DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: How the West Was Won: Ultimate Collector's Edition (2 Viewers)

[RolandL]

For a comparison of the new to the old dvd - New Page 1

 

[Stephen_J_H]

That's really impressive, Roland. I can't wait to see captures from the SmileBox BD.

 

[DennisBassi]

The really sad thing about not making the extras consistent, is that I am going to buy the ultimate collection for the physical extras (lobby cards, etc) and the blu ray for the high definition. I had to do this with Rio Bravo and The Searchers as well. Call me a chump and the powers to be a Warners geniuses....

 

[Mark-P]

I don't think anybody has pointed this out, but those of us who have screens with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio may actually prefer the flat version to the smilebox as the smilebox can't accommodate the full screen width. See picture below.

 

[GerardoHP]

How on Earth did they manage that without completely changing the picture?

 

[GerardoHP]

Did anyone go to the Dome to see the show today? Were the lines less visible than before in this restored versions? Any other observations?

 

[Rob_Ray]

I was there sitting in row P center in the lower balcony. The print looked to be the same one screened at the earlier engagement a few years back. Not bad at all, but the lines were almost always in evidence and the colors between panels seldom matched. But that's the way the film has always looked so no complaints here. I'll actually miss Jimmy Stewart's double-printed hairline if it's airbrushed away in digital copies. Horizons were always kept in sync (special kudos to the man overseeing the screen-right panel. He seemed to have more work to do in this area).

I'm sure others will weigh-in about the sound. I'm sure the sound engineer's hair is greyer this morning than it was before the screening. We in the audience could hear a mild buzz as soon as the equipment was turned on, even before the film started. There was audio distortion on the high end during the overture although it still sounded impressive despite that. However, when I heard Spencer Tracy's voice sounding a bit muffled, I knew they were having trouble in the booth. Something wrong with the high end. Several minutes into the first half, it seemed like the those top-end frequencies came back but at the same time, a bird-like noise came with it and that bird hung around through the rest of the film.

At the break, there was obviously a lot of scrambling going on in the booth, with sound tests being heard in the auditorium, and the first few minutes of the second half sounded a lot better, but the bird came back and built a nest for the remainder of the film.

But everyone had a terrific time nonetheless. Kudos to Dave S. and everyone else for doing everything they could to make it the best it could be given the circumstances. Alfred Newman's score usually drowned out the bird and packed the same wallop it always does. Dialogue was always legible, if a bit weaker on the edges with bleed-through to the surrounds.

The train wreck received an impressive ovation, as did the entrances of the stars in attendance, Russ Tamblyn and Stanley Livingston. Gregory Peck's family left at the interval, but that was understandable since he's only in the first half.

Afterward, we lunched across the street at a restaurant managed by one of John Wayne's grandsons. Even though he's on Arclight's mailing list, he had no idea HTWWW was being screened. Once again, it's as if Arclight wanted to keep this screening a secret.

 

[Charles H]

Is there any mention--or better yet--demo of WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM in the documentary CINERAMA ADVENTURE?

 

[GerardoHP]

Thanks, Rob, that's a very kind response to my question. I kept kicking myself last night for not attending when I considered they might have shown a completely restored piece, but it sounds like they showed the same print as before.

 

[RolandL]

I don't have the HTWWW dvd yet but, I do have a pre-release copy of Cinerama Adventure and I remember a Cinerama trailer for WWOTBG being on it.

 

[Lord Dalek]

IIRC the original Cinerama elements for Brothers Grimm would require massive amounts of restoration work to make watchable again.

 

[Bradley-E]

I have the Blu Ray and the "Smilebox" presentation is fantastic.

 

[Greg_M]

What about the 35mm print of WWFBG - could that at least be used for a standard DVD release?

 

[Bob Cashill]

Dave Kehr at The New York Times weighs in (he gave up on the Smilebox version):

New DVDs: How the West Was Won | davekehr.com

 

[AdrianTurner]

A couple of years ago Bradford's Widescreen Film Festival (UK) came up with a clip from TWWOTBG in Cinerama - perfect, razor-sharp definition, lustrous colour quality. Problem was, only one panel had survived. But that's the miracle of Cinerama - it's like pan-and-scan, only better, so if two panels have been destroyed, there's always something left (or right, or center) to look at! Before everyone goes gooey and silly over Grimm, let's all be deeply thankful that it's HTWWW that survived and not the other one.

 

[Steve Christou]

Thanks for the link -


Hmmm it looked like it'll be distracting from the screenshots posted here. Looking forward to my SD-DVD edition.

 

[Thomas T]

Does any one know if the footage of Hope Lange still exists? Apparently she was Henry Fonda's romantic interest in the film but her role was cut out of the final print. I'm assuming not since it would have made a perfect "special feature" for the set.

 

[GerardoHP]

I just watched the Smilebox version.

WOW. This is the most amazing DVD I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of DVD's.

First, the transfer is nothing short of amazing. I've seen HTWWW in Cinerama several times, in Dayton, at Bradford and LA. The movie has never looked cleaner. The blend lines have been diminished to the point where the image never doubles and the color matches almost always perfectly, but they have not been vanished, which IMO is PERFECT. I wanted this to look like Cinerama, to be reminded of the 3 panels, and the 3 panels are still there. WOW.

The color looks the closest to the IB Technicolor print I saw at Dayton. This is most noticeable in the saloon scenes where the ladies' costumes just pop.
WOW, WOW, WOW.

And for anyone who says the Smilebox is distracting, I can only say, they don't understand Cinerama. This is the closest a giant format movie has ever looked to its original, on video.

What just blows me away is that the distortions inherent to Cinerama are gone -- horizons don't break even when the camera is twirling. How in the world did they do that?!

Just one problem -- my Letterbox version skips badly. Is anyone else having this problem with their Blu-ray? (Not that I'm terribly worried, because I intend to watch the Smilebox only, but I'd like the other version to work, too).

Thanks.

 

[Robert Crawford]

 

[RolandL]

I have a comparison of a 3-strip Cinerama frame to the TCM broadcast and the old laser disc of the WWOTBG. The picture quality is not that good as its from VHS copied to DVD-R and then uploaded to the web site - wwotbgld