"Laura" Blu-ray Release on February 5th! (1 Viewer)

[Persianimmortal]

I'm not seeing any complaints about the audio in user reviews on Amazon, nor in other professional reviews. I can understand that it may not be perfect, but I don't think the audio flutter is the reason it's been pulled by Amazon.

 

[jsteed]

I have watched the sequence in question, and didn't notice any audio flutter either.

 

[Trentrunner]

There's nothing erroneous about the cover. Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney are the stars of the movie. Just because Tierney is retouched near to bland oblivion does not turn her into Deanna Durbin or Linda Darnell. And it's certainly no reason for Amazon to pull it. Gotta be some other reason.

 

[TravisR]

^ Maybe Fox's copy protection is causing problems on some players? If Amazon keeps getting reports of problems, they'd pull the disc.

 

[haineshisway]

There is definitely wow in the music track. Flutter is something else.

 

[Reed Grele]

Amazon pulled it.

 

[TonyD]

Somebody mentioned that a couple posts back. I'm hoping that I can get to a Sam's to snag one for under $10 as someone else also mentioned earlier.

 

[Persianimmortal]

Somebody on another forum has this to say about the possible reason for Laura being pulled from Amazon:

The subtitles on the mini-documentaries of Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, and the film are screwed up. They appear sporadically, and when they do, they show up in a huge font literally in the middle-right of the screen

Anybody here able to confirm this? It's a complete non-issue for me, as I rarely watch extras, and never with subtitles anyway. Still, I can understand that it would affect some people, and if it is the reason why Amazon has ceased sale, at least it's more substantive than problems with cover art.

 

[Doug Otte]

Correct, also there is a Behlmer commentary on the deleted scene which included in the film is the extended version of the film. Crawdaddy

After watching the extended version, I watched just the deleted scene w/ the commentary. I only heard Behlmer say one or two sentences, then silence. Is this another glitch, or is that all he said about this scene? I hadn't watched the movie since I got the DVD several years ago. The deleted scene didn't seem new, so I assume the DVD was the extended cut, too. Am I right?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Doug Otte
After watching the extended version, I watched just the deleted scene w/ the commentary. I only heard Behlmer say one or two sentences, then silence. Is this another glitch, or is that all he said about this scene?
I hadn't watched the movie since I got the DVD several years ago. The deleted scene didn't seem new, so I assume the DVD was the extended cut, too. Am I right?

Actually the deleted scene is rather short so a couple of sentences as to why it was deleted should have suffice.
Yes, it was on the DVD.

 

[Escapay]

I've always wondered why the deleted scene on the DVD has such an abrupt beginning to Behlmer's commentary (which is more an audio introduction into what was actually deleted), and it wasn't until the Blu-Ray came out that I was able to hear the commentary in full. The DVD actually omitted a few seconds from the beginning of the scene, which is where Behlmer's commentary was. The Blu-Ray restores those few seconds, and also adds about a minute more of the scene, even though by then, it's no longer any deleted material. On the DVD: -do described how he selected Laura's clothing and hairstyle, making her an extension of himself. The news item explains that 20th Century Fox was worried that declaration would offend World War II soldiers overseas with its depiction of decadent luxury and non-military obsessions happening on the home front. On the Blu-Ray: A June 9th, 1990 Hollywood Reporter news item reported that two minutes of footage that had been cut from the film was restored. Waldo described how he selected Laura's clothing and hairstyle, making her an extension of himself. The news item explains that 20th Century Fox was worried that declaration would offend World War II soldiers overseas with its depiction of decadent luxury and non-military obsessions happening on the home front. Strangely, when you listen to the Basinger/Raksin commentary during that scene (in the theatrical version of the film), she's actually making commentary about the deleted scene as if she were watching it. I never understood why Fox didn't allow that commentary to be included on the deleted scene as well... Waldo now tells how he shaped Laura's career. We see Laura grow. (Raksin: He's talking about Laura, of course. So the music is playing the tune, and it's supposed to add a little glamour.) This material was cut from the original release. In it, we see how absolutely important Waldo was in shaping Laura's grooming, her clothes, the people she meets, et cetera. Gene Tierney is exquisitely beautiful in this montage. We see Laura beginning to dress in a more sophisticated way. We return to Waldo to remind ourselves that he is the person telling us about Laura and shaping our image of her. But Zanuck felt this was too much of a fashion parade and that it deterred the storytelling process.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
On my display, it was beautiful. I'm sure there will be others to take issue with this BD as there seemingly always is, but I'm very happy with what I viewed today.

