A Few Words About A few words about...™ To Catch a Thief -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[AnthonyClarke]

My god, I'm getting vertigo.

 

[Yorkshire]

Stop working yourself up into a frenzy.

 

[benbess]

Well, when some people post on this site it's like they've got stage fright or something.

 

[benbess]

You're asking the wrong man...

 

[Adam Gregorich]

We have a couple of copies of To Catch A Thief on Blu-ray to give away. To enter send an email to contest 'at' hometheaterforum.com (use @ in place of 'at') with the code in the subject line, and your user name, full name and address in the body of the email. The code can be found hidden in Neil's review . Winners must have a US or Canadian shipping address, be over 18 and a member of HTF. The winner will be drawn at random from all emails received with the correct code word in the subject line. Contest runs through Wednesday 3/14. Good luck!

 

[Richard--W]

Hitchcock never shot with anamorphic lenses, did he?
There's a lesson in that fact, I'm sure of it.
Will we see Vertigo on Blu-ray this year?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Watched this tonight. Paramount is quickly becoming a leader in remasters for classics. I never picked up either special edition, but only the first one that was very contrasty and old-looking. This looks almost like a brand new movie. Even the opticals aren't as harsh as expected. Extra points for the excellent authoring and low price point.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, I especially appreciated the price of the disc. Much appreciated, Paramount!

 

[Matt Hough]

I found some time this afternoon to watch this on Blu. Pretty much stunning throughout. Color reproduction was especially superb, and sharpness excellent. So glad to have this as another in the Hitchcock Blu-ray library.

 

[David Coleman]

I was very impressed, particularly the colors. Outside of one moment during the costume ball, the picture looked stellar.
I actually caught this film one time on CINEMAX and it looked great there, so I knew it would look great on Bluray.. Still and all, you wonder if it would have looked better if given the same restoration as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

 

[Paul_Warren]

Had a chance to watch my import copy last night as no UK release in sight so had to import. I can see why others regard it as a lesser Hitchcock its the 1st time I ever watched it all the way through & its lacking a little something. The amazing leading cast carry this movie the actual screenplay was pretty weak Hitchcock was probably blinded by the teaming of Grant/Kelly (his 2 favorite actors). But the bluray is decent enough although I noticed a few glitches which prevent it from being a flawless transfer:
1: Timeline 0:07:50s to 0:08:30s approx there are 2 round red pencil marks which appear then disappear a few times in the upper top lefthand side of the picture. Perhaps they are on the actual film but how hard could it be to remove those they distract a little.
2: Main title card has several silver/white lines appear around the Vistavistion credit. Again as the rest of the transfer was flawless (apart from Cary's shirt's!!!) this should & could have been corrected.
Hopefully Paramount will fix those 2 glitches they are minor but as the rest of the transfer is so stunning why ruin it for 2 small imperfections! This is a much better looking transfer than North By Northwest despite being 4 years older film stock. Its the new reference Hitchcock on Bluray until Vertigo/Marnie turn up hopefully this year..........

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by David Coleman /t/318618/a-few-words-about-to-catch-a-thief-in-blu-ray/90#post_3906877
I was very impressed, particularly the colors. Outside of one moment during the costume ball, the picture looked stellar.
I actually caught this film one time on CINEMAX and it looked great there, so I knew it would look great on Bluray.. Still and all, you wonder if it would have looked better if given the same restoration as THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Certain shots would have looked better, but on the whole, the Blu-ray does a terrific job.

RAH

 

[lark144]

I have no complaints. I'm very pleased with the transfer. I was particularly taken with the fact that the opening music went from right to left speaker as the Vista Vision logo appeared. The colors are very close to what I remember seeing as a child, what I think of as being Technicolor reds and blues, though I'm assuming this was shot on Eastman stock. Perhaps Mr. Harris would like to comment on this. In general, I find the Blu ray stunning. And yes, by all means bring on GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL. I remember being particularly blown away by the pictorial beauty of that film when I first saw it, back in the 50's. And also FUNNY FACE & ARTISTS AND MODELS.

 

[Todd J Moore]

I have to say, I only looked at a few minutes of this, but my jaw dropped. Was this mastered from a 70mm negative? Yes, I'm serious with that question. The clarity on this is amazing, as is the color reproduction. If White Christmas looks anything like this, I'll definitely upgrade from DVD. Simply put, this is the jewel in my (still small) Blu Ray collection.
Robert, how does this compare to the Blu for NBNW?

 

[benbess]

I have to say, I only looked at a few minutes of this, but my jaw dropped. Was this mastered from a 70mm negative? Yes, I'm serious with that question. The clarity on this is amazing, as is the color reproduction. If White Christmas looks anything like this, I'll definitely upgrade from DVD. Simply put, this is the jewel in my (still small) Blu Ray collection.
Robert, how does this compare to the Blu for NBNW?

It's a VistaVision negative. Looks great doesn't it. You can look up the thread on the VistaVision process, but yes, like 70mm, it is a large format process with added clarity. Definitely pick up White Christmas. It looks wonderful. Get The Searchers too while you're at it. And if you don't have The Ten Commandments that one too...

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by benbess /t/318618/a-few-words-about-to-catch-a-thief-in-blu-ray/90#post_3908682
It's a VistaVision negative. Looks great doesn't it. You can look up the thread on the VistaVision process, but yes, like 70mm, it is a large format process with added clarity. Definitely pick up White Christmas. It looks wonderful. Get The Searchers too while you're at it. And if you don't have The Ten Commandments that one too...

I believe this is a VVLA IP, not a negative.

 

[Robin9]

In general, I find the Blu ray stunning. And yes, by all means bring on GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL. I remember being particularly blown away by the pictorial beauty of that film when I first saw it, back in the 50's. And also FUNNY FACE & ARTISTS AND MODELS.

Paramount are releasing Funny Face on Blu-ray in France in May together with Sabrina.

 

[Osato]

Watched my copy the other night. Wonderful transfer! Great picture!
I enjoy this one quite a bit, even if it's one of the lighter Hitchcock films.
I saw Criterion is bringing The 39 Steps to blu ray in June!!

 

[Todd J Moore]

It's a VistaVision negative. Looks great doesn't it. You can look up the thread on the VistaVision process, but yes, like 70mm, it is a large format process with added clarity. Definitely pick up White Christmas. It looks wonderful. Get The Searchers too while you're at it. And if you don't have The Ten Commandments that one too...

I got THE SEARCHERS in that 3-Fer that included THE WILD BUNCH and HOW THE WEST WAS WON, but I also bought HTWWW separately to get the Smilebox version. I picked up THE TEN COMMANDMENTS last night. Gotta admit, all three look pretty amazing. These are the discs you show people when you want to show them Blu Ray.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Finally watched this tonight. I was blown away by the picture. The aerial photography in particular is wonderful, like a travelogue of the French Riviera. Interesting that the green-hued night shots were deliberate and not an artifact of the master. They didn't detract from my enjoyment of the picture, but they did stand out as: this is bizarre.