A Few Words About A few words about...™ Oklahoma! -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

My THX Oklahoma! DVD is definitely non-anamorphic as were all of the original DVD releases of it, Carousel, and The King and I. I believe the first South Pacific was non-anamorphic, too, but I could be wrong about that.

 

[Joe Caps]

My thx single disc Oklahoma is definitely anamorphic - and, the day for night scene is correct !!!!!

 

[Will Krupp]

My thx single disc Oklahoma is definitely anamorphic

Then hang on to it, it's a one of a kind collectors' item

(in all seriousness, have you looked at the disc lately? That release wasn't anamorphic, honest)

 

[Techman707]

I was actually in the studio when the tHX folk were mastering the laserdisc version of Oklahoma. Also there when the first widescreen laser of King and I was done.
Something is really wrong with this BD of Oklahoma.
I have the Fox first single disc releaseof Oklahoma. It is Todd AO and anamorphic. It looks and sounds pretty good. Im keeping that one.

King and I - I doubt that Fox litthefilm to look like Anna had the moon installed inside of her ceiling !!!!!
I think some really strange things mistakenly got through on this set.Further, I trust shawn belston at Fox.I wish someone from Fox would go on record here.

Is the spot you describe the ONLY dark place? If there are a number of bad places, I would appreciate it if you could send me the time marks,, so I can compare those places with the film, to see if they made it the same....or worse. I have every version of the R&H single and box sets that have come out. I can tell you that the set that outraged me the most was the THX set. I think they used their new and special "BLURRY GRAIN ATTACHMENT" for that transfer. And aspect ratios? Their answer to that was "Aspect ratios, we don't need no stinkin' aspect ratios". They didn't even have component outputs on them. The more expensive the laser disc player I bought, the more problems it seemed to have. As I'm sure I mentioned that I believe I have the LARGEST defective laser disc collection in the country....if not the world! My wife says that the first thing she's going to do when I die is "THROW ALL THOSE WORTHLESS LASER DISCS IN THE GARBAGE".

I don't think you can EVER compare a Blu-ray disc to a Laser Disc. Unless it's defective, the Blu-ray is SO FAR superior to the laser disc I wouldn't know where to even begin. Blu-rays have just SPOILED US....and we don't even realize it. If ten years ago someone told me I was going to replace all my film with a DVD size disc that WILL PROJECT a picture that is equal OR BETTER than the picture and sound of the BEST of my 16mm prints, I would have branded them insane. But hey, IT'S TRUE!

 

[FoxyMulder]

I don't think you can EVER compare a Blu-ray disc to a Laser Disc. Unless it's defective, the Blu-ray is SO FAR superior to the laser disc I wouldn't know where to even begin. Blu-rays have just SPOILED US....and we don't even realize it. If ten years ago someone told me I was going to replace all my film with a DVD size disc that WILL PROJECT a picture that is equal OR BETTER than the picture and sound of the BEST of my 16mm prints, I would have branded them insane. But hey, IT'S TRUE!

That's true but Laserdisc cover art is superior and can you imagine the huge data capacity if they had used a Laserdisc size for blu ray instead of CD size, spoiled we may be but once you see the best the format has to offer you always want every film to be as good as it can be and you get disappointed when you encounter a Big Lebowski or a Spartacus on blu ray.

 

[haineshisway]

While you "might" be right when referring to a big screen "TV", it certainly doesn't apply to a properly setup "video projector" on a screen with the proper gain..

The people on this forum are a TOUGH group when it comes to picture quality. In many cases, people are looking for BETTER PQ or color than the original had. In virtually every case, I've run nearly every picture discussed in this thread. In some cases, I've had (or still have) a print. Anyone who is familiar with the Technicolor IB process knows that (unless premium prices are paid) they used pieces of B&W film stock to eliminate waste. Then the soundtrack was printed and processed twice, which helped eliminate ground noise. Finally, the picture was printed with the matrices. When you think about it, "stamped" might be a better description of how the picture gets absorbed into the emulsion of the BLACK & WHITE film stock, which is also why they refer to soundtracks on Technicolor films as "silver image" soundtracks. Even after they stopped using the 3 strip cameras to film with and started using single strip Eastman color negative film stock, the release print process described above continued basically unchanged until they stopped making IB dye prints in the 1970s.

