It’s been that price since Amazon started price matching B&N’s July sale.
No, that was the 4K half price. The Blu-ray is $19.99.
I ordered Double Indemnity yesterday (got $10 for completing the Amazon Prime stamps), so it came to about $15. It should show up today. Gave my wife my old BD copy to sell. You'll love the film, Ron.
Okay, over the last couple of days I've spent a lot of time watching "Double Indemnity". I watched the 2014 70th Anniversary Blu-ray release in its entirety while listening to Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman's audio commentary. Man, I really miss Nick.
Also, I watched the 4K/Dolby Vision disc in its entirety. I then did several comparisons between the two discs. Of course, the 4K is more detailed than the 2014 Blu-ray. Furthermore, the dark scenes on the 4K disc look much sharper than the Blu-ray when it came to blacks and shadows. Let's remember this movie has several dark sequences in it and the overall look of the film has several spectacular scenes in which the lighting was purposely manipulated to reduce lighting. All in all, the 4K disc is an improvement, but not as great as I thought prior to watching both discs.
Robert, what did you think in terms of comparing the new Criterion Blu with the 2014. Though I wouldn't say the difference is necessarily revelatory, I'm really glad I bought the disk. I found it more detailed, especially the darker sequences. And though I did think the 2014 Blu was extraordinary when it first appeared, the specifics of the lighting are much superior in the Criterion IMO. It's a real pleasure to watch. And I even liked the way Barbara Stanwyck's wig was lit, which always bothered me before, but on the Criterion, it fits the lighting scheme and the way she's visualized beautifully.Okay, over the last couple of days I've spent a lot of time watching "Double Indemnity". I watched the 2014 70th Anniversary Blu-ray release in its entirety while listening to Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman's audio commentary. Man, I really miss Nick.
By the way, what a great film with some of the best written dialogue in any movie. There is no way this film should have lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Going My Way". The Crosby film is good, but it's not in "Double Indemnity" class. Furthermore, the movie featured three great acting performances. There is little doubt in my mind that Barbara Stanwyck was the best actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I just love the way she would look at the other actors during their scenes together. Edward G. was marvelous especially in those film sequences in which he had long stretches of dialogue. MacMurray against type was at the top of his game too.
The following bonus material is really enlightening and should be viewed by those really interested in this great film and those involved with this movie. The Shadows of Suspense is an older featurette that was on previous home video releases. However, it was good to watch it again. The Muller and Smith discussion is new and was obviously filmed at two different locations for each person, but I found it very informative. IMO, these two individuals are the most knowledgeable "film noir" experts and I love listening to the both of them speak about film noir.
Blu-ray Disc 1
Words, Words, Words (17:19) – Film scholar Noah Isenberg looks at Billy Wilder’s time as a newspaper reporter prior to entering the film industry in this new interview.
Eddie Muller & Imogen Sara Smith on Double Indemnity (31:23) – The two film historians talk about why the movie is considered the quintessential film noir as well as being the genre’s genesis point in this newly filmed conversation.
Shadows of Suspense (37:57) – This 2006 featurette looks at how the movie was made; featuring interviews with Muller, James Ellroy, William Friedkin, Alain Silver and Dr. Drew Casper, just to name a few.
TBH, I purposely avoided playing the new Blu-ray as I spent enough time with Double Indemnity” at the expense of not watching other new discs I just received. Furthermore, I’ll probably never watch that Blu-ray because my preference would be to watch the 4K disc for any future viewings of Double Indemnity.
The new master Criterion uses has even less print damage (speckles and flicker at the sides of the frame), than the 2014 master. I agree with Robert Crawford, in that the 4K UHD, as always, resolves the natural film grain better than the blu-ray does - which is better for fine detail, in the scenes which have them. However, as Ron Epstein writes, there are plenty of scenes, where there is little detail, probably due to limitations in the source elements.
This 4K disc couldn't be derived from the OCN. A fine grain master was used and for some scenes probably a dupe neg. This is the best it's ever going to look on home video.
Okay, over the last couple of days I've spent a lot of time watching "Double Indemnity". I watched the 2014 70th Anniversary Blu-ray release in its entirety while listening to Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman's audio commentary. Man, I really miss Nick.
By the way, what a great film with some of the best written dialogue in any movie. There is no way this film should have lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Going My Way". The Crosby film is good, but it's not in "Double Indemnity" class. Furthermore, the movie featured three great acting performances. There is little doubt in my mind that Barbara Stanwyck was the best actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I just love the way she would look at the other actors during their scenes together. Edward G. was marvelous especially in those film sequences in which he had long stretches of dialogue. MacMurray against type was at the top of his game too.
The following bonus material is really enlightening and should be viewed by those really interested in this great film and those involved with this movie. The Shadows of Suspense is an older featurette that was on previous home video releases. However, it was good to watch it again. The Muller and Smith discussion is new and was obviously filmed at two different locations for each person, but I found it very informative. IMO, these two individuals are the most knowledgeable "film noir" experts and I love listening to the both of them speak about film noir.
Blu-ray Disc 1
Words, Words, Words (17:19) – Film scholar Noah Isenberg looks at Billy Wilder’s time as a newspaper reporter prior to entering the film industry in this new interview.
Eddie Muller & Imogen Sara Smith on Double Indemnity (31:23) – The two film historians talk about why the movie is considered the quintessential film noir as well as being the genre’s genesis point in this newly filmed conversation.
Shadows of Suspense (37:57) – This 2006 featurette looks at how the movie was made; featuring interviews with Muller, James Ellroy, William Friedkin, Alain Silver and Dr. Drew Casper, just to name a few.
