A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Sound of Music -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

I haven't watched the Blu-ray yet, so I have no opinion regarding the release; but
being an obsessive fan of certain films I can appreciate the devotion to the preservation
of an aesthetic.

- Walter.

Indeed; this is The Searchers all over again and over the years I've come to appreciate, understand and sympathise with the concerns of the informed minority. And surely everyone admires their passion.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am sort of shocked by the bickering about the
transfer of this film.

Mind you, I have no idea how The Sound of Music
is supposed to look according to the 70mm print.

However, as an enthusiast with two good eyes of
my own, I think The Sound of Music looks incredible....
no, perfect....on Blu-ray.

I just spent this morning watching the film.

The Sound of Music has never been one of my
favorite musicals. The first time I had watched it,
as many classic films, on the VHS format. It's no
wonder that at the time I found the film to be utterly
dull. The fact that I was only 17 at the time didn't
help either. I certainly wasn't at the age where I
could really appreciate a film like this.

So, very much like my experience with Apocalypse
Now -- another film I first saw on VHS and bought
countless copies over the years on home video
never to unwrap it -- I never gave The Sound of
Music its due.

To watch this film on Blu-ray is exactly as Robert
Harris described. It is as if looking at a flawless
diamond. I don't know what the hell has gotten into
Fox this past year, but they are doing miracles with
Blu-ray and setting a new bar that other studios now
need to match. The Sound of Music on Blu-ray is
a prime example of the film experience brought into
the home with utter perfection.

It took a presentation like this to finally make me
a fan of this film. Not really hard to understand why
but I will explain. Bad transfers, low resolution formats
and full screen presentations have ruined Hollywood's
best films on home video for the past three decades.
When a studio puts so much care into their product
to produce a transfer like this, you can't help but feel
as if you are experiencing a film for the very first time.
This is the way I feel about The Sound of Music.

You can bicker all you want, but I stand with those
that praise this transfer. I don't think those of us who
are not as close to the film as others will notice any
imperfections here.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

As a story guy, I tend to avoid these minutae discussions about grain or precise color or dnr or other technical presentation issues that, to us non-engineers, seem to border on the obsessively hair-splitting, Or at least present a good case for forest-for-the-trees-syndrome. But I also understand this tends to be a more technical forum populated by people who are all about the presentation ... and love to vent when it doesn't meet their expectations, even if those expectations are often beyond the threshold of what would satisfy most people. I like to read some of these back and forth discussions to educate myself on the nuances of presentation. But, at some point, perhaps now, Mr. Epstein is justified in stepping forward like William Shatner addressing trekkies on SNL and drawing the line between, "Hey, can't you be happy we're seeing this better than we ever dreamed possible?" and "Get a life!" Respectfully.

 

[GMpasqua]

Ron, it's not so much FOX is doing miracles, (well maybe they are) It's that they are working with 70MM elements which look better then the average feature, so these should look better on Blu-Ray

If you ever saw a 70MM presentation in a theater then went to the multiplex for the latest action filx you would see a big difference also.



When you're 16 going on 17 you find The Sound of Music to be quite nauseating - but then you become an adult and appreciate it all over again

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Originally Posted by FoxyMulder
I'm waiting for the karaoke version to be released before i buy this.

You realize this release *has* a karaoke mode, right?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Originally Posted by Mark Oates
P*ssing on the Blu-ray from a great height only serves to spoil the enjoyment of others in what they were deriving a great deal of pleasure from.

The only way the p*ssing is spoiling my enjoyment is that I feel badly that Joe isn't enjoying the disc as much as the rest of us are. Sucks for him, I guess.

 

[Mark Oates]

Originally Posted by Joe Caps
Mark, this is an open forum, and in all good conscience, I can not jump on a ra ra band wagon, if I don't find it to be true.

Whenever I dissagree I get comments like
A. there is something wrong with my eyes,
B. my equipment needs to be calibrated.

