THE WIZARD OF OZ: 2 and 3-Disc on October 25th, 2005 (1 Viewer)

[Brenton]

Exactly. My impression of the original artwork is that none of it looks sophisticated enough for a movie of this caliber. It all looks like it belongs on a cereal box.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Both editions are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com!

Andy

 

[Steve...O]

Price discrepancy alert:

I went to Amazon and noticed that they're using $49.92 as the MSRP (and discounting from that). The original press release listed $39.92. Obviously one or the other is wrong; that's a significant difference.

I'm holding off pre-ordering until some clarification is made.

 

[Arnie G]

DDD is showing list of $49.95 & selling for $37.44. Pricey:frowning:

 

[Roger Rollins]

Amazon is selling it for $35.....

 

[Steve...O]

Yes, but using $39.92 as the MSRP (per the press release) would result in a price of $27.94 with some deep discounters going even lower.

I've got to believe the $50 price is in error. That's awfully expensive (even with the extra material) for a single movie. For reference, the similarly packaged GONE WITH THE WIND was at the $39.92 MSRP with street prices in the mid $20s.

Everyone's attitude will be different, but that $10 difference will probably cause me to not buy this.

Steve

 

[Roger Rollins]

To each his own, but I think that anyone turning their nose down at a $35 3 disc set with gobs of physical extras that most people have never seen, is pretty impressive.


Comparing GWTW to this is kind of "apples to oranges", as that wonderful release had no "physical" extras in the package other than the reproduction of the widely-available souvenir booklet which had been sold in theatres showing GWTW for years....

This OZ set has reproductions of rarities that are hardly common....you won't find them on eBay...

The opening night program from Grauman's on 8/15/39....only 1,500 or so copies must have been handed out (maybe less, maybe more, I don't know how many seats the Chinese has)

The MGM Studio News magazine from that era...I'm a big OZ buff...I've never even heard there was such a thing...

Then there's the Kodachrome photos. REAL color shots...which are exceedingly rare to find. True, they are reproductions, but to find legitimate color photography of this multitude of a film from this era is virtually impossible.

Last of all the 3 disc set, comes in quite more substantive packaging than GWTW did.

It's good that WHV gives consumers a choice. A low-priced 2 disc set stuffed with extras that best the already-impressive 1998 disc...or a higher-priced 3 disc set that is not aimed at the general public, but the TRUE collector.

....and to think only a few years ago we laserdisc fans payed $100 for the then-groundbreaking ULTIMATE OZ, which had great extras, but nothing even close to what this new
WHV release offers for half the price.

Bottom line is, extras are terrific, and impressive, but whether you choose to go 2 disc or 3 disc, the reason for this as an essential buy is WB's Ultra-Resolution new transfer. I have not seen it, but a friend did at WB's studio this week, where there was a special screening for several hundred people. The reaction was overwhelming to the picture quality.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I couldn't agree more, Roger, I couldn't agree more. This promises to be a truly spectacular set.

Andy

 

[Dane Marvin]

I'd pay a lot for it, but the GWTW set had one more disc and the program included was very nice. I'd be surprised if the Oz set, with one less disc and a few more physical extras, was really that much higher in price. But... if it is, I'll be buying it anyway. I don't plan on pre-ordering this though.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

A one disc HD release with "gobs of physical extras that most people have never seen" would IMnotsoHO be at or less then the retail price of this SD set. The value is there for SD. If a HD WoO is released, does that value hold up?

A HD transfer of a full frame source benefits as well as a 16:9 source does (both going from 480i too 720p, 1080i, or 1080p), right? And a full frame transfer would benefit even more than a non-16:9 ratio widescreen transfer because of the bar bars, correct?
Thanks.

 

[Joe Fisher]

Ok Guys. I did a little digging and I went straight to the horse's mouth. According to the WB website the 3 disc set of Wizard of Oz can be pre-ordered for $39.95. Here is the link to the site. Wizard of Oz

Now my question is this. Why would WB sell it for $39.95 when the MSRP is $49.92. Usually the studios get the full MSRP price on their stuff. Is it possible that the other e-tailers made a mistake in the pricing? Is it possible that a mistake was made somewhere along the line.

The 2-disc set is selling for $19.95 at WB.

