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

[paul_austin]

wow i just called...it was painless but i just felt for the guy reading the script......i wanted to just break in and say "its ok dude i know.....heres my info".

 

[JeremySt]

Yes, I got the script read treatment... but the guy concluded by singing "always look on the bright side of life." Funny.

I felt like telling him that was not from Meaning of Life, but Im sure the guy was just trying to keep the phone time as brief as possible.

 

[Bryan_Bortz]

haha thats great, and nice sig too!

-Owl

 

[Greg O' Connel]

I'm watching this film on a small 27" screen on a non-progressive DVD player, and I still noticed the jumpiness the first time I watched it. It wasn't the unwatchable mess that big screen progressive scan viewers have mentioned, but it was definitely noticeable. Those of us who haven't made the jump to big screens and progressive scan still should get this disc replaced, since no doubt we all will eventually have HDTV and progressive scan in the next few years.

 

[John_Berger]

I haven't bought this yet, and I'm glad that I didn't based on all of this.

I didn't see this asked (or answered) in the thread, so I'll just ask it. Will they be putting the corrected discs in the retail package? I don't want to wait until next year, assuming that the problem will be corrected in retail copies by then, only to buy it, find out it's NOT fixed, then have to wait another 4-6 weeks to get the corrected one in.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

If Back to the Future is any evidence, all the current copies will need to be sold first. It was many months before they got reliably into stores.

 

[Bill McCamy]

On a 55 inch Mits from an XP-30, the picture has film grain, and is not the best, but am I correct to assume that if my player wasn't coping with "cutting-edge technology," the picture quality would be truly awful?

 

[Coressel]

I keep wondering exactly how are they going to "correct" this problem? Are they are going to quickly clean it up, remaster it, make sure the picture quality is pristine, then drop it back in the mail to us in a couple of weeks?

I am deeply dubious that they even understand what is being complained about.

 

[Mathieu Lalonde]

Has anyone else with a DVD-2900 tried playing the whole movie through with the dts track selected... i'd just like to know if i'm the only one for whom it freezes up at the branched sceenes...

mjl

:frowning:

 

[Felix Martinez]

I keep wondering exactly how are they going to "correct" this problem? Are they are going to quickly clean it up, remaster it, make sure the picture quality is pristine, then drop it back in the mail to us in a couple of weeks?

Hopefully, it's just a re-encode of the film itself. I seriously, seriously doubt it will be a new transfer.

The re-encode, along with pressing replacement discs is entirely do-able by mid-November if they're already working on it.

Cheers,

 

[Jeff Kuykendall]

I will be happy with a re-encode, as I found the transfer acceptable (when I could get my DVD player to see it), and I consider the missing "There Will Be a Short Film..." thing over the opening card to be a non-issue.

Jeff

 

[Felix Martinez]

Has anyone received their mailer yet?

Cheers,

 

[Bob clamer]

Called a couple of weeks agao about mailer but have not received as of yet.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

"I will be happy with a re-encode, as I found the transfer acceptable (when I could get my DVD player to see it), and I consider the missing "There Will Be a Short Film..." thing over the opening card to be a non-issue."

Um, if it was originally supposed to be part of the film, how can it be a non-issue? There is still no confirmation one way or the other as to whether this audio was originally part of the film, and until it's settled, I would think it's definitely an issue. Except for the old DVD, ALL previous video versions on VHS and laserdisc, including the British video versions, have had this audio. I would think this means that there's at least an excellent chance that it's supposed to be part of the film. Why fans in general aren't seeming to care about this I just don't understand.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I think it may not be an issue yet because it isn't quite clear cut as to whether the original prints had the music and voiceover, or whether that may have been different in the US and the UK, or whether the prior video editions had been tampered with. Without knowing what the situation is, it's tough to get too worked up. Does anyone have Terry Jones' phone number?

Interesting post over at alt.fan.monty-python:
http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&...x.com #link11

Apparently if you rip the mpeg2 and reverse the flags on every 4th and 5th frame, it plays more or less properly.

 

[Jeff Kuykendall]

Well, like you said, Jeffrey, I have seen no argument that it was originally a part of the film. I consider myself a die-hard Python fan and have a nice collection of memorabilia, and was waiting years for a special edition disc of this film. Aside from the transfer issues, I was very happy with this set, and I didn't consider losing the brief narration to be a significant loss in any way. It does not ruin any "joke." I think the lost narration is being blown out of proportion, and I'm rather relieved that we're not seeing threads saying "No Narration=No Sale Universal!" Have some perspective. Losing the opening subtitle in Holy Grail is still a minor issue, but much larger than this one, because it does injur a joke, and obviously interferes with the way the Pythons wanted their film presented.

It's odd that the narration would mysteriously go missing--as though it were "removed" by Universal. So that makes me skeptical, making me think this is just an alternate print, possibly a U.K. one. I have seen no evidence that the narration wasn't just intended for North American release, but to be honest, even if I did, and it was definitively proven that the narration was supposed to be there, do you really think Terry Jones or Terry Gilliam should be up in arms? Do you really think they'd see their film as ruined? The title card is still there, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" still precedes the film, and it still attacks it midway through. The joke is intact, this is still "The Meaning of Life" to me, and I would gladly show this to friends who'd never seen the film before, presenting it as the best way to see it outside of viewing it in a theater. Great disc, just fix the transfer problem--that's the way I see it.

I do understand that you want to see the film as you originally saw it, but I don't see this as being something that's worth shouting at Universal over.

Just an opinion,
Jeff

 

[Adam_WM]

Anybody received a mailer yet?

 

[Felix Martinez]

Nope.

 

[Stefan A]

On my Toshiba 3900, this movie looked horrible. For now, I replaced it with a Panasonic s55. No problems at all. I guess it IS player specific.

 

[Bill McCamy]

Stefan,
I guess that answers my question above (post 128). Apparently the Panasonics cut the edge right off the technology that Paramount utilized in this mishmash.