|
A few words about...™ Men in Black -- in Blu-ray
Having had my fill of problem transfers this past week, I moved to what I hoped would be more stable ground -- a new Blu-ray from Columbia / Sony.
For a film over a decade old, Men in Black looks surprisingly good.
The color process seems stable, with only an occasional shot or two having flesh tones taking on an odd alien quality.
Dirt is amazingly not a problem, as I'm certain the print used to make this disc would have been run many times.
I perceived no obvious tears, finger prints or scratches.
The audio is called Dolby True HD -- apparently some early form of what we know today as stereo.
There are tons of extras on this Blu-ray, but the information that I was seeking was not included.
Doing an on-line search however, I learned that this very early "stereo" was actually an array of machines recording audio on sets of wax cylinders, each 46" in length.
Six of them in line.
All held together and kept in sync, as far as I can tell, with bicycle chains.
This works quite well, as when someone speaks... Mr. Jones, for example, the sound appears to come out of his mouth, and also to a certain point seems to follow him around on the screen.
Blacks seem rich, film grain, which was apparently laid on to the original negative by hand in those days, isn't overbearing, and is actually quite pleasant.
Color is rich and looks like the film that I recall seeing lo those many years ago.
Whatever Columbia's team has done here, the restoration work is brilliant, and as I said...
This does not look like a film THAT old. One would never know that it was highly flammable.
Men in Black is Highly Recommended... for a film of its age.
RAH
|
