- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,396
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
For those who know, it is a known that any film restoration is only as good as the knowledge of those who oversee and approve as well as those who do the work in the trenches.
I've been waiting impatiently for a quality Blu-ray on Fred Zinnemann's 1966 Academy Award winning Best Picture, and now that A Man for All Seasons has arrived, I'm thrilled, as every one of my expectations (and I have many) have been met.
To be blunt, this release has Grover Crisp's fingerprints all over it.
I first saw the film in Philadelphia during it original release, probably at a theater in Ardmore.
I was astounded by the look, the overall textures of the print, but more than anything, the reds and purity of the golds in the dye transfer print.
There is a certain density to this film. Some might call it "thick."
Shadows have an immense depth. Once you receive a copy, you'll note the density of those shadows against the red of Orson Welles' robes.
A sequence plays out at Thomas More's (Paul Scofield) home, as the King (Robert Shaw) visits him, as one simple friend to another.
It's eight in the evening, and the sun is just setting. There is enough light, but also shadows everywhere.
A lessor colorist might have tried to open those shadows -- you do need to see people's faces fully, do you not? -- and totally lost the proper mood of the film.
But that depth of emulsion, that special thickness is retained on Blu-ray.
Everything about this release is perfection. Color, densities, black level, grain structure, shadow detail.
Based upon the play (and the screenplay) by Robert Bolt, who I presume you know worked on some other projects, A Man for All Seasons is one of the extraordinarily literate, entertaining and thought-provoking films that, if one if lucky, come along once a decade.
I presume that that Twilight Time will permit me to share the opening graph of Julie Kirgo's monograph on the film.
"Director Fred Zinnemann's movie version of Robert Bolt's adaptation of his own extraordinary 1960 play, A Man for all Seasons (1966), is so large that any attempt to write about it, however briefly (especially briefly, perhaps), is daunting. It's an Everest we've set ourselves to climb, and - figuratively shod only in sneakers - we approach it humbly. Because truly, has there ever been an epic so personal? A film about ideas so entertaining? Or a costume drama with such ongoing, not just contemporary but eternal relevance?"
Twilight Time's new Blu-ray will be on most top ten lists for catalog titles released in 2015. I highly suggest that you not wait to grab a copy, as also in line, will be every high school and university library, and every other lover of the cinema.
One of the greatest films of all time and an absolutely perfect Blu-ray. The film is properly released at 1.66:1.
Image - 5*
Audio - 5
Pass / Fail - Pass
Very Highly Recommended
One of the supremely literate and engrossing entertainments in the history of cinema.
RAH
I've been waiting impatiently for a quality Blu-ray on Fred Zinnemann's 1966 Academy Award winning Best Picture, and now that A Man for All Seasons has arrived, I'm thrilled, as every one of my expectations (and I have many) have been met.
To be blunt, this release has Grover Crisp's fingerprints all over it.
I first saw the film in Philadelphia during it original release, probably at a theater in Ardmore.
I was astounded by the look, the overall textures of the print, but more than anything, the reds and purity of the golds in the dye transfer print.
There is a certain density to this film. Some might call it "thick."
Shadows have an immense depth. Once you receive a copy, you'll note the density of those shadows against the red of Orson Welles' robes.
A sequence plays out at Thomas More's (Paul Scofield) home, as the King (Robert Shaw) visits him, as one simple friend to another.
It's eight in the evening, and the sun is just setting. There is enough light, but also shadows everywhere.
A lessor colorist might have tried to open those shadows -- you do need to see people's faces fully, do you not? -- and totally lost the proper mood of the film.
But that depth of emulsion, that special thickness is retained on Blu-ray.
Everything about this release is perfection. Color, densities, black level, grain structure, shadow detail.
Based upon the play (and the screenplay) by Robert Bolt, who I presume you know worked on some other projects, A Man for All Seasons is one of the extraordinarily literate, entertaining and thought-provoking films that, if one if lucky, come along once a decade.
I presume that that Twilight Time will permit me to share the opening graph of Julie Kirgo's monograph on the film.
"Director Fred Zinnemann's movie version of Robert Bolt's adaptation of his own extraordinary 1960 play, A Man for all Seasons (1966), is so large that any attempt to write about it, however briefly (especially briefly, perhaps), is daunting. It's an Everest we've set ourselves to climb, and - figuratively shod only in sneakers - we approach it humbly. Because truly, has there ever been an epic so personal? A film about ideas so entertaining? Or a costume drama with such ongoing, not just contemporary but eternal relevance?"
Twilight Time's new Blu-ray will be on most top ten lists for catalog titles released in 2015. I highly suggest that you not wait to grab a copy, as also in line, will be every high school and university library, and every other lover of the cinema.
One of the greatest films of all time and an absolutely perfect Blu-ray. The film is properly released at 1.66:1.
Image - 5*
Audio - 5
Pass / Fail - Pass
Very Highly Recommended
One of the supremely literate and engrossing entertainments in the history of cinema.
RAH