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DVD Review HTF REVIEW: "West Side Story" Special edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

Gabe D

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 16, 2001
Messages
2,172
2nd disappointment: the movie seems to have sync problems, just a very slight audio out-of-sync. I put in the old WSS story DVD, and the syncing was perfect.
Can anybody else confirm this? I planned to upgrade, but after reading that I may just hold on to the old one.
 

DeeF

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
1,689
Gabe,

I have a plasma monitor, which may or may not be contributing to the sync problem. On a number of movies, the synching seems to be off, but on others, it's fine.
 

Seth Paxton

Senior HTF Member
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Nov 5, 1998
Messages
7,585
I haven't looked at the disc content yet, but the package is freaking awesome, including the raised lettering on the box and a big thick script/photo book to go with it.

I wish more SEs had this kind of packaging.

I'll try to watch the film and extras in the next few days to look for synch issues, etc.
 

William Miller

Second Unit
Joined
Feb 13, 2000
Messages
250
I did not notice any sync problem.

The first DVD had a great picture and great sound.

The new DVD has the same great picture and even better sound.

The documentary is fabulous including many rare behind the scenes footage shot during the New York filming. It's loaded with great information.

The phony intermission extra is worthless.

The packaging is great.

Yes, where was George Chakiris on the documentary?

The whistles are back but so is a very annoying UA logo at the beginning.

The lack of a commentary track makes this a little less "special" than it could have been.

I taped this movie off CBS on my Betamax in the late 70's.

Then I bought the Beta prerecorded tape.

Then I bought the Beta Hi-Fi Stereo tape.

Then I bought the VHS when I switched over.

Then I bought the MGM/UA laserdisc.

Then I bought the Criterion laserdisc.

Then I bought the first MGM/UA DVD.

Now I bought the new MGM/UA DVD.

I worship this movie but I am not buying any more versions....ever!!!!

(Unless maybe they come up with some outtakes or deleted scenes or.....oh, it's hopeless.)
 

Brian W.

Screenwriter
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Jul 29, 1999
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Brian
There was never a planned intermission. Robert Wise gave theaters an option to include one if they wished.
As I recall, the insert in the old Criterion CAV laserdisc said there WAS a theatrical intermission, but that Robert Wise had not intended one, so Criterion left it out on their laserdisc. It's also possible the intermission music was used overseas and not in the U.S. I don't think they just invented it for the DVD. Wish they'd had more info about that.

In fact, that was my only real bitch about the set -- they had some new material on it, but absolutely no info about that new material. For example, the animated trailer. Was that the teaser trailer? When was it released? They don't say. It's simply called "animated trailer." And the "theatrical trailer" appears to be a rerelease trailer with the title cards at the end blacked out. Why else would it say "West Side Story grows younger...again"?
 

Robert Harris

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Robert Harris
Notes in order opposite to posting:

1. "Ultraresolution" is not necessary for a high quality transfer.

2. WSS had no logo in original presentations.

3. Overtures, Intermission and End Playout music for roadshow releases was normally mixed at higher levels or with alternate versions to be used with curtains of differing audio transparencies so that the audio would remain at the same level with curtains closed.

RAH
 

Jefferson

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
979
Even if the extras aren't great and the bare-bones one costs much less?
YES.

Instead of "bare bones/film only",
I will
always prefer extras
like these:

A documentary with the films creators,
missing music, and a film script.

I find them to be enlightening, and they add to MY enjoyment of the film.

Actually,
I am bewildered by the threads
like "Who listens to commentaries?", and
"who really watches extras" that I see around
HTF
 

Mike Kelly

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 30, 2000
Messages
76
Regarding the lack of chemistry between Wood and Beymer, I thought I read once that Natalie Wood wanted her "Splendor in the Grass" co-star Warren Beatty to play Tony. Was this or other casting issues addressed in the documentary?
 

SteveP

Second Unit
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
274
Robert Wise has been quoted as saying that when looking at SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS they were initially checking out Warren Beatty as a possible Tony--and viewing that film first gave them the idea of Natalie Wood as Maria.

