"Fiddler on the Roof" April 5th from MGM (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kidd]

Dagnabbit! Now I'm going to have to head over to Walmart to pick it up. I saw it yesterday but hesitated because I hadn't read any reviews yet and didn't want to buy it if it was substandard. It's probably the first Musical I watched multiple times as a child, thanks to HBO. Tevye's Dream always used to freak me out. I had nightmares that Frumah Sarah was coming to get me. It was the best kind of spooky to a kid.

What with the stack of $6 Lionsgate BD's I picked up in addition to a $10 copy of CORPSE BRIDE and the two TRON flicks, this is going to be an expensive week!

 

[JoHud]

Perhaps I'm a bit too easy to please. I generally expect at least a Hi-def remaster of their classics and they generally good enough to not cause much of a fuss. Like in the "golden DVD days", MGM was usually second rate, although the gap's usually smaller when it comes to Blu-ray. There's definitely room for improvement and they're usually not fubar DVD upconverts like TGSET. The best transfers seem to be reserved for their best-sellers (And I do expect the best for the upcoming Some LIke it Hot), but a reasonably large visual upgrade is about the most I can normally expect for MGM. Which should not be too hard for them given the majority of their DVD track record.

Thanks to those for the Wal-mart tip. A price and convenience I just couldn't pass up (words I don't normally associate with that chain).

 

[bonnermartin]

Originally Posted by Ethan Riley
I think the bluray producers' intent was to preserve the film that we've all enjoyed for 40 years, without using digital magic to "enhance" it to today's standards. I don't want to carp on Disney, but we all know that they overdo their classic releases; Fiddler seems immune to that kind of tinkering.

You know, when they "restore" a classic painting for museum viewing, they just clean off the dirt so you can see it better. They don't reframe it to a different size than the artist intended and they don't recolor it. I have no idea why some dvd producers do just that to the classic films they're working on, because what is a classic film other than a work of art? If you have a good bluray collection, then you have your own museum of film--and that's what they should do: care for these movies like they're caring for a classic painting, and not, eh, "fiddle" with it.

I sorry but I am in the camp that want to see the restored copy looking pristene,no film gain, faults of the original film like out of sink sound fixed and colour restored to it's original glory,and if it's black and white I would like a colorized version included. If it was 1.37 to 1 aspect ratio re crop it to 16:9 using a vertical scanner to get the best fit. Our local TV channel dose that with many of it's 4:3 sources to fit it's 16:9 transmission.

I particularly object to restorers you don't get thing right like in the DVD of Kiss Me Kate. The film was shot on 1.37:1 stock with an intended projection ratio 1.75 :1 and instead of the DVD being in wide screen it was released in 4.3 Kiss me Kate would make a great Blu-ray 3D as the orginal 3D copy is still in the vaults at Warner Bros.

Bonner Martin
New Zealand

Bonner Martin
New Zealand

 

[RobertR]

I thought April Fool's day was over.

 

[TonyD]

I thought April Fool's day was over.

 I sorry but I am in the camp that want to see the restored copy looking pristene,no film gain, faults of the original film like out of sink sound fixed and colour restored to it's original glory,and if it's black and white I would like a colorized version included. If it was 1.37 to 1 aspect ratio re crop it to 16:9 using a vertical scanner to get the best fit. Our local TV channel dose that with many  of it's 4:3 sources to fit it's 16:9 transmission. I particularly object to restorers you don't get thing right like in the DVD of Kiss Me Kate. The film was shot on 1.37:1 stock with an intended projection ratio 1.75 :1 and instead of the DVD being in wide screen it was released in 4.3 Kiss me Kate would make a great Blu-ray 3D as the orginal 3D copy is still in the vaults at Warner Bros. Bonner MartinNew Zealand Bonner MartinNew Zealand
  

It is over but not for Bonner Martin. Martin you won't be getting any Agreement from HTF on any of that.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Originally Posted by bonnermartin
I sorry but I am in the camp that want to see the restored copy looking pristene,no film gain, faults of the original film like out of sink sound fixed and colour restored to it's original glory,and if it's black and white I would like a colorized version included. If it was 1.37 to 1 aspect ratio re crop it to 16:9 using a vertical scanner to get the best fit. Our local TV channel dose that with many of it's 4:3 sources to fit it's 16:9 transmission.

