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A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 
The incredible team of Rogers and Hammerstein were all about quality.

And that constant search for best in all matters inclusive of technical, when it came to bringing their works to motion picture theaters, have returned again and again to create problems half a century later.

Testing the limits of the motion picture via 55mm / 8 perf, as well as 65 / 5 perf at 30fps, has affected the ability to properly reproduce some of the best of their work.

South Pacific was fortunately shot on 65/5 at 24fps, and derived from what appears to be a wet gate interpositive, this new Blu-ray has everything going for it and very, very little in the negative column.

Digitally corrected for color and contrast, South Pacific looks as a 65/5 production should -- crisp, with high resolution; a minimum of grain; no noise, and generally superb visual as well as aural reproduction.

The only negatives here -- as far as I know, the film has not been restored -- are occasional registration problems on opticals and dupes, which could have been corrected, but do little to damage an otherwise superb transition to Blu-ray.

I've seen this mentioned on line as a potential "Best of the Year," (we're only in March) and while this is an interesting notion, what needs to be kept in mind, is that what we are seeing is the ability of the Blu-ray system to reproduce films as they are meant to be seen. When one goes to large format elements, the sky is the limit.

This gorgeous Blu-ray should be considered the norm for large format.

Highly Recommended.

RAH

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post #2 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

The main feature IS great, but the superior ROADSHOW version is only in standard-def. Fox should have made this clear on their packaging, there's no mention of it at all other than a tiny "some special features may be in standard definition" claim.

IMO that's misleading on Fox's part, not to mention a disappointment that the superior presentation of the film is only in MPEG2 SD.
post #3 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

Fox did the same thing twice before with two of their other Road Show pictures. The special edition of THE SAND PEBBLES was released on DVD with both the short version as well as the original longer road show version. The shorter version was gorgeous with beautiful color but the 70mm version had very badly faded color. The other film was OKLAHOMA when the preferred 70mm road show version was not in par with the 35mm version on their two disc special edition DVD.

-Claude
post #4 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

Robert,

thanks for your review that confirms that Fox did the right thing with this large format release - looking forward to many more releases that are handled like the theatrical cut of South Pacific.

As it is the topic of lively discussions on several forums can you please find a few words with regard to the roadshow version not being given the same attention as the theatrical cut ?

To my knowledge getting a picture quality that is as good as the one of the theatrical cut with only a pink print as a source would be very difficult if not impossible at the moment and certainly very costly. And I can imagine that even with the technology being available budgetary contstraints would also come into play here, maybe you can shed some light on this ?
post #5 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

And now Blu-ray gets more interesting to me...this month has added THE ROBE, PINOCCHIO, and now SOUTH PACIFIC to my library.

I have seen how good it can look with current films,
but have been even more curious about what it will bring out in the classics genre.
post #6 of 8
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by OliverK

To my knowledge getting a picture quality that is as good as the one of the theatrical cut with only a pink print as a source would be very difficult if not impossible at the moment and certainly very costly. And I can imagine that even with the technology being available budgetary contstraints would also come into play here, maybe you can shed some light on this ?

Using the general release version as the base of a Roadshow HD version, the addition of the material in "Super Magenta Color!" would been neither a difficult reach nor terribly expensive.
post #7 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Harris
Using the general release version as the base of a Roadshow HD version, the addition of the material in "Super Magenta Color!" would been neither a difficult reach nor terribly expensive.

That is an unconventional approach and I can imagine the tagline for that: "The added scenes of the roadshow version have been color coded in Super Magenta Color for easier identification".
post #8 of 8

Re: A few words about...™ South Pacific -- in Blu-ray

My copy has shipped and I am certainly looking forward to it's arrival, especially after Mr. Harris' words. This has always been one of my favorite films and I find delight in showing it to people that never have seen it. Since I got the last DVD the only version I show or watch now is the Roadshow version. While the additional scenes are muted somewhat, the scenes that are in the general release version are as clear and colorful as they can be. I would assume that Fox used that print and just added the additional scenes.

I understand that the Roadshow version is not HD on the Blu-Ray, which is of some disappointment, but I still can not wait to see the General Release version in HD. I guess I will have to change which version I show my friends.

Thank you Mr. Harris for your thoughts on all the important Blu-Ray releases. I have never been disappointed in your recommendations.
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