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Anne of Green Gables: 30th Anniversary Blu-ray coming to the US in September (1 Viewer)

Bob_S.

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I'll wait for reviews. If the picture quality gets a thumbs up, I'll definitely be getting this. I've wanted this on Blu for a loooong time.
 

GlennF

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My only concern is the fact it has to be reframed since it was shot and framed for 16mm and a 4:3 television set. I know because when I was in the film industry our editors, Mairin Wilkinson and James Lahti were editing the production. They used to show us parts of it. At the time, no one knew what a hit it would turn out to be!
 

t2smith

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I will also wait for the reviews. It was restored in HD a couple years ago, but then released only on widescreen DVD. One site posted comparison shots between the original and widescreen DVDs and it looks like the original picture was stretched with only a little bit of information added to the sides and some missing from the top and bottom. It doesn't look like there is much improvement at all in picture quality in the restored widescreen version. There is also an HD trailer on Youtube in 720p and that picture doesn't exactly pop off the screen and doesn't look like there is much improvement in picture quality over the DVDs.





Hopefully the Blu-rays will have a noticeable improvement. I have seen stuff shot on 16mm that looks good in HD.
 

Rodney

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I hope they keep the OAR and just give us a noticeably improved picture. An enjoyable show that deserves much more than it has received to date.
 

Mark-P

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Rodney said:
I hope they keep the OAR and just give us a noticeably improved picture. An enjoyable show that deserves much more than it has received to date.

The aspect ratio was changed when he did the HD restoration. No HD version exists in the original ratio.
 

Tony Bensley

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We have the three Anne Miniseries with Megan Follows on DVD. As far as my wife is concerned, these are quite good enough, and if the upcoming ANNE OF GREEN GABLES Blu-ray isn't issued in its OAR, they'll remain sufficient for me, also!


To t2smith: The bit of extra visuals on the sides are only due to the over-scanning that occurs with 4x3 video when presented on the old CRT Monitors. Based on your description of lost visuals on the top and bottom of the screen, it's obviously a cropped, rather than a fuller, open matte version, which would actually display more image information all around!


CHEERS! :)
 

Mike Frezon

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I just watched this production for the first time ever tonight (on the 2002--horrible--DVD).


It was lovely. And then I decided to search the forum to see if there had ever been any discussions about the title and, of course, find I should have waited a few more weeks!
angry-smiley-053.gif



Goes to figure!


Anyway...all I kept thinking was how much better it could look since it was shot on film. And then my mind wandered to how beautiful the first six seasons of Little House on the Prairie look on Blu-ray. And then I got depressed thinking seasons 7-9 weren't going to be released in HD.


What an emotional rollercoaster ride this hobby can be! :laugh:


But, what a nice production this was. Dewhurst and Farnsworth were worth the price of admission alone...but Megan Follows was a revelation. Anyone know why she never really had any other starring vehicles after this?


And I had my own mini-Farnsworth film festival this month as I watched my Japanese Blu import of The Straight Story a week or so ago. He was one excellent actor. :thumbsup:
 

Mike Frezon

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Oh. Two other comments about the '02 DVD.


My wife couldn't believe how bad the picture quality was. And she hardly ever says anything about that sort of thing. When I explained it to her, she said, "oh no! I'm noticing the difference now!"


Point two. When the title card came up to "Flip the Disc for Part Two," she exclaimed, "you don't flip DVDs!!!" :biggrin:
 

t2smith

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Mike Frezon said:
I just watched this production for the first time ever tonight (on the 2002--horrible--DVD).


It was lovely. And then I decided to search the forum to see if there had ever been any discussions about the title and, of course, find I should have waited a few more weeks!
angry-smiley-053.gif



Goes to figure!


Anyway...all I kept thinking was how much better it could look since it was shot on film. And then my mind wandered to how beautiful the first six seasons of Little House on the Prairie look on Blu-ray. And then I got depressed thinking seasons 7-9 weren't going to be released in HD.


What an emotional rollercoaster ride this hobby can be! :laugh:


But, what a nice production this was. Dewhurst and Farnsworth were worth the price of admission alone...but Megan Follows was a revelation. Anyone know why she never really had any other starring vehicles after this?


And I had my own mini-Farnsworth film festival this month as I watched my Japanese Blu import of The Straight Story a week or so ago. He was one excellent actor. :thumbsup:

I'm definitely thinking about getting this on Blu-ray, but would like more details. It was shot on 16 mm so I doubt it will look as good as Little House, but any sort of HD would be an upgrade over the DVDs that are out. I read somewhere that all the Anne movies were released in Japan on Blu-ray, but in 1080i for some reason. I have my doubts, but someone who bought a copy from Japan said the picture quality was on par with the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. If that is the case, it will probably be a must buy if you can live with the cropping.


I haven't decided if I'm going to hold out for a review or go ahead and take the plunge. If the original is any good on Blu, I would also like to have The Sequel on Blu, but I'm not sure that I would buy The Continuing Story or A New Beginning on Blu. Me and my wife couldn't make it past the first half of The Continuing Story when we tried to watch it. Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes for any of the sequels being released in the U.S. on Blu judging from the current Amazon Best Seller rank of 25,495 in Movies & TV since a best seller rank of 937 wasn't enough to stop the season 7 Blu-ray release of Little House from being cancelled.
 

Tony Bensley

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Mike Frezon said:
Oh. Two other comments about the '02 DVD.


My wife couldn't believe how bad the picture quality was. And she hardly ever says anything about that sort of thing. When I explained it to her, she said, "oh no! I'm noticing the difference now!"


Point two. When the title card came up to "Flip the Disc for Part Two," she exclaimed, "you don't flip DVDs!!!" :biggrin:
Hi Mike!


We too, have the 2002 "Flipper" DVD's!


Unfortunately, as much as I would personally love to upgrade to Blu-ray (And ditch the Double-Sided Discs!), that ANNE OF GREEN GABLES has been cropped, is a deal breaker for me! In my opinion, Kevin Sullivan SHOULD have left well enough alone, regarding this! :(


CHEERS! :)


Tony
 

t2smith

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I'm really thinking about ordering this even it it is cropped which I hope it's not since Amazon lists it at full screen. I've noticed that when Amazon lists something at full screen it is usually 1.37:1 or lower and when it lists something as widescreen, it is usually 1.66:1 or higher.


I checked and I own the 2002 DVD, so it would almost be impossible for this Blu-ray to not be superior even if cropped. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to learn that the release date has been changed from September 22 to November 3 on Amazon.
 

classicmovieguy

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t2smith said:
I'm really thinking about ordering this even it it is cropped which I hope it's not since Amazon lists it at full screen. I've noticed that when Amazon lists something at full screen it is usually 1.37:1 or lower and when it lists something as widescreen, it is usually 1.66:1 or higher.


I checked and I own the 2002 DVD, so it would almost be impossible for this Blu-ray to not be superior even if cropped. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to learn that the release date has been changed from September 22 to November 3 on Amazon.
I normally take Amazon's technical specs with a grain of salt... especially when it comes to pre-orders.
 

t2smith

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I went ahead and put my pre-order in. Amazon has it for $34.99 and that's about the highest I want to pay for this, especially with no details on the specs available. The regular price of $64.98 has me nervous that the price might not stay that low. Sullivan's site has it listed for $29.99, but the shipping to my location pushes it to over $45.
 

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