Vertigo, Rear Window, Psycho Legacy Series Releases (1 Viewer)

[JohnMor]

The Legacy editions are remastered and show marked improvement over the Masterpiece Collection editions. I own all dvd versions: original, MC and Legacy of all the Uni Hitchcocks. The side by side differences are quite obvious on my setup.

Also, I've found that Uni has remastered ALL their Legacy editions, and done some scratch and dirt removal on them too, over previous editions. The differences in Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy over the Classic Monster, Legacy Collections and more recent Legacy Editions are the most drastic. The new Legacy Editions are head and shoulders above the previous 2 incarnations in both picture and sound quality. The Hitchcocks are not quite as dramatic, but are still pretty good steps above the MC editions. The one caveat being the sound mix on Vertigo, but the new mix doesn't bother me at all.

 

[BillyFeldman]

They are the exact same transfers - sorry, but that's the way it is. Rear Window has been brightened a bit, but the source is exactly the same - Psycho is exactly the same - as I said above - same dirt, same scratches, same everything. There is no "marked" improvement, at least not to my eyes in a side by side comparison. But then again, the new mix on Vertigo doesn't bother you at all. I rest my case.

 

[Craig Beam]

The VOB file dates on the new Rear Window are 7/29/08. It ain't the same, Billy.

 

[BillyFeldman]

Mitsubishi 65 inch DLP 1080 - JVC all-region player, top of their line. I'm sure the VOB files are new and as I've acknowledged Rear Window is a bit brighter - but marked improvement? Not to me. And my original point stands - the exact same transfers used for the MC were used for these - and slight improvements because of better bit rates don't really make these worth shelling out money for, at least IMO. I sometimes think people see what they want to see - not meant with any disrespect, just something I see with some frequency.

 

[Craig Beam]

I'm confident in my ability to see improvements when doing A/B comparisons, and these editions DO improve on the MC editions (except for the loss of Vertigo's mono track), and for those of us who want the best presentation possible for our favorite films, incremental improvements (plus a bunch of new supplements) justify the purchase (and I still maintain that Rear Window is significantly improved; the other two only somewhat). I got my copies for $16.99 each at CostCo, but even if I'd paid more, I'd still endorse them.

If you're that unhappy, put 'em on eBay or something. Recoup at least part of your expense. But your "passive annoyance" (which you directly specifically at me, since you pointed me out by name) and implication that we're "seeing what we want to see".... is, well, bullshit.

 

[BillyFeldman]

Passive annoyance is better than active annoyance.

On the rest we can agree to disagree, and I'll leave words like "bullshit" to you.

 

[Craig Beam]

Aw man, Billy, you had to go and bust out that drumming banana. Who can resist its charm?

 

[ScottR]

I don't have the MC of Psycho, but the sound is definitely better than the old disc. On the old disc, when Marion opens the window and hears Mother's voice up at the house, you couldn't make out what Mother was saying...now you can. I thought the film looked great.

 

[Parker Clack]

A person to ask about these discs would be Robert Harris. I would go into his area on the forum and gets his input on the new releases. He will be able to tell you if they are the same master or what type of encoding went into them.

Parker

 

[rich_d]

I also remember hearing something about that. Google got me to this for example:

Psycho (1960)

However, I have both the Collector's Edition and the Masterpiece Edition and don't notice anything to speak of. The doctor at the end of the film has an odd open mouth when he's NOT speaking which is a bit disconcerting/odd but I can't see any trend, either before or after his lips move that one can attribute to the audio being off.

 

[rich_d]

Regarding this whole subject of the worth of these Legacy releases ...

These things usually fall into two camps, those that voice critical comments about releases and those that wish they would shut up.

Many a Hitch fan bought the Masterpiece Boxset back in 2005. There was no doubt that the releases were significantly better than the Collection Series released in 1998. There were those that (rightly) criticized Universal for not releasing the big titles (Vertigo, Rear Window and Psycho) separately at that time, forcing people to buy the whole box set if they wanted those releases. Others commented that the extras on the entire boxset were relatively spartan, this being Hitchcock after all.

One could say that these individual releases with their additional extras are three years too late. Further, where are their Blu-Ray versions? Last year when WHV went back to the standard-def well once again for their Kubrick titles they also served up hi-def versions. That way, they offered the consumer a choice.

Now, a full year later in a maturing hi-def land, Universal gives us standard def only versions? Clearly, they intend to strip mine the SD landscape for all its worth before serving up hi-def.

My question is simple, why should we reward such behavior?