![That's Entertainment - The Complete Collection [Blu-ray]](http://cdn.hometheaterforum.com/4/4d/50x50px-ZC-4df98a13_B000WC3AJE-51TyjhJY0yL.jpg)
That's Entertainment: The Complete Collection from Warner Bros. (all three of the TE productions) in high definition is going to be a touchstone for many on the fence about entering the next gen arena.
These are not your father's That's Entertainment films.
In many cases, the only easily accessible film elements available when the films were created have been upgraded on a clip by clip basis to current standards. This doesn't mean that Every clip is new, but where work has been performed, higher quality elements have been substituted.
And what this gives us is a cornucopia-like sampler of what film elements - some going back 80 years - look like in high definition. This cuts both ways.
Some of the earlier bits have an extremely heavy grain structure which will be a boon to some and a travesty to others. Three-strip Technicolor, when in perfect registration, has never looked better.
When it's out, it's obviously out, and we live with it until such time that the studio gets around to a digital recombine.
For many, especially musical fans, this is a release that in the same mode as the studio's Blade Runner, will be the final cause of the move to HD. The Fit as a Fiddle number from Singin' in the Rain, even from the dupe of a dupe from which it was created, looks unimaginably beautiful in HD, as does every other three-strip example -- even those out of registration.
As for black & white, once past the heavily grained early films, the purity and supreme lushness of a nitrate derived silver image is unlike anything that we know in the modern cinema.
These three films, which serve as a salute to the incredible talent behind them, inclusive of a reminder to once again send a thank you note to those still with us, use the format properly.
While I screened on Blu-Ray, one must believe that the HD is a mirror image.
This is high-octane high definition of the most beautiful level, giving the set the highest possible rating of Extremely Highly Recommended.
With a street price in high definition of around $50 for the set, this is one of those great gift purchases for the Holiday season, even if it's for oneself.
RAH
These are not your father's That's Entertainment films.
In many cases, the only easily accessible film elements available when the films were created have been upgraded on a clip by clip basis to current standards. This doesn't mean that Every clip is new, but where work has been performed, higher quality elements have been substituted.
And what this gives us is a cornucopia-like sampler of what film elements - some going back 80 years - look like in high definition. This cuts both ways.
Some of the earlier bits have an extremely heavy grain structure which will be a boon to some and a travesty to others. Three-strip Technicolor, when in perfect registration, has never looked better.
When it's out, it's obviously out, and we live with it until such time that the studio gets around to a digital recombine.
For many, especially musical fans, this is a release that in the same mode as the studio's Blade Runner, will be the final cause of the move to HD. The Fit as a Fiddle number from Singin' in the Rain, even from the dupe of a dupe from which it was created, looks unimaginably beautiful in HD, as does every other three-strip example -- even those out of registration.
As for black & white, once past the heavily grained early films, the purity and supreme lushness of a nitrate derived silver image is unlike anything that we know in the modern cinema.
These three films, which serve as a salute to the incredible talent behind them, inclusive of a reminder to once again send a thank you note to those still with us, use the format properly.
While I screened on Blu-Ray, one must believe that the HD is a mirror image.
This is high-octane high definition of the most beautiful level, giving the set the highest possible rating of Extremely Highly Recommended.
With a street price in high definition of around $50 for the set, this is one of those great gift purchases for the Holiday season, even if it's for oneself.
RAH
