A Few Words About A few words about...™ As Good as it Gets -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

One of Mr. Nicholson's more interesting character studies, James L. Brook' As Good as it Gets, is given a quality treatment by Columbia for it's Blu-ray premiere via Twilight Time.

Color, densities, shadow detail, and image stability all fall into line for a quality product.

Finally a new release of a catalog title that holds up in projection.

Image - 4

Audio - 4.5

Recommended.

Feels good to be able to type that word.

RAH

 

[Charles Smith]

And it feels good to read it, especially seeing as how I pre-ordered this one completely in the blind.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Pre-ordered this from SAE/Twilight Entertainment a month ago, along with The Wayward Bus...can't wait for my shipment to arrive!!! Thanks for the positive review, Robert, this is one of my favorite Nicholson dark comedies...

 

[bryan4999]

I like this movie and its themes of kindness. Glad to hear that it is a worthwhile blu-ray. I'm not complaining about Twilite Time's price, but good to know that a premium price delivers a premium product.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Do the DVD extras carry over? This film had extensive deleted scenes and subplots. Would have been interesting to see this at Criterion and examined in depth ala Broadcast News

 

[Craig S]

Originally Posted by Moe Dickstein /t/321403/a-few-words-about-as-good-as-it-gets-in-blu-ray#post_3937010
Do the DVD extras carry over? This film had extensive deleted scenes and subplots. Would have been interesting to see this at Criterion and examined in depth ala Broadcast News

??? The only extra on my DVD copy of this is a commentary with Brooks and the three leads. No deleted scenes at all. This is the original 1998 release. Was there a subsequent release of this with more extras?? I'm not seeing one on Amazon.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

No that was it, the commentary. I was saying there were a wealth of deleted scenes to be added should someone fund and produce that content.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

The only extras are the isolated score and the film's theatrical trailer. The full review is here.

 

[AnthonyP]

Presuming the following is accurate. There was apparently a planned Blu-ray release for this back in late 2006 that was cancelled.

http://dvdlist.kazart.com/queryDVDList2.php3?id=87921

043396160965 September 19, 2006

Was the image harvest and master used for this TT release one created in advance of that release or something revisited by Sony more recently?
Would a harvest done around that time, 2006 or thereabouts (given the above release date), even yield enough of an improvement to have been re-done since that time frame?

 

[Robert Harris]

Was the image harvest and master used for this TT release one created in advance of that release or something revisited by Sony more recently?
Would a harvest done around that time, 2006 or thereabouts (given the above release date), even yield enough of an improvement to have been re-done since that time frame?

Nothing wrong with masters from 2006, if done properly at the time.

RAH

 

[willyTass]

nicely done

 

[haineshisway]

Oh, the bellyaching that's been going on at the AVS Forum (and to a lesser extent, but still vocal, at Blu-ray.com) all based on a screen cap comparison at some site. Suddenly, based only on that, the cries of "contrast boosting" and "clipping" began and how the DVD was correct (how they know this is anyone's guess) - this was after the transfer had been reviewed favorably by many. I took on these people and it's just classic Internet stuff - they're never wrong, they know more than people who have been in the business, the belittle, they talk in circles, they selective quote, they downright misrepresent what someone has said, and they bait - oh, yes, they bait because they live for the response - that's called trolling, I believe. And yet, the moderators of those boards allow them to do it while slapping the people who are rising to the bait and correcting them - not in a mean way, BTW, although it would be easy to do so considering the baiting. One wag suggested that if I knew some of the folks involved in the disc that I should have them come post. My response, of course, was, why on Earth would they subject themselves to that kind of thing? And I told an amusing anecdote about Mr. Crisp and a "fan" at some event who insisted something had been done wrong on a transfer, and when Mr. Crisp corrected him and told him the filmmaker had been there, the guy would not back down and got belligerent, at which point Mr. Crisp wisely walked away.
Many insisted that Sony had used an ancient transfer. I said not. Then a few people showed up who said they'd actually seen the disc and seen the contrast boosting (but not in all the scenes!) and clipping (but not in all the scenes!). One wonders how they are watching what they're watching, or if, having seen the caps first, are merely drinking the Kool-Aid. Having watched it, I was presented with a beautiful transfer that very accurately reflects what DP John Bailey shot. Still, the usual suspects would not stop, would not let it go, continued baiting and belittling. And then I found out something: John Bailey supervised the transfer with his own telecine people. Oops.
I posted that with the caveat that I knew the two or three doom and gloom brigade, none of whom had actually seen the disc, would choose to question where I'd heard it, not believe it, belittle some more, and doubt the word of John Bailey and say that he might have changed his mind about the look of the film. The worst of these fellows actually then said something like, "It's not a travesty and some of it looks good" - right, nice side-step. These handful of experts know not the harm they do (or they do know and revel in it) because for some unknown reason some people choose to believe what they post and cancel orders.
In short, this is a beautifully done transfer, just as Mr. RAH says.

 

[John Berggren]

If RAH says good to go, I feel better about the $35 I'll drop on it. I'd rather have this title from Sony for $15, but what can you do?