ITV (UK) Blu-ray-titles coming (e.g. "The Boys from Brazil", "Great Expectations") (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Cees and Willy,

Thanks for the information.

 

[Rachael B]

....except if a Wee-jun Bee type BD has extras in PAL like ITV's Great Expectations. I can hear it but can't see it. I know a few brands of plasmas in North American will display PAL. Most of us cannot unless we use converters.

I have a fistful of ITV titles and the documentary on Great Expectations is the only PAL on any of the discs. The other have nothing more than a trailer though.

This is the only pitfall for us in NTSC "federation".

 

[Stephen PI]

I just bought "Brief Encounter" and it is region locked.

 

[Rachael B]

Locked, I hope this isn't a trend. ITV has been my fav imports. Wee-jun Kodes need to go visit the Dodos at where-ever, where ever it is, extinct haven.

 

[Johnny Angell]

A little OT, but Ron, I've got to ask, where did you get the Joker Cat?

 

[Tim Glover]

Boys From Brazil does look pretty good...if not a tad too clean. I know DNR gets alot of hyperbole though. I've seen much worse examples but BFB looks like more like video than film. Still a good film. (didn't quite age well for me though as I remember seeing such a long time ago)

Also, this was the first import that had some lip synch issues and what looked like some PAL speedup. I realize PAL is not an issue for Blu-ray but that's the way it looked a few times on my parents setup...Panasonic BD30.

Great Expectations appears to be very faithful to what I remember all those years ago. Film grain in intact and looks like film.

Well done.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Actually, saw someone on another forum I frequent using it and
I liked it so much that I chose to use it as well.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I asked because to some degree it reflects the personality of a cat. I have several I love very much but there is a bit of an anarchist in a cat

OK, back on topic.

 

[Danny_N]

I hope it's an indication that Criterion will release it in the not too distant future. I watched the ITV release last week and the picture quality is not what it could be due to the applied DNR. It's a pity because the restoration comparison (in 1080p) that is an extra on the disc does not show any DNR for the restored segments so this could have been a stunning release if they had not thought they could do even better with applying unnecessary DNR. The result is a mediocre BD and I have no doubt that Criterion will do much better.

 

[Danny_N]

ITV will release Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes on June 29 in the UK.

 

[Rachael B]

I got The Ipcress File this week. It doesn't look DNR'ed to death. There's plenty of natural looking grain. The audio was suprisinlgy good for a mid-60's film. I also got Zulu but that's a Paramount U.K. title....

 

[John Hodson]

But only, it seems, as a HMV exclusive; the new restoration sounds blissful.

 

[Rachael B]

I preordered The Red Shoes from Amazonia U.K. Well, that didn't last long. They just notified me that the BD was canceled.

 

[ChristianLiemke]

The BD is coming, but it's only availabble from HMV, so amazon had to cancel your order.

 

[Rachael B]

Aye, I found it on HMV's site, which I've never ordered from before. Amazon's e-mail implied that the disc was outright canceled. Thanks for the tip!

 

[John Hodson]

Olivier's Hamlet and the recently restored Henry V (which should look fabulous), plus Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and the remake of All Quiet on The Western Front are being released on October 12th by ITV DVD.

 

[BillyFeldman]

A little more info might be pleasant - like region-free or locked or a link.

 

[Rachael B]

Originally Posted by BillyFeldman

A little more info might be pleasant - like region-free or locked or a link.

Well, none have been Wee-jun locked so far. Great Expectations did have PAL extras. Most of their BD's have had no extras or just a trailer anyway. I don't think iTV will lock unless forced to by somebody like, say, Fox or Disney.

 

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by BillyFeldman

A little more info might be pleasant - like region-free or locked or a link.

It would be pleasant, but there simply is no more information. There is no news on region coding at this stage, but you'll find these available for pre-ordering at several UK etailers including Amazon.co.uk
Edited by John Hodson - 8/9/2009 at 12:25 pm GMT

 

[BillyFeldman]

I don't think that's quite accurate - I got some Brit film (David Lean, I think) that was locked - I can't remember which film, since I got rid of it, but it was definitely Brit, definitely late 40s/early 50s, and definitely locked. I have all the ITV region-frees and was surprised by it.