I received my U.K. set today. I can confirm that the Blu-rays are region-free. I haven't played the DVDs yet, but they are labeled Region 2. That's not an issue for me because I have region-free players.
When was this established? I have a soundtrack LP album of the score for The Big Country that I bought in the 70's, and it was in fake "reprocessed for stereo effect" stereo. The soundtrack of the complete score on CD and the re-issued original soundtrack on CD are both mono. It would seem to me there would have been an authentic stereo release of the soundtrack if the film had been recorded in stereo.Paul Rossen said:I believe that sometime ago within this Forum it was established that The Big Country was indeed in stereo.
I watched it last night as well and noticed the same thing, It's a wonderful film.Matt Hough said:I watched East of Eden from the James Dean/UK set last night. Marvelous for the most part. Strange, though, how there are isolated shots of Julie Harris that are very soft. I don't remember noticing that on the DVD, but I haven't watched it in quite a while, and I'm sure it's part of the original photography.
There is not one shot that isn't an optical or part of a multi-pass optical that looks bad. Watch carefully and you will see that clearly, as long as you know what shots are opticals. The old DVD is horrendous in comparison and I do mean night and day horrendous.schtan said:There's been some great information in this thread about the film elements, and it's good to know going in, but even all that didn't prepare me for Giant. Giant does have highs and lows, but it's the frequency with which it changes from shot to shot that is the unsettling thing about it. As hard as it is to watch a non-anamorphic DVD nowadays, the old Giant DVD, it seems, wasn't really the problem. The quality of the image from shot to shot literally changes constantly throughout the entire film. I can understand the issue with dissolves, it's the shots between the dissolves that seem to change drastically just about every other scene. All this is of course that much more exaggerated on Blu-ray. I imagine the worst of the scenes look truly terrible when projected large. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have Giant on Blu-ray in 1080/24p at 1.66:1. The film looks probably better than any of us may have ever seen it, but unfortunately it is a rather jarring experience.
MPI with the help of today's technical advances did wonders that might not have been possible 10 years ago without a lot more money and time being invested in that process.haineshisway said:There is not one shot that isn't an optical or part of a multi-pass optical that looks bad. Watch carefully and you will see that clearly, as long as you know what shots are opticals. The old DVD is horrendous in comparison and I do mean night and day horrendous.
Here's what I have to say about Giant: It's a bloody miracle transfer with great color and the opticals, which are a major part of the running time, look better than they ever have (just a comparison with the DVD will tell you that) - but the shots that aren't part of outgoing, continuous or incoming opticals, look great. This film looked like crap in the theater and this presentation is everything anyone can ever hope for from Giant. The team who worked on this deserves and should get nothing but major kudos and congratulations because what they have performed here is nothing short of amazing.
Great to meet another Elizabeth Taylor fan! You're very lucky to have that item in your collection!SS NORMANDIE said:I look forward to purchasing more Elizabeth Taylor movies on Blu Ray in the (hopefully) not too distant future, particularly NATIONAL VELVET, RAINTREE COUNTY, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, and A PLACE IN THE SUN.
One of my most cherished possessions is an original GIANT production costume design sketch by Moss Mabry for Elizabeth Taylor, complete with George Stevens handwritten approval/initials on the front and a copy of the original wardrobe test photo taken on the set.
I watched it projected last sunday and enjoyed every minute of it. Some shots looked not as amazing as the most of it, but nothing looked terrible.schtan said:...I imagine the worst of the scenes look truly terrible when projected large...
Having all three films in a single case is a tremendous plus for me - especially when the transfers are identical to the US/UK releases. Thanks Persianimmortal for listing the special features included on each disc. Based on your recommendation, I ordered them from down under for $30 shipped.Persianimmortal said:I'm very happy with the Aussie set precisely because it's just the three movies in a single case, and no shelf-hogging books, posters etc. The Australian set does have some extras on the discs though, for those who are into that sort of thing, as I list here. The great thing is that with we have different versions of the James Dean set across the world to suit different tastes and price points. Regardless of which one anyone goes for, I can't imagine that they'll be disappointed - at least in the quality of the movies themselves.
But that was always so when one used to see films from that era on the theatre screen. I always rather enjoyed being able to spot the imminent dissolve.Steen DK said:Whenever the quality drops I found myself going "Oh, there's a dissolve coming up".
Giant doesn't just exhibit your standard few second dissolve. There are massive sections in comparison. Giant has the most frequently changing video quality of any Blu-ray I have yet seen. This is inherent to the source, so I understand there is nothing to be done. Warner is to be commended for bringing this to Blu-ray looking as good as it does and for the decision to frame it in 1.66:1.Douglas R said:But that was always so when one used to see films from that era on the theatre screen. I always rather enjoyed being able to spot the imminent dissolve.