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Olive Films Blu-ray Release and Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Ken_Martinez

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JoHud said:
I seriously doubt Paramount will license these cartoons to someone else in the near future and if they do, will most likely retain the same problem except perhaps the aspect ratio. Though we can dream!
Paramount has licensed a bunch of Puppetoon cartoons to B2MP for their upcoming Puppetoon Movie Blu-Ray. By all appearances, they're an even smaller player than Olive. Companies like that will probably be the next to tackle the cartoons.
 

David Weicker

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Moe Dickstein said:
I think that or did the slightest work to things then people here would be falling over themselves with praise
Except, when they did do work - like for High Noon, people didn't like it. It was the wrong work.
 

Robert Crawford

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David Weicker said:
Except, when they did do work - like for High Noon, people didn't like it. It was the wrong work.
Though, I was relatively please with High Noon, I do think the criticism was warranted in regard to that release. It could have looked better with some additional work.

I'm kind of surprise this thread has received such a bump in activity. That's great as it's always nice to read different opinions. Good or bad, collectors such as myself are thankful for Olive and the number of forgotten titles they have released on BD and that I never thought some would be released even on DVD.
 

David Weicker

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Personally, I kind of view Olive as the Warner Archives for blu. They have a terrific list of titles (many obscure or things I never thought would be put on Blu-Ray - It's In The Bag - thank you), they are priced about the same. And almost all the Blu-Rays are a good upgrade from DVD.

I'm very happy with the Olive titles I've purchased.

David
 

EddieLarkin

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Pretty shocked to hear about the 1.19:1 stretching going on with most of the Betty shorts. If Olive arranged the scans themselves, what possible excuse do they have for the shorts to be stretched out once they reach the discs? Other than complete incompetence?

I squeezed a cap back to its apparent original proportions:

http://i.imgur.com/EkWVLnJ.jpg

Notice how comparatively, Betty's head looks completely distorted on the Olive Blu-ray.
 

FoxyMulder

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EddieLarkin said:
Pretty shocked to hear about the 1.19:1 stretching going on with most of the Betty shorts. If Olive arranged the scans themselves, what possible excuse do they have for the shorts to be stretched out once they reach the discs? Other than complete incompetence?

I squeezed a cap back to its apparent original proportions:

http://i.imgur.com/EkWVLnJ.jpg

Notice how comparatively, Betty's head looks completely distorted on the Olive Blu-ray.
Shocking quality control, they wouldn't listen to those in the know who informed them about the aspect ratio and instead did this, terrible decision.
 

JoeDoakes

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JoHud said:
The HD Walter Catwell shorts included in the recent Cohen Film Collection disc had those UM&M logos as well, so it was pretty much expected for this collection long before I got around to watching it.
Do you mean Walter Catlet? To what disk are you referring?
 

cineMANIAC

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Mark-P said:
Just wondering, would people be happier with Olive if their pricing model was like Mill Creek or Echo Bridge? Those two companies also put out material pretty much "as is" with very little cleanup. The difference is of course that Olive specializes in much older films which have naturally suffered more deterioration. I know if Olive titles had a $10 SRP, I'd certainly be stocking up! I've been relatively happy with the few Olive titles I have purchased.

I would stock up on more Olive titles as well if they were priced between $10-15. As it is, I purchase 98% of them from Importcds, which I hate because of the time it takes to receive packages, but it feels better to pay $15 as opposed to $24.99 on Amazon. IMHO many of these Blu-rays just aren't worth $25.
 

Paul Penna

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EddieLarkin said:
Pretty shocked to hear about the 1.19:1 stretching going on with most of the Betty shorts. If Olive arranged the scans themselves, what possible excuse do they have for the shorts to be stretched out once they reach the discs? Other than complete incompetence?

I squeezed a cap back to its apparent original proportions:

http://i.imgur.com/EkWVLnJ.jpg

Notice how comparatively, Betty's head looks completely distorted on the Olive Blu-ray.
I just compared Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle on the Landmark Laservision 60th Anniversary laserdisc to the version on Olive's Blu-Ray, and this comparison is right on. The distortion of the character proportions in the earlier cartoons on the Blu was obvious to me even before I did an A/B test, since I'm intimately familiar with these from numerous viewings over the decades in both commercial releases and my own tapings. What the hell were they thinking? This seriously calls for a corrected remaster and replacement.
 

Professor Echo

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cineMANIAC said:
I would stock up on more Olive titles as well if they were priced between $10-15. . IMHO many of these Blu-rays just aren't worth $25.
That's my issue with Olive, that the quality often does not equate with the asking price. If these were released by Mill Creek at their price points, I would likely buy every single title Olive has released and not be inordinately concerned with the quality. At that point it's all about just wanting to see a rare movie in at least watchable shape and aligning a fair price with lower expectations.
 