Like clock-work, the naysayers of this BD have come out to voice their issues.
Crawdaddy

 

[larryKR]

Well I can certainly say that this BD didn't look beautiful on my display (60" pany plasma). Parts of the movie look decent and then there is poor contrast in other parts. It is what it is, and this is the best we will ever get.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by larryKR
Well I can certainly say that this BD didn't look beautiful on my display (60" pany plasma). Parts of the movie look decent and then there is poor contrast in other parts. It is what it is, and this is the best we will ever get.

Thankfully, my viewing experience isn't like yours.
Crawdaddy

 

[Lromero1396]

I seriously hope Fox hasn't pulled the release like they did with the Titanic (1953) BD last year.

 

[Will Krupp]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
Like clock-work, the naysayers of this BD have come out to voice their issues.
Crawdaddy

Isn't that the pont?
As much as I love having this on blu-ray I GET the reservations many people have about calling the disc stellar. It's directly related to the elements themselves, specifically the dupey sections coming into and out of dissolves and opticals. Unlike most black and white films of the era (that jump mid shot into dupe sections right before an optical effect and then right back out again) this one, for some reason, uses the Technicolor standard of having duped sections from one "clean cut" to the next. Couple that with the fact that Preminger favors quite long takes with maximum camera mobility and that's a lot of duped material which is noticeably (and perhaps irretrievably) of a lesser quality. Sometimes the disc looks positively stunning, sometimes it looks very good, sometimes it looks just okay and on SOME occasions (the first outdoor shots of Laura's apartment house, Waldo and MacPherson walking into Ann Treadwell's apartment, and the moments immediately following MacPherson slugging Shelby come to mind) it's downright awful, with contrast levels that are baked beyond all recognition and ALL part of duped sections revolving around optical effects.
I understand WHY it looks the way it does which is why the fact that it isn't "perfect" doesn't really bother me, but I can't pretend it's exquisite just to please you (though I wish I could )

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Will Krupp
Isn't that the pont?
As much as I love having this on blu-ray I GET the reservations many people have about calling the disc stellar. It's directly related to the elements themselves, specifically the dupey sections coming into and out of dissolves and opticals. Unlike most black and white films of the era (that jump mid shot into dupe sections right before an optical effect and then right back out again) this one, for some reason, uses the Technicolor standard of having duped sections from one "clean cut" to the next. Couple that with the fact that Preminger favors quite long takes with maximum camera mobility and that's a lot of duped material which is noticeably (and perhaps irretrievably) of a lesser quality. Sometimes the disc looks positively stunning, sometimes it looks very good, sometimes it looks just okay and on SOME occasions (the first outdoor shots of Laura's apartment house, Waldo and MacPherson walking into Ann Treadwell's apartment, and the moments immediately following MacPherson slugging Shelby come to mind) it's downright awful, with contrast levels that are baked beyond all recognition and ALL part of duped sections revolving around optical effects.
I understand WHY it looks the way it does which is why the fact that it isn't "perfect" doesn't really bother me, but I can't pretend it's exquisite just to please you (though I wish I could )

My point is there is hasn't been any BD released that's been without some PQ complaints from somebody. Nothing to get excited about, just noted the prediction I made before complaints about too much brightness being an issue.
Crawdaddy

 

[Keith Cobby]

I have the DVD which I think is pretty good and find I am hesitating following the comments on here. My benchmarks for b&w picture quality are Casablanca and The Big Heat. Fox (and us) need this to be a good seller if others we want are to follow.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Did anyone confirm why this was pulled from availability by Amazon, citing problems?

 

[David Weicker]

Laura is back up for sale on Amazon. Currently listed at $16.79