A Few Words About A few words about...™ My Fair Lady -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[davidmatychuk]

Don't think there's been any news about a MFL redo.

I'll believe they're doing one when I hear that a lab is making sample 70MM frames for the box set.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

It's good to re-read what has been such a fascinating and important thread, especially one exhibiting how fortunate we are to have Mr Harris onboard.
He is quite correct when he cites how production houses seek to gain that important quality cachet from the term Blu ray.
And how sad, when Blu ray is still seeking to definitively establish itself, that this cachet is being degraded by sub-optimum releases such as MFL, The Sting and The Big Country, with problems ranging from sheer sloppy transfers to good transfers at the wrong aspect ratio!
I have friends who still ask why should they bother buying Blu ray players .. and while producers don't try to optimise quality, this question will continue to be asked.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

All we can do is hope for things to be done properly in the future.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Blu-ray could have been a format for the general public, but I no longer support that concept. DVD and downloads are the way to go.

I am still a believer in the format when it is done right but I believe I have had a second disc go bad and it is not really that old. Am how ever wondering if there is an issue with the overall quality of some of these discs used to create retail blu-rays? I am so done with dvd's and while I might rent a on demand movie I hate the fact that we have to put up with dolby digital for audio on streaming movies and on demand movies. I also see no value in paying money for movies that you can not even hold in your hands and require ether a cable subscription or internet connection in order to put up with overly compressed movies that are not as good as a good bluray disc. Sorry just can not stand downloads and I think they are a waste of money. I think I would rather stop buying movies all together if they went to downloads and streaming.

 

[MatthewA]

I'm starting to get fed up with streaming, too. Even the HD video never starts out at full resolution, and it doesn't load completely for about a minute. If you rewind it, it drops back down to a lower resolution for another minute or so.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

Sorry this is the wrong thread but THE BIG COUNTRY has been mentioned and I don't know where else to go!!

A couple of weeks ago Amazon was showing a new UK version and in the comments somebody reported that it had the correct aspect ratio. I attempted a chat but he only replied once to say it was fine. I offered to meet and play the two versions side by side but no answer.

Does anybody know whether this Amazon UK release has corrected aspect ratio or was that person wrong, not having seen the US release?

Many thanks.

 

[JimmyK]

Don't think there's been any news about a MFL redo.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

If the UK Big Country is the same as the German, then it's still flawed.

BUT back to the main thread ... does anyone think there's any hope that the move towards 4k remastering for premium editions may prove sufficient to get us a decent MFL? That would be when 4k mastering would really pay dividends, if the job was given to someone who knew what he/she was doing!

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

WOW, what a gargantuan thread. Just reading it for the first time, and hoping for a happy ending now that it's nearly three years later, but no such luck, apparently.On a side note, I do find RAH's now-dated assertions that we wouldn't need to worry about the quality of Disney's upcoming Blu-rays rather depressingly amusing these days. Um, yep, we most certainly did need to worry!

 

[Gary16]

Sorry this is the wrong thread but THE BIG COUNTRY has been mentioned and I don't know where else to go!!

A couple of weeks ago Amazon was showing a new UK version and in the comments somebody reported that it had the correct aspect ratio. I attempted a chat but he only replied once to say it was fine. I offered to meet and play the two versions side by side but no answer.

Does anybody know whether this Amazon UK release has corrected aspect ratio or was that person wrong, not having seen the US release?

Many thanks.

I have the US and UK releases of "The Big Country" on bluray. They are exactly the same disc. The only difference is the printing on the disc label and the use of a full plastic case (no holes) on the UK version. Sorry.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

Thank you very much Gary, and I'm sorry you have two dud discs to show for your research.

After correspondence with another person on Amazon, who was convinced the UK version had been corrected, I ALMOST bought it so your waste is my saving!!

I have the US and UK releases of "The Big Country" on bluray. They are exactly the same disc. The only difference is the printing on the disc label and the use of a full plastic case (no holes) on the UK version. Sorry.

 

[Gary16]

Thank you very much Gary, and I'm sorry you have two dud discs to show for your research. After correspondence with another person on Amazon, who was convinced the UK version had been corrected, I ALMOST bought it so your waste is my saving!!

Glad I could help I guess. It's rare in my experience to find a UK bluray that is an exact clone of the US disc. Even has the FBI warning with no changes in the menu or anything else. If the printed label on the disc hadn't been changed I would have thought someone stuck a US disc into the case.

