A Few Words About A few words about...™ West Side Story -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[haineshisway]

The replacement disc put a bandaid on the problem. The REAL problem was the incorrect green - it was never fixed and so to hide it they put in the fade to black. The replacement doesn't quite go to black but it's still fades out and in to the final color. It should seamlessly go from the red to the blue with a dissolve - no fade, no green, no black.

 

[Tom St Jones]

55th ANNIVERSARY next year. Please tell us, MGM, that you (or better yet CRITERION) are working on a 4k remaster and everything will be done right this time...

 

[Robert Harris]

55th ANNIVERSARY next year. Please tell us, MGM, that you (or better yet CRITERION) are working on a 4k remaster and everything will be done right this time...

Doubtful. Expensive.

 

[Tom St Jones]

It goes without saying, WSS is up there with "The Sound of Music" and "My Fair Lady" among classic musicals and a consistent seller - so one can all but see another edition coming, whether it contains a new transfer or not... If it were almost any studio other than Metro, I imagine RAH would have gotten a phone call sooner or later..

 

[Dr Griffin]

Just a little comical note on this fiasco. I did not return my original set when the "fixed" disc appeared due to the improper fix. Recently I had a change of heart and contacted Fox for replacement, being very descriptive that I wanted the "corrected" disc with the "fixed" overture/prologue. Emails from Fox read 'Disc Replacement Program', but for some reason I didn't fully feel they understood what I was asking, and this was 2 separate emails. I couldn't have been more clear. So I get the replacement set and it is the exact same original pressing. Why are these even still in their system? I am not even contacting them again on this. I will wait, along with everyone else, for a true fix someday.

 

[turtledove]

I bought WSS when the Blu was first released and the fade at the end of the prologue really grates even though it does appear to be a minor fault.

It's as annoying as the Blu for Dracula Prince of Darkness where there's supposed to be fade at the end of the credits but for some reason they changed it to a dissolve which is also jarring.

What is it with the people who mess these releases up? Surely they have some kind of reference materials?

I don't recall the same number of cockups in the dvd era and I'm sure we would have cared equally at the time about it.

 

[Dr Griffin]

I can't figure out why they sent the same set. I know this was a big deal due to outcry from the fans, which is usually the way it happens: fans know the films better than the studios, so the studios have to react when there are a lot of complaints. They offered a replacement disc within a few months, but apparently it's been too long and no one at Fox is aware of the issue anymore. Actually, since the "fix" is still not correct, I really don't care, but what a waste of time (on my part), and money (on their part).

 

[ijthompson]

Still sitting on my money until this wrong is righted...

 

[Brian W.]

I would give anything if Criterion could get their hands on this film.

 

[CMNash]

If Fox would just give me a hard drive with just only the Overture, I'd fix it for free for them. I already did an SD test.

 

[Dr Griffin]

The really disturbing thing about all this is that apparently no one at Fox knows how to fix it! The replacement disc (which I haven't seen) sounds like they guessed what needed to be done by reading only some of the complaints online.

 

[CMNash]

It's not difficult for them to get it right, as RAH had pointed out few times: A Roll, red; B Roll, blue; additive dissolve between the two. For someone who has never seen the negatives, I'm guessing it should have looked like the mock up I did years ago.

 

[Matt Hough]

Fox merely distributes the film for MGM. I think the mastering for Blu-ray was an MGM project. Or am I mistaken?

 

[CMNash]

Fox merely distributes the film for MGM. I think the mastering for Blu-ray was an MGM project. Or am I mistaken?

You're right. But after reading the 'Hawaii' thread (good read, by the way), I don't think MGM would do very much to correct the film.

 

[Matt Hough]

You're right. But after reading the 'Hawaii' thread (good read, by the way), I don't think MGM would do very much to correct the film.

Exactly which is why after all this time it hasn't been fixed satisfactorily.

 

[Dr Griffin]

Did MGM or Fox do the "fix" on the replacement disc?

 

[CMNash]

Did MGM or Fox do the "fix" on the replacement disc?

Good question. I was under the impression it was done on Fox's end.

 

[Dr Griffin]

Good question. I was under the impression it was done on Fox's end.

Same here.

 

[Konstantinos]

For someone who has never seen the negatives, I'm guessing it should have looked like the mock up I did years ago.

Why did you have to do a mockup?
I had the impression that the DVDs are correct.

edit: Oh, never mind. I see the DVDs went from orange to green to blue.

 

[CMNash]

Why did you have to do a mockup?
I had the impression that the DVDs are correct.

edit: Oh, never mind. I see the DVDs went from orange to green to blue.

Yep, the DVDs are incorrect too. I did it to see how easy would it be to correct it digitally. I ultimately did an HD version and spliced it into the blu-ray video. I can watch it on a hard drive attached to my home theatre and not be bothered by the botched dissolve.