- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,416
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Fred Zinnemann's High Noon, is one of my favorite films.
Always has been. Always will be.
Photographed in black & white, and self-limited to a running time, equating to real time, it's an excursion into the perfection of our cinema heritage.
Well, almost.
One thing has troubled me about it, and taken me out of the film, since I received a basic history in clothing. And that's Grace Kelly's dress. But I doubt that it will bother anyone else.
Produced by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, and a score by Dimitri Tiomkin, it's the stuff that dreams are made of.
Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, and the entire supporting cast are letter perfect.
I've got to be honest. There are so many instances of newly minted home video skews, and departmentalized labeling, that I initially perceived Olive Films new Signature series as a potential ruse -- possibly using the same old transfer, de-sparkled, and brought out again.
Before viewing a bit of the new High Noon, I reacquainted myself the the previous Olive Blu-ray release, warts and all.
Never really problematic, at least when viewed from a reasonable distance, it was never a proper offering of a great film on home video.
Stagnant grain during the main title sequence, an occasional scratch during the body of the film. It was okay, but not something that I was able to applaud.
With that in mind, it was a distinct pleasure to see the main title sequence, without shadows around high contrast areas, and with a grain structure, that possibly not perfect, was head and shoulders over the previous incarnation. Double-Checking, I found the errant positive scratch on the right side of the frame as the gent from he train station runs into town with news...
Gone.
Black levels, far better. Detail, better. Just overall a far nicer presentation.
One of the great films, finally on Blu-ray in a respectful manner.
Bottom line.
When Olive tells you, they're coming out with a new Signature version of one of their previous releases, or a new title, sit up and take notice.
Especially with their new special features, they're making a move to enter Criterion territory, and I wish them well.
Image - 5
Audio - 5
4k Up-rez - 5
Upgrade potential - Yes
Pass / Fail - Pass
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Always has been. Always will be.
Photographed in black & white, and self-limited to a running time, equating to real time, it's an excursion into the perfection of our cinema heritage.
Well, almost.
One thing has troubled me about it, and taken me out of the film, since I received a basic history in clothing. And that's Grace Kelly's dress. But I doubt that it will bother anyone else.
Produced by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, and a score by Dimitri Tiomkin, it's the stuff that dreams are made of.
Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, and the entire supporting cast are letter perfect.
I've got to be honest. There are so many instances of newly minted home video skews, and departmentalized labeling, that I initially perceived Olive Films new Signature series as a potential ruse -- possibly using the same old transfer, de-sparkled, and brought out again.
Before viewing a bit of the new High Noon, I reacquainted myself the the previous Olive Blu-ray release, warts and all.
Never really problematic, at least when viewed from a reasonable distance, it was never a proper offering of a great film on home video.
Stagnant grain during the main title sequence, an occasional scratch during the body of the film. It was okay, but not something that I was able to applaud.
With that in mind, it was a distinct pleasure to see the main title sequence, without shadows around high contrast areas, and with a grain structure, that possibly not perfect, was head and shoulders over the previous incarnation. Double-Checking, I found the errant positive scratch on the right side of the frame as the gent from he train station runs into town with news...
Gone.
Black levels, far better. Detail, better. Just overall a far nicer presentation.
One of the great films, finally on Blu-ray in a respectful manner.
Bottom line.
When Olive tells you, they're coming out with a new Signature version of one of their previous releases, or a new title, sit up and take notice.
Especially with their new special features, they're making a move to enter Criterion territory, and I wish them well.
Image - 5
Audio - 5
4k Up-rez - 5
Upgrade potential - Yes
Pass / Fail - Pass
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
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