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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Oliver! -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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Sir Carol Reed's Academy Award-winning Oliver!, the Best Picture of 1968, has finally made it's way to Blu-ray through the courtesy of Columbia Pictures, the work of Mr. Crisp and his staff -- turning out yet another typical Columbia product -- meaning perfect, and distribution via Twilight Time.

The fact that there will be 3,000 copies on this one will come back to bite those on the fence in the proverbial butt.

Oliver! is one of the great musicals of the 1960s. It's up there with My Fair Lady. Exquisitely produced. Brilliantly acted. Magnificently photographed, choreographed, edited...

The original negative has been loved to death, and Mr. Crisp and his noble band of merrie warriors has brought it back to life. Every 70mm print was struck from the original.

Shot entirely on the Shepperton lot, one would think that they were in Dickensian London.

I have but one problem in the 153 minute Roadshow length of the film. The Intermission title looks a bit awkward. Possibly we're down a couple of generations. It is not perfect!.

For those who are unaware, afraid of musicals... whatever.

Just purchase this, and you'll find an extremely rewarding cinematic experience. Keep in mind, Oliver! is a musical from the gentleman who brought you The Third Man.

Over 20 years ago, I was introduced to Ron Moody, who is nothing like Fagin. I was thrilled to meet him, as I always found him to be a great talent. Several years before that I interacted with, and was generally around Oliver Reed. He was Bill Sykes.

It's a Columbia picture, which means that I shouldn't have to give a rating, but I shall.

Image - 5

Audio - 5 (but I'd run it about 10db high)

Very Highly Recommended.

Or as my dear friends, Mr. Ebert and Mr. Siskel would say...

"Two thumbs held very high. And they couldn't possibly be held any higher!"

RAH
 
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Charles Smith

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Mine was taken for a quick spin just twenty minutes ago. Oh my gawd...

I love Broadway musicals, but wasn't too hot on this one way back when, and only saw the film after the roadshow engagements. And probably only once in a theater. Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Certainly didn't appreciate the bazillion things I'm already crazy about at a glance. Garn! Oops. But it really is up there in overall magnificence with My Fair Lady, something I didn't expect. At all.

I do believe I've found this year's Thanksgiving Day cinematic treat.
 
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Charles Smith

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That intermission card sure hangs on a long time, too, with no musical playoff underneath.

Yes, even when spot-checking, these are among the things I check out first. That's just me, I'm afraid.

But what a curious design. I would have expected to see a plain one, if not in the style of the main titles. This one just struck me as being odd.

(Not a complaint!) :)
 
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Robert Harris

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Charles Smith said:
That intermission card sure hangs on a long time, too, with no musical playoff underneath.

Yes, even when spot-checking, these are among the things I check out first. That's just me, I'm afraid.

But what a curious design. I would have expected to see a plain one, if not in the style of the main titles. This one just struck me as being odd.

(Not a complaint!) :)
That is the original Intermission title.

RAH
 
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Powell&Pressburger

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Love that intermission title! Looking at it now! Yeah it isn't very clean looking but shows some homework was done and I'm grateful it was included the image on this BLU looks better than I would have imagined.
 

atfree

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Paul Rossen said:
Can anyone compare the Twilight Time release with the region free Sony release from the UK?
I just ordered the region free Sony disc via Amazon for $19.99. Should be here next week. If I'm not mistaken (correction welcomed, if applicable) Twilight Time uses the same transfer used by Sony for the non-US release. So it should be the same.
 

Dennis Nicholls

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Carol Reed also did a favorite of mine right before Oliver....The Agony and The Ecstasy in glorious Todd-AO. Rex Harrison makes a deliciously earthly Pope Julius II. Not to be missed even if you are put off by a film about some artist painting a picture.
 

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Dennis Nicholls said:
Carol Reed also did a favorite of mine right before Oliver....The Agony and The Ecstasy in glorious Todd-AO. Rex Harrison makes a deliciously earthly Pope Julius II. Not to be missed even if you are put off by a film about some artist painting a picture.
Rumored to be coming in 2014.
 

Mark-P

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I'm glad to hear that I got one right! Back when the European version was released last summer, someone was complaining that it was a trainwreck, but I thought it was a beautiful disc. And yes the region-free disc from Europe also has that rugged-looking intermission card, so I'm pretty sure it's the same transfer as the TwilightTime disc.
 

