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*** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

#151
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4/27/09 at 8:42am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Howson
Either way these are more signs that whoever is encoding these DVDs doesn't know what the hell they are doing. If I was in the U.S. I would demand a replacement, or an exchange for a different film.

LOL - ALL of the discs are rather poorly compressed, so that wouldn't help much. Some transfers take to the poor compression better than others from what I've seen, to be sure.

The next few batches of titles have surely already been authored, but here's hoping things change around soon so they are compressed and encoded at a higher standard, not necessarily bit-rate.
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#152
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4/27/09 at 8:44am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Pennington
LOL - ALL of the discs are rather poorly compressed, so that wouldn't help much.
Why wouldn't complaining help? Not complaining certainly won't help, because WHV would be able to pretend that everything is fine regarding disc quality, and will just charge ahead with new releases, instead of fixing the transfers of what is already available.
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#153
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4/27/09 at 8:59am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Howson
Why wouldn't complaining help? Not complaining certainly won't help, because WHV would be able to pretend that everything is fine regarding disc quality, and will just charge ahead with new releases, instead of fixing the transfers of what is already available.

What I meant was I would just be exchanging one poorly compressed/encoded disc for another one with similar deficiencies. I hope they take the comments from the survey and on this website to heart as constructive criticism to improve the quality of the discs. I have a strong feeling the powers that be were unaware of the poor compression/encoding. So odd no one at the studio actually checked the discs on decent equipment (I'm assuming) as I would think traditional studio product has such a QC process.

I don't see them going back and re-authoring 165 titles based on what is probably a small number of people voicing complaints, but I don't know. I can see them making improvements for the future, and I hope this is the case.

I must remark again how surprised I was at the lack of quality on SPITFIRE and MANNEQUIN. These are quite old video masters indeed. I'd wager that most of the other titles I viewed were from newer masters, but definitely not these two. Of course, it's not like they are great films anyway - SPITFIRE really makes me laugh in a "bad movie" kind of way though.
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#154
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4/27/09 at 9:14am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Pennington
So odd no one at the studio actually checked the discs on decent equipment (I'm assuming) as I would think traditional studio product has such a QC process..
They probably did the opposite, checked the discs on a range of cheap DVD players to check that they were compatible.
Quote:
I don't see them going back and re-authoring 165 titles based on what is probably a small number of people voicing complaints...
All the more reason for people to complain!
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#155
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4/27/09 at 8:58pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Pennington
Use a different setting, perhaps without Dolby Pro-Logic or not on the surround setting because it is not decoding properly. There is surely a setting on the receiver that will fix this and just give you the audio in the two front channels.
Thanks for the reply Chuck. Yes I know I can readjust the equipment to make it play correctly. What I was trying to point out and ask, has anybody else had this problem with this title as obviously if the WB archive trailer preceding the movie plays OK and all of the other archive movies I purchased play OK as well then there is something wrong with the way the movie BIG CIRCUS has been made on this DVD. I should not have to adjust my equipment just so I can watch one DVD It should be made correctly in the first place and I was trying to establish if any other purchaser of this title had the same problem before I return the movie to WB as being faulty.
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#156
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4/28/09 at 6:26am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by wesaussie
Thanks for the reply Chuck. Yes I know I can readjust the equipment to make it play correctly. What I was trying to point out and ask, has anybody else had this problem with this title as obviously if the WB archive trailer preceding the movie plays OK and all of the other archive movies I purchased play OK as well then there is something wrong with the way the movie BIG CIRCUS has been made on this DVD. I should not have to adjust my equipment just so I can watch one DVD It should be made correctly in the first place and I was trying to establish if any other purchaser of this title had the same problem before I return the movie to WB as being faulty.

But you must remember it is a 2-channel stereo title. Many receivers are set to use Dolby Pro-Logic processing on those soundtracks and that could cause a phasing problem where audio is sent to the rear channels that does not belong there. There are 2-channel stereo titles that DO decode properly with Dolby Pro-Logic to bring in a center channel and mono surround, but with the 50s stereo titles one must be careful when playing them back.

If the movie plays correctly in the front two channels when your receiver is set to that type of playback, I don't think there is a problem. I understand that the Warner promo beforehand sounded fine, but I believe it is also mono, as I'm sure most of the other Warner Archive titles are as well.

It's possible the soundtrack was incorrectly flagged as surround encoded and that is why your amp defaulted to Pro-Logic processing for it, causing the phasing issues you described. Are you using the digital input on the receiver, either coaxial or optical? If so, then that may be what caused the problem: the ac3 sound file being flagged as Dolby Surround encoded when it wasn't, and then your receiver defaulting to that mode when it isn't the proper way to present the soundtrack.

