A few words about...™ The Wizard of Oz -- in Blu-ray - Page 7

Those scenes mentioned were cut from the rough assembly and never shown in the originally released version. They have been unseen for seventy years. I hope that someday the footage will be found, but it was probably lost in the fire.

Toto still jumps out of the basket. There was never a scene where Miss Gulch turned the corner, unless it is when she arrives at the Gale farm.

 I sit here thinking - is this trolling or insanity?  

 since I don't have anything good to say, I won't say anything at all.

 So all this missing frame nonsense is just that - thanks for clearing it up - I saw nothing either, but then again I was just enjoying the movie and, as you say, this is an amazing disc and everyone should be congratulated.

I can see the munchkin jump glitch, so I looked at the 2005 dvd & it's not like that.  You are right.  If you hadn't have pointed it out I would have never noticed.  You have to look at the munchkin boy in the center of the screen.

So, the flicker would have always been present, but not seen because of the lower resolution of IB prints? Because, I have checked every version I have and the flicker/instability is not there.
Edited by eric scott richard - 10/2/09 at 9:27pm

Y'all are making it very difficult for me to resist running out to pick up the 3-disc version from Target.    Too bad the nearby downtown Manhattan street vendor probably won't have any for a significantly better price anytime soon due to the exclusivity deal w/ Target.  Wonder how long we'll have to wait before Target's exclusivity deal runs out -- or before they offer a more substantial discount than the $35 asking price.

The extras on the other 2 discs are "new" to me, so I'd like to have those and not merely go for the $20 Walmart version -- not that there are any Walmarts near me anyway.

_Man_
 

Don't resist the urge! It's pure magic all over again!

TonyD has reported, Man, that the $35 price, this week, on the Target set MAY be a temporary sale...as the set he purchased was marked $39.99 for a regular price. 

Basically, it's printed that way on the receipt.

I picked up the 3-disc Target offering and watched it tonight. The only thing I need to say is God, what a perfect film! The Blu-ray is a revelation. Movies just don't get much better than this.

Great to see so much love for my favorite film.

I've loved The Wizard of Oz since I was a little kid. And it just keeps getting better... :)

Have you tried using "frame advance" to see if it's really missing frames or just something revealed in the new transfer? Is there a glitch in the audio as well?

I don't have frame advance on my Sony. There is not a glitch in the audio.

That post about the 'missing scenes' was nonsense.

Those scenes were NEVER in any version of the movie since 1939 previews showings.

Some never existed at all.

When Toto jumps out of the basket the camera follows him down the road till it dissolves back to Dorothy's room and he jumps in the window.

There is no way there ever could have ben a shot of Miss gulch contining on, because the  camera clearly folows the dog and always has.

I really question the intent of that post.

Unless this person is very delusional or has a terrible memory why would he think those scenes were ever shown on TV?
I really think it was just to provide a contrarian post to all the posts heaping praise on this release.

The fact that Wizard was edited in a rather indelicate manner compared to modern movies, is what really is the cause of some confusion.

They cut the 'Jitterbug' scene but left in the witch's reference to the 'little insect' she sent to harass them.

Aunt Em says to Hickory that she has seen him tinkering with his 'contraption' but the cut out the scene where Hickory shows Dorothy his 'wind machine' that is supposed to disperse tornados.

They show the 4 heroes carrying various weapons with which to confront the Witch (Net, gun, bug spray, large wrench), but then cut out the scene where the Witch makes the net and bug sprayer disappear.

They show the Witch tossing her magic 'wishing (hood type) hat' but cut the part where she puts it on in the first place.

They left in the witch's reference to turning Tin-man into a beehive, but cut that scene.

They cut the bit where the guard of the wizards chamber marches off and turns his fake mustache from curling up to curling down (& then pretends to be a different guard) etc, etc, etc

They cut nearly 18 minutes from the movie and that's quite a bit and they didn't do re-shoots and updated insert shots or looping of dialogue to correct the continuity errors.

There have been stills of the various scenes/shots and audio found from some scenes but NEVER the actual film found and certainly they were never shown on TV or any home video format.

Also the preveiw version of the movie was originally 120 minutes---which means if it ever ran on TV at that length it would have filled a two and 1/2 hour timeslot----it never ran in anything more than a two hour timeslot.






Edited by Camper - 10/3/09 at 8:27am

Here's a link to the script to the movie---it includes all the cut scenes I and others have mentioned as well as others we didn't


.http://www.wendyswizardofoz.com/printablescript.htm



Absolutely facinating to consider all of the cut stuff WAS shot according to many sources.

"Surrender Dorothy or Die, WWW" was originally planned, and maybe even shot, but it was NEVER in any full-release version of the film.  Perhaps it was included in one of the previews shown before the full release back in '39, but it was certainly never in ANY release version that I've seen or read about.

