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  1. Spencer Draper

    UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - A Fistful of Dollars & For a Few Dollars More -- in 4k UHD

    Duck You Sucker it seems is cursed. Every version has problems and there's no easy fix aside from a completely new scan and work done by those who put in the time and research. Kino has already said they saw no value in doing so. Unfortunately this means we're still stuck with two masters (MGM...
  2. Spencer Draper

    Will we see a new Capra Collection Blu-Ray from Sony?

    Whoa! That's fantastic news! I feared the film would forever be stuck in limbo and exacerbated by a lack of good elements. The only decent presentation is the Sony master from a few years ago that turned up on TCM. All other releases are pitiful public domain cheapy discs or that awful...
  3. Spencer Draper

    UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - A Fistful of Dollars & For a Few Dollars More -- in 4k UHD

    I have in other places. The balance between levels is completely shot. The music seemingly from a master source has far greater fidelity but overwhelms everything and the edit of the cues isn’t quite right. Also some bits of effects and dialogue are either drowned out, obscured or missing. The...
  4. Spencer Draper

    UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance -- in 4k UHD

    Why in the world is it always Liberty Valance that has issues on disc? First it was always 1.33 on VHS and LD, then barebones as a dvd, then the DNR and flatter look, the Blu-ray dropped the centennial extras and now this. Wha in the world are they thinking? I skipped most of the Paramount...
  5. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    I finally made a video about the dvd rot issue. I searched high and low to find all reports of rotted titles and compiled a list of every reported rotter that I could verify along with the rotted discs I own. The third document is a selection of the technical posts made in this HTF thread and...
  6. Spencer Draper

    Gone With the Wind physical copies are now sold out everywhere... (Thanks to HBO Max)

    It does seem to be panic buying indeed. WB has always saturated the market with every reissue and the endless repackaging. As for me I have the big swag and all second BD boxset and both flavors of the LD release: CLV and CAV. One day I’d love to see the rare 1998 final LD which apparently has...
  7. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    Well thankfully most everything is available via MOD. I emailed in my message and list of bad discs and got a response from Sherri almost lickety split which was very surprising! Once they reopen the offices I'll be doing disc swaps. I only have a few MODs but none are reprints. The reprint MOD...
  8. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    Yes they're all DVDs. The problem seems to be for all DVDs from the affected years that don't carry the Made in Mexico stamp on the rear cover.
  9. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    I think I've now checked every WB disc I own from 2006-2009 that does not have a Made in Mexico stamp. This means I checked somewhere between 200-250 discs and flipper sides. Dead discs are completely rotted and will not play whatsoever or load. Others freeze at points and will not recover. some...
  10. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    For me those that are shot will not play at all nor will they launch in any player, pc drive or allow me to even open disc information on a PC. I think Dragon Seed from the Hepburn set will play to about 40 mins and then craps out. With most used discs I get I use a piece of software that I got...
  11. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    Well I just had the issue happen on two different sets. Three of the five discs in the Errol Flynn Signature Collection Volume 2 are totally dead and will not load whatsoever nor in a PC drive. Charge of the Light Brigade, Dawn Patrol and Gentleman Jim are affected but Dive Bomber And Don Juan...
  12. Spencer Draper

    Pre-Order Paramount Presents: To Catch A Thief (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder

    I posted a big response over on the BD forum but am quite perplexed at what is going on here. Personally I had been waiting for reviews to see if this would change much if anything from the 2012 disc. TCAT is a film that I've found perplexing on all major release as it never seems to look quite...
  13. Spencer Draper

    Can a Plasma TV make speakers blow diaphragms?

    That’s what I had thought. It was simply weird for it to happen all at once but adding the plasma in was the only change I had made.
  14. Spencer Draper

    Can a Plasma TV make speakers blow diaphragms?

