DVD Review HTF Review: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life SE + TRANSFER PROBLEM FEEDBACK (1 Viewer)

[ChrisKe]

Has anyone called Universal about the authoring problem? (I would but an international call to complain about a DVD is a bit extravagant)

I have a non-prog player and the feature is pretty well unwatchable

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this was done for the the North American release. I remember originally seeing this theatrically, and hearing the audience groan at the introduction to what would be TG's hilarious short film."

Hmmm...interesting. I didn't know that. I always thought the vocal announcements worked well. I guess the new DVD reflects the original British theatrical release then. I'm just used to the announcements, but if Universal fixes the transfer, I can more than live without them.

 

[Mathieu Lalonde]

(p.s. i already posted this in the other MOL problem thead that has been abandoned so forgive the re-post but...)



I've got some really bad problems playing MOL on my setup...

On my (one-month-old) Denon DVD-2900, playing the film with the DTS track selected, the film actually FREEZES PERMANENTLY wherever a branching point to the deleted scenes occurs (even when watching the plain theatrical version!!!)

Whenever this happens, Play and Pause do absolutely nothing and using Fast-Forward is the only way to jump out of the problem... :frowning:

The Dolby Digital track plays fine.

Now that is one badly authored dvd !!!! Universal is really starting to tick me off!

mjl

 

[Bryan_Bortz]

BAH! I was sent the VHS from Bestbuy.com!

Those pricks better not charge me more when I go to exchange it for the DVD @ the store!

-Owl

 

[Felix Martinez]

FYI -

Just rec'd this e-mail reply from Universal...

Thank you for contacting us regarding our DVD release of "Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life".
To help in researching your problem, please provide us with the manufacturer and model # of your DVD player.
If your DVD player has a "progressive scan" feature, try playing the movie again with that function turned off.
Please let us know whether disabling that feature has resolved the problem.

We appreciate your patronage and hope you continue to enjoy this and other Universal releases.

Sincerely,
Universal Studios Home Video

I will of course reply with full details

Cheers,

 

[Coressel]

------------------------------------------------------------
Over the first intertitle it's supposed to say: "There will be a short film of approximately ten minutes before our Feature Presentation."

Over the second intertitle it's supposed to say: "And now, our Feature Presentation."

------------------------------------------------------------

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this was done for the the North American release. I remember originally seeing this theatrically, and hearing the audience groan at the introduction to what would be TG's hilarious short film.

I didn't know that either. It seems to me that the joke is that the film begins by essentially saying "this isn't the film yet." But to not say that, it seems the joke would be diminished. Maybe not.

Can anyone confirm if in fact the narration was only on North American prints? It was an American voice, I know that. But again, it seems that that's the joke. Do either Jones or Gilliam mention this on the commentary? I don't have the disc yet. Probably get it next week.

On a similar note: Could the missing "Holie Grailen" subtitle on MP & the Holy Grail also be the way it was in other countries?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Regarding the title cards, when the Image release came out there was much complaining here on HTF from fans of the film that there should be cheesy organ music over the short feature and feature presentation cards. No one has mentioned the absence of this organ music here. I can't for the life of me remember from 20 years ago what played over the title cards in the theater, but it sure seems odd for them to sit there in absolute silence.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Now waitaminnit...I was under the impression that the Image edition DID have the announcements/organ music over the intertitle cards. You mean it actually doesn't? :-( I was going to try and find it, but if it doesn't have it, I'll just wait for a recall (which had BETTER happen, dammit Universal), and hunt down an old VHS tape for the version with the announcements. Hmmm...I wonder if all the VHS versions have the announcements, or only the old '80s release, with the cover where the Pythons are getting screwed into the ground by God (hmmm...that sounds a bit obscene, doesn't it?)???

 

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,

I just dug out my 15+ years old British VHS tape of the film. It does not have the first title card at all! All you get is the Universal logo and then the short film starts. To be honest, there's a rather bad cut after the Universal logo so it really looks like it was removed very sloppily for some reason. After the Crimson Permanent Assurance short ends you do however get the second title card, complete with organ music and voice-over. And the voice does indeed have an American accent.

Chris

 

[Carlo_M]

If your DVD player has a "progressive scan" feature, try playing the movie again with that function turned off.

Are they TRYING to send us back into the stone age???

Actually, this wouldn't be a bad workaround if it were VIDEO BASED material, but last I checked, this was shot on film, right?

Come on Universal, you can do better than that sorry excuse. Go back, master it correctly, and send out replacement copies and mark future DVDs with V2. 95% of the public won't notice and take advantage of your offer, the vocal 5% of us who do notice will be placated.

 

[Bob clamer]

At least you got a reply from Universal! :frowning:

 

[Andrew Bunk]

I think Universal should just start packaging all of their DVD's with a prepaid mailer-it'll just save us that much more time when we inevitably have to send their discs back to them for a "corrected" copy.

 

[Paul Arnette]

I didn't see any mention of this elsewhere, so I thought I would post it.

From Video Tropic:

"The Meaning Of Life defect

We have spoken with Universal Home Studios about the mastering defect on Disc 1 (the feature film disk) of Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life. Universal was previously unaware of the problem; the information has now been "pushed upstairs," and we hope to hear from them shortly regarding the problem and any potential solution(s). The mastering defect appears to be a lag between interlaced frames, that becomes evident when elements of the frame are in motion. The defect does not affect the sound, and Disc 2 -- the special features disc -- is mastered correctly."

If Universal refuses to do anything about it, I'd say we'd have to start throwing around the weight of some bigger Internet DVD sites. However, kuddos to Video Tropic for bringing it to their attention.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

I just watched Disc 1, and I had to set my player to interlaced to get rid of the abnormalities. It looked pretty decent once I did that, and this was on a 57" 16:9 set. Still, it would be nice to not have to tweak my player to get it to look good.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Hmmm...in light of Christian's evidence, perhaps Keith was wrong about the narration/music being added for the American release only. Well then, Universal also needs to restore the missing organ music/narration over the intertitle cards!!! Why is it missing from this release? And, I repeat, is it intact on the old Image DVD???

 

[Mark Zimmer]

No, the Image disc doesn't have the organ music or the voice-over either. I just used it to A/B the Universal disc.

 

[Jason_H]

Well, I finally got my disc in the mail today. It's true, the film looks horrible in progressive mode on my RP-91, but at least it is much better and quite watchible in interlaced mode. Still, this is far from ideal, and you can sign me up on the list to get a corrected disc!

 

[Michael Allred]

I watched my copy last night, it looked fine to me.

Does anybody care what it looks like when it's paused though?

 

[Felix Martinez]

I watched my copy last night, it looked fine to me. Does anybody care what it looks like when it's paused though?

The authoring defect may go by unnoticed if viewed on smaller monitors without progressive scan. Doesn't mean there's no problem with the disc!

Cheers,

 

[Paul Arnette]

This is slightly off-topic, but didn't Image's new Assault on Precint 13 special edition have this exact same authoring defect? Was there any resolution there?

Thanks.