Seth--L
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2003
- Messages
- 1,344
The article implies that Paramount and American Zoetrope knowingly did a halfass job with the transfer, and now they are cleaning up their mistake.
The article implies that Paramount and American Zoetrope knowingly did a halfass job with the transfer, and now they are cleaning up their mistake.In that case, Columbia tri star would have to offer a rebate for every title that they've re-released on superbit. It ain't going to happen.
I don't get this. Why would they do a rebate when there is nothing wrong with the current set? Just because you aren't happy with the video quality does not make it defective. You're probably going to be unhappy because I don't think you'll get a rebate offer.I certainly don't expect there to be any rebate. I do think it would be a wonderful gesture by the studio though. They charged an above average price for a below average product, IMO. I bought it simply because I had no other way to view these films. A rebate of some kind would be a nice way to say thanks to the current owners of the set. At any rate, you are probably right that its not going to happen
The most interesting thing about the article for me is that John Lowry concedes that he went too far with grain removal on Citizen Kane.Mr. Lowry said as much (explaining that it was an early project and he'd like to redo it, given 2K and software advances) in his chat here at the HTF last year:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/files/lowry.txt
I seem to be the only one around these parts who sees grain in Kane (the reading room portion of the Thatcher Library sequence, for instance) -- as with many LDI transfers, Casablanca among them, grain is least evident/most absent in brightly lit and completely dark sequences, and most evident in sequences where shades of gray predominate. It's clear that different given portions of LDI transfers have differing grain structures (from none in evidence to moderately evident), but how accurate this variance is to surviving elements I can't say (Lowry also explains in that chat that his company reduces grain with the goal of reproducing the levels of an original element, rather than eliminating it -- when no such element survives, such things are of course open to interpritation and mistake, and it doesn't surprise me at all that LDI concedes advances in this area, along with others; the input of the studio that hires them, whom they must first please, will likely be the foremost guide to such efforts, I'd expect).
At any rate -- that's another thread, but I thought I'd point out the chat to those further interested in the topic. I don't yet own the Godfathers, so I'm happy to hear they'll be revisited.
Mr. Lowry has worked on such brilliant DVD's as "North by Northwest," "Sunset Boulevard" and the new double-disc "Casablanca" — all of which were made from prints or negatives in dreadful conditionI'm not sure that this statement is as true for Casablanca as it is for the other two films. I was under the impression that they had decent quality elements available for Casablanca.
Keep in mind that the Paramount that mishandled the Godfather elements bears only nominal resemblance to the Paramount of today. In any case, if they want me to double dip on the first two Godfathers, they could include the original mono sound mix as well as the 5.1 remix.
Regards,
The most interesting thing about the article for me is that John Lowry concedes that he went too far with grain removal on Citizen Kane.Maybe he meant to say "went too far with rain removal on Citizen Kane."
I'm surprised to hear so many people express acceptance of the current set. To my eyes it looks awful. I realize that the look of the films is not supposed to be crisp, but the video quality just looks terrible to me. After paying $90 for three movies I feel ripped off by sub-par transfers. I will be extremely unhappy if there is not some kind of rebate offer for current box set owners.While the Godfather set looks fine on my 30 inch TVs, they are nearly unwatchable on my 92 inch screen. The image does not hold up IMHO - has nothing to do with film grain, etc.
And yes, I also found it odd that #3, the newest film, looks as bad as it does.
Cheers,
The only way I'd replace the discs would be if Paramount was offering an exchange, and the new ones had the Coppola commentaries on themI'm content with the present set. I'd only upgrade if the films were presented in chronological order, as is done with one LD set.