I've been a film fan my entire life, but I would have to be a complete fool to ignore many of the advantages there are to "tweaking" films digitally. I believe, in many instances, the end result can look better than the original. Anyone familiar with carbon arc lamps originally used in theatres, before xenon bulbs became available, would be familiar with the wide range in color temperature that can exist, especially when carbons are misadjusted. Add to that the wide color variation from mid-reel Technicolor stock changes, and you have color temp numbers anywhere between 3k to 6+K degrees.

Now after all the arguing over "Oklahoma", I see people talking about the 'blue tint" in "Carousel". I think people have gotten so used to the companies not just transferring films to high definition, but correcting the smallest defect. In some cases, actually improving the look and color.

While I certainly don't object to any improvement, it now seems we are demanding they correct things looked the same in the original release of the film. I've run Carousel in 35mm and while I'm not a human Colorimeter, so I can't say how it "looked" with accuracy. However, I DO HAVE a 16mm IB print. For some reason, even though "Carousel" was Deluxe color, the 16mm prints they made were IB dye prints with variable density sound tracks. As near as I can see, and confirmed by two friends, the film has what "could" be considered a "blue tint" or in video terms, shift toward blue in the black level. While virtually anything can be corrected digitally, in this case, it would be making the film look "different" than when it was originally released. In the case of "The King & I", that's a different thing. The titles have colors that are off, but overall, the rest is okay. I not sure but someone posted about what I believe was "The King & I" they were referring to and said it was very dark. Other than their opinion (or memory from 60 years ago), how did they come to that conclusion? Who or how was their viewing device calibrated? Without knowing these things, how can anyone make those claims unless it's so bad that it's obvious.

I hope everyone has read this post.

 

[bigshot]

My wife says that the first thing she's going to do when I die is "THROW ALL THOSE WORTHLESS LASER DISCS IN THE GARBAGE".

I have at least 1000 laserdiscs on the shelf taking up space. I'm trying to think of a nice craft project for them.

 

[Gary16]

I have at least 1000 laserdiscs on the shelf taking up space. I'm trying to think of a nice craft project for them.

I have close to that number and I can't get rid of them -- in fact I just picked up another Pioneer player to have for the future when everything breaks and no one can fix it (of course if the Laserdiscs rot as many early ones did the condition of the players won't matter). There are still things on Laserdisc that have never been on dvd so I'm hanging on. But I won't argue the superiority of DVD and of course Bluray (and HD DVD - RIP).

 

[davidmatychuk]

Anybody else see Tom Cruise on Jimmy Fallon last night? Fallon had a "Top Gun" laserdisc he was enthusing over, and Cruise kept saying how good the picture on it was. The only thing to indicate it was 2014 and not 1994 (other than Fallon, and what they both looked like) was that they were agreeing that vinyl LP's were great. Or is laserdisc glue gas from all the laserdiscs I've been playing lately making me hallucinate?

 

[Joe Caps]

I am watching my single disc THX Oklahoma right now !!!!
Far Better sound than the blu.
More color too.

 

[rsmithjr]

I am watching my single disc THX Oklahoma right now !!!!
Far Better sound than the blu.
More color too.

You can improve the Blu-ray's color a bit by increasing the saturation overall.

 

[Mark-P]

Then hang on to it, it's a one of a kind collectors' item

(in all seriousness, have you looked at the disc lately? That release wasn't anamorphic, honest)

He only thinks it's anamorphic, I'm guessing because the disc is most likely flagged as letterbox and many Blu-ray players will automatically zoom DVDs flagged as such.

 

[compson]

I am watching my single disc THX Oklahoma right now !!!!Far Better sound than the blu.More color too.

