A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Searchers -- in High Defintion (12 Viewers)

[willyTass]

dvdpacific.com sent mine last week from florida to Australia in 4 days, so for you local guys you could have it tomorrow if u ordered online (good price and better postage charges than amazon who have dropped the ball IMO)

 

[Steve Tannehill]

At this point, I'm getting free 2-day shipping on everything from Amazon, after paying the Amazon Prime fee and getting more than my money's worth out of it.

Amazon seems to have a glitch in their system on large orders that span multiple weeks. They are also very slow to get preorders listed that have short solicitation periods.

But $17.99 (shipped) for The Searchers is unbeatable, and worth the week wait. I reserve the right to complain, however.

- Steve

 

[TonyD]

ordered last week about 8 days ago.
i got the shipping notice sat.
came yesterday.
watched last night.

i only use thr free shipping.

 

[Tim Glover]

I've ordered all of my HD-DVDs from Amazon too Steve and like you and I'm sure others are taking advantage of the Amazon Prime. I'm only about 2 weeks into my free 3 month trial with FREE 2 day shipping and only $3.99 for overnight. Gee let me think if this is a good deal. But you're right...many titles are still showing pre-order status like some of Paramounts (We Were Soldiers, Italian Job etc....) They were released early summer.

$17.99 is hard to beat like you say though. Hopefully they'll get it together.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The last four days, I spent a great deal of time with this HD DVD and the following are my comments about it and the previous dvd releases. Also, I posted the same comments in the other thread in Software.

After spending several hours watching all three different releases, I have concluded that each of them have their own color issues. However, the HD DVD video presentation is excellent despite my misgivings about it having too much yellow in certain scenes. It appears to me that there is too much blue tint in the original dvd release and that the blue coloring shows up in various degrees in other detail not associated with the blue skies. Case in point, some of the outdoor foliage and canyon walls appear to have too much blue in them.

I even sampled the documentaries again and compared some of those outdoor scenes to the actual HD DVD presentation. Some of those blue skies are definitely bluer on the documentaries compared to what's on the HD DVD, but what I don't know from actual experience is whether that color timing is accurate to the print? From my vantage point, of watching the different discs in my HT, I do prefer the more natural blue skies on the HD disc to the almost technicolor blue skies of the original. I would think with the constant weather changes along with dust storms during production that it would cause the skies not to be that blue in certain scenes, particularly the background shots from a distance.

Overall, I found both, the latest dvd release and of course, the HD DVD presentation vastly superior to the first dvd's video presentation. The framing issue that pertains to the first dvd release is very obvious, but the clarity and enhanced detail really stands out on the newer presentations, particularly the HD DVD. Also, it goes without saying that the latest dvd release falls very short in comparison to the HD DVD.

Warner has done a great job with this HD DVD, but it's not perfect because of some excess yellow in certain scenes and some issues with the day for night segments. That being said, it is still a vast improvement over the first dvd release and I think many people will be very happy with its video presentation. I still have some misgivings about the before mentioned issues, but my misgivings are small enough that I can still recommend to others that they should at least buy the latest dvd release. However, the HD DVD is without a doubt, the best way to watch this great movie in the comfort of your HT.






Crawdaddy

 

[Robert Harris]

Crawdaddy...

I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Any interest in a career in film restoration and preservation?

RAH

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I think it was August 8th or around then, Roger. So, hopefully, your order will be fulfilled within the next day or two. Amazon is SLOWWWW when it comes to filling HD DVD pre-orders!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Wow.

Wow.

Wow wow.

- Steve

 

[Edwin-S]

I'm curious. Why all the ruckus over this particular film? I'm pretty sure I haven't seen it. I'm not a big fan of John Wayne oaters, but everyone's comments here made me curious enough to get the salesman to throw in this movie as the free one when I bought the player. How does this movie compare to "The Shootist". I was impressed with his acting in that film, considering that he was very ill when it was shot.

I looked at his imDb listing. He was very prolific over his career. Definitely a man with a work ethic.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Edwin, I've never been a big fan of Waynes. In fact, I generally dislike his movies and performances. But his work here is nuanced and excellant and the character he plays, extremely atypical. Its hard to cogently express why the film means so much to me- it may be fact that Waynes character is such an outsider and the sense of isolation that dogs him holds an appealing fascination for me (the final shot hits me as hard as any image in any movie I've ever seen). But the film has so many pleasures beyond that including some extraordinarily beautiful cinematography, amusing supporting performaces, an interesting vision of the harshness of frontier life, and the handling of the 'racist' themes, and the idea of not letting go until you finally get what you're after...
There are plenty of classics out there that I don't bother disputing the appeal of even though it eludes me personally. Not this one. For me, the film is evergreen, and thanks to the wonderful job Warner did with this disc, I can't ever imagine not having it in my collection again.

