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A Few Words About A few words about... The Mel Brooks Collection (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein

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Ted,

That is exactly what happened on my
Toshiba 57" television.

The 1998 image filled the screen which made me
question whether the 1998 version was actually
anamorphic or not. I'm glad I'm not the only
one who had the same display oddity.

This is why it was difficult for me to explain
what I was seeing.

However, yes, from the image displayed through
POWERDVD you can see they are vastly different
aspect ratios.
 

Colin Jacobson

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Yes it does!:frowning: Well, I guess I'll talk to Fox and see if they can send a replacement.

BTW, in regard to mastering dates of other discs:

---Twelve Chairs and History of the World are very recent (1/06 and 12/05, respectively)

---High Anxiety, Robin Hood, Silent Movie and To Be or Not to Be were all mastered in 2002
 

Random Hero

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So, we're getting the crappy version of Blazing Saddles in this set? Yuck...

I suppose I can overlook that and just buy the newer version for $10, but only if everything else in the box set is anamorphic... especially History of the World Part I.
 

Andrew Bunk

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I don't like what they did with Blazing Saddles, but honestly, the set is still more than worth it to me for just 7 titles. 5 of them are titles I don't own, and two are 16:9 enhanced upgrades of two of my all time favorites.

I'm just very glad to see the YF screenshots. I am still excited about this set, and I am planning a Mel Brooks weekend, alogn with my yet ot be viewed Spaceballs SE.
 

Haggai

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Yeah, the Blazing Saddles thing doesn't really matter. I wonder why they even bothered licensing it at all for this boxset, if they couldn't get the latest version.
 

Dave Mack

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Ron,
What dvd player are you using? Some players like my old JVC-sa70 and the Panasonic RP91 automatically scale certain non-annie transfers that have been flagged a certain way. The old "The Thing", "Poseidon..." and "Towering..." were like this I believe.
I REALLY want an annie version of YF but I can wait til' this mixup gets resolved or they release it individually.

:) d
 

Ronald Epstein

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Hi Dave!

Panasonic RP91 is my DVD player.

Also...

I know that Fox had been planning to release these
films to DVD for years. Though I really don't want
to state why there was a holdup at one point, I will
say that I heard the decision was made to delay for
possibility of obtaining more material that would
ultimately benefit fans.

I'm very happy to have this set in my hands. It
looks like Fox did a very nice job here.
 

TonyD

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someone who doesnt have a panny -91 needs to check YF because the panny-91, as stated already, will upscale the image to appear as if it is enhanced.

or, ron, you can bring up the menu and change the setting from auto upscale to 4x3 or shrink.

this will reveal if it is enhanced or not.
 

Andrew Bunk

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Tony,

I think Ron's screenshots from PowerDVD show definitive results.

I use PowerDVD as well. When an anamorphic disc is present it automatically fills the frame, as seen in Ron's second screenshot.

The old disc shows in a 4:3 window. PowerDVD handles non-anamorphic discs this way for me as well.
 

Paul McElligott

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Glad that's straightened out (I think :D). I was holding off but I'll probably get this for History of the World, Robin Hood, Silent Movie and High Anxiety.

If they were going to include the old transfer, I almost wish they'd include the original DVD-18 with the fullscreen transfer on the otherside, for this reason only: The "Tell them I said ... ooowwww" screen is one of the best ways to show the advantages of widescreen over P&S.
 

Colin Jacobson

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Yeah, join the club! At least Fox said they'd send me a new copy of YF so I should be able to check it out soon...
 

CraigF

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First of all I think it's real dang low-down that the included version of BS is the old one. People can say what they want as far as "reasons", but I think better if they left it out and dropped the price $5 or so. After all, they left The Producers out (MB's second best film IMO).

And as for his best film (IMO) YF: you can't judge by a single screen cap, or even several, but it seems pretty clear to me in the one shown that there is LESS picture in the anamorphic version (if it is indeed anamorphic). It is reframed. I don't know which is right, but somehow less piccy is not what I was hoping for. And YF is possibly the finest-looking non-anamorphic DVD out there. The new version may have better contrast range, I dunno but seems wider in the cap shown which is pretty dark overall.

Yes, it is very good to have all the other stuff, but these two faux pas (if they are that) on two of the more famous MB titles has me a little wary about the titles I'm less familiar with.
 

Andrew Bunk

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Well my copy is waiting for me to pick up, so I'll check mine tomorrow to make sure I got a new YF as well. Can't wait.
 

BillGo

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Is there a breakdown somewhere which lists technical details on each disc in the collection as to the video and audio (mono, stereo or 5.1, etc.)? From what I can glean from various sources, Blazing Saddles is a two-sided disc with a widescreen presentation on one side and full-frame on the other. All of the other discs seem to be widescreen versions.

Apparently, I'm one of the few who is a fan of To Be Or Not To Be, waiting for a looong time for this film in DVD format. I also own the latest Warner version of Blazing Saddles as well as the non-anamorphic version of Young Frankenstein, so I'm somewhat reticent to purchase the entire set. I wish I knew for sure if Fox was or wasn't going to issue single versions of these discs.
 

Andrew Bunk

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Well Picked up my set at lunch and have it with me now. It did have the new version of Young Frankenstein in it.

It appears that WB literally gave Fox their old Blazing Saddles discs. There are no Fox logogs at all on it-looks just like a typical WB FS/WS flipper.

BillGo,

The back of To Be Or Not To Be states it contains a Making Of Featurette and Character Profiles and Interviews with Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning.

Run time is 107 minutes. Audio states English stereo, but someone else said History of The World claimed this too and it didn't have it. I'm not at home so i can't check until then.

Happy to field any other questions on the set.
 

Dick

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Is this the same Warner Bros that flatly stated during the chat that they NEVER have nor will license films to other studios as a matter of strict policy?

Anyway, it's good that they did.
 

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