DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: Vertigo Special Edition - Highly Recommended (1 Viewer)

[Ken_McAlinden]

Also note: Even for the "Vertigo" restoration remix, the dialog was sourced from an optical track.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Has Universal confirmed that they did not intend to make the original mono track available and that this was not a gaffe or are we just projecting "reluctance" in the face of their reticence?

Regards,

 

[Carter of Mars]

Did you get to compare the sound in the YouTube clip with the 2.0 track on the DVD yet?

YouTube - Vertigo - mono opening scene

 

[WilliamMcK]

Well, if it turns out it was a mere gaffe I'll replace the word reluctance with carelessness: either way, it's damn frustrating.

 

[Kevin EK]

Carter, I can confirm that the sound on the YouTube clip is not the same sound as is on the Legacy DVD.

But I thought I had already acknowledged that with the response I posted from Mr. Harris.

I have not revised the review yet, partly due to the fact that the discussion here has clarified matters, and partly due to the fact that the website administrators are here in LA for the meet and can't edit the "Highly Recommended" tab yet.

I'll add that while it may be possible to get Universal to do a revision of the title for future sales, as well as for Blu-ray, I doubt you will see any further restoration. I believe it should be a simple matter to include the original mono track, and I don't understand why it wasn't on this release. But at the same time, I don't believe Universal will be doing any work on that track.

I'm interested in any feedback anyone gets from Universal about this issue.

And I'll adjust the review over this weekend.

 

[Bill Parisho]

I'll probably buy this set for the new bonus features. One minor quibble: Instead of "The Case of Mr. Pelham" episode from Alfred Hitchcock Presents they should have included the "Lamb To The Slaughter" episode instead (which ended up on a different disc). I figured since that show and Vertigo both feature Barbara Bel Geddes. It's probably just the "Felix Unger" in me that wanted to keep the release neat.
Bill

 

[Kevin EK]

Bill, you're right about the casting. But I think the people that put the Legacy editions together probably thought that "Pelham" was a better match for the plot. I'll get on Psycho and Rear Window after I get another couple of reviews under the belt.

 

[allanfisch]

Does the DVD from 2005 have the original mono track on it? I just bought this newer one and of course discovered right away something was amiss with the supposed mono track as the music for the main title was stereo. As for someone being "asleep at the switch", as someone who worked in that world for some time I can tell you that it does happen and while irritating, this does not surprise me. People see an audio file or track in inventory labled as 2.0 mono or whatever and they pull it. No sense of what it's origins are, etc...This is the state of where things can go when a brain is removed from the process.."we'll just let the vendor do it! " ... I speak from 18 years experience in that business. Too bad...

 

[IanD]

The 2005 DVD does have the mono track.

This goof happens all the time in the word of kung fu movies on dvd.