FWIW, the Jitterbug was in one of those previews as well.  But the preview audience didn't like it, so it was cut.  Maybe "or Die, WWW" was cut at the same time?

Mark

No, the post was clearly made by a troll or, as you say, someone who is delusional - I opt for the former since you'll notice he hasn't been back since making the post.  Maybe he thought it was funny.  It wasn't.

Same here. I can definitely see the "glitch" if I am careful not to blink. The glitch is not on the 1999 version.

Shouldn't the glitch still be seen in previous versions even if the quality is poorer? I mean it jumps.

 IMHO, (based on what you're describing) the glitch would be evident even on the DVD, if it were there as well.**

Edited by MielR - 10/4/09 at 2:12am

I wonder if the 'jump' you're seeing is the result of having the film playing at its native 24 frames-per-second speed, rather than the 30 frames-per-second (using 3:2 pulldown) that all the previous NTSC home video and television screenings would have been?

Julian, that's interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I wish I could find out a definitive answer from someone who worked on this. If it is not supposed to be there, then yes, I do wish they would fix it...regardless of how minor people think it is.
Edited by eric scott richard - 10/4/09 at 11:34am

Hi....

I generally agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with most of your reiviews....but I am disappointed in EVERYONE's review of this Bluray horror they call OZ. The problem likely is that I am among the fast disappearing few who were around for the glory days of Technicolor, from the late 30's to the early 50s. Today everyone seems to have orgasms over grain. When I was young everyone had orgasms about NON-grain images. Filmmakers sought the finest grained films possible. Trucolor and Cinecolor were HORRIBLE partially because of grain. Technicolor was a marvel because there was VERY little grain evident in the prints.

Okay! I understand that it WAS there.....but you did NOT see it. To sharpen a film BEYOND what it was originally MEANT to be is to degrade the intent of the filmmakers. We seem to have a generation of people who cannot bear to look upon a smooth looking print. CGI effect films are generally EXTREMELY guilty of grain. The first INDIANA JONES was a fairly lovely print....especially the opening shots in the jungle. The latest film was an absolute HORROR of grain and CGI overprocessing.

This OZ does NOT represent what it was like in its first ten or 12 years of life. Judy has measles in almost every close up. I have a DLP 73 inch screen and a 27 inch LCD screen. On BOTH this Bluray OZ looks grainy and over-processed. If we constantly seek to make a film more and more sharp are we not destroying the original look of the film? Yes, originally Technicolor films were softer.....and they GLOWED with colors that are lacking in even in the VERY BEST restorations. The blues used in Disney's FANTASIA (and indeed, in all of his 40s films) have NEVER been equaled, much less surpassed. Perhaps we need to go to China and retrieve the original Technicolor equipment so that we can accurately reproduce prints that ARE equal to the originals.

I had been looking forward to this release, but I am TERRIBLY disappointed. It looks overprocessed. It has moments that ARE quite lovely, but most of it borders on being garish because of the intense layer of grain. If I turn off ALL sharpness controls....it doesn't look right either....because of the manner in which such controls are created. At times, the contrast seems to be set too high in the print and not in the soft but lush palette of the original 3 strip Technicolor.

There has NEVER been a color process to equal Technicolor before it went monopack. To my generation we felt we had been slapped in the face and that film had taken a GIANT step backward when THE ROBE was released. The grain was OVERWHELMING and the color was REVOLTING. With only a few exceptions Deluxe and ALL the other color processes and/or pirnting were horrible until the late 70s and early 80s when we began to finally get some color stocks that could produce somewhat lovely images. But TODAY....in theaters......it is like 1953 and THE ROBE all over again.....horrrrrrrrrible prints, many of which contain too much grain. For a good part of my life I went to the movies at LEAST twice a week. Now.....I rarely go more than twice a year. (Yes, part of it is the tiny little shoeboxes, compared to the palaces that once existed, which STILL have trouble filling 200 seats!) It is a sad, sad ending to a once great industry.

As for this OZ.....well......it may please those who get orgasms of delight when they see grain.....but even grain aside, it is just too CG- like to ever satisfy those of us who were around for the original versions of films of that era. It's too processed!

I firmly believe that part of the problem lies in Bluray itself. Too many Bluray releases have this "overprocessed" look. Frankly, I much preferred HD-DVD which seemed not to produce such HARSH images.

When my generation dies off there will be no one left who knows what the GLORY of "Glorious Technicolor" was really about! 

This "ain't it!!!!"

I fear for the forthcoming GONE WITH THE WIND!

Eric, does your TV have a 120Hz or 240Hz refresh rate?