A Few Words About A few words about...™ Seven Brides for Seven Brothers -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Kyrsten Brad]

Never seen this one (heard of it considerably) but its on order and will be a first viewing for me.

Wishing I had the new 4K 75" for this film (with its 2:55 AR) but the 70" will do nicely.

 

[PMF]

[...]Wishing I had the new 4K 75" for this film (with its 2:55 AR) but the 70" will do nicely.

Heck, I'm still wishing I had 2015's 4K at 50 inches.
Wrong composers, maybe, but with this release date "June is bustin' out all over".

 

[KPmusmag]

This is welcome news! Thank you Mr. Harris.

And, to top it off, the opening price point for this release is the same MSRP as all other Warner Archive Blu-rays when first released, $21.99. A tremendous bargain considering I paid $100.00 on eBay for the final laser release of 7BF7B around 2000 which had both versions. I think it was one of Warner's last laser releases along with Kiss Me Kate "letterboxed" to its OAR.

Looking forward...

I had those, also, another one that came out at about that time was GYPSY, in stereo ( previous laser was mono), and with a music only track - which unfortunately did not make it onto the DVD or blu. I loved laserdiscs back in the day. So excited for this new release of Seven Brides.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Preordered. My wife thanks you for your ringing endorsement, RAH.

 

[warnerbro]

Just got word it will be delivered by Amazon June 5th

 

[Richard M S]

I was going to wait for a sale but this review sold me on it.

Since Warner seems to be focusing on releasing blu-rays of films made from the mid-1950's to the early 1960's, my hope is that we see blu-rays of Vincente Minnelli's Some Came Running, the Stewart Granger Scaramouche and one of my all-time favorites, the almost-forgotten musical LiLi starring Leslie Caron.

 

[cinemiracle]

I was going to wait for a sale but this review sold me on it.

Since Warner seems to be focusing on releasing blu-rays of films made from the mid-1950's to the early 1960's, my hope is that we see blu-rays of Vincente Minnelli's Some Came Running, the Stewart Granger Scaramouche and one of my all-time favorites, the almost-forgotten musical LiLi starring Leslie Caron.

I saw LILI many times upon it's original release as my parents were working at the cinema. A classic film. A pity that the stage show CARNIVAL (based on the same story) was never filmed. It's a favourite musical of mine.

 

[Matt Hough]

Me, too. I saw Carnival! on Broadway as a pre-teen and was enraptured. I played that cast album relentlessly, and I could never understand why a movie was never made of it. It was a hit, won some awards, was based on a classic film. MGM should have made it around the time it made The Singing Nun.

 

[Robert Harris]

Expensive to produce releases such as this help gauge consumer demand for more. The more units sold, the more likely we are to see more Flynn, Davis, Bogart, et al.

 

[Endre]

I don't have the Blu-Ray for Seven Brides yet, but for the 2004 DVD, they got rid of much of the film's directional dialog. The 1999 DVD had more directional dialog...

 

[rdimucci]

As least one reviewer has noted that the flat version of the film is in mono sound.

 

[Endre]

The 2004 DVD had the flat version in stereo, but only two-channel stereo. It has been stated that the stereo re-mix for the flat version was done for home video (the last laser disc release, I think). In the Cinemascope version, listen to "Come on everybody, get your partners, there's gonna be dancin'!" just before the dance number "Barn Dance" on the 1999 DVD.

 

[Mark-P]

As least one reviewer has noted that the flat version of the film is in mono sound.

Sounds to me like yet another reviewer who can’t tell the difference between stereo and mono. I highly doubt Warner Archive would make the error of mastering in mono when stereo tracks exist for the flat version. If it were Kino or Millcreek, yeah I’d believe it, but not Warner.

 

[Mark-P]

Blu-ray(dot)com has screencaps up. They look terrific. He also claims that the flat version is mono but adds "I have been told that the music track was modified to create some degree of stereo separation, but to my ear it is so slight as to pass unnoticed."
Since my DVD of the flat version is clearly stereo to me, listening through earphones, I'm not sure I trust what he is hearing. My copy won't arrive for another few days as I opted for no-rush shipping, but when it does arrive I will be able to say for sure whether the sound is mono or stereo.

 

[darthkarki]

Just got mine in the mail, and from my quick preliminary glance it looks and sounds excellent.

