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*** Official Warner Archive DVD Review Thread (1 Viewer)

Jay E

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Received my 4 films and I just took a quick scan through them (I have a Oppo DVD player that upconverts to 1080p and I have a 40" Sony Bravia HDTV).

I am far from a DVD reveiwer but what I can say are that Dusty & Sweets Mcgee, Rain People and Countdown all are anamorphic but they fall a little below the standards of a regular Warner catalog release from that time period. I did see signs of compression and all 3 films show some softness and lack of detail in some scenes more than others. I would rate the transfers as fair in relation to a regular DVD release. But since this is what I expected, I can't say I am disappointed.

All Fall Down however, was a very nice sharp and clear anamorphic picture...no softness and I didn't see any signs of compression. It looks pretty much like a regular Warner DVD release.

For 14.95 plus tax, I would say I am pleased with these purchases, but I would not pay more than that for future archive releases.
 

jack phillips

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Received Along the Great Divide (1951) a great 88-minute Western. It plays on my laptop, allowing me to get and post this screen capture. Combing is evident:
 

borisfw

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I am not an audio video expert. But i will say that after watching Crescendo and The Big Circus i was pleased with what i saw and heard. I will buy again,as long as WB keeps up the discounts. Still have a few more to watch in my first batch.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Pete,

Kudos to you for keeping track of the reviews here (post #72)

Looking forward to hearing about One Trick Pony which I
will eventually be purchasing.
 

borisfw

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Watched "John Loves Mary" last night. I also had it recorded from tcm. The picture seemed much sharper on this new dvd . But still could have been cleaned up more. My only issue is around the 56 min mark the sound drops noticably. I checked my tcm version ,and it does the same.But the tcm drop doesn't seem to be as big of a drop as the new dvd. Still happy to have the film.
 

Bob Furmanek

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It is pretty well documented when each studio changed over to various wide-screen ratios. On these early wide-screen titles, it is essential to examine the actual dates of production as opposed to the release date.
 

Adam_S

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Now Bob, don't be silly, there's no such thing as documentation in regards to filmmaking, particularly when studios switched over to widescreen. This was an era of lawlessness and crazy time for all involved, so no one knows what films are supposed to be widescreen or not from that era because it's more artistic to not know than to do the research to find out the facts.
 

Josh Steinberg

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I purchased "One Trick Pony" and it just arrived, but I haven't really had a chance to sit down with it yet. I did scan through it briefly and at the least can tell you that it's a 16x9 enhanced transfer, with 2.0 stereo surround (at least, that's what the packaging indicates - I can't verify if it's anything beyond 2.0 on my current setup). It did not include a trailer. Interestingly, when I hit the "info" button on my Oppo DVD player, rather than indicating that the disc was a DVD-R (as it normally does), it showed up as a regular DVD. So whatever they're doing to manufacture them, that does seem to lend some proof to WB's claim that their MOD process is a little different than standard burn-at-home stuff.

As far as the packaging, the cases they came in were not shrinkwrapped (fine by me), and appeared to be slightly thicker than standard amarays. The discs themselves seemed securely fastened in the cases, and I had no problem removing the disc from the case. The label printed on the disc was of a pretty good, glossy quality, and the outer sleeve packaging is about what you'd expect based on the screenshots on their website.

From the few minutes I watched, I was pleased with the quality. It doesn't look like it's been freshly restored or like a brand new film, but having only seen the film on cable before, it certainly looks far better than any broadcast I had previously come across.

I got mine for $14.99 using the coupon that had been active the first week, and based on my quick look at the disc, I'm satisfied with my purchase. I don't think the price is unreasonable; as other people have pointed out, part of what the price goes to is keeping the entire operation running. For all of the titles they put in there that will sell in good numbers, there are also going to be some duds, and I think it's a reasonable price for specialty product. The way I choose to look at it, the Warner Archive is giving me a chance to get titles that Warner would otherwise not be releasing. To me, it doesn't feel like I got a cheaper product instead of a pressed disc; I feel like I was given the chance to purchase something that otherwise wouldn't have been available at all. That said, I don't have it in my budget to order as many titles as I'd like. Certainly if something came out that I wanted immediately, I'd have no problem paying $20 for it. But for titles that are interesting for me but not essential, I'll probably wait for the next coupon or sale. I'd love it if Warner considered some kind of bulk pricing, i.e. purchase 1-4 titles @ $19.99 each, or if you get 5-10 it's $16.99 each, 10+ for $14.99 each, etc.

All in all, I had a very positive experience with Warner Archives, and if I can't promise to buy religiously from them, at the least I can promise that the site will be bookmarked and explored for new titles frequently.
 