I appreciate that, Joe. Don't get me wrong, if there's something the matter with a disc, it needs to be flagged. And I can understand your frustration at having your eyesight/sanity questioned. My point is that ultimately arguing at length on this kind of forum is counterproductive - it annoys you and potentially alienates the Studios from people like us who love film passionately and want things to be perfect. Because believe me, I do want things to be perfect, but I also realise there's a point to shrug philosophically, mutter "It's your funeral" and move on to the next topic. On this topic, you're unfortunately in the minority. Most posters are happy with the transfer of SOM, because they don't have the personal experience of the movie that you have. That's their (and for that matter my) problem.

If we could all see what you see, it would be a different matter.

 

[GMpasqua]

Maybe Joe's been watched the DVD be mistake?

 

[Sebastian1972]

[SIZE= 12px][FONT= 'arial']With all due respect to everyone here, I guess for some people they try their best to find false of everything perhaps to tame their inferiority complex and boost their ego. As incredible looking as The Sound of Music on blu-ray is - and to me, along with the majority of posters on this forum, the best presentation of the film ever presented on home video format - some people can still rant about so many things, from the color-grading on the latest blu-ray edition that doesn’t look “right” to them or nitpicking about some silly little sound effect of Maria's apron slap that isn’t there as they expected or doesn't sound "correct" to them, to prove their point. As far as I can remember, that same group of complainers also complain bitterly when the 40th anniversary DVD of The Sound of Music came out five years ago and criticized that edition to death as well (and even went further to prefer the “5-star edition” or even the laserdisc). Now, that same group of complainers seem to embrace that lesser DVD edition they previously criticized when this latest blu-ray edition came out. That’s rather odd...[/FONT][/SIZE][FONT= 'arial'][/FONT]

 

After experiencing this film on blu-ray, I am going to put the apron slap to rest, because it wasn't prominent on the last release either and that was a different mix, so this wasn't a mistake. Also, the other sound effects during the song are there but softened as well. I am confident(!) that we are experiencing SOM in the best way possible, and I am sure that Robert Wise would be proud to know that people are deriving pleasure from the film. Beyond any of his technical and creative choices (i.e. color, sound, etc.), this had to be his ultimate goal....Mr. Wise, goal accomplished.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Discussions on this forum are polite, cordial and respectful. We do not hesitate to express our opinion on matters involved, knowing other members may or may not share those opinions. We will always respect opinions of other members, even if we do not share a particular opinion ourselves. We will not verbally attack other members in a personal way, but instead try to contribute to the common knowledge about, and understanding of all applicable topics discussed.

While you may disagree with those who have complaints about the quality of this release, you may not attack the complainers themselves. That will not be tolerated.

I may be counted as one who was less-than-thrilled with the last DVD release of TSoM and am over-the-top thrilled with this Blu-ray release. But I will always listen carefully to what other members of the forum have to say and especially what people with the credentials of Joe Caps have to say...even if it differs from my perspective.

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by Sebastian1972
[SIZE= 12px][COLOR= black]With all due respect to everyone here, I guess for some people they try their best to find false of everything perhaps to tame their inferiority complex and boost their ego. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

Sebastian,
Joe Caps has worked on many video transfers and some are highly regarded. Joe is a perfectionist and maybe he could have done a better job.

To slam him like that is insulting to the members of this board. It's like slamming Robert Harris. People in the industry will always see what the average consumer does not see.

Joe want's it to be perfect. Though Joe, it's pretty Damn Good as it is!

Plus the studios will never release a perfect transfer for fear of piracy - once a perfect master is out there other countires will no longer need to buy from FOX and dupilcates can easily be made cutting off the studio's revenue

Please keep in mind a blu-ray will look different on different set-ups. Sony, Pioneer reproduce with different leanings of reds and blues, add the moniter and the type of cable into the equation and you will get different images. Just go to best buy - one blu-ray player is hooked up to all those TVs and yet [COLOR= #0000ff]each set's image looks different[/COLOR]

 

[GMpasqua]

Joe,

You may want to watch the disc on some else's set up - it may look better, it may look worse.
Some blu-rays look great on my Pioneer set, while others look better on the SONY

 

[Sebastian1972]

[SIZE= 14px][FONT= 'arial']Dear all, I didn't mean to target or "slam" anyone in particular. My apologies if it came across that way.[/FONT][/SIZE][FONT= 'arial'][/FONT]

 

[WilliamMcK]