HOWEVER. As per the review on Blu-ray.com it appears the audio mix from the most recent DVD release was used, which has a glaring issue: the sounds of the dancers' feet at the barn raising dance are not in sync with the music.

I am incredibly disappointed this was not corrected for the Blu-ray release. This is a huge issue for me as it completely throws off the whole sequence, and I have scoured the internet, looked through official and user reviews, and cannot find anyone else commenting on this. Am I really the only one who notices? This boggles my mind, as it it's as obvious to me as a slap in the face.

I have an older DVD release (ISBN 0-7907-4421-X, http://www.worldcat.org/title/seven-brides-for-seven-brothers/oclc/44543606) which, along with the VHS, does not have this problem. The alternative flat version from both the more recent DVD and Blu-ray releases also have the steps in sync with the music, however the taps are much quieter in this version.

Here is the flat version. The sound of their feet is muffled, but notice how it is exactly in time with the music and sounds fantastic. A perfect example is from 0:51-0:58:



Now listen to the Cinemascope version with the new audio mix:



EDIT: Multiple people are mentioning that the feet seem in sync with the video. That is not the issue. The problem is the desync between the sound of the feet and the music, not the video. Try closing your eyes and just listening.

I would be happy to try to grab a clip from my older DVD version if anyone would like to compare to the original Cinemascope mix.

Is there anything that can be done about this? Anyone I can complain to? Can we somehow get a response from Warner? This Blu-ray is my fourth copy of the film and I would still gladly pay for another one if they could just get it right.

 

[Jimbo64]

Perhaps some people are just more sensitive to sync than others. Looked and sounded fine to me

 

[Robert Harris]

Just got mine in the mail, and from my quick preliminary glance it looks and sounds excellent.

HOWEVER. As per the review on Blu-ray.com it appears the audio mix from the most recent DVD release was used, which has a glaring issue: the sounds of the dancers' feet at the barn raising dance are not in sync with the music.

I am incredibly disappointed this was not corrected for the Blu-ray release. This is a huge issue for me as it completely throws off the whole sequence, and I have scoured the internet, looked through official and user reviews, and cannot find anyone else commenting on this. Am I really the only one who notices? This boggles my mind, as it it's as obvious to me as a slap in the face.

I have an older DVD release (ISBN 0-7907-4421-X, http://www.worldcat.org/title/seven-brides-for-seven-brothers/oclc/44543606) which, along with the VHS, does not have this problem. The alternative flat version from both the more recent DVD and Blu-ray releases also have the steps in sync with the music, however the taps are much quieter in this version.

Here is the flat version. The sound of their feet is muffled, but notice how it is exactly in time with the music and sounds fantastic. A perfect example is from 0:51-0:58:



Now listen to the Cinemascope version with the new audio mix:




I would be happy to try to grab a clip from my older DVD version if anyone would like to compare to the original Cinemascope mix.

Is there anything that can be done about this? Anyone I can complain to? Can we somehow get a response from Warner? This Blu-ray is my fourth copy of the film and I would still gladly pay for another one if they could just get it right.

As with other musicals, there is no actual recording of the tap and footsteps. It’s all Foley, and fx. The newer track is actually more precise, cleaner and brighter.

Strangely, the Foley on this number is precisely the same as that used for the Good Morning number from Singin’ in the Rain, but with steps multiplied.

The tracks are magnificent. Both of them.

 

[darthkarki]

As with other musicals, there is no actual recording of the tap and footsteps. It’s all Foley, and fx. The newer track is actually more precise, cleaner and brighter.

Oh I agree the audio quality is fantastic throughout, it sounds great. But that doesn't change the fact that the sounds of the feet tapping are completely out of sync with the music. Do you really not notice that?

 

[Robert Harris]

Oh I agree the audio quality is fantastic throughout, it sounds great. But that doesn't change the fact that the sounds of the feet tapping are completely out of sync with the music. Do you really not notice that?

I did not. Define the word “completely,” please.

 

[darthkarki]

I did not. Define the word “completely,” please.

Totally; utterly; the sound of the steps are utterly (without qualification) out of sync with the music for the totality of the sequence.

Forgive me if I seemed at all abrasive or offensive, I'm simply flabbergasted that this isn't more widely noticed. To me it sounds like this:



Do the two versions I linked above from youtube help make it more clear that the timing of the steps in relation to the music is different?