If this is the case, a replacement disc will have exactly the same issue as they are all copies from the same encoded master.
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#157
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4/28/09 at 6:36am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

I watched POSSESSED (1931) last night. It's obviously been taken from a videotape master as the image is quite soft, but I did note fewer instances of dirt, scratches, and debris than in other Archive titles from this same period.

The sound mix could have used some attention as it's very noisy, full of hiss and crackle, sometimes distractingly so.
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#158
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4/28/09 at 3:45pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Just finished The Mad Miss Manton and I am extremely disappointed in the transfer. To start off with, from the RKO logo until about two minutes into the film the are numerous vertical scratches on the left side. You almost would believe that they ran the print at a local theatre through a platter system before the transfer.

I used to have the Laserdisc of this enjoyable film, but I do not remember the poor print condition. Can anyone confirm the laser had the same problem?

I guess after purchasing several titles, this was bound to happen, but I am not sour on the WA program, just a little hesitant.
“For God's sake don't say yes until I've finished talking.” - Daryl F. Zanuck  
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#159
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4/28/09 at 10:49pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Pennington
But you must remember it is a 2-channel stereo title. Many receivers are set to use Dolby Pro-Logic processing on those soundtracks and that could cause a phasing problem where audio is sent to the rear channels that does not belong there. There are 2-channel stereo titles that DO decode properly with Dolby Pro-Logic to bring in a center channel and mono surround, but with the 50s stereo titles one must be careful when playing them back.

If the movie plays correctly in the front two channels when your receiver is set to that type of playback, I don't think there is a problem. I understand that the Warner promo beforehand sounded fine, but I believe it is also mono, as I'm sure most of the other Warner Archive titles are as well.

It's possible the soundtrack was incorrectly flagged as surround encoded and that is why your amp defaulted to Pro-Logic processing for it, causing the phasing issues you described. Are you using the digital input on the receiver, either coaxial or optical? If so, then that may be what caused the problem: the ac3 sound file being flagged as Dolby Surround encoded when it wasn't, and then your receiver defaulting to that mode when it isn't the proper way to present the soundtrack.

If this is the case, a replacement disc will have exactly the same issue as they are all copies from the same encoded master.
Thanks once again Chuck for your reply. You have also solved my problem for me as all of the other two track stereo DVD's I purchased in my order including Quentin Durward and Bhowani Junction and the fact that the Warner Archive trailer are all in the same format and play on my system without a problem (all in the front two channels) then the BIG CIRCUS obviously has a manufacturing problem with the sound the way it is. This also means as you said that all copies will be the same indicating therefore that they were not mastered correctly in the first place. I have now contacted WB and asked them to check this out. Hopefully a new remastered version that fixes the sound problem on this title will be made.
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#160
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4/29/09 at 8:37pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Tonight I watched PAYMENT ON DEMAND. Apart from a few stray white specks and one or two light scratches, the video quality was very strong: sharp, excellent contrast with pleasing grayscale.

The volume level of the audio was set very high, but apart from one audio dropout, the audio was also very good.
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#161
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5/4/09 at 10:41am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
Just finished The Mad Miss Manton and I am extremely disappointed in the transfer. To start off with, from the RKO logo until about two minutes into the film the are numerous vertical scratches on the left side. You almost would believe that they ran the print at a local theatre through a platter system before the transfer.

I used to have the Laserdisc of this enjoyable film, but I do not remember the poor print condition. Can anyone confirm the laser had the same problem?

I guess after purchasing several titles, this was bound to happen, but I am not sour on the WA program, just a little hesitant.

This is one of the few Warner Archives titles that I’m interested in. It’s disappointing to hear about the video quality, though I have to give Warner credit for having a demo clip that shows the vertical scratches on the left side at the beginning. Now I have to decide if it’s worth upgrading my DVD-R (originally recorded off cable onto a Beta tape). Hmm…

Brian

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#162
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5/5/09 at 4:09pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Just watched CARSON CITY, which I had ordered to replace an old VHS copy recorded from television. It's not a widescreen movie, but it is in color and the color was good for the most part. It's unrestored and has some grain, but the picture is fairly sharp and a great step up from VHS. As far as these old Randy Scott movies go, this one is above average and the WB Archive transfer is more than acceptable.
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#163
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5/5/09 at 6:14pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Has anyone seen Thousands Cheer or Broadway Rhythm yet?

