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Robert Harris

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Aeons ago, David Lynch's Lost Highway was shot on fillum.

Kino Lorber's new Blu-ray of the film, makes that readily apparent with a pleasant sheen of light film grain, and very rare IP dirt. What it looks like is a print derived from the dupe negative, or what people would have seen in theaters in 1997.

With the recent sturm and drang, one might think that what Kino was releasing (they apparently went to Mr. Lynch toward doing a new scan and creating his perfect release, but never heard back) was problematic.

It isn't in any way.

It's not perfect, or at least it may not be.

You'll find the track for the Universal logo is problematic. Could be the original studio master for this film, or possibly something in authoring, but I'd bet it's been there for a while.

The other oddity is that the main title sequence appears to have been produced regular aperture and scanned at full, as there's a null area at the left of the screen.

I don't know the film that well, and these elements may be some sort of odd artistic trick, to make audiences uncomfortable. I've not a clue.

Mr. Lynch may have just wanted things this way.

Would a new 4k scan of the original negative have made a
huge difference with this film? I can't say that it would.

What Kino has released is perfectly lovely. Color, densities, black levels, grain structure, all look very much like film. And that works for me.

As a film, it never really made any sense. It seemed like art for the sake of art. I don't believe it's gotten any better bottle age.

All of those rabid Lynch fans should be thoroughly delighted.

Image - 4.25

Audio - 5 (aside from logo mx)

Pass / Fail - Pass

Upgrade from DVD - Certainly

RAH
 
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JoshZ

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The other oddity is that the main title sequence appears to have been produced regular aperture and scanned at full, as there's a null area at the left of the screen.

Just on the left, or is it windowboxed on all four sides of the frame? Foreign Blu-ray editions, which were sourced from a master from MK2, had fully windowboxed credits. That MK2 master was fairly mediocre in quality, with flat contrast and a green push that washed out black levels and other colors.

I am curious if Kino used that same source, or the master from Universal's old DVD edition, which had slightly better contrast and color.
 

Robert Harris

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Just on the left, or is it windowboxed on all four sides of the frame? Foreign Blu-ray editions, which were sourced from a master from MK2, had fully windowboxed credits. That MK2 master was fairly mediocre in quality, with flat contrast and a green push that washed out black levels and other colors.

I am curious if Kino used that same source, or the master from Universal's old DVD edition, which had slightly better contrast and color.

Just on the left, although the image may have been adjusted. As to color, the only thing noted was a fade out that went off color as opposed to black.
 

dpippel

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In their statement, Kino indicated that they wanted him to participate in collaborating on a new 4K scan from the OCN. That's about as good as it gets, unless the OCN is in poor condition and something better is out there.
 

JoeStemme

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One of the best 'Back At Ya!" advertising gambits. After Siskel & Ebert both gave Thumbs Down to LOST HIGHWAY, this newspaper ad showed up. Not sure if Lynch himself had a hand in it (October Films was the distributor) - but, I'm sure he approved!
 

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JoshZ

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One of the best 'Back At Ya!" advertising gambits. After Siskel & Ebert both gave Thumbs Down to LOST HIGHWAY, this newspaper ad showed up. Not sure if Lynch himself had a hand in it (October Films was the distributor) - but, I'm sure he approved!

Ebert was a rabid Lynch hater up until Mulholland Drive. He actually did like Eraserhead, oddly, but he declared The Elephant Man to be Lynch "selling out," and he loathed everything Lynch did for years afterward - especially Blue Velvet, which he considered reprehensible.

But then, out of the blue, Mulholland Drive turned him around. He thought that one was a masterpiece. Even so, he refused to revisit anything he'd previously panned.

I'm sure Lynch did have some active involvement in the decision to use the "Two Thumbs Down" in the advertising for Lost Highway. Siskel wasn't exactly kind to him over the years either, though he did defend Blue Velvet against Ebert's tirades.
 

Kyle_D

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That's right. I'd forgotten about that one.
It's a great film, but Disney has no interest in releasing it on video or streaming because it's so off-brand for them, so it's been borderline "lost" and forgotten in the States for years. I wish Disney would just sell the domestic rights to Lynch (if he's interested) or Criterion/Janus Film, because it's prime for rediscovery. Imprint recently released it on Blu-ray in Australia, but it was a somewhat dated master.
 

JoshZ

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It's a great film, but Disney has no interest in releasing it on video or streaming because it's so off-brand for them, so it's been borderline "lost" and forgotten in the States for years. I wish Disney would just sell the domestic rights to Lynch (if he's interested) or Criterion/Janus Film, because it's prime for rediscovery. Imprint recently released it on Blu-ray in Australia, but it was a somewhat dated master.

I believe Studio Canal owns The Straight Story currently. They put out a Blu-ray in Japan that was unfortunately a rather poor transfer.

Edit: The Japanese Blu-ray was actually distributed by Comstock Group, under license from Studio Canal and using a Studio Canal master.
 
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Kyle_D

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I believe Studio Canal owns The Straight Story currently. They put out a Blu-ray in Japan that was unfortunately a rather poor transfer.
I think Studio Canal owns foreign territories, but Disney still has it domestically.
 

questrider

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It's a great film, but Disney has no interest in releasing it on video or streaming because it's so off-brand for them, so it's been borderline "lost" and forgotten in the States for years.

The Straight Story has been streaming on Disney+ since April 3, 2020.


 

Robert Crawford

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questrider

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I believe Studio Canal owns The Straight Story currently. They put out a Blu-ray in Japan that was unfortunately a rather poor transfer.

Edit: The Japanese Blu-ray was actually distributed by Comstock Group, under license from Studio Canal and using a Studio Canal master.
Also, I bought the iTunes HD digital for $4.99 back in September.

I have the Japanese Blu-ray and didn't find that mastering to be too deplorable. Makes me wonder if what's streaming on Disney+ and being sold on iTunes is a more recently updated and improved transfer?
 

JoshZ

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I have the Japanese Blu-ray and didn't find that mastering to be too deplorable. Makes me wonder if what's streaming on Disney+ and being sold on iTunes is a more recently updated and improved transfer?

I don't think it's an updated transfer, but I do believe it's a different transfer. Disney struck their own master for the DVD back in the day that was different from foreign DVD editions.

I wasn't aware this was on Disney+ now, so I'll have to check it out. A friend of mine streamed the movie from a paid platform a while back and said it looked better than the Japanese Blu-ray. I assume Disney+ uses the same source.

The Japanese disc has weak detail, lots of edge enhancement, bland colors, and contrast that veers from being way too dark to being faded and flat. It's awful.
 

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