- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,417
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
A great double bill from Mill Creek, a company releasing wonderful films at ridiculously low prices. The quality of the titles is different, with Ship of Fools brilliantly coming to the fore.
I’m actually a bit confused, as viewing the Blu, I made a presumption - a dangerous thing - that I was viewing a BD-25. I was wrong.
Both films have quality image harvests (they're from Columbia), gray scales are fine, as are shadow detail, overall resolution and grain structure.
Ship of Fools, a great film from Stanley Kramer, looks stunning on this disc, while Lilith less so. While I’m seeing no problems on Ship, Lilith has what appear to be “floating, amorphous” backgrounds and areas of the frame. Things simply seem to waver and lose stability.
My eyes were telling my brain that I was seeing problematic compression, and while that’s a possibility, it would make no sense on a BD-50, and this is a BD-50.
In the end, like many Mill Creek products, we end up with far more than our money’s worth. Under $9 for two very high quality productions is too low. Might they have been thinking of going to a BD-25, and then changed their minds? Not a clue.
I should make clear that, while these odd problems are there on Lilith, I can almost overlook them for $5. And to be clear, on a small screen, ie. not projection, it might not be noticed.
Two very fine films. Take a look at the Ship of Fools cast, and you’ll be amazed. The casting of Vivien Leigh with Lee Marvin alone, and seeing them go head to head, is worth the price of admission. Sadly, this was Ms Leigh's final film. She passed away in July of 1967, at only 53.
A side note: I find it interesting how similar George Segal and Michael Dunn (who I got to know a bit back in 1966) look facially.
The film concerns the travelers on a German ocean liner going from Mexico to Europe in the early 1930s, as the Nazi regime was beginning to rise. One of my favorite dialogue passages was between Jose Ferrer (Rieber) and Heinz Ruehmann (Lowenthal):
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Reiber: Lowenthal, you know it is a historical fact that the Jews are the basis of our misfortunes. [/color]
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Lowenthal: Of course. [/color]
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Reiber[/color][color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]: You agree? [/color]
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Lowenthal[/color][color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]: Of course. The Jews and the bicycle riders. [/color]
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Reiber[/color][color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]: The bicycle riders? Why the bicycle riders? [/color]
[color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]Lowenthal[/color][color=rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;]: Why the Jews?[/color]
Ship of Fools
Image - 4.5
Audio - 5
Highly Recommended
Lilith
Image - 2.5
Audio -5
RAH