    I’ve had a weird issue pop up and have been posting around trying to see what people think. My main setup was built around my HDCRT originally. About six months ago I found a plasma to play with and so I've had to have my Panasonic ST60 on a stand in front of my CRT stand and receiver. Suddenly...
  15. Spencer Draper

    Warner DVD's not working thread - watch to make sure they still play

    I've had a few DVDs go bad but only a few compared to the bigger pile of Laserdisc rotters out there. Usually it's DVD rot from early year releases. The latest I had die on me was the Special Edition DVD of For Your Eyes Only which I replaced. There are seemingly a number of WB titles that...
  16. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Night Passage - in Blu-ray

    Holy moly! I was expecting just a 1080p version of the old master. I can't believe it's been redone. Wowzers this looks great. You can't get away from the "this started as a Mann western" feeling of Night Passage. It has a darkness and should have been a great Western but never manages to shape...
  17. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Rare Breed - in Blu-ray

    I'm happy this one looks good. It's non-essential but still fun. I was afraid all of these were just going to be cleanups of the DVD masters like most of the German BDs are and Bend of the River was.
  18. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Show Boat (1936) - in Blu-ray

    Can't wait to check this out at some point. I have the big MGM LD boxset with the other versions. Seeing this always makes me think of how shameful it was that Whale never got proper recognition during his heyday and especially afterwards to this day. Once the studio handover was complete he...
  19. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ It's a Wonderful Life (Corrected)-- in 4k UHD Blu-ray

    I have to say the darkness in the captures posted so far does give me pause. Finding the thread here at least convinced me I wasn't just seeing something from UHD captures posted online and then viewing on a non HDR monitor. As someone who is still not 4K capable but actively keeps up with the...
  20. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Leopard Man - in Blu-ray

    The more you see this, the more it grows on you and despite being a lesser film it's still a great one due to the power and atmospherics. If they must be doled out one by one then so be it, but this is a great time to be a Lewton and Tourneur enthusiast.
  21. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Thin Man - in Blu-ray

    This is such exciting news for a film I had sadly assumed would be stuck as an OOP DVD upgrade of the old Laserdisc series box I trot out for a yearly rewatch. If it sells strongly enough it would bode well for the sequels.
  22. Spencer Draper

    Pre-Order Thunder Bay (1953) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder

    I'll admit I'm impressed with the captures so far and never thought in a million years this would ever come to Blu let alone before some of the Mann-Stewart legendary Westerns. The color in the beaver captures looks very different at first but does have more nuance. Plus the US DVD from the...
  23. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD

    It seems there were a number of titles redone around the same time period that people have issue with. I still can't figure which version of The Searchers I like and which is the most accurate looking as I've never had the lucky experience of seeing a good print. In a lot of ways I kinda still...
  24. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Wild Bunch -- in BD & HD

    Well it's taken me many, many years but I just saw the 1994 print this morning of the "Director's Cut" and found it to be a very interesting experience. Of course the "director's cut" is merely a marketing term and is instead the full length original 145 min version with the cut ten minutes...
  25. Spencer Draper

    Warner Archive: The Thin Man (1934) coming in July!

    Day one, hour one immediate purchase. Agreed if you preorder from Amazon you might get a copy in a month! ;) Along with Jonny Quest this is the most welcome surprise of the year and the most warranted. I'm ecstatic that it has gotten 4K treatment as this entire series (along with the MGM...
  26. Spencer Draper

    EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY WITH CRITERION: We Invite Your Participation

    Thanks for this wonderful opportunity. My film suggestions/queries would also be about older Laserdisc titles returning to the collection such as the John Woo classics. Otherwise it would be about titles with restored prints in archives but no video releases as of yet such as Holiday but also...
  27. Spencer Draper

    Does Kino understand stereo sound?

    This is surprisingly becoming more of an issue. Usually it’s the other way round with countless films losing their original mono and stereo tracks to little or no outcry in favor of most often horrendous remixes. But now we have catalog titles losing their discrete sound with no one saying very...
  28. Spencer Draper

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Earthquake -- in Blu-ray

    I’ve never been able to stomach this film outside of the effects but especially for the Sensurround process which infuriatingly is still missing from any modern release even though there are fake tracks labelled as Sensurround on the disc. It is definitely possible to present in a home theater...
  29. Spencer Draper

    The Wizard of Oz 4K UHD 80th Anniversary

    I've heard about the audio mix issues and that sounds like unfortunately a side effect that has become more and more common even among legacy original mixes being retained. For example: Ben-Hur carries a remix, North by Northwest is still minus it's original mono mix, and many original monos if...
  30. Spencer Draper

    Song of the South

    Going to get on a bit of a soapbox here for a minute... It’s nothing new. When you really dig into it Disney has had such a long history of removing their films and altering them AND getting a free pass for doing so that most have no idea how far this has extended. I’m not a Disney fan at...
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