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Robert Harris
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"If they move, kill 'em!"
The late 1960s were a turning point in the American cinema. And though it may today sound as if one is simply spouting words, to say that there are gangster films before and after Bonnie and Clyde, there are absolutely westerns before and after Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.
The cinema would never be either the same or safe again.
I'm a great fan of Mr. Peckinpah's work, and especially of The Wild Bunch. In order to properly appreciate the film, I used to own a beautiful roadshow print in dye transfer, which as all rare prints should, is now in the possession of AMPAS. It will survive there as a record.
In place of that brilliant 35mm print, I now have a beautiful disc.
The frame is more stable, the color virtually a match, and the image cleaned up. One thing that used to trouble me were emulsion scratches that were built into the OCN of the Mapache sequence. As far as color goes, The Wild Bunch could easily be mis-timed, but this release replicates, with absolute perfection, the precise warmth originally seen in the brilliant blue skies. Dead on perfect!
They're gone.
Short of the Intermission and Entr'acte, Warner's new HD and BD variants of The Wild Bunch replicate the film to perfection.
As far as audio is concerned, the new DVDs faithfully reproduce in 5.1 the original 70mm 6-track mix used in blow-up prints. While it may sound a bit
thin at times when compared to huge new digital mixes, at the time it was state of the art. Keep in mind that this was an era well before sub-woofers,
and when a "surround" was still considered a effects track.
Whether one selects HD or BD, it makes no difference. Just select one.
What a glorious home video release!
No more needs to be said.
Extremely Highly Recommended!
RAH
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." T.E. Lawrence
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
My resolve is dissolving.... I'm going to have to upgrade soon.
\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert
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ppltd
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
Robert, thank you for another fine assessment. I had a chance to watch this release and could not agree more. This is another fine Warner release of a classic.
Thomas Eisenmann(Last updated 12/02/08) HD-DVD CollectionBlu-Ray CollectionDVD CollectionToshiba HD-XA2, HD Add-on, Panasonic DMP-BD55KPioneer VSX-94TXH, Panasonic PT-AE 3000U 1080p 252 HDs, 167 BDs, 1560 - DVDs and going down
- Joined: January 1999
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
I've been meaning to introduce my wife to my favorite Western since the 2-disc set came out, but haven't gotten around to it. . .now it looks like it'll be replaced before it even makes it out of the shrinkwrap.
"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
Just picked this up today and, with a little luck, I'll be able to screen it sometime in the coming week. Sacriligeous, I know, but I've never seen this film (and I'm 40, not 20). Wasn't a big fan of non-Eastwood westerns (or rather, I never bothered with non-Eastwood westerns) until about a year ago in serious fashion. Since then I've been watching a lot of them--old and new.
(along with this I picked up Rio Bravo--both in HD DVD. I'd rented Rio Bravo about 5-6 weeks ago in HD DVD and quite enjoyed it)
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes time, and it annoys the pig.
- Joined: February 2004
- Location: St. Hubert, Quebec
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
Well, it took a lot longer than I thought (for a variety of reasons) but I finally saw this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do have a question about the colour in one scene--everything looked "off" (pink and green). I thought something was wrong with my PJ but the colours returned to normal. I can only assume it was intentional (in the valley after the first trip to collect gold for guns, IIRC) or that short sequence was not properly restored (which I think unlikely as it would have been noted in reviews, I'm sure). In any event, a great film.
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes time, and it annoys the pig.
- Joined: July 2003
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
Gonna watch this week while on vacation (found it in the 2/$10 bin on HD @ Wal*Mart). I'll post my thoughts @ that point.
\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert
- Joined: July 2003
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Re: A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD
I only found one scene with possible issues:
Warning Spoiler! Click to showWhen Crazy Lee gets shot inside the train station, he falls to the ground and is laying on his side. The blood on his clothing seems to be a dull pinkish brown. I can't tell if it's a case of a bad batch of fake blood or element fading, because the scene is in varying shades of brown. Anyone?
Other than that, stunning. It looks like film with less apparent grain because it is likely taken from dye transfer materials.
\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert
- Joined: September 2002
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Hi Robert.
I'm curious - would you, two years later, give this release a "Not Recommended" considering the level of DNR applied?
Thanks
My DVD/BD CollectionCriterion DVD/BDs Owned: 55, Total DVDs Owned: 525, Blu-ray Discs Owned: 227
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Robert Harris
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Certainly not!
While The Wild Bunch may have had a bit of "help," the final result very accurately mimicked the original dye transfer prints. Wild Bunch was absolute state of the art. Today, with a 4k scan, and the resultant new archival film elements, the grain would show through a bit more because of the overall increase in resolution. The final result might actually look a bit
less like an original print.
The Wild Bunch is still eminently viewable and a wonderful example of our archaic 2006-7 technologies. Those were the good old days!
I stand behind my original comments.
RAH
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brandon Conway 
Hi Robert.
I'm curious - would you, two years later, give this release a "Not Recommended" considering the level of DNR applied?
Thanks
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." T.E. Lawrence
- Joined: August 2009
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Fair enough. I found it incredibly disappointing, viewing in HD for the first time in 2009. It looks to me like they were afraid of how grainy it looked and threw it out of focus and then sharpened (or, as they say, DNR'd and EE'd.) As much as I like the film, I found it difficult to watch; but that's just another perspective to add to this thread.
P.S Tarantino has finally bested Pulp Fiction.
- Joined: May 2008
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I thought it looked pretty good. It was on the Blu-ray that I really loved the movie for the first time. The previous times I watched it (panned and scanned on television and the SE dvd) it never really did anything for me, for some reason. The bigger screen may also have something to do with it.
Never go out with anyone who thinks Fellini is a type of cheese
My Blu-Ray/DVD Collection
![The Wild Bunch [HD DVD]](http://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/thumbs/2/24/B000Q6ZG4S-51qg9iEKE9L.jpg/60x60px-LS-B000Q6ZG4S-51qg9iEKE9L.jpg)
![The Wild Bunch [Blu-ray]](http://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/thumbs/c/cd/B000Q6GX90-51XFlOSDocL.jpg/60x60px-LS-B000Q6GX90-51XFlOSDocL.jpg)