Don't know why they gave up on Beatty as Tony in favor of the choice of the almost universally unpopular Richard Beymer.
 

ScottR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2000
Messages
2,646
I'm confused by the Intermission on the dvd. First of all, the Intermission card is 1.85:1 instead of 2.2:1....wouldn't the Intermission card have been presented silently and then the music would come up for the Entr'acte? As it is on the dvd, the music comes up during the Intermission card, plays for a couple of minutes, and then silence.
 

DeeF

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
1,689
I believe the part of Tony was originally offered to Elvis Presley. When Elvis didn't work out, they tried everybody else they could think of (from the pop music world), including Pat Boone, Bobby Darin, Frankie Avalon!, and others. Beymer was about the last choice they made.
 

Jefferson

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
979
If Wise was quoted as saying he saw SPLENDOR perhaps he meant the rushes?...in the same way
he saw Julie Andrews in rushes of
Mary Poppins, before it was released...... to see
her suitablility for SOUND OF MUSIC?
 

Seth Paxton

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 1998
Messages
7,585
One thing about "hard" extras like books. You can browse them at the same time you are watching the DVD.

Now I don't mind if scripts, etc come in PDF format or Word as a ROM extra that I have to print, this doesn't mean I love it either of course, as long as there is an option to sort of look over this secondary material at the same time as I am watching the film.

I love docs, etc, but text extras are just so much nicer as hard extras. I can't stress that enough to any studio.
 

Gary Tooze

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2000
Messages
3,055
For any who might be interested I have compared screen caps of the MGM - Region 1 - NTSC "West Side Story" vs. MGM - Special Edition - Region 1 - NTSC and posted the bitrate charts for each DVD... it is basically the exacy same image.

http://www.compare.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,
 

Brian W.

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 29, 1999
Messages
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Real Name
Brian
First of all, the Intermission card is 1.85:1 instead of 2.2:1....
Well, the intermission CARD is something that was just created for the DVD, to let viewers know they don't have a defective disc. They did the same thing with the Gone With the Wind DVD, among others. In the theater, you'd know what was going on when the lights came up and the curtain closed, and the intermission music would play over that.
 

Brian W.

Screenwriter
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Brian
I believe the part of Tony was originally offered to Elvis Presley.
I haven't heard that before, but it wouldn't surprise me. I do remember hearing that Frank Sinatra wanted the part of Nicky Arnstein in "Funny Girl," but that Streisand wasn't too keen on the idea, wanting someone younger and handsomer.
 

DeeF

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
1,689
Marlon Brando also wanted the role of Tony. He was 34 and considered too old, but then, later, many of the parts were filled by people in their 30s! How old are Anita and Bernardo supposed to be, anyway?

The biggest surprise of the documentary on this disk is that Russ Tamblyn was actually dubbed by another actor in the movie, Tucker Smith, who is the singer of "Cool." When you listen to the original recording made by Russ, you can't really understand why they did this. Saul Chaplin is supposedly responsible for the dubbing, when the movie was in post-production.

Also, Sondheim says he suggested the switching of the order of the songs, but in other places, Ernest Lehman says he thought of it. While it does make dramatic sense, it puts the movie squarely into a linear straight jacket. On stage, "Cool" came before the rumble, to suggest that the tension of the Jets needed to be resolved, and "Officer Krupke" came after the Rumble, to suggest that the Jets really hadn't learned anything, and were the same mess as always. I think the stage version is a superior statement, but obviously theatrical, so perhaps it wouldn't have worked well in the film.

Another change was the movement of "I Feel Pretty" from the opening of the 2nd Act of the show, earlier, to when Tony comes to the dress shop. But "I Feel Pretty" always had a huge amount of nervous energy, because the audience already knows Bernardo and Riff are dead -- in other words, the audience knows something Maria and the other characters don't -- which is classic suspense. Now, the song is little more than a charming trifle for Maria, and seems to come too early in the film.
 

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