DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Wizard Of Oz - Three-Disc Collector's Edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Roger Rollins]

:rolleyes

 

[ScottR]

You know, people can be misunderstanding all they want to, but I have the perfect right to say that I want my favorite movie unaltered. Despite this fact, I am loving this set...it's just something I will notice everytime I watch it, because I have seen the film some 200 times.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

ScottR wrote:



I'm totally in agreement with you Scott. Preserving the original theatrical performance is extremely important and IMO, it's important to point out the error in the deletion.

In the 1950's, as a kid, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to record the audio portion of the "Wizard Of Oz", one of the special nights of the year it was telecast, and I would listen to that tape every night for months. As a result, at the next years telecast, everyone in my family was amazed that I was able to know every word, duplicating the nuances and emotions.

The above was just a kid thing, but it helped me realize that Uncle Henry, putting Toto into Miss Gulch's basket and Dorothy saying "Oh, Toto. Don't..." was a moment of young Judy Garland's acting genius, putting herself in the character of Dorothy, imagining the emotion of the realization she was going to lose Toto - "OH! Toto:frowning:, and with the emotion of a child's helpless nuance of a whimper to Uncle Henry - "Don't...":frowning:.

A moment of child's great acting, cut out, no one else will be able to experience. :frowning:

Paul

P.S. After viewing this DVD with a DLP projector on a (16X9) 110” screen (Don’t know what the diagonal inch measurement for the 1.37:1 picture on it was.), I have to say that the clarity and color was outstanding! Just like I remembered it at the movies. A reference quality disc effort!

 

[Mike Frezon]

I think I've seen every post in this thread since its inception. One question I haven't seen...and I almost hate to bring it up...

I purchased the 2-discer. It did not have an insert listing chapter stops. Did anyone get an insert? The only paper in mine was an ad/promotion for Turner Classic Movies.

Did the 3-discer have one? Seems a shame the two-disc set did not. The 1999 WB snapper had all the chapter stops listed. I guess I could just make a scan of that...if they match up.

There was a brief discussion earlier about a slipcase and how some 2-disc back covers did not list contents. My copy had no slipcase...but did contain a listing of all the various features/specs included on the two-discs within.

 

[Eric Peterson]

The 3-disc set has a chapter listing on the fold-out, and quite a listing it is. I think there is something close to 40 chapters.

 

[DouglasBr]

The lack of inserts has been my only gripe about WB's move from the digipak for the 2-disc special editions. Seven Brides, Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, Chariots of Fire -- all are in keepcases with no inserted material. I don't recall if any of them have chapter listings on the outer slipcases.

(prepares for thrown stones)

I think I prefer the older packaging, in the absence of inserts with (at least) chapter listings.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Quoting myself:



One flaw I forgot to mention.

Did anyone else notice in the ending B&W segment, where Dorothy is laying on the bed with the towel over her forehead; the piece of hair fluttering on the bottom of the center of the screen, right on Dorothy's elbow? It stayed there the whole scene. It's very noticeable on a large screen and I was just hoping that the projectionist would take an air blower and blow it out of there!

It makes you feel like it's in your projector! Now it's there for posterity.:frowning:

Paul

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I was wondering about that piece of lens-fuz too...while they were removing scratches and print damage...why not that as well? It's EXTREMELY distracting and I hardley think it's a "director approved" artifact.

 

[CraigF]

I am not exactly sure of the 2-disc slipcase question, but yes it does list the contents, unlike the cover (the rare slipcase that actually has a use). Around here, this disc is hard to find. Low stock I guess, and not promoted like the 3-disc.

 

[rich_d]

Yes it is puzzling as to why this wasn't fixed. It is there for a while as it is not the shortest of cuts. Well I guess there is always the HD version. Or will it stay and just look highly defined?

 

[ScottR]

I don't have a problem with it because it was always there...I do have a problem with what I mentioned above, because it was always there, and was changed.

 

[rich_d]

How do you know it was always there?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Sometimes stagnant artifacts are not worth touching up because they'll look worse.

The hair at the bottom was either photographed in-camera or there when the fine-grain positives were made of the B&W segments (the negatives were lost, unlike the Technicolor bulk of the film). If it's there for an entire shot, there's nothing that it can be replaced with, other than a guess by using nearby pixels. So, it's either... accept the hair being photographed-in or replace it with picture information that wasn't originally there.

 

[Brenton]

I just watched the promo for this DVD which is linked to that ad thing at the top of the main HTF page. Did anyone else watch it? Did anyone else notice that they show a photo of Oz illustrator W. W. Denslow and identify him as L. Frank Baum? Yeah that kind of ticked me off.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Sorry, Craig...but I'm a little confused by your post. Are you saying your 2-disc had a slipcase and that there was no listing of contents on the back of the cover of the amaray case?

In other words, your back cover did NOT look like this?



This cover (from DVDEmpire) is similar to mine. Keep in mind, I did NOT have a slipcover. Mine has a full-body-length-image of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion (no Glinda). They are holding hands on the yellow brick road. The box which contains the contents of Discs 1 & 2 are the same...but the contents are set differently. Most everything else seems the same...except, of course, there is a sku on my copy.

Your copy--with the slipcase--didn't have a chapter list insert, did it?

 

[CraigF]

Mike, sorry for more confusion, I was confused before too. I think the prob may be the use of terms slipcover/slipcase/cover.

So...the cardboard outer thing that you didn't get: mine looks just like your pic, except with a cutout for the UPC.

My Amaray back cover insert sounds like yours, front of slipcover matches front of Amaray.

I haven't opened it yet, may exchange for the 3-disc.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Gotcha. So the image above is the back of the cardboard sleeve/slipcase/slipcover!

Its weird that they put the credits for the doc on the back cover of the Amaray, but not on the back of the slipcase cover.

Ah well. Worse though is the lack of chapter list/insert. I realize the two-disc set is a bargain...but a chapter list for a film like this is practically a "must".

Maybe someone could post an image of the 3-discer's chapter list? :b

 

[ScottR]

Can someone check the scene in question on a previous, non-WB version? It may very well be an edit stutter mistake that they indeed fixed. I can't tell.

 

[Claus Nielsen]

I don't think it's stutter. I am holding on to my old MGM disc for that reason. It does indeed sound like "Oh Toto, don't".

Here is a script. (I don't know how it is).

 

[ScottR]

I think they meant well, but they probably made a mistake by taking it out, which is unfortunate.