TOOTSIE coming to Blu-ray in Germany, BRIDES OF DRACULA in U.K. (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

Find pre-orders on the respective Amazon sites.

 

[Reed Grele]

Thanks. Just pre ordered:
BRIDES OF DRACULA

 

[MatthewA]

Why does Germany get all these Sony titles before the US does?

 

[Erik_H]

Thanks very much for the tip, as "Tootsie" has been near the top of my Blu Ray wish list. I received my copy yesterday via Amazon. The German Blu Ray is region free and at first glance all of the supplements from the 25th anniversary DVD released in the US a few years back are included (in SD). Quality of the transfer is fine. The disc menu options are in English and there are no forced subtitles. Here's hoping that the forthcoming Sony library releases in Germany such as "The China Syndrome," "The Way We Were," "Oliver!" etc. follow the same approach.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Just FYI - Twilight Time has stated they were not offered Tootsie from Sony, which implies that the inevitable US release will be handled by Sony themselves, unless they licensed it to Criterion.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Tootsie would make sense to go back to Criterion, as they released it on LD and have some exclusive supplements - including one of the best commentary tracks I've ever heard by Sydney Pollack.Here's hoping!!

 

[lukejosephchung]

Just received my region-free German Sony blu-ray of "Tootsie"...will report back on the picture and sound as soon as I have a chance to properly view this. Extremely excited, as this is my favorite comedy of the '80s!!!

 

[lukejosephchung]

OK...I had the opportunity to view the new "Tootsie" blu-ray from Sony Germany on Wednesday night. It's a beautifully-crafted transfer with correct color palette, tremendous detail and the film stock's grain structure fully intact. In the opening title sequence, you can even see the pores of Dustin Hoffman's skin as he's applying his makeup and stage mustache in close-up. The audio is a very nicely repurposed 5.0-channel DTS-MA-HD lossless remaster with Dave Grusin's wonderful score heard in its full glory along with all the surrounding background sounds of the Big Apple in the street scenes. Dialogue is clear, yet warm without being harsh. All of Sony's DVD features have been ported over from previous releases and the price is only US $22...all in all, I'm a VERY happy camper about this!!! Fans of this classic 1982 comedy should purchase without hesitation!!!

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I gotta think there's a Criterion coming of this Luke, if TT didn't get it, and that commentary is just one of the best ever in terms of how to deal with difficult material as a director, in terms of shaping it into a strong story. Tootsie could have been a very very bad film if not handled JUST right as Pollack did.

 

[lukejosephchung]

If Criterion DOES get this for US release, it will be worth dipping again for the quality extras they will have...including Sidney Pollack's insightful director's commentary which they own the rights to...still have this on the laserdisc edition I bought from them lo so many years ago...until then, it's a cost-effective way to purchase for any serious "Tootsie" fan's HD library...

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Watching Tootsie blu now...very nice. I had the Criterion, but it got water damaged.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Hope we do see this again criterionized. One of the best commentaries ever

 

[John Hodson]

I'm sad to report that IMHO the BD of Brides of Dracula is a stinker. Presented in an AR - 2.00:1 - for which it was never intended and boy does it show.The image is totally unbalanced. Get your R1 DVD out and you'll see it presented at 1.66:1 (it's slightly zoomboxed) but the BD and DVD share a common top (mostly; it does seem to vary very slightly from scene to scene). There is a little more image in the BD at the sides, but if you add the extra image from the DVD at the very bottom of the image to the BD you would see an overall image circa 1.75:1. And you'll see an image that is perfectly in harmony.As it stands, it is totally out of whack. The colour is quite different to the DVD, but I'm sorry I think it's rather too warm - too brown, too orange, certainly in the latter half of the film. The skin tones are way off.Particularly for the undead.I don't like it. Not one bit.

 

[Alan Tully]

What did you think of The Evil Of Frankenstein, John. I always enjoyed that one dispite the dodgy make-up job on the creature. It's one of the few Hammers that I actually saw in the cinema at the time of its release.

 

[John Hodson]

I think it's the same master as the R1 DVD; looks pretty decent. The BD is a slightly better presentation (it's a BD...), but the higher resolution also serves to highlight the flecking and dirt. A little more care, a little more love, and it could have been top notch. But it's not my favourite Hammer.

 

[Alan Tully]

I think it's the same master as the R1 DVD; looks pretty decent. The BD is a slightly better presentation (it's a BD...), but the higher resolution also serves to highlight the flecking and dirt. A little more care, a little more love, and it could have been top notch. But it's not my favourite Hammer.

Thanks, if there's one thing HD does really well, it's to show up sparkle (as we used to call it in the film lab). It sounds like Evil needs a good de-spot, but it's not going to get it. It looks like Universal arn't going to put themselves out with these Hammer titles like they did with their classic horror films, a shame, becouse there's some great Hammer titles owned by Universal, The Curse Of The Werewolf, The Phantom Of The Opera & Kiss Of The Vampire.

 

[Reed Grele]

Of course I'll reserve judgment until mine arrives next week from the U.K. But the reviews on this and other forums on the net don't sound very promising.

At the very least it appears as though someone decided to clip off quite a bit of information from the bottom of the image! How this could have happened defies logic and explanation.

I had such high hopes and expectations for this film on Blu-ray.

 

[John Hodson]

Did I mention the swarming grain?

 

[Reed Grele]

My copy of BRIDES OF DRACULA just arrived from the U.K.

Just did a quick scan. My first impressions are mixed. Aside from the incorrect 2:1 aspect ratio (which I already knew about) the first thing I noticed was floating blotches of unnatural looking grain. This is very distracting during scenes with fog or mist.

The transfer appears to be darker overall than the previous Universal R1 DVD.

On a positive note, detail and colors appear to be much enhanced over the DVD.

I will be doing a more thorough comparison this evening. Will try to post more thoughts, and some screen caps from a projected (120") image (just for my own amusement.) I don't usually do such things, but BOD is one of my favorite films of the Hammer horror series.

 

[John Hodson]

I can't agree on colour, and I think that it's too dark, but...

On a positive note...

...is tantamount to "...yes Mrs Lincoln, but other than that, what did you think of the play?"