TCFHE Press Release: The Great Escape (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Persianimmortal]

Yes, it appears that aside from aggressive denoising, the presence of 8GB of extras led to overcompression of the 172 minute main feature just to fit it all on one 50GB disc. Obviously it's worth waiting for the definitive review of the image quality by Robert Harris, but for the moment this seems to be yet another missed opportunity. The Great Escape really does deserve a proper restoration and 2-disc treatment.

I'll still probably get this, as it can't possibly be as bad as the pan-and-scan Australian DVD release I bought way back in 2001.

 

[Mark-P]

Space shouldn't be an issue as 4 hours of HD can easily fit on a dual-layer disc without compression issues, but perhaps they didn't have a skilled compressionist. (I just made that word up!)

 

[DP 70]

Saw the 4K at Bradford looked really good.

 

[Richard V]

First review is out. Unfortunately they say it is over-compressed and over-processed. I'm hoping the reviewers here disagree. Anyway, it doesn't affect my pre-order. I want The Great Escape in high-definition and I'm buying it no matter what the reviewers say.

That's the spirit!!

 

[Lromero1396]

Saw the 4K at Bradford looked really good.

I'm glad you'll be able to enjoy this awful transfer.
MGM/UA really needs to sell off their catalog to another more responsible studio. They are not doing adequate work to preserve our motion picture history that is in their hands.

 

[ahollis]

Well this caused me to cancel my order. It just does not make sense to support a poor transfer. This is so disappointing.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am very sorry to learn that MGM did a less than stellar job with
such an important film. However, history shows that MGM has
not had an admirable track record when it comes to handling the
most important films within their library.

I often talk about "What if Warner had obtained the remaining MGM
titles." We would not see this kind of lackluster treatment being given
to such important property -and- we would see full restorations of films
that MGM refuses to touch (including It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World).

....ahhhhh, one can dream.

Yeah...I am disappointed that a film we have waited so long to be
released on this format doesn't live up to expectations one should have
when buying a Blu-ray disc.

Will I buy it? It's $14.99 on Amazon. How can I not. I don't think there
is going to be a re-do on this one no matter how much people boycott it.
We got lucky with Patton, but that was one of the rare exceptions. This is
the best we are going to get, which is unfortunate.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I also have this on order. The price is right, and it will make a nice replacement for my 1998 non-anamorphic DVD.

 

[Nelson Au]

I had to see a review for myself to see what the problem is. One site, by Mr. Tooze, graded it fairly well. His only displeasure is the rendering of the teal or blue range of color. Image was never sharp originally he notes, but more detail and image information is seen compared to earlier releases. The biggest improvement is the audio and the richness of the score is allowed to soar.Perhaps this is not the same review noted in the earlier post, then I'm not ready to throw the towel in yet! Hopefully Mr. Harris comments. But it looks like its not a disaster.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

The bad video review comes from blu-ray.com although they ultimately recommend purchase. Go figure.

I'm glad I don't write reviews anymore.

 

[MCCLOUD]

This is a great film by an under-appreciated director, John Sturges. Look at his charge sheet: Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the OK Corral,The Magnificent Seven, The Satan Bug, The Hallelujah Trail, Hour of the Gun, Ice Station Zebra and The Great Escape.

The Great Escape on Blu-ray will be one of the highlights of 2013, let's have more of his work released soon.

John Sturges is one of my favorite directors! Personally, I would add MCQ, Marooned, and Joe Kidd to your list of great Sturges films!

God Bless!

Robert

 

[Will*B]

I've cancelled my order for this. I was expecting something amazing - which is what this wonderful film deserves.

I'll stick with the HD Netflix version for now.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The bad video review comes from blu-ray.com although they ultimately recommend purchase. Go figure.

I'm glad I don't write reviews anymore.

I wouldn't exactly classify that review as a bad, more like mediocre.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Well this caused me to cancel my order. It just does not make sense to support a poor transfer. This is so disappointing.

Not me brother, life is too short and unpredictable for me to wait and see if they get it perfect in the future.

 

[Robert Crawford]

John Sturges is one of my favorite directors! Personally, I would add MCQ, Marooned, and Joe Kidd to your list of great Sturges films!

God Bless!

Robert

Without question, he's one of my favorite directors of all-time. Some of my personal favorites not mentioned yet are Last Train to Gun Hill, The Law and Jake Wade, Backlash, Never So Few and Escape from Fort Bravo. I grew up on his films in the early 60s.

 

[ahollis]

Not me brother, life is too short and unpredictable for me to wait and see if they get it perfect in the future.

I hear you and I don't expect a redo. But I can't support mediocre releases of films that should blow you away. It's a perfect picture, great story, great acting, and great directing all wrapped up with a wonderful score. It is true that the review is from another site that I do not always agree with so I will keep my mind open until I hear from the greats here.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I hear you and I don't expect a redo. But I can't support mediocre releases of films that should blow you away. It's a perfect picture, great story, great acting, and great directing all wrapped up with a wonderful score.It is true that the review is from another site that I do not always agree with so I will keep my mind open until I hear from the greats here.

To buy or not to buy is a personal choice so I hear you too.

 

[haineshisway]

I will see for myself - certainly I would never trust a review from blu-ray.com.

 

[Persianimmortal]

I know you're partial to DVD Beaver, so here's their set of screencaps

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare3/greatescape.htm

 

[aHorseofCourse]

For the John Sturges lovers in this thread, I can really recommend the excellent bio/critical appreciation "Escape Artist: The Life ad Films of John Sturges" by Glenn Lovell. Well worth a read.