FWIW -- I was also very disappointed in the PQ for The Sound of Music on Blu-Ray: much too dark, and too orange and brown. After re-calibrating my set and coming up with the same settings I've had since the last calibration, I spent over an hour watching various scenes and tweaking those settings to make the movie look appropriate. It's not just that the movie doesn't look like I've ever seen it before (and I've seen it in Todd-AO, 35mm, VHS and DVD), it doesn't look like *any* movie I've seen before. However, by pushing up the brightness four notches and utilizing the color temperature control on my set and switching it to cool, I've come up with a pleasing picture (though I lose just a bit of shadow detail which frustrates me). Even without these changes I'll be the first to admit the film looks better than it ever has on home video before -- but look what we have to compare it too. Just because it looks better, doesn't mean that it looks good. To my mind, I shouldn't have to tweak the settings on my TV (or utilize controls like color temperature that I always leave turned off) to get a great picture on Blu-Ray. I'm happy that others haven't had the same problem/s, but I wanted to chime in, so Joe Caps realized that there were others with similar issues.

 

[Brian W.]

Originally Posted by WilliamMcK
FWIW -- I was also very disappointed in the PQ for The Sound of Music on Blu-Ray: much too dark, and too orange and brown. utilizing the color temperature control on my set and switching it to cool, I've come up with a pleasing picture (though I lose just a bit of shadow detail which frustrates me). Even without these changes I'll be the first to admit the film looks better than it ever has on home video before -- but look what we have to compare it too. Just because it looks better, doesn't mean that it looks good. To my mind, I shouldn't have to tweak the settings on my TV (or utilize controls like color temperature that I always leave turned off) to get a great picture on Blu-Ray. I'm happy that others haven't had the same problem/s, but I wanted to chime in, so Joe Caps realized that there were others with similar issues.

I had tried the same thing (switching my color temperature setting to "cool") a couple days ago, and it did improve the color tone a lot, but it's still not perfect. There are still shots that look slightly yellowish or even slightly greenish.

 

[GMpasqua]

Brian, the recent 70MM prints also looked pretty much that way. The 70MM prints were probably timed to reflect today's color preferences

Joe has said he hasn't seen the new 70MM prints, he's probably basing on the prints for the 60's

The Blu-ray looks pretty much like the recent 70MM prints. IMO, "The Sound of Music" didn't look as good as some of the other 70MM films I've seen. "Patton" looked great - as did "Hello Dolly" but neither of these look right on DVD. "Patton" does not look right on Blu-Ray

More money was spent on post "Sound of Music" films so the quality should be better. "Cleopatra" and "Star" also looked very good - but as the moderators said before these screenings - these films look better now then when they originally opened. So even the new prints aren't what audiences first saw in 1965 (better of course is just a matter of opinion)


Please keep in mind 99.99% of the population has never seen a 70MM film in the last 30 years. What they get at the Multiplex is a crime - if they only knew

 

[TonyD]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua
Joe,

You may want to watch the disc on some else's set up - it may look better, it may look worse.
Some blu-rays look great on my Pioneer set, while others look better on the SONY

He's already said that he watched it on a friends calibrated tv.

 

[Mike Frezon]

As much as I appreciate your apology, I'd be surprised if you reviewed the two posts you made today to this thread (#92 and #109) and didn't realize that you were directly addressing specific members in this thread who have raised issues with the TSoM Blu-ray. That seemed quite clearly to be the express point of those two posts: to demean those who dared to criticize the release with charges of bad eyesight, uncalibrated equipment, and low self-esteem. I'm not sure how they could be taken any other way.

You might find a better tact would be to let us know your opinions about the release rather than berating others for their opinions.

 

[Joe Caps]

I am now signing off, Peopale apparently are SO threatened bymy comments. Hell, the owner of this sight chimed in. I can't wait till we get Hello Dolly, King and I, Oklahoma, Can Can etc- allfrom 70mm, backgrounds changed to blue, foregrounds to red orange, an authority then claiming shadow detail has never beenbetter, except the piocture is ow so contrasty and dark you cant really see much. Remember all those films are also six track stereo -0 cut off the high end to get rid of hiss, artificially boost the lower midrange and someone is bound to say they've never heard smoother bass on this film. Good luck. You certainly deserve what you get.