It's A Great, Great, Great, Great DVD World (1 Viewer)

Since the other thread is sorta negative in it's tone, Ron gave me the O.K to start a Praise thread for those of us that are really happy with this DVD presentation of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
I have never seen the film look or sound better. It's miles ahead of the LD version in terms of sound and video quality, as has already been stated by those that have both versions.
The ONLY advantage of the Laser IMO, is that it contains the great Overture and parts of the Roadshow version edited in, not all in the proper editorial order as was reported by Robert Harris.
This General Release version is the version I fell in love with growing up and I prefer it to the LD version since I never really liked the additional scenes which were, IMO, not that funny and detracted from the film giving it an unpleasant tone.
This version has all that footage I believe and more as part of the supplements along with the great documentary that was also on the LD.
Add to that DD 5.1 sound, a new anamorphic transfer, extended scenes, trailers and more all for $14.99 on sale at most outlets. I find it amusing some of the hatred leveled at this DVD version of the film. To me it's a great deal.
Just for the record, I too of course would love a complete Roadshow restoration of the film as any fan would, and completely understand Ron's passion for it. Hopefully this DVD wil sell great and infuse MGM with profits and thereby the means to do a future complete Roadshow version.
But as for me and others here, this version is the best one available at this time. By all means if you love this version of the film, pick up this DVD. It's well worth it.

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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

Mine's in the mail from Deep Discount. I'll tell you what, I never would have decided to get this (I've only seen it once when I was about 4) except that all the controversy it caused really got me interested in it. Otherwise, I never would have known that it was coming out with all those features and for practically nothing as well.
So, not only am I anticipating this, but I also proudly support MGM. This has got to be the most improved studio of the year. Their consistent variety of releases and their unique special editions make them a fun gutsy company in my eyes. I love When Harry Met Sally and the Princess Bride, and this is one of the only studios that dares to compete with Criterion on special editions. This is Spinal Tap is utterly fantastic and I hear that Silence of the Lambs is great in many ways that the Criterion was weak.
One last note, MGM releases a lot of older titles as special editions, which many studios still do not! As in, Road Warrior, Romancing the Stone, Groundhog Day, and Coming to America.
Thanks for the movies, MGM!
[Edited last by David Illingworth II on September 18, 2001 at 05:42 PM]

I agree with you Tino. This DVD is great and it's also my favorite version of the film, as I also own the LD.

Oops.
[Edited last by Annie G on September 19, 2001 at 12:58 PM]

I've been waiting so long for this movie to come out on DVD. With the events of the past week I really need to see this movie and have a good laugh. I picked it up yesterday and plan to enjoy it as soon as time allows. I'm sure my cheeks will ache for a few days after seeing it again.

I just watched this last night and although I would have like the longer version, I found the picture quality amazing. Very detailed, bright, minimal specks,dirt etc. I also enjoyed the 5.1 soundtrack. The sound does show it's age but it is very effective. A no-brainer purchase.

Can someone please tell me where the Buster Keaton scene is on the DVD? I cant find it.
Thanks friends!

What's the AR? And I don't mean what's the listed AR, I mean what AR do you actually SEE? Has anyone actually measured it? I want to know if there's any cropping.

As far as I could tell, Buster Keaton is the guy
who handles the garage where Spencer Tracy is trying
to park his car when the two cabs are following him.
He looks kind of old but his feet movement is typical
old style Keaton/Chaplin.
On another note, I find "IAMMMMW" kind of similar
to "1941" (by Spielberg), same type of "comedy" in some ways.
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In addition to all the good things about this disc, Edie Adams is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen...
Cheers.

