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Sound of Music 40th, Oklahoma 50th, State Fair 60th and Two for the Road in November (1 Viewer)

Doug Bull

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SOUTH PACIFIC, CAROUSEL and THE KING AND I have just been released in Australia on Pal region 4.

They were on special straight away at Target Stores here, so needless to say I rushed to the local shopping mall and grabbed all 3.
Those thinking of getting the UK region 2 versions should do a price check and see if the region 4 discs are any cheaper.

After a quick look all I can say is there is going to be a LOT OF HEATED DISCUSSION here at HTF once the Region 1 versions get released.

I agree with Ted in that the Extended Roadshow version of SOUTH PACIFIC looks slightly better than the general release version.
Both however look terrific and are clearly the pick of the bunch.
For some reason the general release version here has the TODD-AO credits and is framed at about 2.20:1.
I would have thought that the general release version would have been Cinemascope.
One of the earlier Laserdisc versions never had the Todd-AO credits.
And why does it have the Overture and Intermission Music?

THE KING AND I looks great, although it isn't anywhere as good as a recent HIGH DEFINITION version shown here on TV recently.
We could be in for a real treat once it finds it's way onto Blu-Ray or HD DVD.
Still the colours and detail on offer here are still very impressive, but the aspect ratio could be a problem.
It has the Cinemascope 55 title and the jacket says the ratio is 2.55:1 but to my eye it looks more like 2.35:1 ( but I'm only guessing)
There is a terrific short Doco on restoring Cinemascope 55 included.

CAROUSEL is certainly the weakest of the bunch.
It is quite soft and although the color in some of the scenes has been improved over the previous awful looking DVD, it still remains a dissapointing transfer.
They have used the Cinemascope version and for some reason not the Cinemascope 55 one.
Still if I remember, CAROUSEL never really looked all that good back in it's original Theatrical days.
Curiously the second disc of Carousel contains very little in the way of extras, making one wonder if the intended LILLIOM might yet find it's way to the future region 1 edition.

Having said that, all three are fabulous and certainly welcome improvements over all previous Laserdiscs and DVDs.

The sound on all three is truly excellent, with noticed improvement on Carousel over the previous distorted DVD.
Strangely the Overture on South Pacific seems dull and lifeless compared to the rest of the movie and with all previous laser and DVD releases.

Carousel and The King and I have wonderful isolated Music Tracks and to somebody like me who loves Music underscoring, they are worth the price alone.

These are real Gems and should be in everybody's collection.
Those with patience will have to wait for the Fox region 1 announcement.
 

Stephen PI

Supporting Actor
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Jan 31, 2003
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Doug Bull: Strangely the Overture on South Pacific seems dull and lifeless compared to the rest of the movie and with all previous laser and DVD releases.

Doug, When I saw "South Pacific" recently in Hollywood the overture sounded the same as you describe.
 

Doug Bull

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Matthew, I'm most pleased to report they are in nice quality 2channel Stereo.

Unlike some other previous DVDs and Laserdiscs with soft isolated Music Tracks, these are full volume and in the case of CAROUSEL, really Wide and Sweeping.
Alfred Newman Fans will be over the moon.

For some strange reason on the isolated tracks, part of Shirley Jones' vocal on IF I LOVED YOU and YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE has been left in place, while everybody else including the chorus have been removed.
The sound of Shirley Jones' voice on the latter song is of very poor quality, so one suspects there is a story to be told there.
Were they recorded post sync or pre sync?
 

TedD

Supporting Actor
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Jan 9, 2001
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The short verson was not only the general release version. It was also the 70mm Roadshow version that played in most, if not all cities. The general release version was the same length as the 70mm Roadshow version that was exibited after the early cuts. (Possibly minus the intermission, overture, and exit music, although that could vary from theater to theater.

Ted
 

Greg_M

Screenwriter
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Mar 23, 2000
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I saw the Todd-AO version of "South Pacific" yesterday at the Egyptian and it looked okay. Not as good as some of the other Todd-AO films screened there (Patton, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flyig Machines, Hello, Dolly! Doctor Dolittle) I was somewhat disapointed. I saw the Digital print screened a few months ago at the Warner Theater in Los Angeles and it was incrediable, much sharper and more colorful than the Todd-AO print screened last night.

The longer original Roadshow version was also screened and had faded to pink (So the color filters were no longer noticable) the stuff that was cut was mostly Ray Walston stuff and most of it was funny. I actually prefered the longer version, although it didn't seem like 20 extra minutes of footage as was annoucned.
 

Armin Jager

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Dec 21, 2004
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LILIOM is on the German CAROUSEL DVD which was released yesterday. No idea why GB and Australia don't get it.
 

Doug Bull

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Looks as if LILLIOM ran into copyright problems in OZ and the UK.

The fact that it has been included on the German release could mean that the odds of it being included on the region 1 version are now looking better.

I will certainly make the purchase if this proves correct.
 

TonyDale

Second Unit
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May 3, 2003
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297
Imagine my delight, and surprise, when I read this on a noted forum:

". . .the DVD release of Flower Drum Song is finally coming. There will be a commentary track and some sort of featurette with some interviews. Remember, you heard it here first."