I particularly object to restorers you don't get thing right like in the DVD of Kiss Me Kate. The film was shot on 1.37:1 stock with an intended projection ratio 1.75 :1 and instead of the DVD being in wide screen it was released in 4.3 Kiss me Kate would make a great Blu-ray 3D as the orginal 3D copy is still in the vaults at Warner Bros.

Bonner Martin
New Zealand

Welcome to the forums! Just wondering if your sarcasm stemmed from the fact that you thought I was being patronizing in my earlier post--or if you honestly think you're funny? And why did you sign your name twice? We remembered it the first time around. Just wondering HAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[Brian Kidd]

I sorry but I am in the camp that want to see the restored copy looking pristene,no film gain, faults of the original film like out of sink sound fixed and colour restored to it's original glory,and if it's black and white I would like a colorized version included. If it was 1.37 to 1 aspect ratio re crop it to 16:9 using a vertical scanner to get the best fit. Our local TV channel dose that with many of it's 4:3 sources to fit it's 16:9 transmission.

Them's fightin' words, brother!

I kid. Sort of. I really hope you're joking, because, otherwise, you're in the wrong place.

Back on topic: I'm so glad I plopped down my $15 for this disc. It was an absolutely fantastic way to spend an afternoon. It looks exactly as a film of its vintage should.

 

[bonnermartin]

Originally Posted by Ethan Riley

Welcome to the forums! Just wondering if your sarcasm stemmed from the fact that you thought I was being patronizing in my earlier post--or if you honestly think you're funny? And why did you sign your name twice? We remembered it the first time around. Just wondering HAHAHAHAHAHA

No sarcasm was written or intended. In fact I was careful to avoid sarcasm as I see no place for it in life. I had no intention of printing my name twice . Don't know how that happened.

Bonner Martin

 

[allanfisch]

It is indeed NOT a joke, listen to the commentary, confirmed by Norman when I interviewed him.

Great to hear it looks fantastic, will get sooner rather than later.

 

[TonyD]

It is indeed NOT a joke, listen to the commentary, confirmed by Norman when I interviewed him.

Great to hear it looks fantastic, will get sooner rather than later.

Allan who are you responding to?

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched Fiddler on the Roof tonight on Blu-ray. It is indeed a terrific transfer. Apart from a few dust specks (more in the second half than the first), I was most impressed with it. It's so sharp that you can indeed see the wrinkles in the stocking over the lens in a few scenes where the sky is prominent.

 

[GMpasqua]

Finally got around to watching "Fiddler on the Roof" on blu-ray. I thought the film looked great. I've seen it in theaters a number of times and the blu-ray is pretty accurate in it's image. The sound was pretty good also. A for image. ("[COLOR= #800000]The Greatest Story Ever Told" should have looked better than this disc since it was shot in 70MM, but "Fiddler on the Roof" blows it away on Blu-ray[/COLOR])


You can really see the stocking in many shots (that's how clear the blu-ray is) esp the start of "Matchmaker" and whenever the films reverts to fields of wheat and green.

All and all, I've very pleased with the disc. By the way, my disc started up without going to a menu scene and when I did go to the menu screen there was none. The options just came up over the film - am I doing something wrong or is this a new trend?

 

[GMpasqua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Kidd /forum/thread/308710/fiddler-on-the-roof-april-5th-from-mgm/90#post_3799233

Back on topic: I'm so glad I plopped down my $15 for this disc. It was an absolutely fantastic way to spend an afternoon. It looks exactly as a film of its vintage should.





Those words couldn't be more untrue. It looks exactly as a print of "Fiddler on the Roof" should is more accurate.



Films from 1971 ranged from Outstanding Image Quality (Ryan's Daughter 70MM Dean Lean) to down right ugly/grainy (The French Connection) and everything in between. And remember not every film was shot through a nylon stocking (as Fiddler was) so Fiddler will look very different



If a blu-ray of "Ryan's Daughter" looks anything like "Fiddler on the Roof" it is a bad transfer, or if it looks anything like "The French Connection" it is a travesty and should be recalled immediately.



On the otherhand, if "The French Connection" looked like "Ryan's Daughter" - that would be a true and utter miracle, since it was never filmed to look that good and wasn't shot on expensive 70MM film stock

 

[trajan]

Has anyone noticed some lip sycn problems starting a little before the Do you still love me? song and continuing on for about 15 minites or so.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Originally Posted by trajan
Has anyone noticed some lip sycn problems starting a little before the Do you still love me? song and continuing on for about 15 minites or so.

Not in particular, but the whole film has synch problems simply because so much of it was looped. Notice the character of Sasha in particular--that boy really didn't now how to do ADR. All the principals have looping/synching problems especially in their musical numbers, but those problems have always been there so I'm okay with it.

Bonner--sorry, I thought your post was a parody of all the things we don't like here in the home theater forum--colorized movies, etc. It's all right, you're entitled to your opinion. But the majority of us like to see the films as close to their original theatrical presentation as possible. That's why we like bluray in the first place--because a good bluray can look like you're watching an actual film in the theater.

We just don't like it when bluray engineers try to fix things that don't need to be fixed and enhance movies for current tastes. I think we had a discussion about Jurassic Park one time. Very early in the movie there's a shot of a dinosaur chewing leaves off a tree. Now the dinosaur was CGI and you could clearly see in the background a rope used to pull the tree so it looked like the "dinosaur" was moving the tree. Unfortunately, Spielberg forgot to paint it out before the film was released. The shot was very apparent in theaters back in 1991 and it's even more apparent on the current dvd. And every Jurassic Park fan knows that rope is there. So the dilemma becomes--when the eventual bluray appears--do you finally go back and remove that rope? Or just let it stay? It's one of the most renowned bloopers in the Steven Spielberg canon--Jurassic Park fans have a good time making fun of it every time they see it--but if you "fix" the bluray to take it out, those same fans might feel cheated...

But really, the thing about film grain--that's the way the original director shot the film. That's the way he wanted it to look, right? He intentionally shot it that way--it's part of the movie, and therefore part of the story he was trying to tell you. So who is some 2011 bluray engineer, fresh out of tech school, to "fix" a famous director's movie by removing that grain? It's not fair, it's not right, and it bothers fans who appreciate these classic films for what they are--warts and all.

 

[Mike Frezon]

The Home Theater Forum is a place where those who enjoy watching movies in their homes can discuss all aspects of (re-)presenting films the best way they can. These discussions concern the film art itself, its products as well as the technical ways to create a theater-like experience inside a home.
We the members of the forum are interested in the film product to be recorded and reproduced as closely as possible to the way the original creator(s) of that particular film intended. We respect the integrity of all artists involved in creating the original film as well as those who helped bringing the product to a form suited to be used in a home theater environment.
The main goals of the discussions on the Home Theater Forum are to learn and to share: to learn more about the cinematographic art-form and the best techniques to present the films, and to share our knowledge with anyone who sincerely wants to benefit from the knowledge of his or her fellow members.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by GMpasqua
Finally got around to watching "Fiddler on the Roof" on blu-ray. I thought the film looked great. I've seen it in theaters a number of times and the blu-ray is pretty accurate in it's image. The sound was pretty good also. A for image. ("[COLOR= #800000]The Greatest Story Ever Told" should have looked better than this disc since it was shot in 70MM, but "Fiddler on the Roof" blows it away on Blu-ray[/COLOR])


You can really see the stocking in many shots (that's how clear the blu-ray is) esp the start of "Matchmaker" and whenever the films reverts to fields of wheat and green.

All and all, I've very pleased with the disc. By the way, my disc started up without going to a menu scene and when I did go to the menu screen there was none. The options just came up over the film - am I doing something wrong or is this a new trend?

All of the MGM Blu-rays I have reviewed over the past couple of weeks went directly to the movie with no menu screen.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by trajan
Has anyone noticed some lip sycn problems starting a little before the Do you still love me? song and continuing on for about 15 minites or so.

I have noticed that, but not to that length, on the laserdisc and the DVD. I also recall seeing it in the theatre. I also have thought it was due to the heavy lip syncing done on the picture. One of the documentaries on the Blu-ray and DVD show a scene being shot using playback and the actors were having trouble with it, though it is not mentioned.

 

[lukejosephchung]

I was lucky enough to see the 70mm Roadshow Presentation of this at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theater in 1971, back when it was a first-rate movie house. This blu-ray is the best incarnation I've seen of this wonderful masterpiece since that day...needless to say, I'm a very happy camper!!!

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by Ethan Riley
Not in particular, but the whole film has synch problems simply because so much of it was looped. Notice the character of Sasha in particular--that boy really didn't now how to do ADR. All the principals have looping/synching problems especially in their musical numbers, but those problems have always been there so I'm okay with it.

An Italian actor played Sasha, when filming was completed it was decided his accent didn't sound right so an other actor was brought in to dub all his lines, the two youngest daughters (Teyve had 5) were also dubbed since they sounded too british