I'm honestly surprised they are both part of the Warner Archive, especially since Warner comes out with a boxset of MGM musicals each year. I figured these two Techincolor titles (along with Meet The People and Two Girls and a Sailor) would be remastered as part of an upcoming boxset.

I wonder what the fate of Panama Hattie and Ship Ahoy will be.

Warners....

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#164
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5/6/09 at 8:15pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian McHale
This is one of the few Warner Archives titles that I’m interested in. It’s disappointing to hear about the video quality, though I have to give Warner credit for having a demo clip that shows the vertical scratches on the left side at the beginning. Now I have to decide if it’s worth upgrading my DVD-R (originally recorded off cable onto a Beta tape). Hmm…


The beginning was the worse part of the transfer, the rest of the film is in good shape. It is still a very enjoyable film and the first couple of minutes with the "platter scratch" does not ruin the fun. I am glad I bought it an have watched it twice. If you buy it, I am sure you will enjoy it as well.
“For God's sake don't say yes until I've finished talking.” - Daryl F. Zanuck  
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#165
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5/7/09 at 6:12am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
The beginning was the worse part of the transfer, the rest of the film is in good shape. It is still a very enjoyable film and the first couple of minutes with the "platter scratch" does not ruin the fun. I am glad I bought it an have watched it twice. If you buy it, I am sure you will enjoy it as well.
I'm glad your overall impression of The Mad Miss Manton is that it was worth it. It would almost have to be an upgrade over the DVD-R (from Beta off cable) that I have now.

I just took a look and noticed that it's back to full price (it was on sale when it first came out). I'll have to think about this a bit.

Brian

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#166
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5/7/09 at 6:53am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by ahollis
Just finished The Mad Miss Manton and I am extremely disappointed in the transfer. To start off with, from the RKO logo until about two minutes into the film the are numerous vertical scratches on the left side. You almost would believe that they ran the print at a local theatre through a platter system before the transfer.

I used to have the Laserdisc of this enjoyable film, but I do not remember the poor print condition. Can anyone confirm the laser had the same problem?

I guess after purchasing several titles, this was bound to happen, but I am not sour on the WA program, just a little hesitant.

As my second batch of 4, I got "Mad Miss Manton", "Quality Street", "A Woman Rebels" and "The Little Minister".

The three Hepburn titles are no worse or better than what has been shown on TCM....the three RKO titles are in pretty good shape (thankfully).

"The Mad Miss Manton" - I agree with the line on the left and the extraordinary darkness of the image throughout the entire film. There's times when you simply cannot see Hattie McDaniel's facial expressions! Heavens to betsy...what a lousy looking transfer. Nifty film, tho.

I now have 8 titles and unless something amazing gets issued, I will not be buying too many more.
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#167
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5/7/09 at 10:47am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

The Beaver on the Academy Award winning The Big House.
So many films, so little time...
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#168
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5/7/09 at 4:24pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

A report on RETURN OF THE BADMEN: This is a good Randolph Scott western, very 1940ish with Gabby Hayes in his usual role as a buffoon, and strengthened by the formidable presence of Robert Ryan as the main villain. I was very satisfied with the overall sharpness of the B&W picture, a vast improvement over my old TV copy. There were a couple of rough spots, and the picture froze momentarily at the one-hour chapter switch, but I didn't have to do anything to get it going again. Not pristine, but the best I've ever seen this movie look.
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#169
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5/9/09 at 8:48am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

The Beaver's reviews of The Money Trap and Westbound.
He says that The Money Trap looks like it's had some work done on it, suggesting to me that this title may at one time have been slated for that Glenn Ford box that never materialised.
Riding the High Country - My Movie Blog
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#170
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5/9/09 at 12:59pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

The quality of THOUSANDS CHEER looks quite good. I just sent for BROADWAY RHYTHM. What is annoying THOUSANDS CHEER is bare bones. The trailer appeared on the old laserdisc but not this DVD. Both these films are not great musicals and that is probably why the folks at WB decided these two would not be good enough for a box set.
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#171
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5/10/09 at 12:04pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

TRAIL STREET: Another entertaining mid-forties Randolph Scott western from RKO. Scott, Robert Ryan, and side-kick Gabby Hayes are on the side of law and order, battling villains Steve Brodie and Harry Woods. There were some rough spots in this transfer, the weakest of the Scott entries so far in terms of picture quality. The condition is much better than some of the older titles, like THE BIG HOUSE, but it's unrestored and beginning to show its age. I'd call it average in comparison to other Archive releases. If you like this movie and don't already have it, you will probably not be disappointed. I bought it to replace an old VHS copy I recorded from television years ago. If you have recorded your own DVD-R from TCM, I guess it all depends on how satisfied you are with that copy.
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#172
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5/12/09 at 3:03pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

I watched "Soldier in the Rain" today and found the video presentation for the most part satisfying without any problems to note here. However, with that being said, the quality of this film and its stars deserved a normal retail release. Anyhow, I'm pleased to have it on dvd in its OAR.