What equipment are you playing it on?

 

[Techman707]

I have at least 1000 laserdiscs on the shelf taking up space. I'm trying to think of a nice craft project for them.

I was going to decorate the walls going into my HT, but killed that idea because I was afraid it would cause MASSIVE reflections. Oh well, I guess it's back to my wife DOING HER THING....good luck to her.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I just pulled out that first Todd-AO Oklahoma and I guess Joe Caps was very very lucky to get the anamorphic version before they pulled it off the market and re-issued it in letterbox! As someone else said, hold onto it ... it's a genuine rarity, a one-off.

 

[haineshisway]

Okay, I just did what I knew would be a complete waste of time, which it was. I put on the DVD - now, it's the one that came out with both Cinemascope and ToddAO versions and it is anamorphic. That said, are people really not remembering how reviled it was - the ToddAO version is out of focus, for heaven's sake. No one was silent about it at the time. It is AWFUL. I compared it to the Blu-ray and it's like watching 8mm vs. 65mm. The Blu-ray has much more accurate color, better sound, and is IN FOCUS, blindingly so. So, if someone wants to keep some sub-standard old DVD instead of this marvelous Blu-ray, the more power to them. Also, is the day-for-night sequence everyone is going on about the scene after the intermission with The Farmer and the Cowman and the auction and all? Because it is absolutely timed right - Look at the backdrop and the way it's lit. There was always light on the scene itself. Once again, you cannot go by other home video releases, that is utter folly. Those scenes look great.

 

[Wayne_j]

There was a THX non-anamorphic DVD of the Todd-AO that wasn't the botched disc, I think that is what people are talking about.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Okay, I just did what I knew would be a complete waste of time, which it was. I put on the DVD - now, it's the one that came out with both Cinemascope and ToddAO versions and it is anamorphic. That said, are people really not remembering how reviled it was - the ToddAO version is out of focus, for heaven's sake. No one was silent about it at the time. It is AWFUL. I compared it to the Blu-ray and it's like watching 8mm vs. 65mm. The Blu-ray has much more accurate color, better sound, and is IN FOCUS, blindingly so. So, if someone wants to keep some sub-standard old DVD instead of this marvelous Blu-ray, the more power to them. Also, is the day-for-night sequence everyone is going on about the scene after the intermission with The Farmer and the Cowman and the auction and all? Because it is absolutely timed right - Look at the backdrop and the way it's lit. There was always light on the scene itself. Once again, you cannot go by other home video releases, that is utter folly. Those scenes look great.

The day-for-night sequence everyone's complaining about is the very first scene after the intermission, in which everyone is driving to the party. Once we get there for The Farmer and the Cowman number, everything's fine.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Okay, I just did what I knew would be a complete waste of time, which it was. I put on the DVD - now, it's the one that came out with both Cinemascope and ToddAO versions and it is anamorphic. That said, are people really not remembering how reviled it was - the ToddAO version is out of focus, for heaven's sake. No one was silent about it at the time. It is AWFUL. I compared it to the Blu-ray and it's like watching 8mm vs. 65mm. The Blu-ray has much more accurate color, better sound, and is IN FOCUS, blindingly so. So, if someone wants to keep some sub-standard old DVD instead of this marvelous Blu-ray, the more power to them. Also, is the day-for-night sequence everyone is going on about the scene after the intermission with The Farmer and the Cowman and the auction and all? Because it is absolutely timed right - Look at the backdrop and the way it's lit. There was always light on the scene itself. Once again, you cannot go by other home video releases, that is utter folly. Those scenes look great.

That's not the Todd-AO version we were talking about.
The Todd-AO version was first issued on a non-anamorphic DVD by itself, and it was a very decent viewable transfer. I still have it. The second version, on that double-DVD you're talking about, was simply unviewable.

 

[haineshisway]

So some people are actually preferring an ancient non-anamorphic DVD transfer to this Blu-ray. I must exit at this point.