RobertSiegel

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There seems to be so much grain in the faces, is that supposed to be as saturated? I read what you said about the negative over-used, but does this deserve a 5? Can there be something wrong with a single copy (the one that I got)?

And one question, where is the "isolated score track" coming from? It's clearly not the music masters, I thought when there is an isolated score track, it would be the music-only track (without singing). Robert do you know what this is? It sounds almost as if they just raised the volume during the music numbers because all of the dialogue and sounds effects are there, so how is this isolated?
 

Garysb

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RobertSiegel said:
There seems to be so much grain in the faces, is that supposed to be as saturated? I read what you said about the negative over-used, but does this deserve a 5? Can there be something wrong with a single copy (the one that I got)?

And one question, where is the "isolated score track" coming from? It's clearly not the music masters, I thought when there is an isolated score track, it would be the music-only track (without singing). Robert do you know what this is? It sounds almost as if they just raised the volume during the music numbers because all of the dialogue and sounds effects are there, so how is this isolated?
Per the Oliver! order page:

PLEASE NOTE: As the separate music stems have not survived, the isolated score track from Oliver! has been prepared from the restored 4.0 MAG M&E -- which means that while the music sounds wonderful, there are sound effects present throughout.
 
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RobertSiegel

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Garysb said:
Per the Oliver! order page:

PLEASE NOTE: As the separate music stems have not survived, the isolated score track from Oliver! has been prepared from the restored 4.0 MAG M&E -- which means that while the music sounds wonderful, there are sound effects present throughout.
Thanks Gary, I didn't read that. Too bad the original tracks never survived, the score would have been awesome to have without all of the sound over it.
 

Twilight Time

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Just to be clear, the isolated score track does contain effects as previously noted, but has no dialogue whatsoever.
 
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Robert Harris

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RobertSiegel said:
There seems to be so much grain in the faces, is that supposed to be as saturated? I read what you said about the negative over-used, but does this deserve a 5? Can there be something wrong with a single copy (the one that I got)?And one question, where is the "isolated score track" coming from? It's clearly not the music masters, I thought when there is an isolated score track, it would be the music-only track (without singing). Robert do you know what this is? It sounds almost as if they just raised the volume during the music numbers because all of the dialogue and sounds effects are there, so how is this isolated?
I was told a while ago, that the stems do not survive. I presume an M & E was used.As to the look, this is what dye transfer prints looked like. Oliver! was made on the cusp of 5251 and 5254. Both had healthy, but not distracting grain. Everything looks correct to reference.RAH
 
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Robin9

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Dennis Nicholls said:
....The Agony and The Ecstasy in glorious Todd-AO. . . . Not to be missed even if you are put off by a film about some artist painting a picture.
:D Nice one; very good.
 

Yorkshire

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I prefer Melody ;)

Actually, I too would like a final confirmation that the TT and UK versions look the same.

Steve W
 

JoshZ

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Robert Harris said:
Sir Oliver Reed's Academy Award-winning Oliver!
While Oliver Reed was indeed good in the role of Sikes, I tend to think of this as being primarily his uncle Sir Carol Reed's movie. :)
 

warnerbro

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I received the German bluray last summer and just watched the Twilight Time version last night. They look the same except the German version has visuals for the overture and intermission that are the same as were on the DVD. The Twilight Time version has black over the overture and intermission music. The music only track has vocals as well as the music. It just has the dialogue omitted. The video has a very filmy look with quite a bit of grain. It is like looking at a Panavision film on a big screen in the 60s. It looks cleaned up as there are no visible instances of dirt or scratches. The sets and costumes really come alive in this bluray. You can see a lot of dirt and grime. Beautiful production design that earned an Oscar.The Twilight Time has the same extras as the German version with a few added bonuses of woman dressed like Nancy teaching you the dance steps from a couple of numbers and also a sing-a-long on some selected songs. Twilight Time also has the original theatrical trailer which the German version does not. The Twilight Time has a very nice booklet with original poster artwork that is very nice and also behind the scenes stuff. You betta grab this before they run out -- if they haven't already! They're only printing a measly 3000. One of the greatest films of all time.
 

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