Well, isn't anyone here excited about _Citizen Kane_? (1 Viewer)

[Ken_McAlinden]

This disc is worth a lot more than the $25 I paid for it. The film looks phenomenal and you more or less get two features for the price. I would have probably bought both discs for $20 a piece if they had been released separately. I watched about half of the film and sampled the documentary, and am quite confident that I got a bargain. My biggest complaint is that I don't have enough time to pore through this and the French Connection Box Set.

The opening mock newsreel seems to be a little jittery to me ... One of the things that struck me was the technical artistry of the film.

The newsreel footage was part of the technical artistry. If you have ever seen a newsreel of its type, it is usually compiled from multiple sources with different film stocks and levels of generational loss. This section was intended to look "roughed up". This is somewhat analagous to the way that Welles previously incorporated the form of a radio news broadcast to relay the story of War of the Worlds. Of course, if it were made today, we would be watching a Peter Graves hosted "A&E Biography" of C.F. Kane during this segment, or perhaps a Susan Alexander "VH1 Behind the Music".

Regards,

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

Ken McAlinden

Livonia, MI USA

 

[Patrick Sun]

My Costco slapped a $22.99 sticker on the Citizen Kane DVDs. If I have spare cash, I will pick it up this week.
------------------
PatCave; HT Pix; Gear; DIY Mains; DIY CC; Sunosub I + II + III; DVDs; Link Removed

 

[David Tallen]

Buy.com: $19.99 + $1.95 shipping = $21.94. I ordered it on September 18 and, well, let's just say that it didn't arrive late.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Friends,
I watched it last night. Forked out $24.95 at Tower...
Not only is the movie amazing (I have CAV laser and the DVD has never looked better),
The two hour "Battle for Kane" documentary is excellent. Good video and a wealth of information on both Wellles and Hearst included.
Superb job Warner!
Lee

 

[Tom-G]

$24.95 is a little too steep despite this being one of the best films ever made. I'll be purchasing the disc, but I'm going to wait and purchase it used for $14.99, which is closer to my budget.
------------------
As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day. --Roger Ebert on The Phantom Menace

 

[Peter Kline]

Ken,
I understand that the Newsreel footage was meant to be the way it is with lots of scratches, etc. However I'm talking about picture stability. The image tends to move up and down slightly (similar to the "Ben Hur" DVD) and it continues to do so from time to time throughout the film.
Peter
------------------

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Sorry if I misunderstood you, Peter. I read you first post as indicating that the newsreel footage exhibited considerably more of this "jittering" than the rest of the film which would be understandable given how Welles enlisted the newsreel team at RKO in assembling the sequence. I offered no comment on you observations about jitter during other segments.

I'm looking forward to the disc, but I can't say I'm excited. Warner is sitting on too much great material from its own vaults, MGM's and RKO's and refusing to release any of it beyond 2 or 3 catalog titles per year, for me to have much use for Warner Home Video.

I'm not sure I understand the reasoning here. I think the fact that WB is releasing an acknowledged classic on an exceptionally well produced DVD is reason to get excited no matter what they have or have not released to date. I would not be any more or less excited about the release of Citizen Kane if it were a Fox, Paramount, Universal, or Criterion DVD. Oh well, at least you are not taking the position that others have espoused about refusing to buy classic Warner titles on DVD until they release more classic Warner titles on DVD.
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Ike]

I ordered this from Amazon with Bergman's Cries and Whispers and the Simpsons using a $10 off $50 coupon. Not a bad deal.
I can't wait, mainly for the Ebert commentary. His commentary for Dark City, a film that, not that I hated it, I just didn't love, made me appreciate the film in a new light. It didn't change my opinion of the film, but it was probably one of the best commentaries I've heard.
Not to mention, I'll like to watch the film in all it's digital glory!

 

[James D S]

quote: I understand that the Newsreel footage was meant to be the way it is with lots of scratches, etc. [/quote]
Also, did you notice the jump cuts during the newsreels? No detail was missed. None.
Top to bottom, you are not going to find a better constructed movie, I think. Details like that are but small examples of the attention the film received.
Seth,
Sometimes I watch it, and I forget about Welles's contribution and just sit amazed at what Toland was doing. Camerawork like that just didn't grow on trees. It's a shame he did not get the Oscar for it. You and I both know no movie released that year, and for several years to come, can't match CK on a technical level. But, I would have liked to see Toland get another Oscar for it, for his own sake.
Sorry for the tangent, but it's so easy to get worked up about this movie, especially when discussing its technical merits.
[Edited last by James D S on September 26, 2001 at 06:04 PM]

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Sometimes I watch it, and I forget about Welles's contribution and just sit amazed at what Toland was doing.

