- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,271
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
The Vikings, directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh, is a 1958 production, shot early in the Technirama era.
With MGM's reputation for "good enough" transfers, it was with a bit of trepidation, that I popped this one into my Oppo. While I presumed that it would be derived from a 35/4 element and not from 8-perf, the image that hit my screen had the requisite quality to uprez nicely to 4k.
A nice surprise.
As I recall, the film was never blown up to 70mm, so the 2.35 aspect ratio, offered by MGM via Kino, is fine. Color, densities, grain structure, shadow detail are all within pleasant bounds. The image is stable enough for government work. The audio, which was always monaural, is represented as left and right mono.
As a film, The Vikings is a big, brawling Norse western, with lots of beer (or it is grog?) drinking, fighting and presumably beard envy. At times, Janet Leigh appears to have wandered onto the wrong set, but in the end, The Vikings is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
Image - 4.25
Audio - 5
4k Up-rez - 4.25
Pass / Fail - Pass
Recommended
RAH
With MGM's reputation for "good enough" transfers, it was with a bit of trepidation, that I popped this one into my Oppo. While I presumed that it would be derived from a 35/4 element and not from 8-perf, the image that hit my screen had the requisite quality to uprez nicely to 4k.
A nice surprise.
As I recall, the film was never blown up to 70mm, so the 2.35 aspect ratio, offered by MGM via Kino, is fine. Color, densities, grain structure, shadow detail are all within pleasant bounds. The image is stable enough for government work. The audio, which was always monaural, is represented as left and right mono.
As a film, The Vikings is a big, brawling Norse western, with lots of beer (or it is grog?) drinking, fighting and presumably beard envy. At times, Janet Leigh appears to have wandered onto the wrong set, but in the end, The Vikings is a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
Image - 4.25
Audio - 5
4k Up-rez - 4.25
Pass / Fail - Pass
Recommended
RAH