A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (UK release) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

I've always felt that John Ford's 1962, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, was the Citizen Kane of westerns, and a darned great one.

People by some of the finest talent the industry had to offer on both sides of the camera, is came at the very end of Paramount's VistaVision era. I often wonder what it might have looked like had it been shot on 8p.

Regardless, the UK release is magnificent to behold. While to my eye, it has just a tad too much grain reduction, the color (and I know it's a black & white film) if absolutely gorgeous.

Rich, charcoal blacks, deep shadow detail, and a perfectly balanced gray scale, this is black & white at its finest.

At $13 on Amazon UK, I had to import. I presume that WB will bring this out as a part of their Paramount deal, hopefully concurrent with The Shootist, and from a new 4k scan -- and that would be amazing.

Audio is interesting, as it has a stereo presence. Although released as monaural, I presume the studio went back to the stems, and the result is superb -- just a bit of dimensionality to the proscenium.

One of the great films, that stands the test of time. Region free.

Image - 4.5

Audio - 5

Very Highly Recommended

RAH

I think I'm sold

I bought the UK Blu-ray a couple of months ago and I am very happy with it. Of course, if we get a 4k scan for a U.S. release I will probably get that as well.

Years ago I put up a sign in my law firm office: "Ransom Stoddard - Attorney At Law".

Heck my avatar is my gruff old tomcat Duke, named for John Wayne.

You know what's funny - I didn't buy this because of all the cries of horrid DNR. Nice to know that once again I learn the lesson to NEVER believe that stuff and to see with my own eyes. I'm buying it now.

haineshisway said:

You know what's funny - I didn't buy this because of all the cries of horrid DNR. Nice to know that once again I learn the lesson to NEVER believe that stuff and to see with my own eyes. I'm buying it now.

Click to expand...

I bought this BD title back in summer of 2012 and always thought it was a good presentation video-wise despite what a few vocals were saying about it.

Great of RAH to compare TMWSLV to Citizen Kane. That is a sentiment that I have also held for a very long time. I will be ordering this after his recommendation.

I bought the UK version early this year, and it looks great. While a 4K scan might look noticeably better, I'm happy to stick with the existing version

As for the movie itself, it is indeed a great tale conveyed by a wonderful cast and crew. A must-have, and not just for western or John Wayne/Jimmy Stewart fans.

haineshisway said:

You know what's funny - I didn't buy this because of all the cries of horrid DNR. Nice to know that once again I learn the lesson to NEVER believe that stuff and to see with my own eyes. I'm buying it now.

Click to expand...

To be fair to those people crying such things it must be noted that Mr Harris does say that to his eyes there is a tad too much grain reduction, so it's perfectly logical to assume that some people might think the same way.

FoxyMulder said:

To be fair to those people crying such things it must be noted that Mr Harris does say that to his eyes there is a tad too much grain reduction, so it's perfectly logical to assume that some people might think the same way.

Click to expand...

Here's exactly what he says: "Regardless, the UK release is magnificent to behold. While to my eye, it has just a tad too much grain reduction, the color (and I know it's a black & white film) if absolutely gorgeous.
Rich, charcoal blacks, deep shadow detail, and a perfectly balanced gray scale, this is black & white at its finest."
That's good enough for me and is a far cry from people vociferously going on about this being slathered with horrible DNR. He's not saying that, as you can clearly read.

haineshisway said:

Here's exactly what he says: "[background=#f2f2f2]Regardless, the UK release is magnificent to behold. While to my eye, it has just a tad too much grain reduction, the color (and I know it's a black & white film) if absolutely gorgeous.[/font]

Click to expand...

I find the grain reduction to be objectionable, too. I have obviously seen worse but it's too much for my taste and does not look that filmic anymore to me. I am basing this on viewing the German Blu-ray on a front projection system. Imo it looks worse in motion at times than I would expect from looking at screencaps on certain sites.

haineshisway said:

You know what's funny - I didn't buy this because of all the cries of horrid DNR.

Click to expand...

Why would this keep you from buying it? I'm really not trying to provoke or offend you - I'm genuinely curious. As far as I know you have never objected to DNR on any title, so why be alarmed by anyone saying anything about it on this?

I have now ordered Liberty Valance. Not to derail the thread too much; but has anyone taken a look at the MOC Blu of Red River?

David_B_K said:

I have now ordered Liberty Valance. Not to derail the thread too much; but has anyone taken a look at the MOC Blu of Red River?

Click to expand...

And can they confirm - one way or the other - whether Red River is Region B locked (from actual viewing - not based on possibly inaccurate specs/labeling).

I received the UK Red River last week, but I've only sampled it not watched it in full. From a quick look through some chapter stops, it seems excellent. It shows its age compared to Liberty Valance, but that's also a reasonably good sign that it hasn't been significantly digitally molested. I can't really confirm whether it's region locked or not, as I don't have any solid means to check the region coding; generally speaking though, all Masters of Cinema releases are region locked to B, similar to all Criterion releases being region locked to A, so I wouldn't risk it unless you have a region free player.

Steen DK said:

Why would this keep you from buying it? I'm really not trying to provoke or offend you - I'm genuinely curious. As far as I know you have never objected to DNR on any title, so why be alarmed by anyone saying anything about it on this?

Click to expand...

As far as you know? I'll leave it at that. Your idea of DNR and my idea of what is DNR and what are other things may be different. Some see DNR where there is none - I can see it when it's there. You can't provoke or offend me, so no worries there

David Weicker said:

And can they confirm - one way or the other - whether Red River is Region B locked (from actual viewing - not based on possibly inaccurate specs/labeling).

Click to expand...

At least 2 different review sites (DVD Beaver, and Blu-ray.com) have confirmed that RR is region-locked. Now back to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence which is a gorgeous transfer and region-free! One of the best purchases I ever made.

haineshisway said:

Your idea of DNR and my idea of what is DNR and what are other things may be different.

Click to expand...

But that's just my point: Whose cry of DNR stopped you from buying it? I think it's safe to say that you see no DNR where a lot of people do, so why ever pay attention to anyone saying it?

Steen DK said:

But that's just my point: Whose cry of DNR stopped you from buying it? I think it's safe to say that you see no DNR where a lot of people do, so why ever pay attention to anyone saying it?

Click to expand...

Not playing, sorry.

I believe the "DNR" situation is quite simple. One can turn that knob just a bit too much, as I believe it to be on TMWSLV, and still not remove all of the high frequency information. What appears on screen is an image just a bit too devoid of detail.But when viewing from a proper distance, the problem is possibly not inoffensive, bur far less offensive. That's the case with TMWSLV. If Patton and The Longest Day, two of the poster children for the misuse of digital tools are a 10, this example is probably a 3.5. Also, in this case the overall image quality, at that proper distance, has so much going for it...RAH