I agree. I love the way the film keeps finding amusing ways for her to lose her clothes a little at a time.
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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

I just completed watching the new DVD release of Mad, Mad World and give the video and audio quality very high ratings. I had seen the movie in its original Cinerama release and liked it very much, at the time.
I still like the music very much, but did not find much in the movie that seems funny to me anymore. Perhaps, I was more easily entertained in the 1960s than I am now.
At any rate, it was a nostalgic experience for me to see the film again, very much worth the price of admission. But, it's not a DVD that I'll likely watch in its entirety again. I may, however, listen to some of the music on it, from time to time.
Keith Smith
[Edited last by Keith Smith on September 21, 2001 at 10:11 PM]

What Tino said.
I put in on the front projector and was very pleased with it.
Yes, that is Keaton in that scene. He does one of his standard moves as Tracy drives away. That scene is toward the end just before the whole group ends up downtown chasing Tracy.
I still find the film a lot of fun. It's not always about belly laughs, but just a general tone of fun madness. I really love Winters in this film, mainly because he is really one of the most reasonable characters in the film and gets so screwed over that it makes him nuts. Him on that bike...
I didn't measure but it looked to be 2.55 as far as I could tell. By memory it seemed wider than 2.35s and not as wide as Ben-Hur, for example. Of course that's not hard facts and science talking there.
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Greetings from the Humungus! The Lord Humungus!
The Warrior of the Wasteland!
The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah!

Most people with the LD don't seem too interested in getting this dvd, so this request might not get answered, but can anyone who has both the dvd and the ld compare them and see if there is image being cut off of the top/bottom or sides of one or the other. I've had some films with a wider aspect ratio on one medium and the other, where the wider version was due to cropping of the top and bottom, not more on the sides. I'm not saying that's the case here, just wondering.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

George
I just performed a direct comparison between the LD and the DVD and to the best of my knowledge, they appear to be the exact same aspect ratio.
I had thought that the DVD was wider, but it apparently, they are identical in terms of OAR. The scenes I compared were in the beginning of the film when they are gathered around Durante. I synched up the LD and the DVD on the exact spot and flipped back and forth between the two and noticed no difference, except perhaps a minor bit of additional information on the DVD. Negligible in any event.
On the other hand, while doing this comparison, it was clearly evident how much better the DVD looked than the LD. As OBI said, there really is NO comparison. The DVD is clearer, richer, sharper, more vibrant in every way. Mad World has never looked this good since 1963.
Also watching all the deleted scenes together just reaffirmed how I originally felt. IMO, the scenes that were excised were not that funny, detracted from the film, added a unpleasant tone, such as Norman Fell saying how Durante's body should be moved before the coyotes get him, or Ethel Meman threatening to turn in Jonathan Winters for stealing the truck, etc., and were for the most part not necessary to the plot, again in my opinion.
I am glad theses scenes exist however, and at some time in the future if the rest of the Roadshow footage is discovered, be part of an ultimate edition.
But this DVD version of the General Release will be the one I watch the most.
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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.

Thanks for the aspect ratio info.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

I have to second most of the comments on this thread. I was quite pleased by the look and sound of the film. Watching most of the deleted scenes made me feel that I was rummaging around the bottom of the barrel (were the apparently duplicate takes actually different from each other?) although I would welcome an "Ultimate Edition" at some future time.
I have the (gulp! hate to admit it) VHS version that was released several years ago...I assume it contains the same print that is on the laserdisc version...(I certainly remembered sections of the film that are in the DVD's deleted scenes)...since it also has the documentary on it.
The one shot that had me wondering about aspect ratios was the one looking straight up (as seen from inside the hole in which the money is buried) in which the main characters are all looking down (at the camera): When I first saw the film back in 1963 I'm pretty sure that none of them were cut off. I believe the image on the DVD is a bit cropped (at least on the sides, if not all over) from the original print.
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Of course, image cropping between film and video is rather more common than we think. While the aspect ratio is often maintained, the actual capture of info is not always the full width of the film cell, but rather slightly inside that area. I believe Patton is one such case.
It has little to do with some devious intent to destroy the art. As I understand it it involves technical issues with transferring the film image to video (or is it a dup process problem sometimes as well? Can't remember exactly).
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Greetings from the Humungus! The Lord Humungus!
The Warrior of the Wasteland!
The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah!