Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Midnight Express (1 Viewer)

[Richard Gallagher]

MIDNIGHT EXPRESS

 

[Bradley-E]

I got this and watched it today. Like The Deep from a couple weeks ago, Midnight Express brought back great memories of a decade of fantastic filmmaking. Midnight Express holds up great after 30 year. I enjoyed watching it again and having it amongst my Blu ray library. They did a fine job on the disc.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Originally Posted by Bradley-E

I got this and watched it today. Like The Deep from a couple weeks ago, Midnight Express brought back great memories of a decade of fantastic filmmaking. Midnight Express holds up great after 30 year. I enjoyed watching it again and having it amongst my Blu ray library. They did a fine job on the disc.

Good to hear!. I was very happy with the job they did on the Deep, and all the screencaps I've seen seem to indicate they approached this one the same way
The 70's (especially the late 70's when I was a rabid moviegoer) produced a lot of my favorite films...selections well beyond the usual big crowd pleasers.
A couple others that Sony owns that I hope they kick out soon are 1776 and China Syndrome. In fact, considering this was the 30th anniversary of the latter as well as the Three Mile Island incident, I'm surprised (though not necessarily disappointed) they chose ME to get an out of the blue release rather than exploiting the anniversary of CS.

 

[Dave H]

Indeed...the 70s produced some great movies. Midnight Express is a powerful movie and I will definitely be ordering it.

Edit: typo

Edited by Dave H - 7/20/2009 at 12:26 am GMT

 

[Bradley-E]

I am glad that Sony did not tamper with the AQ and PQ and kept it as it should be. It has it's 70's feeling intact. They could have easily pumped up the sound and sharpened the picture. The 70's is when I discovered film as a teenager and I am happy to see these films coming to Blu ray. The featurettes on this disc are great. Midnight Express cost $1.7 to produce back then. Now that would not pay for one actor. Peter Guber was great to listen to. During his time at Columbia he greenlit Taxi Driver, The Last Detail, Tommy...all of which the higher ups were nervous about. All of which I'd love on Blu ray. That was really a great time for film. Yeah, I was thinking a couple weeks ago when it was on TCM that I would love 1776 on Blu ray...Hopefully next year. Also, The China Syndrome, The Last Picture Show, California Suite, Murder By Death, Shampoo would be welcome by Sony for some 70's classics.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am glad that Sony did not tamper with the AQ and PQ and kept it as it should be.

From my past conversations with their asset Manager, I
get the feeling that the people over at Sony realize the
importance of preserving the integrity of their masters when
it comes to DVD and Blu-ray transfers. This is one studio
you do not have to worry about DNR issues.

 

[Bradley-E]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein




From my past conversations with their asset Manager, I
get the feeling that the people over at Sony realize the
importance of preserving the integrity of their masters when
it comes to DVD and Blu-ray transfers. This is one studio
you do not have to worry about DNR issues.

Good to hear.

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein




From my past conversations with their asset Manager, I
get the feeling that the people over at Sony realize the
importance of preserving the integrity of their masters when
it comes to DVD and Blu-ray transfers. This is one studio
you do not have to worry about DNR issues.

Even though some titles like Ghostbusters get complaints, I'm really glad Sony does their best efforts for movies on Blu-ray.

 

[felipenor]

From the photo the case looks rather square compared to other blu-ray cases. Is is smaller or is it wider than other cases? I can't really tell from the pic. I'm just afraid that it'll look strange on my shelf.

 

[CraigF]

It is a Digibook. Yes it will stick out compared to regular BD cases. So don't put it on your shelf if how your shelf looks is more important than how the film looks. Or put all your digibooks together so the shelf looks right, starting with this, presumably your first one. There are a lot of good movies in Digibooks. I might go so far as to say that if it's in a Digibook, you can be guaranteed you're getting a good movie. Yeah, I'll say that.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by felipenor

From the photo the case looks rather square compared to other blu-ray cases. Is is smaller or is it wider than other cases? I can't really tell from the pic. I'm just afraid that it'll look strange on my shelf.

A standard BD case is 5 3/8" by 6 3/4" . The Sony case for Midnight Express BD is 5 5/8" by 7".

 

[felipenor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigF

It is a Digibook. Yes it will stick out compared to regular BD cases. So don't put it on your shelf if how your shelf looks is more important than how the film looks. Or put all your digibooks together so the shelf looks right, starting with this, presumably your first one. There are a lot of good movies in Digibooks. I might go so far as to say that if it's in a Digibook, you can be guaranteed you're getting a good movie. Yeah, I'll say that.

Actually, I have some Warner digibooks. Is this the same size of a Warner digibook?

 

[CraigF]

^ Yes, they're exactly the same size. ME is the only non-Warner "digibook" I have. You wouldn't think 1/8" diff would stick out much on a shelf, but it sure makes a lot of itself.

[Edit: so much for my arithmetic, it's 1/4" diff which makes more sense by how it looks, doh.]

I am not sure if digibook is a Warner's trademark or something, or if it's really a package "type", it's just what we/I call them...

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by CraigF

I am not sure if digibook is a Warner's trademark or something, or if it's really a package "type", it's just what we/I call them...

Sony doesn't seem to have given their version of the package a name. In the press releases it's just called a booklet.

 

[Robin_B]

I notice that WB are re-releasing some of their digibook releases in normal cases lately Maybe Sony will do the same thing

 

[felipenor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin_B

I notice that WB are re-releasing some of their digibook releases in normal cases lately Maybe Sony will do the same thing

Well, I find digibooks way more beautiful than regular cases, so for me it's digibooks all the way.

 

[felipenor]

Has Sony released any other films in gigibook aside from Midnight Express and A River runs through it?

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Originally Posted by felipenor

Has Sony released any other films in gigibook aside from Midnight Express and A River runs through it?

Yes, at least three that I know of: Dr. Strangelove, Easy Rider, and Silverado.

 

[felipenor]

I'll be picking up these 5 then. Any other Sony title on digibook?