruination of a transfer for me (or even a fading or faded print). I don't know why color isn't, for example, as important as sound to devotees of Blu-ray. They will scream if a 1940s movie has a lossy soundtrack, like anyone could tell the difference between it and lossless in a blind listening test – they could not, they’d just be guessing (not talking about modern sound). They will scream if they perceive the ratio is off a millimeter or if the top of hair is cut off at the top of the frame when that's most likely the way the shot was framed. But they will usually not say a word about color. This I will never understand. If a movie is a color film, then the color is part of that film's emotional landscape and is as important as every other element. So, yes, if a movie has off color then I am not involved in the film as I should be, I am at a distance, just as I would be with lousy sound, milky black-and-white, incorrect ratio, or whatever.
I was so excited when the laserdisc came out, and so disappointed in the color I could barely watch it, even though I was grateful to finally see the longer version. I have a long history with the film. I fell in love with it when I saw it on its opening night at the Picwood Theater in Westwood with not too many people in the audience, and I stayed in love with it on the six or seven subsequent viewings during its brief run there - I kept dragging everyone I knew to see it. Then the DVD of The Boy Friend came out and while it was better, the color was still way off, too brown, and nothing like the eye-popping color the film should have. In fact, I began to doubt my sanity about the color, and feared I'd never be able to have people finally say, "Gee, you were right." Well, I was. I also liked the film less and less with those brown viewings.
Tonight I watched the new Blu-ray of this wonderful film and from the first shot, the close-up of Twiggy, I knew I was in for a treat, and I knew the film had absolutely perfect color, the same bold Technicolor-like color I'd seen back in 1971 at the Picwood. And as the film went on, I was suddenly and completely involved, completely enraptured - everything worked better because it looked RIGHT. I can't say enough about this perfect transfer. And the sound - the film was released in mono here and to hear this with glorious stereo is De Thrill, if you get my meaning. As to the transfer, the detail is incredible, the contrast is incredible, it's rock-solid, and sparkles like the diamond it is.
And today, the film absolutely looks like a masterpiece. Ken Russell's decision to make it a show within a movie was brilliant - in 1971 had MGM made a straight film of the musical people would have run from the theater screaming (sadly, the film that Russell did make was a box-office disaster here in the US, but did well elsewhere). His concept works beautifully. The cast is superb. Twiggy is so endearing and lovable and perfect as Polly and the ASM. Tommy Tune looks so impossibly young and is so charming and what a dancer. But the entire cast is incredible - you just don't have people like Max Adrian, Bryan Pringle, Murray Melvin or any of these kinds of actors, really. And then you get Glenda Jackson, whose cameo is hilarious.
But what really shines through are the unique and stunning arrangements/orchestrations of Peter Maxwell Davies - his work is simply stupendous (and his musical supervisor, Peter Greenwell, is hilarious as the pit pianist with the endless falling ashes) - and boy do they sound great on this Blu-ray. The costumes of Shirley Russell are fantabulous, and the sets of Tony Walton - I don't know that I've ever seen more inventive, breathtaking, and JOYFUL sets in a movie. He should have won an Oscar. But then he would have to have been nominated. The film should have been up for everything that year – it was nominated for one music award, which it lost to Fiddler on the Roof.
So, the bottom line is you will want this. You will want this now. You will want this before now. You will not want to be silly and wait for two dollars off. You can thank me and Robert A. Harris later.
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