Watching Toland's work in Citizen Kane or some of his other jaw-droppers such as The Long Voyage Home, The Grapes of Wrath, Wuthering Heights, etc., you realize how most modern cinematographers who try it know comparatively little about how to light for black & white photography.
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Jack Briggs]

I am pleased with this disc. Very pleased--and I've only watched the first disc; haven't checked out the supplementals disc yet.
This is the best I've seen the film look (and that includes some 16mm and 35mm prints). I am happy--but I want the "rain drops" situation addressed.
But I'd like to add a comment here: I appreciate the fact that some might not find the film to their liking. However, it would be incorrect to call the film "boring." Boring for you, perhaps--but that in no way diminishes the film's unparallelled brilliance.
As I've said in many a 2001-related thread, we need to understand that there are many films which truly are great that we simply, for whatever reasons, do not like personally. There are quite a few films out there that are superb by all accounts--which I, for various reasons, do not care for.
Enough of that, however.
Also, you LD freaks out there (yeah, Seth, that includes you): Hey, as nice as the LaserDisc may be, DVD is the format of the hour. We've needed this film on DVD for, oh, the past four years!
In all, a fine transfer that needs a little fixin'.
------------------

 

[Michael Armanini]

Is there a trick to getting these discs out of the box? I tried pressing down on the center hum thinking this would release the disc, but I still had a hell of a time tyring to pry them out - just like the first X-files collection. And that didn't even have a push mechanism. Anybody else have trouble with these or am I missing something?

 

[Peter Kline]

There's an "Easter Egg" in the Special Features section. Click on the sled (Rosebud).
------------------

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Michael, just turn the discs clockwise until they pop out, then use an AOL disc or other CD you don't acare about to wear down the hubs

 

[Lannie Lorence]

"Watching Toland's work in Citizen Kane or some of his other jaw-droppers such as The Long Voyage Home, The Grapes of Wrath, Wuthering Heights, etc., you realize how most modern cinematographers who try it know comparatively little about how to light for black & white photography."
To be fair, it's a lot harder nowadays to do good B&W: due to dwindling film stocks and finding a lab to care about B&W work.

 

[Rain]

quote: In all, a fine transfer that needs a little fixin'.[/quote]
Said "fixin'" has been requested in the Studio and Manufacturer Feedback Area by Yours Truly.
Click http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Forum10/HTML/003654.html
------------------

"Imagine all the people, living life in peace..." - Imagine by John Lennon
Anyone in the Vancouver Canada area interested in a meet? Click here
MOVING ON DOES NOT MEAN FORGETTING.
[Edited last by Rain on September 28, 2001 at 03:00 PM]

 

[Jodee]

I watched my copy last night and then immediately afterward watched it with comentary by (my hero) Peter Bogdanovich.
I don't care how many times I hear it, but I love the story about Welles saying "You only need ONE" when Bogdanovich comments that Greta Garbo only had two decent pictures.
I've heard Bogdanavich tell this a lot in various commentaries and documentaries and it always strikes me.
I am also looking forward to Bogdanovich's new film (his first feature in 8 years!) "The Cat's Meow" which is about the Hearst-Marion Davies affair and a murder on his yacht. He should have some good insights on this as I believe Welles had told me lots of stories back in the day.
I'll watch the Ebert one next.

 

[James D S]

After seeing the DVD a couple of times now, I think the quality of the picture is too good. By that, I mean that several effects worked better when the print was not as sharp as it is here. Effects like the "camera down the skylight" and the "introducing the new Inquirer staff" bits and several spliced pans are more noticeable as effects than on the CC LD and, of course, the 50th anniversary SE VHS. The "new staff" picture-to-person effect, in particular, has a very noticeable seem when the real staff is dissolved in. On the earlier editions of this movie, this effect went seamless.
The pan up to the rafters during Susan Alexander's first opera performance, with the "holding the nose" gag, showed several seams during the many transitions.
Also, several of the optical printer effects, like the ones used to splice real footage with mattework, show some more noticeable seams.
At least, MUCH more than what are visible on the previous, less detailed, prints.
Is there such a thing as too much detail?

 

[Bill Huelbig]

To Jack Briggs: What was it like going to the Hollywood premiere of CITIZEN KANE at the El Capitan theater in May 1941? Your name is listed along with all the other first-nighters (Orson Welles, Bernard Herrmann, Abbott & Costello, etc.) in the Special Features section. If it wasn't you, maybe it was a relative, or your name is very common in L.A., or else you have a time machine stashed around somewhere.
--Bill

 

[Peter Kline]

Jack Briggs came from outer space!

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