Just spreading the news. :)
 

Jefferson

Supporting Actor
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Apr 23, 2002
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I'm sure I missed this someplace, but when are the special editions of KING AND I, CAROUSEL and SOUTH PACIFIC going to be released in the US?
 

Nelson Au

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Mar 16, 1999
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Saw the later half the HD broadcast last evening of The Sound of Music. This is the first year I have the ability to view OTA HD and have a 50" display capable of high quality anamorphic display.

Because of the comments on this thread, I was curious how bad the 5 Star DVD of TSOM looked as I had not viewed it yet on the new TV. I was actually able to synch the DVD to the broadcast exactly, dumb luck. Firstly, I can see what I think you guys call compression artifacts. I believe those to be what looks like a grainy image. The other areas I noticed were some EE. It didn't look that bad to me. The contrast level was a bit high compared to the broadcast.

The broadcast version looked to me to be very solid, black blacks, higher contrast. Colors looked solid too. But I don't have the new 40th Anniversary disc to compare. Of course the broadcast version was reformated to fit a 16:9 screen.

This is not a often viewed film for me, only on special occasions. Just curious if the members feel the 40th Anniversary edition is worth upgrading to. I've read most of the posts here pertaining to TSOM. And Mr. Harris himself has said the new 40th Anniversary disc is an improvement, but still not 100%. And from most of the other comments, sounds like it's an iffy release for the most demanding videophiles here. I'd keep my 5 Star for the suppliments missing from the 40th. I am curious about the 40th edition. It's such a treat to see grand films on my new display and I am enjoying the new James Bond set, inspite of the little inconsistancies on those, the improved image is almost like seeing them the first time. So seeing an improved TSOM on a new display could be enough to make it worth it.

Like most, I am waiting for the format war to resolve. I'm likely adding an Upconvert player soon. Thanks for your thoughts, and Happy Holidays!
 

ScottR

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The 40th Anniversary is an improvement. However, I prefer the sound mix on the 5 Star Edition. During the opening song, the new mix doesn't include the sound of Julie Andrews hitting her apron with her hand.
 

Paul_Scott

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I sold off my copy of the 5 star release, along with last years copies of Oklahoma and State Fair, and bought the complete set back when DDD had its sale going on. It was worth it to get 6 films in a package that takes up as much space as the 3 did.

Went back and watched part of Oklahoma last night on the new projector and damn! what a massive disappointment that was. Last year, on the old pj, i had recently re calibrated the picture to compensate for the lamp dimming, and I felt I was able to squeeze out a half way decent picture- But the image here (on a much more refined machine) was woefully lacking. It appears to me that they used some DVNR (as the grain doesn't seem to be a consistent density from shot to shot or within shots) and then applied some ringing and/or ee. I have to wonder how good this transfer will look if it ever shows up on a HD disc (I'm not expecting Fox to kick it out on Bd anytime soon, so who knows what format will be the de facto standard by that time).

sad.
 

RobertSiegel

Reviewer
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Mar 10, 2004
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Nelson, I am surprised you were pleased with ABC's showing. I thought it stunk. I compared it with the 40th anniversary Sound of Music and the dvd is much better in color, contrast, and I think much better resolution...to me the ABC version was not high definition. Did anyone else see the airing? Also, it was presented in 1:85:1, the aspect of the movie is 2:20:1.

It's sad that while Fox has a brand new HD transfer of this movie, that the ABC presentation looks much worse than the new dvd (I compared them for over an hour last night). Perhaps it was my cable's signal? The game on that afternoon on ABC was crystal clear HD.
 

Nelson Au

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Mar 16, 1999
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Robert, thanks for the reply, I had a good chuckle when I read it! :laugh:

I didn't have the 40th Anniversary disc to compare the broadcast too. I thought the broadcast looked okay compared to the 5 Star disc.

It's too bad the new audio mix did leave out the sound of Julie Andrews hitting her apron as Scott mentioned above.
 

ScottR

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Apr 1, 2000
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Watched this again. Can someone more familiar with The Sound of Music's original mix tell me if the aforementioned "slap" of the apron was audible in previous versions (pre-1993.) Listening to it again, it does sound a little loud on the 5 star edition, but it is all but inaudible on the 40th Anniversary release (just listen to the French and Spanish tracks for the difference.) The sound is missing on the 1972 re-release trailer, as well. It occurs when Julie sings "..every song that it hears." Thanks.
 

Chuck Pennington

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May 11, 2001
Messages
1,048
The sound effect was on all previous versions I've seen: 1980's VHS, widescreen Laserdisc, THX Laserdisc box set, and AC-3 Laserdisc. I have been greatly disappointed with every soundtrack on every DVD release of this film. I've created a hybrid DVD in PCM stereo using the 6-channel AC-3 soundtrack from the Laserdisc and edited it to match the sync on the newest anamorphic transfer (as I've done for several musicals from this era). The AC-3 track had none of the filtering and compression that destroyed the sound on the DVD releases. I even kept a sound option from the DVD so the viewer can switch back and forth and hear how awful it sounds in comparison.
 

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