 

[Everett S.]

Brilliant statement to make at a screening where ostensibly the theatre is running this screening in 70mm BECAUSE it is FILM and not digital. That's like saying, some idiot at MOMA tears a Monet painting and the curator says, "Well, there's an argument for lithograph copies instead of the real thing." No...there's an argument of never giving this theatre a 70mm print. On the 35mmforum blog someone chastised me because I pointed out all the problems with the Walter Reade theatre's 70mm presentation of ITS A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD and he said he was a member for years and they had always had excellent presentation yet I had found great issue with the focus and sound and overall general sloppy projection, he said mine was a trade against the WR and a wild exaggeration. I pointed out that I wasn't commenting on all the supposedly perfect shows he had seen there, but the ONE I had seen and that I had to give a C- or even a D if I were grading myself, I'd give myself a D for a show like that. Someone else pointed out that the audience loved it. So I guess lowest common denominator is the yardstick at Lincoln Center. You don't have to put on a A+ presentation as long as no one complains. While I then questioned myself that perhaps maybe I was being too much of my old anal retentive self and perhaps the projectionist WAS just having an off day as someone suggested -- we've all had them -- and who knows what catastrophes could have been going on in the booth and he was having all he could do just to keep the show on the screen. Every projectionist will tell you he's had THOSE days as well. But then comes your post and it seems, no, this guy BURNS film...70MM film. RARE 70MM film. Film doesn't just "suddenly jam" spontaniously on its own, there is always a cause and effect, especially 70mm which because of its size is very robust compared to the smaller 35mm print. But even with 35mm, film "jams" because of a projectionist mis-threads it or there are broken perforations that were OVERLOOKED by the projectionist when he did his all-important print inspection prior to the show, or there are physical problems with the projector mechanism, all of which should have been spotted and corrected prior to the show -- that is, if someone were competent enough to spot them and are competent enought fo correct them . That no one did and the film tore and burned (which means it could be many frames that were damaged before and possibly after the burn, not just that single frame might need to be removed), this is a big red flag that tells me the Walter Reade has projection personnel issues that really need to be addressed before any other rare prints are entrusted to this place. Just a few frames...no big deal? Image if a few frames were removed by EVERY theatre that played the print!

The print should be run for a test before the main showing!!!. I ran a nine screen $1.00 theatre & we ran all prints the night before. Mag. audio needs to be checked for all kinds of problems,including no sound,high pitched noise, which I heard @ The National Theatre on Broadway in New York City 4 "The Sound of Music". It was @ a Midnight showing,so they had plenty of time to get a replacement reel!!!

 

[MielR]

As a final note, I believe that I've now figured out the overriding problem with the Blu-ray of My Fair Lady, and why it doesn't look nearly as good as releases like The Sound of Music or West Side Story. Just for fun, I'm going to keep this one to myself for the time being to see who else will figure out the great My Fair Lady mystery. RAH

Was the answer to this mystery ever given? It's been a while since I've visited this thread. ;-)

 

[JoeDoakes]

Was the answer to this mystery ever given? It's been a while since I've visited this thread.;-)

My recollection is that they used the wrong transfer -- an older one instead of the more recent one available, but I haven't reread the thread.

 

[DP 70]

The print should be run for a test before the main showing!!!. I ran a nine screen $1.00 theatre & we ran all prints the night before. Mag. audio needs to be checked for all kinds of problems,including no sound,high pitched noise, which I heard @ The National Theatre on Broadway in New York City 4 "The Sound of Music". It was @ a Midnight showing,so they had plenty of time to get a replacement reel!!!

The only 70mm print in the UK has 1 reel missing I don't think they ever found it.
Also in Bradford this year during the WSW they screened the Ascot section in 70mm on the Cinerama screen using a original D-150 lens it did look and sound really good.

 

[davidmatychuk]

O abandoned My Fair Lady Blu-Ray thread, born in turmoil and deserted in frustration, be not sad. Thy happy ending awaits on October 27, 2015.

 

[Citizen87645]

It's been a long time coming.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Interestingly, I received an email alert from Amazon.com informing me that the estimated delivery date for the MY FAIR LADY: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, is on October 9, 2015, while it's page on Amazon.com still indicates an October 27, 2015 date of release!


????

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Strangely enough, while no date is given for release on my Amazon browser page, it does now state 'usually ships within two to three weeks'!

Very peculiar indeed......