 

[Andrew Budgell]

Wizard Looks Oz-some!
The upcoming remastered DVD makes the masterpiece look majestic.

July 22, 2005 - Thursday night in Burbank, CA, Warner Brothers
offered press an opportunity to get an advance peek at the remastered
version of The Wizard of Oz. The movie is being released on October
25 in two elaborate sets (click here for specific details): a Two-
Disc Special Edition, which features the film as well as several
hours' woth of extras and bonus features; and a Three-Disc
Collector's Edition, which includes all of the Two-Disc features plus
a third disc that assembles all previous versions of Oz on celluloid
as well as a collection of prints and reproductions. Warner screened
the film, demonstrated the qualitative differences in the new DVD
release and previous home video versions, and described the
meticulous process of reconstructing the original materials into a
work print that ultimately exceeds the quality even of the original
theatrical presentation.

Most remarkable about the presentation was Chris Cookson's
description of the labor-intensive process of remastering the film.
Cookson, who serves as Warner's President of Technical Operations,
explained that the film not only had to be remastered, but
reconstructed outright, from original materials created during the
film's initial release. The original film was shot on three-color
film stock that was stable but unreliable and vulnerable to the
elements - such as dust, dirt and the ravages of time - so the DVD
producers painstakingly assembled all three strands of the original
negative and began remastering the film.

Rather than utilizing previously available technology, they employed
the same technique applied to Gone With the Wind and The Adventures
of Robin Hood, where each image was divided into 64 quadrants. Each
quadrant was scanned three times - one for each of the red, blue and
yellow pieces of film - and matched up to make sure not only that the
colors were synched, but the shape and size of the image was fully
preserved.

This process eliminates the color bleeding that leaves older films
looking blurry or undefined, and creates a final image that is as
sharp or sharper than created on the original negative. As a result,
Wizard's Kodachrome images look vibrant and beautiful, thus enhancing
the movie's 'fairy tale' quality, as well as clarifying details that
have always appeared slightly out of focus. The only potential
problem that is created by this extremely high definition transfer is
the visibility of make-up lines and prosthetics; but many of these,
particularly on the Munchkins, were visible in previous iterations of
the film's home video release.

Additionally, to ensure that the original images were preserved down
to the most minute detail, Warner employed another computer program
to compare the three color strips and make sure that glimmers or
reflections that were part of individual frames were not removed. In
the past, programs eliminated reflection glimmers, etc. because they
appeared to be 'mistakes,' impurities or dirt; with this new program,
the computer matches the three images and determines whether it is
part of a shot or simply a speck of dirt.

The interesting problem the producers ran into was dealing with
Dorothy's shoes, which move very quickly when she is walking, running
or dancing, and thus change frequently in position and intensity from
one frame to the next. Early tests resulted in the occasional
elimination of her shoes completely, and required that the producers
start over completely. But the final product is a fantastic new
transfer that reveals so much detail and clarity that it will
definitively make previous DVDs of the film obsolete.

Look to IGN for further updates about this and other new and
noteworthy DVD releases.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/635/635945p1.html

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I'm worried, HD will make this DVD "obsolete".

 

[PaulP]

While this is topic for another thread, I don't think there will be a drastic enough difference between DVD and HD-DVD for the average person to be bothered with, as opposed to the difference between VHS and DVD, where it was quite obvious.

 

[Paul_Scott]

eventually.
just like DVD has made the Ultimate OZ LD obsolete at less than 1/2 the price (less than 1/5 of the price if you look at the 1st dvd release)



but i'm sure many buyers got hours of enjoyment with the old LD set, and felt the pride of ownership for several years as well.

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the news update

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Paul,
Is there "another" thread, so that I can see & learn about the PQ differance between DVD and HD?
Thanks.

 

[Jonny_L]

Anyone figure out why Amazon is selling the 3-disc set for more then the press release states yet?

 

[Jeff_HR]

They can sell it for any price they please, be it $1.00 or $1000. The BIG QUESTION is will anyone buy it at their desired price point.

 

[Steve...O]

I'm holding off pre-ordering until the price is fixed. With GWTW and now King Kong collector's editions both selling at $39.99 MSRP it makes the higher Amazon price for Oz look even more odd.

I wonder if Warners is aware of this. You would think they would be concerned about the impact on sales by having an incorrect higher price listed.