DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Universal is absolutely NOT a corporate bad guy. This is one of the myriad of problems of even discussing something of this sort fully.

There were always two elements living concurrently. One was the restoration of extant elements. The other being how to best represent the film theatrically to a modern audience.

EVERYTHING was backed up during the restoration, again, via the auspices of Universal.

And yes, an extremely accurate restoration could now be performed via new technology, some of which we used experimentally on Rear Window. Today, the work would be performed totally digitally, with original scans at 4k.

RAH

 

[Kevin M]

Thank's Robert, BTW I'm not sure if it came off that way but I absolutely wasn't saying that you were giving the impression that Universal was a "bad guy", very much to the the opposite, it's just that a few folks around here do seem to paint them that way sometimes & IMO tend to forget all that they have done for film preservation. Sorry if my post wasn't clear on that.

 

[JohnMor]

I have now gone through all the films except Marnie and Topaz, which will get spins this week. I am pretty thrilled with the quality on this set. Each film seems sharper and cleaner than their previous incarnation, and I even prefer the new The Man Who Knew Too Much to the old one, at least till a full restoration is done. I guess I can afford to say this as I don't have a high-end projection set-up, so the grain and pulsing flaws others have found in some transfers are not as noticeable or problematic on my 36" flat screen.

I still would love to get the full AFI tribute on DVD one day.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Rear Window is added, along with some initial concluding remarks (is that a contradiction of terms?)

I am still working on the Psycho review--I want to do a few more screen grabs to compare PQ and resolution.

- Steve

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I still cannot find this set or the Warners Val Lewton set in Canada!!!

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Based on the color timing as exemplified in the split still frame in Steve's review, is it worth tracking down the previous version of Rear Window and is this new disc inferior or was it just that one sequence where the colors were effected? This is in my top 5 favorite movies of all-time so I would be really dissapointed if the entire film retained that look. Should I look for the old disc?

 

[John Hodson]

Marco; the Canadian Lewton set isn't due until Oct. 18 - maybe the Hitch set has a later date too?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks John, that would explain it!

The last few weeks of October are going to be killer with both of these collections delayed plus The Wizard Of Oz 3-disc set and the two Looney Tunes boxes!


(I'm still behind on the Hammer Horror and Legosi sets among others!)



I'm gonna have to pack in a lot of movie watching this month!!

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Marco, the new transfer is a mixed bag. On further examination, it looks like they have lightened the image a bit (particularly evident in the fleshtones) and they have changed the geometry by expanding the image from top to bottom. The new image is sharper, too.

So it appears that our choice is a squat Grace Kelly with soft, pink fleshtones, or a thin Grace Kelly with a very slightly washed-out look, but sharper.

I've added some screen grabs here and to the review. The old version is up top, the new version is on the bottom.


[url=http://www.hdtvresource.com/images/kiss_old.jpg] [/url]

[url=http://www.hdtvresource.com/images/kiss_new.jpg] [/url]

[url=http://www.hdtvresource.com/images/building_old.jpg] [/url]

[url=http://www.hdtvresource.com/images/building_new.jpg] [/url]

- Steve

 

[Patrick McCart]

[url=http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/2760/rw21vw.jpg] [/url]

[url=http://img290.imageshack.us/img290/9926/rw15oc.jpg] [/url]

 

[Harry-N]

Rats - I've got a defective disc in the Hitchcock set. ROPE seems to have a problem - I suspect it's limited to my copy though as it looks like a large smudge near the edge of the disc.

It won't play chapter 14 either straight through or doing chapter skips.

So I guess I'll have to return the whole set to Best Buy for an exchange.

Harry

 

[Steve Tannehill]

That's the new transfer, right Patrick?

Note that I did not want to embed images that large in the main thread. I scaled them to 480 pixels in width. When you click on my images, they are the same size as Patrick's...

Patrick, any chance you can do something similar?

- Steve

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Thanks a lot Steve, I think I actually prefer the new transfer based on those new screen grabs you posted. I guess I can overlook the washed flesh tones in a few scenes for overall sharper image and I prefer the boosted contrast in the establishing shot you posted. Oh well, it doesn't seem that bad. Grace Kelly still looks gorgeous as ever in that second close-up. I don't really notice the muted tones as much in that caption, maybe it was just that one bedroom scene?

Now hurry up and get this out in Canada so that I can have the long-awaited Hitchcock marathon I've been anticipating ever since I decided to pass with much hesitance, on the original box releases in hopes of an improved presentation!!!

 

[Kevin M]

I have to ask....are there any plans to do this or would the new processes be a bit cost prohibitive considering the money they have already invested? I personally think the current restoration looks pretty damn good but I would be a liar if I said that I wouldn't like to see what you people could do today. I imagine the flower shop scene would benefit from this as I recall from the commentary that you said it was a particular problem, or would these new processes even help with the whole yellow layer problem.

 

[Robert Harris]

The greatest visible difference, if the restoration were to be updated, would be in the correction of blacks. In the restoration blacks have gone dark blue, navy blues have gone flag blue, and what should be neutral grays are imperfect.

This can be noted in the inquest sequence.

RAH

 

[Kevin M]

I would have thought digital color correction would help at least a little with the black problem, on home video at any rate.

 

[DeeF]

How anybody could even question the restoration of Vertigo is beyond me. The movie is magnificent... by any standard, and the restoration brought out its lustre for anyone to see, and hear. The previous DVD was wonderful, and the new one is even more wonderful. And if there was money to do another restoration, who better to approach it than RAH himself? who probably knows more about that movie, frame for frame, than any other living person.

 

[John H Ross]

A smudge? On a Universal disc? Gosh what a surprise - not. :-(

I'll be ordering this set next month and there better hadn't be any smudges OR scratches!

JR

 

[Derek K.]

I'm still flabergasted by all this moaning and groaning over a box set where each movie costs $5 or less each (discounted)!

The set is awesome. So what if each movie doesnt have a seperate case. Buy one! They're 25 cents each if you look hard enough.

Bravo Universal! Your tv on dvd stinks, but the Hitchcock set rocks.

 

[Kevin M]

Well considering that the question was in response to RAH himself saying that it could be done better today with current technologies I don't think that my asking the question is bringing the current restoration into "doubt", I think the current version is pretty damn good...in fact didn't I say that?
And as far as someone else doing it, my point in asking that was not that RAH shouldn't do it, it was just a question about if the raw elements were also preserved for any future restoration from scratch by whomever....in fact didn't I also say that?

Oy. :rolleyes