JUDGEMENT IN NUREMBERG...Why? (1 Viewer)

[Chuck L]

From DVDFile:
Rounding out today's news is MGM Home Entertainment's September slate of catalog announcements, which will focus on some of Hollywood's most acclaimed classics. Streeting on September 7th are: Judgment at Nuremberg, Blithe Spirit, Brief Encounter, the 1946 version of Great Expectations, In Which We Serve, Madeleine, 1948's Oliver Twist, The Passionate Friends and This Happy Breed. All are presented in their original 1.33:1 full screen aspect ratios and Dolby Digital mono (except Judgment at Nuremberg, which features a 1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer) and include theatrical trailers. Judgment at Nuremberg also includes three featurettes "In Conversation: Abby Mann and Maximilian Schell," "A Tribute to Stanley Kramer" and "The Value of a Single Human Being" and a still gallery. Retail will list for $14.95 a pop.


Why is this film not getting 16X9 treatment?

 

[John Hodson]

Because it's bloody MGM

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Jack Briggs]

You'll note that hardly any studios transfer a 1.66:1-ratio film onto a 16:9-encoded DVD (fearing, I suppose, the reactions of those people who would see a completely "black bar-framed" picture on 4:3 displays).

 

[Steve Schaffer]

There are still a few players available that can do an infinite vertical-only zoom to correct non-anamorphic widescreen dvds. The new Pannys can do it, I think, and I know the new Zenith dvb-318 upconverting (even via component) player will do it.

 

[Scott Shanks]

Overscan usually hides the black bar on the sides of anamorphically encoded 1.66:1 discs on 4:3 displays. Oh well. I'm just glad it is coming out.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Does this mean the Criterion Oliver Twist and David Copperfield are going out of print? These are the Lean versions, aren't they? Or will there be dual releases (why, I can't imagine)?

 

[Douglas Bailey]

I'd guess that the Criterion Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, along with their Brief Encounter and Image's Blithe Spirit, will be pulled to make room for the MGM editions.

But I haven't heard anything concrete on any of these: Criterion's site doesn't mention any Lean titles going OOP, and DVDpricesearch.com still lists Blithe Spirit as "Out". So I could certainly be wrong...

 

[Philip Swan]

So glad the early David Leans are being released (or re-released) at lower prices, particularly BRIEF ENCOUNTER and GREAT EXPECTATIONS. I think MGM will do right by them - I don't think the Criterion DVD of GREAT EXPECTATIONS even had any extra features. Anyway, I'll be glad to have it, and BRIEF ENCOUNTER. I'm currently reading Kevin Brownlow's detailed biography of Lean - I'm still not sure I get how the man went from intimate character-driven dramas (like those I've mentioned) to the big panoramic epics he made from KWAI on, where character become secondary to scenery (and yes, I know these epics resulted in acting Oscars for Alec Guinness, John Mills, and Dame Peggy Ashcroft.)

 

[John Hodson]

Just finished that; great book.

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So many films, so little time...