I agree wholeheartedly about the exclusion of Silver River. They forgot to make it a five film set! Four films my patootie! To hell with it, I'm buying it anyway. Warner Bros'.! MORE Errol Flynn, dammit!
I was shocked to see that the smilebox is exclusive to Blu-Ray - that seems like it's a big slap in the face to customers who've been very loyal to Warners over the years. A bad mistake, I think, as I will now not pick up the standard DVD issue. I have been a staunch supporter of Warners, but with this move they've really lost me as a customer. It's just not right.
I would guess that the rationale behind this would be that Bd users would be expected to be the more hardcore HT types, having on average larger displays for one thing. Still it's kind of odd they didn't include it as a bonus in the $60 UCE. I wouldn't be suprised to see that happen after all- there is still almost 4 months to go. 2.89:1 is going to be brutal on most 'average' sized displays. I'm going to be interested to see the reaction to this. Also, since smilebox isn't a consistent dimension, I wonder if the 2.89:1 is equivilent to the center screen height or the larger end heights?
First let me say I'm ecstatic over this release. I've been waiting a long time for a good remastered effort, and the elimination of seam-lines is just icing on the cake.
Now what I totally don't get, is this silly obsession so many of you have over the "smilebox" format. It's one thing to see Cinerama in all its curved-screen glory, but to try and simulate that on DVD? It's just stupid. It makes a ridiculously distorted picture and compromises a lot of resolution in the center. Why anybody would want to watch a movie in smilebox is beyond me. Mini-rant over.
I think we are going to see more and more of this as studios try to push Blu-Ray. One sure way to get consumers to take the Blu-Ray plunge is to offer content exclusive to that format.
I fear you are right, but to me that is an admission that the higher resolution audio and video of blu-ray isn't enough to motivate adoption of the new format.
I've got a better way to entice people to buy a blu-ray player - drop the price of the discs so they are the same as SD-DVD.
Having seen an extended sample of the smilebox I assure you that is no more unnatural than letterbox. One gets used to it. Since it is an option for people who want it and not mandatory nobody is going to feel deprived. Also let's not overstate the resolution issue. It looks fine to me and I'm pickier with WHV than most of you.
All Cinerama films should be released to home video with a smilebox option. Now.
I agree. The last two Flynn boxsets were five films each so this one should also mirror that. I also do think Silver River was omitted. I mean $49.95 for 4 films? Should be 5. Bring on Signature Collection Volume 4! Or it would be Volume 3 since this is just a Western Collection. MORE Errol Flynn on DVD dammit! I'll buy them!
Vol 1 and Vol 2 for Errol Flynn were enough for me. My least favorite in those box sets was Dodge city as I'm not much of a western fan except for a few that star Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck or James Stewart. I actually cancelled out a pre-order for the MGM Day of the Outlaw after seeing it recently on tcm. I would say that I am at least 90 percent less of a western fan than most people that post on this forum. I did recently watch for the first time and liked The Wild Bunch but you really can't go wrong with any western that John Wayne disliked.
Posted by Richard--W: Having only seen screenshots, I am leery of this format. However, as long as it is an option and not a requirement, I am OK with it. I'd like to see it in action, though.
The Museum of Modern Art in NYC showed the "Cinerama Adventure" documentary recently, and much of it was in Smilebox. I have to say it was awfully close to the real thing, minus the immense scale, of course. I've seen "How the West Was Won" in Cinerama 4 times, so I'm really happy about the Smilebox edition. All I have to do now is buy a Blu-Ray player before August 26th ...
I also suspect that SILVER RIVER will be included in the set. Although they would have to "pigeon hole" market it in a Show Biz bio set (THE HELEN MORGAN STORY, LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING, SO THIS IS LOVE, THE STORY OF WILL ROGERS), I'd love to see them bring out TOO MUCH, TOO SOON in any context. Flynn as John Barrymore in the clips from TOO MUCH, TOO SOON in "The Adventures of Errol Flynn" looked fascinating!!