A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Ipcress File – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Techniscope was an interesting, proprietary system, created by Technicolor, which served multiple purposes.
It permitted a 50% savings in raw negative stock for a shoot, and was able, via the dye transfer process, to yield
a fully commercially acceptable product in 35/4, which served the needs of the basic theatrical community.
Exposing 2 perforations, as opposed to the standard 4, and exposing printing matrices direct from the source, worked beautifully, and became a less expensive standard for hundreds of productions over several decades.
Probably best known for the more famous Italian westerns, it arrived in 1960 (The Pharoah’s Women), in a slightly different post process, and finally appeared in 1963, using dye transfer for a single Italian production, Gladiators 7, as well as Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
The following year, 11 films used the process, the most known being, A Fistful of Dollars, Roustabout, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and Where Love Has Gone.
In 1965, 14...

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[titch]

Classic Michael Caine. Haven't seen this since I saw the laserdisc over 20 years ago - this will be a huge improvement.

 

[haineshisway]

I have the UK Ipcress which I found brown and horrible. I probably made a mistake looking at the Beaver caps, which, to me, look like the exact same source. But if this has rich colors I'll take the chance.

 

[Robin9]

I have the UK Ipcress which I found brown and horrible. I probably made a mistake looking at the Beaver caps, which, to me, look like the exact same source. But if this has rich colors I'll take the chance.

Please let us know if there's a worthwhile difference between the two discs. I too have the U.K. disc.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I'm sure there are two UK discs .. different transfers. I have the latest one from 2014 which was a step up from the earlier UK release about six years earlier. Interesting to see if there's any difference between the UK 2014 and the Kino Lorber. DVD Beaver makes it a bit confusing as it cites the 2014 release but only shows the cover of the earlier inferior UK release. Very confusing.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have the 2006 UK Network dvd so this is a easy upgrade for me. Like the whole series with Michael Caine.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I'm sure there are two UK discs .. different transfers. I have the latest one from 2014 which was a step up from the earlier UK release about six years earlier. Interesting to see if there's any difference between the UK 2014 and the Kino Lorber. DVD Beaver makes it a bit confusing as it cites the 2014 release but only shows the cover of the earlier inferior UK release. Very confusing.

Agreed very confusing. The 2014 disc is much better than the 2008; I owned both. I suspect the Kino will have the characteristics of the 2014 Blu but the film is worth the multiregion multiple dip.

 

[Bartman]

I researched the UK transfers when the KL was announced, months ago. I'm pretty sure the 2006 and the 2014 (and other releases around the world) use the 2006 transfer. The 2014 added extras and became a Special Edition. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Because of the negative comments about the transfer I stuck with my Anchor Bay DVD. There is a review of the KL at DVDbeaver and says it's an improvement, that and Mr Harris' review here is proof that the KL is worthy of a purchase. The Cinesavant has done an excellent review at his site with many insightful comments on the back story, production and Sidney J. Furie's off kilter and entirely appropriate directing style.

Now onto The Whistle Blower also announced from KL at the same time, it's one of my favorite Caine movies, the recent version on Prime has poor picture quality and is no longer available.

And where is The Fourth Protocol with Caine and Brosnan? I resorted to buying the PAL DVD recently because of the lack of a Blu-ray. The PAL Special Edition DVD is very good.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Niiice! I should finally own this (on BD) then. Had passed on the UK imports.

_Man_

 

[StarDestroyer52]

Nice to know, will be grabbing this but probably not until December when I can order it during Kino's December sale.

 

[Robin9]

I researched the UK transfers when the KL was announced, months ago. I'm pretty sure the 2006 and the 2014 (and other releases around the world) use the 2006 transfer. The 2014 added extras and became a Special Edition. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Post 5 & 7 already tell you you're wrong.

 

[lark144]

I also own both UK discs. While the first is pretty uninspiring with bland, faded color and under average delineation, the second is much better; in fact, almost pertfect...except the color..as I've posted before...still looks a bit dull compared to a UK Technicolor dye-transfer print I saw at Film Forum about 8 years ago, which had really bright saturated color. Not that the color is faded on the 2nd UK Blu. It looks fairly accurate, except it seems as if someone decided to dial it down a bit, so it doesn't stand out the way it does in theatrical prints.

 

[Bartman]

Post 5 & 7 already tell you you're wrong.

It woud be unusual for the 2014 to be a brand new transfer, the sales numbers would probably not justify the cost, so I suspect it's a re-encode and re-timing of the 2006 source files. All I know is both UK releases were criticized and I'm glad there's finally a decent release!

 

[BarryR]

I saw this as a kid when first released, and it made an impression. Haven't seen it since--until now, as I await my copy.

 

[jayembee]

Please let us know if there's a worthwhile difference between the two discs. I too have the U.K. disc.

Same here.

On edit: I have the 2014 Network edition.

On edit again: By the way, RAH says " Mr. Caine appeared as Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin (1966),and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), both based upon works by Len Deighton."

For the record, he also appeared as Palmer in two telefilms made for the US premium cable network Showtime: Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996). As far as I know, they were original stories, and not based on any of Deighton's novels.

 

[Bartman]

Same here.

On edit: I have the 2014 Network edition.

On edit again: By the way, RAH says " Mr. Caine appeared as Harry Palmer in Funeral in Berlin (1966),and Billion Dollar Brain (1967), both based upon works by Len Deighton."

For the record, he also appeared as Palmer in two telefilms made for the US premium cable network Showtime: Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996). As far as I know, they were original stories, and not based on any of Deighton's novels.

Less than flattering reviews for those Showtime movies and it's only partially Caine's fault. The DVDs are expensive new/used, for the inquisitive hopefully they'll be available streaming at some point.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Funeral in Berlin is available on Amazon Prime.

 

[Bob Cashill]

I also own both UK discs. While the first is pretty uninspiring with bland, faded color and under average delineation, the second is much better; in fact, almost pertfect...except the color..as I've posted before...still looks a bit dull compared to a UK Technicolor dye-transfer print I saw at Film Forum about 8 years ago, which had really bright saturated color. Not that the color is faded on the 2nd UK Blu. It looks fairly accurate, except it seems as if someone decided to dial it down a bit, so it doesn't stand out the way it does in theatrical prints.

I've looked at both the 2014 Blu and the Kino Blu. They come from the same source (ITV Global Studios, I think it said) but the Kino is six years sharper and richer, with redder reds, for example, that pop more. I don't know what was done but it does advance upon the 2014 Blu. Fans so equipped will want to have both as there are extras unique to each but if you only have access to the 2014 and aren't bothered by the more muted color it'll suffice.

 

[lark144]

I've looked at both the 2014 Blu and the Kino Blu. They come from the same source (ITV Global Studios, I think it said) but the Kino is six years sharper and richer, with redder reds, for example, that pop more. I don't know what was done but it does advance upon the 2014 Blu. Fans so equipped will want to have both as there are extras unique to each but if you only have access to the 2014 and aren't bothered by the more muted color it'll suffice.

Thanks Bob. As you can tell from my above post, I had the feeling that might be the deal; that the source for the KIno is the ITV 2014 Blu with better, richer color. Since it's the color that I especially adore about THE IPCRESS FILE, I imagine i'll buy this.

 

[Mark-P]

There are comparison caps of the 2008 Blu-ray and the new Kino Blu-ray at DVD Beaver and they look darn-near identical to my eyes. If there isn’t that much difference between the 2008 and 2020, I can’t imagine the 2014 (which I own) would be drastically different. I think I’m good to stick with what I’ve got.