A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Grey Fox -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Scott_Morris]

If you’re referring to Jon Hertzberg, he and I have no problem. We chatted off-site. I believe that he was surprised by my review of the disc, as much as I regarding my findings, and questioned that review, based upon his information - in a very civil fashion. On occasion AV gear will act up, and errors have been made. I have no problem if someone representing the distributor requests that I take another look. That’s fair, surely.

In those situations, I amend reviews. This was not one of those situations.

Mr. Hertzberg suggested that I contact others at Kino, which I’ve done. Each and every individual was open and helpful.

In the end, I believe they discovered certain things of which they were unaware, and are amending certain attributes regarding the publicity for the release.

Zero problems with Kino or those who rep the company. Only with the Blu-ray, for which my review stands.

That noted, I tend to get prickly when any entity makes note of some brilliant restoration, that I feel is not.

To my eyes, many problems stick out like the veritable sore thumb.

I would wager that 75+% of viewers will have no problem with this release, and will enjoy an extraordinary film, with a timeless performance.

Your reply is very much appreciated, Mr. Harris. I suspected there was probably some behind the scenes discussion that took place after the initial posts in this thread, since things seem to have resolved themselves amicably. And it makes me happy to know that the crew at Kino are as excellent as the product they release. But mainly, I'm just excited to finally see this film in another couple of weeks. Thanks again and take care!

 

[Mike Frezon]

I pre-ordered this the first day possible. And the reason for that is The Straight Story.

I've never seen this film before.

But based on the description of the plot and Farnsworth's incredible performance in The Straight Story, I decided I wanted to see this ASAP.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have the Blu-ray of The Straight Story and it’s a great film.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Have the Blu-ray of The Straight Story and it’s a great film.

Yeah. I went and got the Japanese Blu a long time ago I love that film so much.

And that's the impetus behind my quick blind buy of this film.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I pre-ordered this the first day possible. And the reason for that is The Straight Story.

I've never seen this film before.

But based on the description of the plot and Farnsworth's incredible performance in The Straight Story, I decided I wanted to see this ASAP.

In my opinion, if you enjoy Mr. Farnsworth you are in for something special with this picture. He is the heart of The Straight Story and gives an excellent performance but this is really his masterwork. It's a beautiful nuanced performance in a really outstanding film. He is riveting in this and probably, like so many others, my bet is you will fall in love with this picture.

I've not seen it in some time now but it was one of those pictures that played on pay TV a lot so I watched it many times. It's one of those films that when you stumble upon it you are drawn in and just keep watching until the end. I think you will be quite pleased with your purchase.

 

[sbjork]

I can't speak to Charley Varrick, but I think the transfer for Narrow Margin is excellent. I think your issue may be with the photographic style of the film, rather than the blu-ray video quality. Check out The Last Valley if you want to see a weak video transfer.

I was happy with both. Narrow Margin in particular looks fantastic. But Charley Varrick also looked very good with little signs of the over processing which plagued older Universal transfers in general. Peter Hyams' cinematography in Margin is very dark with an emphasis on practical lighting, and Michael Butler's for Varrick is very high-key and harsh. If someone does not like either of those looks they will be disappointed, but they are still both accurate looking discs.

 

[Ejanss]

In my opinion, if you enjoy Mr. Farnsworth you are in for something special with this picture. He is the heart of The Straight Story and gives an excellent performance but this is really his masterwork. It's a beautiful nuanced performance in a really outstanding film. He is riveting in this and probably, like so many others, my bet is you will fall in love with this picture.

The Straight Story, yes--It's "The last sane film David Lynch made before he left the planet", and focuses on all that great Twin Peaks Americana-scenery with not so much of the bad Lynch parts (like the screaming-meemie hysterical motorist who hit the deer, or the "wacky" small-town folks in Straight's hometown).

As for Grey Fox, haven't seen the restoration yet, and only remember it from the old college theater--
It's beautiful, slow-moving, will make you rush to iTunes to look up The Chieftains (or at least the opening will), and if I had to say a point against it, it's that the marketing makes Farnsworth's charming character look a little too "cuddly".
He's still a stagecoach-robbing hombre at heart, with a rough edge that comes out a little more clearly as he gets back into his old job, and cuts some of the sympathy out of Borsos' beautiful but aimless direction.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Have the Blu-ray and played a few scenes and i am happy with it. I do agree with RAH about the image moving side to side and you can really see that in the beginning credit sequence so there are some stability issues and the color in certain scenes can be on the heavy side. No film damage that i noticed and the audio is good. I don't have the trained eye like Robert has but for me i am ok with the release. Like the restoration extra on it so now i can get rid of that terrible looking laserdisc.

 

[HawksFord]

I watched this blu-ray last night — my first time seeing the movie since it was in theaters in the early 80s. I was surprised at how familiar it was in spite of all the time that has passed. Maybe I'd see image problems if I watched it again, but I was immediately caught up in the story and they were invisible to me. A delightful film and a great performance by Richard Farnsworth.