The thread over in the sd forum contains some better expressed posts from others on the enduring appeal and fascination of the film. Well worth perusing that thread to look for answers to your question.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

As for the HD DVD, the PQ is spectacular. Look at the cleanup that has taken place when comparing the HD clips in the documentary to the actual movie. You can even tell that they cleaned up the soundtrack even more. While I agree that the colors might need a little tweaking, the resolution and detail are astonishing for a film that is 50 years old.

Finally, as Mr. Harris has pointed out regarding other movies comparing HD to SD, I felt like I was watching film--not a home video. That in itself is quite a shift in mindset.

My only quibble with the film is that Texas looked suspiciously like Monument Valley.

- Steve

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I just went to lock my front door, and there was an Amazon package with THE SEARCHERS in my mail box. Can't wait to watch this one ASAP.

 

[RobertDW]

John Ford loved Monument Valley and had friends there that he stayed with when filming on location. Even way back in 1938 the film Stagecoach he took the crew to Monument Valley (but not John Wayne) to film many parts of the movie.

 

[Tim Glover]

Cool Larry. Look forward to reading your review.

 

[Frank Ha]

I just got this yesterday and watched it last night. After all the great comments I was afraid I would be disappointed because I was expecting to much. Let me just say, I was not disappointed. In fact, I was blown away with the incredible picture quality. As far as pq is concerned, I thought it was as good or maybe even better than "Ray", which until yesterday I considered to have the best HD-DVD image to date (from among the discs that I own).

Anyway, a great movie, a great image. You can't go wrong with this one.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I'm thrilled that WB is reacing into their historical catalog for some of these premiere HD-DVD releases.

So many HT enthusiasts new to the game or without much experience with good projection (undersantably) mistakenly assume that "old movies" just won't translate to HD with the same rewards as newer "modern technology" films.

HD transfers and presentations like the Searchers demonstrate the outstanding fidelity and *craft* of many historical films. Film technology, in many ways, has actually been dumbed-down in the modern decades as the art and majesty of pristine film presentation has dwindled away. But in their day, these masterpieces of film were often projected with exquisite results to audiences who didn't even own color television sets...with even greater resolution and detail than most modern big-budget films.

Watch a 70mm presentation of a well crafted large-format film and your jaw will hit the floor.

I find the same irony with Music recordings... some of our best recordings were produced in the 1960's. Many of those historic LP pressings still sound better than modern digital recordings despite all the "advances" in technology, though only a small percentage of music listeners are aware of this.

I can see the beginnings of something wonderful with HD-DVD/BD: I predict that they will actually open up a world of appreciating historic films for newer generations of viewers that otherwise would never have appreciated these classics of cinema.

Why?

Because these films were *made* for large-screens to be viewed in high-resolution. They don't translate well to SD/small screens... even when OAR is presevered... because their impact is only experienced properly when viewed in high-resolution from closer than 2 screen widths to fill your field of vision. Even projecting a DVD copy wide-angle doesn't work because most of the actors are shot mid/far-ground and so too much facial detail is lost at the SD level (modern films rely much more on close-up photography since many directors plan for video release as well).

Watching films like this in high-resolution on a wide-angle system (under 2 screen widths away) reveals a new dimension to the experience that traditional home-viewing could never communicate. And it's precisely the experience that the artists who created these great films intended audiences to have.

I think that now that HD can start to deliver an experience that more-faithfully represents how these films were meant to be seen, a new level of appreciation can emerge... one that simply isn't able to exist when blown-up from the SD level.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I watched THE SEARCHERS the other night. A gorgeous disc, and an amazing movie. John Ford may be the most picturesque director of all time. Every frame is perfect.

If you haven't already, go out and grab this disc! It's a knockout!

 

[Tim Glover]

Finally got The Searchers delivered by Blockbuster online....Wow. What a GORGEOUS looking HD-DVD. Technically it's a knockout. One can only dream and drool over the other upcoming VistaVision titles heading to HD-DVD soon.

As for the film itself....I'm just not a huge fan of Westerns. I like a few-actually love these (Shane, Outlaw Josey Wales, Unforgiven, Silverado, Tombstone)....but this one was good.

I can only imagine how great The Searchers would look on a real high quality 1080 capable monitor or projector.

 

[Gary Miller]

Hmmm....Do you think working with big John Wayne made a life long impression on young Lana Wood?



(part of a photo shoot at the Memphis film festival in the spring of '06)

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I'm generally not a Western fan either, Tim, but this one is my favorite, and I also love HIGH NOON, STAGECOACH,SHANE, and anything with Eastwood. Michael Curtiz's DODGE CITY also holds a special place in my heart.