Matt Hough

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Tonight I watched GOODBYE, MY FANCY. As with THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS, the image was sharp and clear and had an excellent grayscale, but there are plenty of age related dirt specks and the reel change markers are there. There was also one instance of the disc skipping for one moment (when Lurene Tuttle enters Joan Crawford's room). I did get it to do the same thing again, but I forgot to check to see if there was a problem on the disc surface or if this was just built into master.

Otherwise, an acceptable disc.
 

Roger Rollins

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I ordered several of these films after the initial announcement was made. I was very excited about finally being able to own many favorites which I thought would never make it to DVD. I spot checked every one of them upon arrival, and found nothing problematic.

Only this weekend did I finally get a chance to watch a few of them, and I am thoroughly pleased and impressed with what I have seen.

I screened two Color/Cinemascope entries....THE BIG CIRCUS and BHOWANI JUNCTION. Both look and sound superb. THE BIG CIRCUS is too good a movie to have been forgotten for so many years, and Warner's disk is sharp & crisp, with surprisingly good color for late '50s Eastman, and bold sound. BHOWANI is better looking than most Metrocolor efforts of the era, and has a nice stereo track that retains the directionality of the original. A significant improvement from the old laserdisc.

I also screened 3 B&W 4x3 MGM pictures. MRS. PARKINGTON with Garson and Pidgeon is a lavish costume picture that has been given a first-class presentation here. Very clean image with lovely grey scale, a no impairments that I could see. Even better is H.M. PULHAM ESQ. This is a very impressive historical drama with Hedy Lamarr and Robert Young. A solid example of fine MGM craftsmanship, I found the new DVD to be virtually flawless. The last was a silent film I've always wanted to see, but never had before. Beatrice Lillie in EXIT SMILING. This is a sweet comedy, and it's interesting to see how effective such a comedienne as Lillie could be even without her trademark way with words. For a movie that is 83 years old, it looks quite good, with its only visual difficulties seemingly coming from nitrate deterioration on the source.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I had to indugle a guilty pleasure and watch "THE D.I." with Jack Webb. The 16x9 b&w image quality is not remarkable, but it is commensurate with other B&W titles of the era already released by many studios. It's still a fine DVD, with more than acceptable quality, and is a testament to the strange phenomenon that was Jack Webb.

I am very pleased with my purchases, and plan to order more...once I finish watching the rest of my first batch!
 

BillyFeldman

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I must say if you find that The Big Circus looks superb I cannot learn anything from your post - because the DVD I watched of The Big Circus is, of course, anamorphic, so that part is nice, but is nothing really more than average in terms of transfer quality. As I stated before, the best transfer in what I've seen is The Money Trap, which is quite good. The others range from acceptable, a little more than acceptable, and several that are really not acceptable and would not be tolerated from any other studio releasing them.
 

Joseph Bolus

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Roger,

We really appreciate your reviews of these discs, but need to know what kind of equipment you viewed them on.

For example, the one MOD DVD that I've purchased so far ("Sweet November") looked very good on my 32" 16:9 Vizio den set (native resolution 720p); but was just barely acceptable when viewed on my front projector system.

The type of equipment you view these discs on makes a difference!
 

WadeM

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That doesn't compare to The Big House. By far the worst picture quality of all the movies I got. It was just downright difficult to watch. Movie was fun, but picture was more than distracting. No detail, faded. It's the one title I could say looks like what people think of when they think $1 "public domain." Make that $1 VHS "public domain". Was not worth $20.

Other end of the spectrum was Crescendo. Possibly the best looking of the bunch I saw. Despite a few clunkers, I was happy with more than not happy, especially considering the release method, and will be buying more.
 

JohnMor

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How is it that after nearly a month, people STILL don't understand that these films are NOT going to be remastered for this. It's one thing to expect a lower price point, but when are people going to accept that these are old video masters and will NOT have the picture/sound quality (and the extras) of a regular dvd. :crazy:
 

David_B_K

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Posted by JohnMor:
Actually, that DVD Talk review may have inadvertently revealed why. He mentions finding the 2-disc special edition of Ryan's Daughter for $3 at Big Lots. The reviewer had paid $20 for it when it came out, and they had about ten copies of it. The reviewer used the example to show that people are not going to pay $20 for so-so DVD releases, and that may be true. But he misses his own point: if Warner, or any other studio spends big bucks producing a special edition like the 2-disc Ryan's Daughter only to have it end up at Big Lots for $3, they are probably thinking that these "classic" catalog titles are not worth the effort.
 

David Sal

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Just got CRISIS. Not in the league of Casablanca, but very watchable in my 80 inch projected screen. Very happy to finally have this in my collection. It includes a trailer.
 

mdnitoil

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That's a bit of a red herring. Big Lots also recently carried all of the titles included in the very first Warner Gangster box at 3 bucks each. Considering there were three subsequent follow-up sets, either the first set was profitable or Warner was insane.

Just because an item finally gets remaindered in no way determines it's profitability.
 

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