Robert Crawford

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From MisterLime:

:( The Five previously announced titles (Bamboo Saucer/Bang! Bang! You're Dead!/Cry Danger/Witchboard 2/Young at Heart) will be it for October.
 

JoHud

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JoeDoakes said:
Do you mean Walter Catlet? To what disk are you referring?
Sorry, meant Catlet. They are HD supplements on the Perfect Understanding blu-ray.

Paul Penna said:
I just compared Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle on the Landmark Laservision 60th Anniversary laserdisc to the version on Olive's Blu-Ray, and this comparison is right on. The distortion of the character proportions in the earlier cartoons on the Blu was obvious to me even before I did an A/B test, since I'm intimately familiar with these from numerous viewings over the decades in both commercial releases and my own tapings. What the hell were they thinking? This seriously calls for a corrected remaster and replacement.
Bamboo Isle stuck out the most particularly in the live-action dancing segment at the beginning of the short. Everyone looked very noticeably short and fat due to the horizontal stretch. I agree that the aspect ratio problem is a really big botch given the supposed "experts" at Paramount, but even if it was Paramount's doing, Olive should have been able to correct it on their end.
 

WadeM

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EddieLarkin said:
Pretty shocked to hear about the 1.19:1 stretching going on with most of the Betty shorts. If Olive arranged the scans themselves, what possible excuse do they have for the shorts to be stretched out once they reach the discs? Other than complete incompetence?

I squeezed a cap back to its apparent original proportions:

http://i.imgur.com/EkWVLnJ.jpg

Notice how comparatively, Betty's head looks completely distorted on the Olive Blu-ray.
Why, oh why? Why would they stretch it?
 

Jack Theakston

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What I don't understand is who informed whoever did the transfer to do them at the Movietone aspect ratio in the first place. By the time Betty Boop made her debut, all the studios in the US had agreed on using viewfinders that had an area almost identical to what the Academy would refine in 1932 (1.33-1, which AMPAS expanded to 1.37-1).
 

Robert Crawford

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From MisterLime:
Coming in 2013 and 2014 from Olive Films

Betty Boop Volume 3 - Betty Boop Volume 4 - The Pawnbroker - The Bells of St. Mary - Stranger on the Prowl - Sleep My Love - Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid - That's My Man - I've Always Loved You - Magnificent Doll - Forever Female - Up the Junction - Home of the Brave - Johnny Come Lately - Flying Tigers - The North Star and the alternate shorter version Armored Attack - Operation Petticoat - Distant Drums - Good Sam - High School Confidential - Love Happy - Sands of Iwo Jima - South of St. Louis - Try and Get Me (aka The Sound of Fury) - So This is New York - Arch of Triumph - Caught - The Lost Moment - Men in War - The Other Love - Cauldron of Blood - Beware, My Lovely - Outrage - Dr. Terror's House of Horrors - Man on the Roof - The Adalen Riots - Elvira Madigan - Raven's End - Fedora - The Stationmaster's Wife (Uncut Version) - Dead Heat on Beethoven Street (Uncut never-before-seen version) - J'Accuse (1938) - Ophelia (Chabrol) - The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers - Guilty of Romance - Himizu - and more Blu-ray releases of the previously released DVDs

More Upcoming Titles - To Be Announced... :)
 

Robert Crawford

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Despite the fury over the Betty Boop films, I'll be looking forward to the following titles:

The Pawnbroker
Home of the Brave
Flying Tigers
The North Star
Operation Petticoat
Distant Drums
Sands of Iwo Jima
South of St. Louis
Men in War
Beware, My Lovely
Good Sam
Caught
 

Robert Crawford

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Yesterday, I viewed the blu-rays of Flat Top and Only the Valiant. The former was mediocre at best PQ-wise while the latter was very good with only a few rough dupey patches. Besides Flat Top being dirty and scratched, the color appeared off to me with the Cinecolor process.
 

Robert Crawford

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Bob Furmanek said:
Cinecolor has a limited palette and FLAT TOP is in the two-color system.

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/cinecolor2.htm

With that said, I've run quite a few in original 35mm prints and they can look very nice.

I mastered SCARED TO DEATH from nitrate Cinecolor for laser disc twenty years ago and it looked pretty good.
Bob,

It looked very red or pink in many scenes and I'm not talking the scenes in which the actors were in red light conditions for the pilots to adjust their eyes to darkness.
 

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