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#173
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5/12/09 at 7:54pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

BADMAN'S TERRITORY: Yet another good mid-forties western with Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes. Also featured in the cast are Lawrence Tierney and Tom Tyler as the James brothers and Steve Brodie as Bob Dalton. The movie starts with one of those British rating announcements, which may indicate that this is the best available print. The picture is quite sharp with good contrast---I would say it's well above average for an unrestored film of its era. The one drawback is the presence of quite a few white speckles throughout.
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#174
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5/13/09 at 12:11am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Kuhns
BADMAN'S TERRITORY: Yet another good mid-forties western with Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes. Also featured in the cast are Lawrence Tierney and Tom Tyler as the James brothers and Steve Brodie as Bob Dalton. The movie starts with one of those British rating announcements, which may indicate that this is the best available print. The picture is quite sharp with good contrast---I would say it's well above average for an unrestored film of its era. The one drawback is the presence of quite a few white speckles throughout.

Interesting; the film was cut (no details given, but possibly for horse falls) by the BBFC for British release - I wonder if this is a cut print?
So many films, so little time...
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Harold Shand: What I'm looking for is someone who can contribute to what England has given to the world: culture, sophistication, genius. A little bit more than an 'ot dog, know what I mean?
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#175
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5/13/09 at 1:35am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hodson
Interesting; the film was cut (no details given, but possibly for horse falls) by the BBFC for British release - I wonder if this is a cut print?
John,
Later today, I'll check the time on that disc and compare it's runtime to what AFI has listed for it.
G.W. McLintock: Camille, you're on your own.
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#176
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5/13/09 at 4:46am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Yes, there is definitely something wrong with the sound on The Big Circus.

I am not sure if this was a true stereo release or not but some idiot at Warner has the same mono sound blasting out of both channels. If they were trying to achieve some kind of fake stereo sound, they failed. It is especially annoying when the actors speak and their voices are spread across the room.

The video quality is OK and the film itself is deliriously entertaining.
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#177
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5/13/09 at 6:07am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by William Miller
Yes, there is definitely something wrong with the sound on The Big Circus.

I am not sure if this was a true stereo release or not but some idiot at Warner has the same mono sound blasting out of both channels. If they were trying to achieve some kind of fake stereo sound, they failed. It is especially annoying when the actors speak and their voices are spread across the room.

The video quality is OK and the film itself is deliriously entertaining.
Thank heavens I was not the only one who thought the sound on the BIG CIRCUS was not right. It really needs to be remastered correctly to prevent this problem.
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#178
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5/13/09 at 6:20am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by wesaussie
Thank heavens I was not the only one who thought the sound on the BIG CIRCUS was not right. It really needs to be remastered correctly to prevent this problem.
You could set your receiver to mono, so that it folds the signal down to one channel.

But I agree, these sort of stuff ups should be fixed.
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#179
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5/13/09 at 9:44am
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Kuhns
BADMAN'S TERRITORY: Yet another good mid-forties western with Randolph Scott and Gabby Hayes. Also featured in the cast are Lawrence Tierney and Tom Tyler as the James brothers and Steve Brodie as Bob Dalton. The movie starts with one of those British rating announcements, which may indicate that this is the best available print. The picture is quite sharp with good contrast---I would say it's well above average for an unrestored film of its era. The one drawback is the presence of quite a few white speckles throughout.

The video sample on the Warner Bros. website is from a colorized version, is the actual DVD in b/w?
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#180
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5/13/09 at 4:21pm
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Re: *** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread

RE: BADMAN'S TERRITORY. This is B & W. The running time stated on the box is 98 minutes; most other sources I checked say 97 minutes. I keep close tabs on the running time, and I can say that this is accurate---I wouldn't argue whether it was 97m or 98m or somewhere in between. I think there was a re-edited version circulating at one time, probably for television broadcasts; both the IMDB and the out-of-print 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment guide mention a 79 minute version. This is the full length movie. I was very well pleased with all but the speckles. They weren't really distracting, but I kept wondering whether they were attributable to the source print or some sort of DVD incarnation of the old "laser rot". Since the DVD-R was new, I decided it was the source print and a small price to pay for the overall sharpness of the picture.
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