Universal Monsters; 75th Anniversary releases, Karloff and Chaney Collections? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Well, for starters they can remaster it in progressive format and perform dirt/scratch removal. Neither of which utilized for the previous master.

 

[Dave Mack]

There have to better prints than the one they used for the last transfer. It's a very important piece of film history and they should try to get the best materials possible, from multiple prints if need be. And various people have claimed to have seen a much better print of Dracula at revival screenings, which has lead to some frustration that Universal hasn't used this superior print for the dvd releases. Aren't they marketing it as "remastered now". If it doesn't look any better why do they bother calling it that?

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Exactly.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I know it's been mentioned once or twice, but I don't know if we ever got confirmation. Does anyone know if they've finally gotten the audio right on Dracula? (For the original Glass-less track, I mean).

 

[Joel Stein]

Over at the Classic Horror Film Board, Tom Weaver reports that he got review copies of Dracula and Frankenstein, and they fixed the audio problems with Dracula. He says it looks a little better, too. There's a little discussion of the extras, too.

http://p075.ezboard.com/fmonsterkidc...icID=639.topic

 

[Kramer Lowry]

 

[Jim Peavy]

This review really gushes over the Dracula disc, saying it's a substantial improvement:
http://www.dvdreview.com/reviews/pages/2423.shtml
I'd sure like to see some screen caps comparing the new and the old. Anybody...?

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Although the review didn't mention this, there's another reason why it's a good thing for fans of DRACULA to upgrade to this new DVD. It's my understanding that two important things have been "fixed" on the new disc:

1) There is a moment while Dracula is at the concert, after he gives his "there are far worse things awaiting man than death" speech. In some versions there was supposed to be an ominous music cue at the fadeout of this scene, and it's missing from one of those earlier DVD releases (I can't recall offhand if it was the Legacy version or the solo DRACULA release from the '90s that was missing the music).

2.) One of the earlier DVDs (again, can't recall which is which) was missing some of Renfield's screams when Dracula strangles him.

The problem always was that in both former cases, neither previous DVD included both these things together; one had the music cue but no screams; the other had the screams but no music cue!

Well, anyway, I've heard that the new DRACULA 75th Anniversary release, in addiiton to having more extras and looking better, now includes both missing ingredients together.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

A friend of mine brought over his copy of the new DRACULA 75th Anniversary DVD, and we bounced around the disc to check it out. I was all prepared to drool over the "improvement" but I'm sorry to say that to me it seemed just as grainy, scratchy, and murky as it always was. The sound was also full of hiss and the volume had to be raised pretty high to hear the dialogue. I even said to my friend "I think this one's even worse!"

Very, very disappointing.

 

[Jim Peavy]

Hmmmm, thanks for that Joe. That is disappointing. But then, at least it made the decision for me not to pick it up. Sounds reasonable to wait for the HD version for the "big D" (and with three SD DVDs of it out, I'm sure it's coming).

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Review echoing similar sentiments:

http://www.andyfilm.com/9-19-06.html

"There’s no question that both movies (“Dracula” in particular) appear much sharper than their previous DVD editions, but some of the added detail seems to have come at the expense of the overall image. By comparison, the older “Legacy Collection” editions of both movies seem less sharp but a little cleaner overall -- perhaps because of noise reduction techniques that weren’t employed here. The result is a somewhat “dirtier” looking picture that almost appears like it has a sort of filter over it; however, there may be fans who will appreciate the enhanced detail at the same time there’s more noise in the image".

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Maybe I'll skip these and save my money. The Legacy Editions weren't that bad. Thanks for the info.

 

[JohnMor]

DVD Beaver has screen capture comparisons up on Dracula and the difference looks great. Much improved, except for some zooming occasionally. Now, I'm sold.

 

[ScottR]

Why would they zoom in? However, from those screen grabs I can't tell any zooming. The newspaper frame looks better because the headline is now centered. But other than that, what am I missing? And is this cropping enough to pass on the release?

 

[Jim Peavy]

Yeah, I don't see any cropping either; at least as compared to the previous release.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Screen grabs are not the be-all and end-all of how a film will actually strike you when it's viewed on your own set. I'm going to buy the new edition, but DRACULA is still a mess.

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Agreed. From what I've read, you need to see the transfers IN MOTION to see the amount of added grain that's in the image. Several different reviews have confirmed it -- yes there's more detail, but it comes at a price, seemingly.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Has anyone compared the new FRANKENSTEIN to the old versions yet?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Looks like Dracula was enhanced a lot like The Invisible Man's Legacy remaster. Not as much of a revelation, but it finally looks film-like. I can deal with dirt and grain on a 1931 film with no surviving negative.

Still won't pick this up for a while... maybe when it's $14.99 since it's not really one of my favorites.

 

[Jim Peavy]

Does anybody have an inkling whether these two transfers were done in Hi-Def? I'm thinking they did them, down-rezzed 'em for a quick SD release, and then will release them to HD sooner rather than later. I have no idea whether they did or did not do this; but if I were Universal, that's what I'd do.